The demo-offerings I’ve received from my long-time hometown of Lappeenranta have been mostly in the harder vein of metal from thrash and death to hardcore. Mind Infection is the first one in a long time to present an unashamed slab of hard rock in very melodic fashion on my table.

The two-track disc kicks it off with Die Another Day (no, not a Madonna-cover, thank satan) kicks it off with a meaty guitar riff and very nice harmonized leads. Vocalist Tuomas has a good voice aching to the glory days of the 1980s, but work is still to be done in confidence and power on the most impressive notes. When reaching higher in the long, Jon Bon Jovi-esque stretches, faltering is present. All qualities that will come over time with hard work.

Liar picks it up with catchy lead work again in the intro and following riffage that reminds me a lot of the early days of Mötley Crüe. The lyrical content is standard form Sunset Strip street tales, which could use some of the sleaze that some of this bands influencers were so fluent in.

The production is good for a demo, although the bass drum gets a bit buried at times. I also am lightly confused at the huge amount of echoing in the vocals. Not a bad thing, but puzzling. As I also so often remark with demos, more bass into the mix, please. I like to have it pounding my skull in. For fans of hard rock and good melodies, Mind Infection is definitely worth checking out.