LANDFALL – Wide Open Sky (2025) *HQ*
Very interesting melodic hard rockers LANDFALL are back with a brand new album, ”Wide Open Sky”, out on January 17th, 2025, via Frontiers Music. The band’s delightful Melodic Rock / AOR sound can best be described as falling somewhere between classic melodic rock ala Journey, and slightly heavier influences such as classic era Dokken, White Lion, and Extreme.
With phenomenal musical and songwriting abilities and the golden voice of Oliver, Landfall also isn’t afraid to explore some progressive yet melodic territories. And that’s a plus.
Landfall are a band that elude easy categorisation. In one moment, they seem to be in Journey AOR territory, but then they head off into more progressive or more hard rock waters. Ultimately, this ability to be a jack of all trades and a master of all of them is what makes Landfall such an interesting band and ”Wide Open Sky” such an enjoyable album.
Just listen to Running In Circles. The opening rhythmic guitar chords reminded me immediately of mid-period Rush, although the song then veers more towards a classic ‘80s melodic rock style before the chorus which is one hell of an earworm. There’s a powerful guitar solo too which marks Landfall out as a serious rock band rather than a polite AOR setup. Running In Circles is definitely an excellent introduction to the band.
”Wide Open Sky” is actually the third album release from Landfall. They were formed back in 2017 by experienced musicians from the Brazilian local scene: frontman Gui Oliver, guitarist Marcelo Gelbcke, bassist Luis Rocha, and drummer Felipe Souzza. There is no credited keyboard player despite keys being a significant part of their sound.
That Rush influence is also evident in the opening track Tree Of Life. The guitar intro sounds remarkably like the opening of The Spirit Of Radio and Gui Oliver’s vocals do have a touch of the Geddy Lee about them. It’s an infectiously upbeat boogie and seems to be brimming with positivity. This is followed by SOS, a more aggressive number with a metal-styled riff and one of the many fine guitar solos from Gelbcke that grace this album.
Running In Circles introduces a more radio-friendly sound and its catchiness is matched by the unashamedly 80s AOR tribute of No Tomorrow. One of the milestones of ‘80s AOR is Survivor’s Eye Of The Tiger from the soundtrack of Rocky III, and No Tomorrow is inspired by the very same film. The track is intended as a tribute to the late Carl Weathers who played Apollo Creed (Rocky’s challenger in the first two films, but his trainer by the third). In one famous scene in Rocky III, a demotivated Rocky just wants to stop training and carry on sparring the next day, and Creed yells back at him ‘There is no tomorrow!’
The AOR vein continues with the song When The Curtain Falls, a power ballad where Oliver’s emotional vocal delivery and the lovely guitar work from Gelbcke are the stars.
The mood then changes once again with Coming Home, a fast rocker that rumbles along energetically. A highlight arrives with Intoxicated. The synth-led theme that explodes into growling guitars grabs the attention immediately, and what appears to be a routine AOR vocal section miraculously transforms into a rap-infused bridge that leads somehow seamlessly to a soaring chorus that Bon Jovi would have been proud to have penned.
Two more prog-tinged tracks come next. Hourglass is a heavy almost prog-metal piece and is the longest piece at almost seven minutes on the album. It’s good and is striving hard to be an epic – perhaps too much so because the dense instrumentation seems to partly drown out Oliver’s vocals on the chorus. The album was self-produced, and I can’t help thinking that in more expert hands, Hourglass would have been more impactful.
The pop-prog of Higher Than The Moon is a curious piece. Its extensive use of keyboards and cheerful vocal harmonies gives it a bit of a Styx feel. That cheerful feeling carries on into the closing title track that bursts with enthusiasm and is surely destined to be a live favourite. Placing the two most overtly optimistic tracks first and last was a clever move.
Call it AOR, call it melodic hard rock, call it what you like, but if you add a touch of prog-like scope and ambition, you’ll be somewhere close to Landfall.
This far down the melodic road, bands like FM have the market cornered, perhaps, but also every so often you just can’t resist a fresh take on the old thing, and “Wide Open Sky” is one of the better recent examples.
HIGHLY Recommended
1. Tree Of Life
2. SOS
3. When The Curtain Falls
4. Running In Circles
5. No Tomorrow
6. A Letter To You
7. Coming Home
8. Intoxicated
9. Hourglass
10. Higher Than The Moon
11. Wide Open Sky
Gui Oliver – Vocals
Marcelo Gelbcke – Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Backing Vocals
Luis Rocha – Bass, Backing Vocals
Felipe Souzza – Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals
Pre order:
www.amazon.co.uk/WIDE-OPEN-SKY-LANDFALL/dp/B0DMW5CC63
