Jorn
The Duke

April 2006
Released: 2006, AFM Records/Sound Pollution
Rating: 5.0/5
Reviewer: Anders Sandvall

The demon singer from Norway is back with a new album, and what an album this genius delivers! It felt like I’ve waited forever on this album but fortunately Jorn released an album with Russell Allen last year (that I was rather disappointed by) that kept me alive while waiting on this. If you think this album is going to sound anything like Masterplan, Jorn’s main band, you’re totally off because THE DUKE is all about that real heavy melodic metal with progressive influences that Jorn does so well.



THE DUKE is Jorn’s 4th solo album and it features 10 tracks, including a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Are You Ready”, where Jorn doesn’t let anything hold him back. Unfortunately, the label cut down the songs by about 20-40 seconds so it’s quite hard to get a full picture of the songs.



A few of the excellent songs that stand out are “Blacksong”, “Stormcrow”, “Midnight Madness” and “Starfire” which all are heavy metal songs of highest brand where Jorn shows us proof of his amazing vocal abilities. On this album, Jorn has also used two guitars which adds a fullness and depth to the sound. Jorn has a similar voice to David Coverdale in Whitesnake and you can sense some Whitesnake vibes here and there.



The material is so well-written and arranged that I almost get speechless. Jorn has released his strongest solo album to date and it’s going to be damn hard to beat it.



Labels: http://www.afm-records.de AND http://www.soundpollution.se