FRONTLINE – The Seventh Sign

Frontline from Nurnberg, Germany, has been around since 1989, although their debut album didn’t hit the stores until 1994. The State of Rock is still regarded as their best album by most Frontline fans. Ten years later, record #7 is here: The Seventh Sign.

This is a record full of Melodic Rock with Heavy Metal guitars. The songs are catchy and easy to sing along to. It’s an enjoyable album, no doubt, but it seems like this record belongs in the 1980s. If Whitesnake, Styx, or Heart was your cup of tea back then, well, most likely you’ll enjoy this album as well.

Frontline has put a lot of work and passion into the album, and it shows, but will this be their big international breakthrough? Probably not … It’s great to reminisce for those of us who remember and loved the 1980s, but alas, we’ve seen and heard it all before.

The Seventh Sign is a great album for the brokenhearted with lyrics like, “You never wanted me, you never needed me,” and “Where is the love?” This must be the most lovesick German band since the Scorpions and it’s on the verge of sounding a bit pathetic. Luckily, Frontline has Robby Bobel on guitars, and his guitar solos save us all from misery and despair.

Vocals by Stephan Kammerer fit well with the music, and it’s very obvious that the music is made especially for his voice, with not a lot of high or difficult tones. His voice, though, sounds a bit vague at times, especially on “Like You Do” and “Getaway.”

The great songs on the album are “This Lie” and “Take Me Higher”- typical hit material. Although following the 1980s mold elsewhere throughout the album, the last two tracks, “This Is My Life” and “You Never Cried,” seem a bit more modern than the others via use of special effects with Kammerers’ voice and a harder guitar sound … kind of makes you think that maybe we’ll hear more from these Germans in the future after all!