GRONHOLM – Relativity Code For Love (2015)

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Experienced Finnish guitarist Mika Grönholm has developed an interesting career especially with his own band GRONHOLM releasing two solid albums with raving reviews and acclaimed comments (featured here on the blog). Today September 18 GRONHOLM is presenting his new effort “Relativity Code For Love“, featuring new vocalist in celebrated Shy vocalist Lee Small.

“Relativity Code For Love” is the more commercial and accesible GRONHOLM album to date, a melodic hard rock affair with some AOR and progressive influences. Of course, Gronholm’s guitar skills and song arrangements take the primary focus.
Vocalist Lee Small was in Phenomena and various other projects, but mainly he is known for being the substitute of no-other than Tony Mills in SHY, and reveals once again here his soulful voice in the great melodic hard rock tradition.

Tracks like ‘Mystery’, ‘Once’, the mellower ‘Home In Our Hearts’ (Lee Small shine here) or the excellent ‘Strangers’ are among the highlights here, but the album as a whole is truly cohesive.
‘Mystery’ is indicative of some of Gronholm’s best song writing: rocking, with lots of groove, big riffage and guitar fireworks, with Tom Rask’s drums driving things along. Call it AOR metalized melodic rock.

Another good one is ‘Gravity’ which is moved almost entirely Gronholm’s guitar line and Rask’s drum line.
And Rask is formidable drummer; at the start of the quite heavy ‘Like An Angel’ his drums rise to introduce the song and then simply power their way through the entire track. It’s a perfect mixture of power and groove. Adding Gronholm’s melodic guitar harmony, blistering riffage, and the arrangements inherent speed, the song is a monster.

Naming a band after yourself mostly means that you need to impose upon a strong focus on some important things; it means that you are ready to assume the whole sound of the band by being the driving force, both technically & artistically, firstly by writing the songs, then taking the duty of crafting carefully the arrangements and lyrics and eventually recorded and produced the album.
And yes, Mika Grönholm is a real leader with a clear mental picture on his music focused in mind.

On “Relativity Code For Love” we can say that things have changed a lot, maybe less proggy than before perhaps more tagged on the AORish melodic hard rock field, with ‘songs’ about love and relationships. But all are richly developed, with substance.
Very, very good stuff.

01. Reasons
02. Home In Our Hearts
03. Like An Angel
04. Mystery
05. Strangers
06. Once
07. Serenity
08. Gravity

Lee Small (Vocals)
Mika Grönholm (Guitars, Keyboards)
Tom Rask (Drums)
Time Schleifer (Bass on “Serenity” and “Strangers”)
Annica Wiklund (Backing vocals on “Strangers”)

BUY IT !
powerprog.bandcamp.com/album/relativity-code-for-love
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