ROZARIO – Northern Crusaders (2026) *HQ*
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Norway has long been known for its extreme metal exports, but ROZARIO is carving out their own path with a melodic, guitar‑driven sound that blends classic hard rock / heavy metal spirit with modern fire. With their new album ”Northern Crusaders” set for release on Pride & Joy Music, vocalist David Rosario and guitarist Stein Hjertholm are gearing up for their biggest year yet.
From working with Wig Wam’s Trond Holter to expanding their live territory beyond Norway, the band is pushing forward with ambition, energy, and a deep love for the genre.
The new album sounds fabulous thanks to Trond Holter. For those not in the know, Trond is the guitarist of Wig Wam, a band we consider to be one of the premier hard rock acts of this century. His production and guitar tone from that band is utilized to terrific effect for Rozario’s music. If I played guitar, the sound Trond produces is exactly how I would want to sound.
Production is important, but it’s meaningless if the music doesn’t have the chutzpah to back it up. Rozario showed they were worthy with their debut, and they double down here. This album is fantastic!
The riffage on this album is tremendous. Think of your favorite riffs that fire you up mentally and physically and you get that here with songs like ‘Until The Gods Are Calling’ and ‘Haunted By The Past’, two of our personal favorites. Even the numbers where the pace slows and the groove exudes heaviness got your blood pumping.
The guitar chugging on ‘Down Low’ is fierce and powerful. The nightmare laden words on ‘Sleepless’ are effectively conveyed by the distinctness of the varied verse/bridge/chorus structure.
That leads me to another strong point of the album, the ordering. There are no ballads found, but the various melodies are structured perfectly. You have slower, groove-bases tracks spaced between the faster, more melodic ones, for an ebb and flow that does not make you want to skip around to different portions of the album.
You can play this album from start to finish and never feel the desire to skip over tracks. Everything is laid out here in a perfect order.
I cannot stop playing this. You know when an album is good when you continue to hear different things every time you play it. The sounds on this are incredible, right up front with everything crystal clear and harmonious. Massive credit to producer Trond.
It does not matter your preference in rock – melodic metal, power, hard rock – get this new Rozario CD because it’s got everything you would want wrapped up in a tidy package.
With powerful new material, a growing international presence, and the support of a thriving Scandinavian metal scene, Rozario are poised to reach a wider audience than ever before. If ”Northern Crusaders” is any indication, this is a band ready to conquer new territory—one stage at a time.
Highly Recommended
1. Fire And Ice
2. We Are One
3. Down Low
4. Free… Forever
5. Crusader
6. Coming Home
7. Die Like Warriors
8. Until The Gods Are Calling
9. Sleepless
10. The Warning
11. Haunted By The Past
12. Betrayed
David Rosario – Vocals
Anders Halsan Engum – Bass
Per-Helge “Peppa” Bruvoll – Drums
Stein Hjertholm – Guitars
Taran Lister – Guitars
Pre order:
soundpollution.net/product/northern-crusaders/
