Lande's latest, "Lonely Are the Brave" plays pretty much like the previous Jorn albums. Just in the first handful of songs, you can clearly hear his influences shining through like a beacon of brazen light. Bits of "Stargazer" from Rainbow, "Holy Diver"-era Dio, "Neon Knights" by Black Sabbath, he twists through these with ease and an ear for the majestic. Which is what makes any Lande solo album a treat to devour any day. His voice rises above, a spectral guardian for every track. Throaty and seductive like the glory days of David Coverdale, then rising like a phoenix, haughty and pompous but irresistibly commanding, much like Ronnie James Dio did before him.
 
The combination works, and no one lays their emotions so raw and barren on the line as Lande these days. His songs are like swords - covered in blood dripping sympathetic sincerity, then turning to the edge for a cut that slays like steel. No remorse, nothing but true accuracy and the unfathomable power that is wielded behind it. The guitarists both rises to the challenge, riffs are often rhythmic and unrelenting. Power drunk electric things that carve their own niche of fire through the epic atmospheres, courtesy of both Jorn Viggo Lofstad and Tore Moren. Both whom are talented individuals and bring the exact desired tone to play amongst this disc of delightful power fed darkness.

The first three songs are gripping compositions that are brought to perfection with the near flawless production. "Lonely Are the Brave" is somewhat a rocker's tale, but forages far beyond its humble and simplistic conception. An anthemic track that takes conventions and rips them to shreds.
"Night City" is rippling and power thirsty, the guitars quaking along the bottom, raw and sliding, serpentine and terribly beautiful. You can almost see the reflections of a midnight metropolis rippling across it's finely laid scales. The vocals wing in, soaring majestically over the top, instantly lifting the track upon its own capable back. It flies free, taking wing like the black shadows of the stormcrow, sweeping across the land with a darkened grace. It slithers through like ancient Dio, something along the lines of "Evil On Queen Street" or perhaps "One Night in the City".
"War of the World" is dank and moody, coaxed along this wicked destructive path by the buzzing guitars laid on like a thick fog. The instrumental play in the middle is a nice diversionary tactic that puts the spotlight on the musicians and allows the vocal onslaught to take a breather.

"Shadow People" clips along at a faster pace, breaking the monotony and taking the album into overdrive. Peppered gunshots, rat-a-tat, the building of drums, portents of doom and a scream racking the tension, splitting it cleanly in two. It then takes a quick pace, a lick of lightning, a bit of "Neon Knights", a flash of "Mob Rules". And again, something else, something more majestic and flowing, breaking the ice that chills the blood, making it run crimson, wet and dangerous again.
 
"Soul of the Wind" lumbers across like the broken breaths of doom, midtempo but ever so dark and deceptive. It's quiet moments are poignant and chilling, it's earthquakes are perilous, like watching a landslide in slow motion. Still as the air in a tomb, and equally devestating. Lande's voice cuts like a dagger, stabbing the heart, slicing the skin. It's hope struck dead, promises broken, eternal pain seething out as resigned as it is anxious in its throbbing snuffed anger.

"Man of the Dark" is once again moodier, but Lande inserts all the little vocal nuances that make him a true master of his domain. A rolling pace that flows across the speakers with shadowed promise, great opaque waves crashing against the jagged shores of one's inner probed soul. Guitars bite like black diamonds, scoring the flesh and shining brilliant against the heart of the song.
 
A gutteral, primal-feral purring growl, like a great feline allowing a pensive sound to escape... this opens the storm lashed "Promises". This is more midpaced and relies on a devilishly darkened guitar riff and firecracking chorus to shove it forward despite the torrent of emotional hail that batters down unrelentlessly. Classy European metal, deep and heavy, as wet velvet, thrown into a crackling fire to be forged as it's finest. It's Whitesnake, it's Black Sabbath, dark but bluesy and carressing. A guitar melody haunts the halls of Def Leppard's "Women" in it's sharp, elastic crispness and hungry edginess.
 
 "The Inner Road" chooses to delve into the cobwebs of a tattered soul a bit deeper, making for a more progressive turn of events. It's a razor slash of rock, more straightfoward and bleeding before finding a path to wander that deviates from it's norm and surrounds itself with dancing guitars and Jorn's voice echoing and bouncing off itself.

"Hellfire" closes with the sweeping epic power-progressive feel nipping at your heels, bringing Jorn back to his roots and his "Starfire" solo debut days. Perhaps it would be more fitting to stab the finger at Beyond Twilight and give a knowing nod for the connection. This was ripped right from those pages and shows just how in control Lande was on that first Twilight release that bears his mark.
Reimagined here, it is every bit as dark and terrifying as it was then, perhaps even moreso with the dual guitar personalities and the crisp production, making the whole procession seem brighter, more looming. Thumping and lumbering into stark madness, and again, invoking the name of Black Sabbath to layer his sonic world with a dooming overall tone and bass abundant atmosphere. Its grand and gloomy and all inbetween, a bleeding bleakness that sparkles with a metallic sheen. Looming like monolithic doom, guitars beckoning like a siren's call - and as tantalizing captivating.
 
Jorn Lande has been a staple of the metal scene as he took it by storm and proved himself as one of the greatest vocalist to come out of the genre in a long time. This was due to his charismatic emotional voice and a keen sense of selecting premium projects to showcase himself in. Those looking for another shot of his glory will be in a seventh metal heaven with "Lonely Are the Brave". 
 However, if you are new to the world of Lande and his myriad of masterful projects, then it must be urged to seek out his work with The Snakes, the first two Masterplan releases, Jorn's solo works especially "Out to Every Nation" and my personal favorite "World Changer", and the two Allen/Lande collaborative releases. That's not even mentioning releases from Beyond Twilight, Vagabond, Nikolo Kotzev's Nostradamus, Brazen Abbot, Millenium, Mundanus Imperium, etc. Even though his voice has already been given the workout under two other projects this year, namely "Scarecrow" from Tobias Sammet's third part to Avantasia and Arjen Lucassen's Ayreon "01011001", those were just appetizing warmups for the main course, which is.. "Lonely Are the Brave", a shudderingly dark disc, and an outstanding entry to Jorn's musical ever growing musical legacy.

Written by Alanna
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
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Alanna: 8.5/10

Members: 7.5/10 - Average of 1 ratings.



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Dark Lord Rating: 7.5/10 No review was posted

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Comment by Dark Lord (Member) - Sunday, June 15, 2008

View Profile Comments: 33 Ratings: 89 Greetings Alanna; Jorn Lande has a solid place in my top 10 singers and this album gives me another good reason for that. It's getting hard to remmeber all his works and collaboration, i had almost forgotten about the "The Inquisitor" in Nikolo Kotzev's Nostradamus :D Jorn Lande vs Joe Lynn Turner, what do you think about that???? But no matter where or under what name Jorn sings, he does it perfectly, I think he's the guy to count on. Posted by Dark Lord Sunday, June 15, 2008

Comment by Alanna (Staff) - Tuesday, June 17, 2008

View Profile Comments: 245 "The Inquistor" is perhaps (PERHAPS) one of Jorn's greatest accomplishments. He and Turner trading vocal lines is just bliss, Joe Lynn sounding so emotional and Lande laying down his lines with the ferocity of the hand of some diety giving the smackdown.. it's incredible. It STILL blows me away. Lande has an amazing discography. How many other vocalists have managed to align themselves with so many quality acts and recordings in the same time period as Jorn has? Not many.... Posted by Alanna (Staff) Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Comment by frehleyscomic (Member) - Friday, June 27, 2008

View Profile Comments: 1 Ratings: 0 Thats gotta be the BEST review written i've ever seen for any album, you got a way with words ALana. I LOVE JORN and have every album he has ever recorded, the USA needs to find out who this guy is. I have sent cdrs of his to my local Rock Stations here and they actually play his stuff for me so maybe one day he will be a success in America as he is in other parts of the world. P.S I ran into Jorn unexpectedly the day before his Headlining show @ Progpower USA 7 in Atlanta and offered him one of my beers and he happily accepeted it and proceeded to hang out and take pics with a bunch of people and sign stuff, he was soooo cool and laid back it was surreal. And he KILLED at the concert the next night! Posted by frehleyscomic Friday, June 27, 2008

Comment by Alanna (Staff) - Saturday, June 28, 2008

View Profile Comments: 245 frehleyscomic: All i can say is: Thank you! I appreciate the kind comments. And of course I agree that Jorn is something special indeed! Posted by Alanna (Staff) Saturday, June 28, 2008