SEVEN WISHES – Destination: Alive

Destination: Alive is the third release of Swedish Metal band Seven Wishes (… not to be confused with Seven Witches, the band featuring guitarist Jack Frost, x-member of Savatage) – their first album on the MTM Music label. The title might lead one to think this is a live album, but it’s not.

The title track, the disc’s first, happens to be one of those short and pointless keyboard intros that a lot of Metal bands (for some reason) find important to add. After a short minute of boredom (that’s not long, but the piece is meaningless enough to make you want to skip it), Seven Wishes gets on with some good stuff. Track two, “Cross My Heart,” is a great tune. The lyrics fail to click at certain points, but all together, thanks to some great drumming and a catchy chorus, this song pours with joyful Heavy Metal.

Thereafter, songs like the mid-tempo “Won’t See Me Cry,” the catchy “Goes Around Comes Around,” the TNT sounding “See Through The Lies,” and the final track, “Like A Cardhouse,” prove that Seven Wishes sure know how to combines melodic vocal lines with powerful Metal.

It all sounds very Swedish … and that’s not a bad thing. One may associate Seven Wishes with, for example, their brilliant countrymen, Dream Evil, but they by far lack the edge in their music to achieve (or deserve) descriptions like challenging or daring. This is nice Metal, and one might wonder how it is possible to record a Metal album with less rawness or aggression.

In between their strongest moments, a few tracks will may leave you a bit confused. “Fortuneteller,” for example, has a lot of Pop elements in it and some odd lyrics like Take my hand, I’ll tell you who you are, ‘cause I’m a fortuneteller/. Sure.

On “Time To Say Goodbye,” a ballad, the vocal arrangement goes Madonna-style, and the words could just as well have been found on a “boy band” album.

Not to confuse the issue, however, because Destination: Alive sure is a fine Metal album for fans of Light Metal – those who are comfortable with their inner demons and those who have a balanced relationship with their surroundings. If you need a Metal album to be the soundtrack for your pain and misery … or your need for plain ole’ headbanging, you should probably look elsewhere.

Lineup

Pelle Andersson – Vocals
Tony Westgard – Bass
Toby Andersson – Guitar
Lennart ‘Leonid’ Karlsson – Drums