HUSH – Department Of Faith (2017)
After many years out of the circuit Norwegian melodic rockers HUSH are back with their new, 4th album, titled “Department Of Faith“.
Including founding members Kenneth Kristiansen (guitars / keyboards) and Patrick Simonsen (vocals / guitars), Hush 2017 remain faithful to their classic Scandinavian melodious style yet with an updated sound.
Hush made a stir within the melodic rock community with the release of the debut If You Smile back in 1998. The album sold well in Europe (AOR Heaven Records) and Japan (JVC/Victor) and was filled with catchy arena rock anthems.
The sophomore cd, simply entitled “II”, emerged in 2001 on Now & Then (UK) and the Italian label Frontiers Records. It was a natural step further for Hush, yet without moving away from the style from the debut. Both records were very well received all over the world.
The third release, Mirage (2006 Raido Music) won over new fans with a slightly different and more modern approach.
“Department Of Faith” still retains the melody, the harmony vocals and the – at times – poppy elements from their previous albums thanks to Simonsen smooth vocal phrasing, Kristiansen’s clean riffs, and the focused songwriting, all wrapped by an updated production.
Anyway, the overall sound is very warm in the way of the classy Scandinavian style for the Melodic Rock genre.
‘I don’t wanna’ opens the CD with a quite uptempo rhythm and a catchy chorus (akin Dalton last album), ‘Black ice’ is one of my favorites from the record with some Trixter on it, while ‘She will be the one’ is a contagious, poppy summer-ready tune which reminds me of 7th Heaven’s easy listening. The chorus on the latter is great.
Then ‘Hold on’ is that kind of midtempo ballad melodic rockers we all love, in a true Scandi fashion ala Bad Habit. Another highlight.
The cover of Seal’s ‘Crazy’ (one of the most versioned pop songs by melodic hard rock bands) is fine, ‘Mirrors’ returns to the breezy melodic rock waves, and the piano ballad ‘Signs’ is solid and highly enjoyable.
I was expecting some kind of a hard rocker from a song titled ‘Last man standing’, but Hush has crafted an atmospheric midtempo here, one of the most elaborated tracks on the album.
‘Everything’ adds an AOR touch akin fellow countrymen Stage Dolls, ‘This is it’ is a bit generic melodic rocker by numbers, but Hush raise the bar again with closer ‘This time’, a fun rocker.
Norwegian melodic rockers Hush still ‘has it’, that inimitable Scandinavian penchant to write catchy Melodic Rock songs.
While the sound & production is modern (updated to current time) the overall feel is bright and warm in the vein of the classic style for the genre.
Highly Recommended.
01 – I don’t wanna
02 – Black ice
03 – She will be the one
04 – Hold on
05 – Crazy
06 – Mirrors
07 – Signs
08 – Last man standing
09 – Everything
10 – This is it
11 – This time
Patrick Simonsen (lead vocals / guitars)
Kenneth Kristiansen (guitars / vocals)
Stein Andersen (bass / vocals)
Thorleif Østmoe (keyboards / vocals)
Antonio Torner (drums / vocals)
BUY IT !
www.ecwid.com/store/hush/Hush-CD-Department-of-faith-p85524474
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