Fullforce is one of many bands in the ever-extending line of
HammerFall members. Since HammerFall is my favourite band, I’ve made it my goal
to collect all of these albums, and Fullforce’s second record is one of the
best ones I’ve heard yet! If you are familiar with Full Strike (another Stefan
Elmgren band), you will certainly feel right at home listening to “Next Level”.
Musically, this record is more on the traditional heavy metal side than the
power metal. In fact, it’s really more hard rocking and simplistic, but it’s
still very entertaining.
With 13 songs clocking in at 50 minutes, Fullforce really
puts in effort to make each track standout. Things jump from the AOR/hard rock
stylings of “A Night To Remember” to the anthemic “Awesomeness”, to ballads
like “Smile at the World” and “Strongest Thing of All”. This is one record
where it’s very easy to like some songs and dislike others, but ultimately,
none of the songs are weaker than others, they are just different. Because of
the relatively simplistic song structures, two things about “Next Level” stand
out: the guitar solos and Mike Andersson’s vocals. While these guitar solos are
not particularly flashy, they compliment the music perfectly. If you are
familiar with Stefan Elmgren’s work in HammerFall, you can expect work of
similar quality. The surprise to me was Andersson’s vocals. I found the vocals
to be the weakest part of Full Strike, but Fullforce make no mistake in having an excellent singer. Andersson has a wide range that isn’t just focused in the
high end. On the softer songs, his voice is very soothing; however, he also has
a powerful approach that comes through on the more epic songs. The rhythm
section on “Next Level” is perfect for the sound Fullforce has. Don’t expect
too much double-bass, or really anything beyond a simple 4-4 beat, but that’s
just the style the band plays. Again, don’t take simplistic as a negative. This
is really the kind of music that you can throw on and not think too hard about.
It has the same charm that bands like Riot and Scorpions have, just in a more
metal way.
Fullforce’s “Next Level” is beyond being a satisfying
releasing. If you take metal too seriously, you probably won’t enjoy this
record; however, if you can just appreciate it as 5 guys making fun, catchy
music, it is easy to get into. Everything I’ve heard from their first album
indicates that it was more of the same. Hopefully the band can keep pumping out
this kind of quality!
Be sure to check out and like Fullforce on Facebook!
Highlights
"Back To Life"
"Awesomeness"
"Strongest Thing of All"
Final Rating
4.3/5 or 86%.