TUG OF WAR – Soulfire (2019)

TUG OF WAR is the new band created by Swedish guitarist Tommy Denander (RADIOACTIVE) when he discovered vocalist BK Morrison after listening to one of his videos on YouTube. Morrison flew to Scandinavia from his native Canada to work with the famous guitarist and sing on songs written by the Swede. The result is “Soulfire”, their debut CD to be released tomorrow.
Including participation of famous musicians like Chris Ousey (HEARTLAND, SNAKECHARMER), Bill Champlin (CHICAGO), and Joseph Williams, (TOTO), this is simply one of the best AOR / Melodic Rock albums of the year.

Opening track, the classy ‘Toto meets 38 Special’ AOR melody of ‘Before I Know’ introduces you to one of the things that really make this album stand out – the wonderful, warm voice of BK Morrison, a man who has a powerful, blues-edged set of pipes which come with a hint of Danny Vaughn in his phrasing and more than a pinch of Max Carl in his delivery.

The other bright side of “Soulfire” is, of course, Denander. There’s a quality and consistency here that some of his projects over recent years don’t get close to. This indeed might just be some of his best work to date.
Musically this debut plays to its strengths and treads the well-worn path of Melodic Rock / AOR.
Yes, it’s classy in its delivery and sound, and if you rate bands like Foreigner highly then the groove of ‘Bullet With Your Name’ will make your day.
Cutting to the chase – this is an album with an interesting mix of catchy AOR and great guitars and whilst it hints at the greats like Toto, 38 Special, Foreigner and others it’s all seen through an impeccable mid-Eighties AOR gauze with the quality control set to ‘high’.

Tracks are more varied that you might imagine – ‘Come Home’ has the smoke and groove of pre-1987 Whitesnake (there is of course the Chris Ousey ‘Snake-charmer’ connection there so it makes sense); ‘Confess Your Demons’ keeps that bluesy fun Rock and Roll vibe, and ‘Fade to Black’ sets the cat amongst the pigeons with a chugging riff and vintage rolling drum sound. It’s one of our favourites here.

And whilst some albums of this ilk may suffer from ‘second half blues’ where the quality dips, this one just keeps on giving.
‘I Won’t Surrender’ chugs along at a pleasing mid-pace but the melodies are to die for and the chorus huge; ‘Have Mercy’ is more assured classy Melodic Rock; ‘My Soul is a Ghost Town’ drops the pace even lower and has those wonderful early Coverdale echoes again; and ‘On The Other Side’ swaggers into town with a confident step.

The album you just don’t want to end delivers to the last drop though: ‘Somewhere in the Past’ is the most gentle moment here, and drips with all the AOR trappings you’d expect; ‘Walk Like a Man’ that follows retains that thought but imbibes more keys and a there’s a little more thrust.
That just leaves us with what you might think is the antithesis of those mellow moments – ‘Full of Sh*t’; but it’s not as aggressive as you might imagine and the song rolls along on a groove like those conjured up by bands like Thunder. This one will stick with you for days, perfect to sing along and don’t stop.

Every so often you hear an album that just ticks all the boxes, where every song is gold, the band play up a storm and all you want to do after it plays through is hit ‘repeat’. One of these is “Soulfire”.
If you love classy ’80s inspired AOR / Melodic Rock with a few soulful touches, this should be one of your ‘album of the year’ for sure.
If you’re a fan of Tommy Denander you’ll know wheat he’s capable of but this really is, I think, his best and most consistent work to date. The kicker though as I said at the start is your introduction to BK Morrison who sounds amazing.
Don’t miss this baby.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

01. Before I Will Know
02. Bullet With Your Name
03. Come Home
04. Confess To Your Demons
05. Fade To Black
06. I Won’t Surrender
07. Mercy On Your Soul
08. My Soul Is A Ghost Town
09. On The Other Side
10. Somewhere in the Past
11. Walk It Like A Man
12. Full of Sh*t

BK Morrison – Lead vocals
Tommy Denander – Guitars, keyboards
Billy Orrico – Drums
George Hawkins Jr – Bass
Brian Anthony – Bass
Chris Ousey – Backing vocals
Bill Champlin – Backing vocals
Joseph Williams – Backing vocals

Pre Order:
www.merchbucket.com/product/TUGOFWAR-SOULFIRECD.html
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