JD MILLER – World War X (2017)

After their very solid debut, “World War X” is the follow up album from Swedes JD MILLER, requested here. “World War X” pretty much sounds like they say in the press release: ‘a musical child bred by by Eclipse and Evergrey’. A daring statement, and truth to be said, they try to live up to this.
Sweden has a great tradition of producing fine music in both metal-related and AOR / melodic rock genres and, on “World War X”, JD Miller seems to be trying to cross the divide and amalgamate the two. With strong songwriting and a polished production, this CD is aimed to fans who like their rock melodious but with the big forceful sound that melodic metal brings to the table.

However, I hear that JD Miller, overall, lend more to the melodic hard, crunchy side of hard rock with tons of groove, and there’s the 5-piece excels.
Many of the tracks are keyboard-inclined and the opening track, “Journey Through The Past” is a case in point, in which the ivory runs make several appearances. This opener is indicative of what to expect on the rest of the album; keyboard action, driving riffs, a big drum sound and effective / concise solos.

The vocals are quite interesting too because although they are strong, they often sound layered and don’t have the gravely effect that metal demands.
The majority of songs such as ‘Power’, ‘Against the Wind’ or ‘Forgotten’ fit the same formula of booming drums and gang-vocal choruses with the odd exception which includes ‘Evergrey’.
Yeah, ‘Evergrey’ is the standout track of the album as it sets out to be a slower melodic rock song and everything fits beautifully. The pace is perfect, the vocals smooth and emotional and the guitar work excels. It will definitely be a lighter-waver when played live.

If you like melodic, guitar driven rock fronted by powerful vocals and soaring harmonies all wrapped up in modern production, JD Miller’s “World War X” is your thing.
The band mix the edge of melodic metal with hard rock groove plus melodic hard rock catchiness. This blend works finely, but I would like to hear the band playing straight melodic hard rock, I’m sure they would be blast.
Anyway, “World War X” is pretty killer, and a Highly Recommended listen.

01. Journey Through the Past
02. Against the Wind
03. My Open Arms
04. Evergrey
05. Power
06. Clouded Minds
07. Forgotten
08. Isolation
09. Wanderer of Light and Sorrow

Peter Halldén – Vocals, Keyboards
Alex Oriz – Guitars
Elias Fröjd – Guitars
Chris David – Bass
Emil Eriksson – Drums

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