STONELAKE – Reincarnation

Musician Jan Akesson and singer Peter Grundstrom formed the band StoneLake 15 years after having played together for the first time. Delivering a fierce mix of Heavy Metal and Melodic Hard Rock with touches of Progressive Rock, these guys accomplish their sound with personality and confidence. Although the band is new, the members aren’t new to music, having been part of several other bands, including Whitelight, which was their first effort together.

Their first record, Reincarnation, has a very good graphical presentation, along with great songs and lots of attitude. The cohesiveness demonstrated in this record shows right from the start that the musicians know each other quite well.

The first song, named after the album title “Reincarnation,” has a spoken verse, with atmospheric keyboards, giving a hint of the Progressive touch that the next song, “Strike Me With Love,” has more prominently. With Rush-inspired vocals, Progressive influenced guitars, and a good amount of nice riffs, this next song shows off what to expect from this record. The keyboards on this song do sound good at first, but get quite repetitive through the whole track.

More to the Heavy Metal end, “Saint or Evil” has powerful and heavy guitar riffing, and probably the most aggressive vocals in the record. The keyboard work really adds to the song, coloring it up with a professional touch. The solo leads to a more Hard Rock mood, contrasting with the later bridge that has a slight Judas Priest touch to it.

In a lighter setting, the ballad “All I Need” introduces the first real Hard Rock inspirations on the record. The backing vocals are piercing and the keyboards a bit too repetitive once again in this song.

“Mistreated Heart” opens up with a mix of Progressive and Hard Rock and shows the rocker attitude that some songs in this record have. This song is surely one of the album’s highlights. The chorus may sound a bit out of place at first, but it ends up fitting in nicely with the rest of the song. The keyboard work here is certainly a highlight, along with the heavy riffing guitars and power vocals.

“Mason (The Miracle Boy)” is probably the weakest song on this record. The guitar work is good, and the vocals aren’t bad, but the song seems to go nowhere. It just sounds plain, with no surprises or highlights to pick out.

“Walk on the Rainbow” starts up the Hard Rock-oriented section of the record. With a catchy chorus, catchy vocals, love lyrics, and guitar work that fits like a glove with the style, it’s surely impressive.

Catching the hook left from the previous song, “Only One Reason” keeps the Hard Rocking mood, with the same good guitar work and screaming vocals in the chorus. The keyboards can mess up a bit of the mood in this song, but the keyboard solo is a great addition, along with the keyboard work in the bridge, but it’s a very well-written song overall. This is another of the record’s highlights.

Closing the Hard Rocker section of Reincarnation, “Call My Name” has all the elements that make a good Rock song, with guitar and vocals that remind of earlier Helloween records. You’ll probably find yourself singing along to the chorus in this song, as it’s very catchy.

Back to the Progressive, Hard Rock feel, “Wonderland” is the most impressive song on this record. With nicely laid keyboard and guitar work, masterpiece vocal work, it has elements from all the three styles presented within the album, combined into a piece of art.

“Tsunami” is a memorial song for the Victims in Asia, and does a good job at that, but there’s nothing impressive in this one.

Overall, it’s a great first record, with a bunch of good songs. The recording quality could have been better, despite the flawless artwork and the great music contained in this record.

Lineup

Jan Akesson: Guitars, Bass and Keyboards
Peter Grundstrom: Vocals