Pretty Maids - Pandemonium
Frontiers Records
Melodic Metal
11 songs ()
Release year: 2010
Pretty Maids, Frontiers Records
Reviewed by Chris
Major event

Pretty Maids have been a long favorite of mine, since Future World actually, the song (and album) that got me hooked to the band under a minute or so. Since then it's been up and downs. Don't get me wrong, the band has amazing albums and a collection of classic songs that you wouldn't be able to stuck into a single slab of CD… Yet there has been some mistakes along the way, like Stripped to name the worst of them. And while the signature vocals and heavenly melodic power of the band makes it one of a kind, there is no denying that some albums were passable at best.

So here we come with a 2010 new album from the Danish metallers. The promo came with a description saying this is their strongest effort since Future World. That's a bold statement, one that I wouldn't venture writing down, but well we all know labels try to attract our attention this way. So how is Pandemonium ? The first song is a strong opener, the keys in the beginning aching to remind you Future World indeed. The broken glass is also a great effect… This song is a KILLER Pretty Maids song like we haven't heard in a while, and it announces only good things for the rest of the album. The Second song I.N.V.U is a much slower song overall, but the powerful chorus and strong metal sound and pitch perfect production brings life to this track as well. Little Drops of Heaven is an oddity, it starts like a techno, house or whatever (sorry I'm not very good at identifying other styles) and it's odd at first, but as soon as the unbeleviably powerfuly melodic chorus kicks in with its fair share power soon transforms this song into an instant classic ! One of the catchiest song I've ever heard, literally. I'm not gonna go over each and every one of the songs, you know I don't like to that :), plus I think you need to get some surprise listening to the album on your own. There are many more great songs in this album, and very little to complain about. Ronnie's vocals are as mighty as ever, the production is so crystal clear it makes it difficult to listen to anything else after that album. The metal factor is there, even though there are some "popish" elements thrown in, but makes no mistake, this is mostly a metal blast ! On the other highlights songs wise I would mention One World One Truth, Cielo Drive & It Comes At Night. Beautiful Madness reminds me of Alice Cooper, god knows why though... There is the usual balads that will make an Pretty Maids album complete, though Old Enough To Know, while a great ballad slash mid-tempo, is far from the classics ballads like Please Don't Leave Me or Know It Ain't Easy and all the other powerful ballads the band delivered in the last 25+ years. Breathless is much better in that department, maybe not in the top 5 ballads of the band, but the next best thing. A wonderful, powerful, emotional ballad like only Pretty Maids know how to write and deliver, definitely another highlight of this great album.

In the end Pandemonium is a wonderful album, strong and powerful, melodic and catchy, and a return to full form for the Danish metallers ! Let's hope the peak performance of the band doesn't make this the best album to come in a long while. I'm a huge fan of Pretty Maids, heck I couldn't extirpate myself from their live performance to see the first Axxis live performance in my first or second Wacken attendance, I wanted to see Axxis, but Pretty Maids was rocking the festival so powerfully, it was humanly impossible to move. But I also always fear the follow-up of a grand album with this band... they tend to have difficulty aligning two killer albums in a row (at least in the last 15 years), le'ts hope they can prove me wrong soon enough. So is it the best album since Future World ? Well, it's a difficult choice and it's not clear cut, it's definitively one of their strongest album, but let's not forget Jump The Gun or Spooked either, those two are just a nudge under Future World, so it's not an easy decision. All I can tell you is that if you love the band, then Pandemonium WILL satisfy you in many ways. A grand album through and through ! Thumbs up Pretty Maids, keep it up !

Killing Songs :
Pandemonium, Little Drops of Heaven, Cielo Drive, It Comes At Night and Breathless.
Chris quoted 92 / 100
Other albums by Pretty Maids that we have reviewed:
Pretty Maids - Undress Your Madness reviewed by Andy and quoted 78 / 100
Pretty Maids - Louder Than Ever reviewed by Chris and quoted 84 / 100
Pretty Maids - Motherland reviewed by Chris and quoted 100 / 100
Pretty Maids - Scream reviewed by Ben and quoted 76 / 100
Pretty Maids - Wake Up To The Real World reviewed by Mike and quoted 90 / 100
To see all 13 reviews click here
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