CONSTANCIA – Lost And Gone (2009)
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After the very good new CONSTANCIA album recently featured here, some of you asked for their debut “Lost And Gone” released by Frontiers Records some years ago. It’s a really strong effort too, which sadly passed without notice for many melodic hard rock aficionados.
For the story of Constancia, we have to start with ex-Scudiero and Token keyboard player Mikael Rosengren. He had written songs and was looking for musicians to record them. The first he contacted, was guitarist Janne Stark and the chemistry between the two led to the co-writing of three more songs.
Next up was to find a drummer, but that was an easy search as Stark just called his old Locomotive Breath and Mountain Of Power bandmate TrumPeter Svensson. Rosengren then pulled in Jaded Heart bass player Michael Mueller, whom he first met when their respective bands shared the same label.
After having tried out several vocalists, it was Stark who came to think of Andromeda’s David Fremberg, who had appeared on the Mountain Of Power album as well.
Swede Fredrik Folkare (Toby Hitchcock, Unleashed) was then chosen to mix the album, because he was able to find the perfect balance between the melodic and the heavy side of the band.
The resulting debut album “Lost And Gone” applies to all fans of classic melodic hard rock, but will also reach the aficionados of progressive hard.
‘Fallen Hero’ opens the album in bombastic, massive AOR-styled build up style ruled by the clarity of sound, and quality of playing are first class.
‘Troublemaker’ starts off in similar style although, by the chorus, it’s pulled out a large lead over the previous song. The rhythms are groovy and thumping and the guitars are up there with birds of paradise for ear-tingling noise. It’s a track full of controlled heaviness and pomp-wannabee flourishes and we love it.
‘Blind’ is a great tune with a fluid amalgam of silky guitar riffs, heavy bass, amazing vocals and a huge chorus.
‘Little Big You’ is a hard hitting ballad with soaring vocals and monstrous bass/lead guitar battles. It’s like a beating heart covered in studs and missile batteries: it’s poignant and alluring but as powerful as the Sun.
‘The King Is Calling’ is a driving track as are ‘Dying By Your Flames’ and ‘Save Me’. These are songs you’ll admire but never get excited over. Think of them as a pleasant way to pass the time until the next amazing track comes along.
And it comes with the extraordinary ‘Life Is A Mystery’. It’s a rolling ballad with an understated build-up and utterly mesmerising chorus. It’s one of the best tracks we’ve heard for ages and, whilst not by any means perfect, it’s fabulously close.
‘I Never Said Goodbye’ is a speedy number with battle-spec drums and another top vocal performance, ‘I Wish I Could Fly’ is pretty captivating, and then the album closes with title track “Lost And Gone” (aka ‘www.lostandgone.com’).
It’s one of the better tracks and covers the ground between a melancholic ballad and ’80s melodic hard rock masterpiece finishing the album on a high.
There’s a lot to enjoy about this Constancia debut album: the class of the songs, the excellent sound, the powerful vocals of Fremberg and the instrumentation of all band members involved. Another strong point are the harmony vocals in most of the songs, something already heard in the band’s recent 2nd effort.
The production is really good, just more ‘bright & edgy’ than the recent album.
Very Much Recommended.
01. Fallen Hero
02. Troublemaker
03. Blind
04. Little Big You
05. King Is Calling
06. Dying By Your Flames
07. Save Me
08. Noone Like You
09. Life Is A Mystery
10. A Never Said Goodbye
11. Wish I Could Fly
12. www.lostandgone.com
David Fremberg – vocals
Mikael Rosengren – kayboards
Janne Stark – guitar
Michael Mueller – bass
TrumPeter Svensson – drums
BUY IT !
www.amazon.de/Lost-Gone-Constancia/dp/B002AGULAQ
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