Jorn - Lonely Are the Brave
Frontiers Records
Melodic Hard Rock/Heavy Metal
8 songs (45:57)
Release year: 2008
Jorn, Frontiers Records
Reviewed by Thomas

Excluding best offs and live albums; this is Jorn Lande’s 5th solo effort. He seems to be quite a busy man, being involved with both Tobias Sammet’s Avantasia and Ayreon lately. He left his former main band, Masterplan, and has once again joined forces with Russell Allen and Magnus Karlsson for a new Allen & Lande record entitled The Revenge.

Even though this more or less is supposed to be easy listening, I found this to be quite a grower. I didnt like this at all when I first heard it, but I found it pretty good after quite a few spins. For those of you who is expecting something new from the Jorn camp can stop reading here. There is nothing new to find. Jorn sounds like the usual mixture between David Coverdale (Whitesnake), and Ronnie James Dio (Black Sabbath, Dio), being a little more guttural in his screams here and there. Jorn-Viggo Lofstad (Pagans Mind) and Tore Moren(Arcturus), havent changed much either. Their sound is as dirty but clear as always. Opener Lonely Are the Brave is pretty groovy, but it lacks a little of the excitement that an opener should contain, which probably is why I had a hard time getting into this in the beginning. The next track, Night City is pretty boring too. It is mid-paced and slows it all down with boring riffs, and we’re not getting the stunning vocal melodies we’re used to.

Finally. War of the worlds, is a breath of fresh air with more creative riffing, catchy melodies, and with Jorn sounding more like himself. Shadow People is the album’s Stormcrow(From The Duke). Galloping rythm, with catchy riffs, great vocals and even some double-pedaling pleases my ear. Souls of the Wind, is a slow groover, with almost doomish riffs. Man of the Dark picks it all up again with classic heavy metal riffs, sounding a lot like something from Dio’s glory days. Jorn-Viggo shows off his lead skills with a short and melodic solo. He should get more space for leads, as it spices up music that tends to get boring. After the anthemic Promises, its time for the highlight of the album; The Inner Road. All of the members show their best sides, and I’m thinking: ”Why the hell didn't they do this all the way?” The epic Hellfire finishes the album with dirty, slow riffing and dark lyrics. It is a little out of the ordinary, and doesn’t really fit with its almost apocalyptic feel.

All in all, this is a fair effort by Jorn, but this isn't even close to The Duke or Out To Every ation. Firstly, the two guitarists should be allowed to do more solos, as the music tends to get pretty boring every so often. Secondly they should try to write more tempo-filled material. My suggestion is to skip this and go for the earlier releases.

Killing Songs :
Shadow People, Man of the Dark, The Inner Road
Thomas quoted 67 / 100
Marty quoted 80 / 100
Other albums by Jorn that we have reviewed:
Jorn - Spirit Black reviewed by Erik and quoted 76 / 100
Jorn - Dio reviewed by Erik and quoted no quote
Jorn - Unlocking The Past reviewed by Ben and quoted no quote
Jorn - The Duke reviewed by Mike and quoted 71 / 100
Jorn - Out To Every Nation reviewed by Marty and quoted 82 / 100
To see all 7 reviews click here
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