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Fate: If Not For The Devil

Melodic Hard Rock/Metal

4.5/5.0

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Avenue Of Allies
by Craig Hartranft
11.13.2013

Having been resurrected at the turn of the century, Danish hard rockers and Eighties legends, Fate return with their seventh album If Not For The Devil, and a stable lineup. A crew that includes only one original member, Peter Steincke, but also has terrific guitar player Torben Enevoldsen (Section A, Fatal Force, et al).

Fate: brought them together.

As fate would have it, Fate ventures little from their classic melodic hard rock sound. The songs within this album are a good blend of that sound with the edge of metal in many songs, yet all enveloped in an AOR wrapper. Besides Enevoldsen's spry guitar work, another strong feature of Fate and this album is vocalist Dagfinn Joensen, who has a strong, clean, and often soaring voice.

For some the more edgier, metal-ish, hard rock, look no further than the beginning with Reaping and If Not For The Devil, the former sound much like power metal. You get more heavier stuff with Made Of Stone, which has a thumping back beat, and Man Against The Wall. Yet this song bumps up the rock groove and gets seasoned with bright synths (which are used effectively across the entire album). More potent rock groove also comes with Bridges Are Burning and Feel Like Making Love, which displays that accessible AOR wrapper. More could probably be said about this recording, but this should be enough to give a small taste and encourage you to check out If Not For The Devil. Easily recommended.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

With If Not For The Devil, Fate strays little from their classic melodic hard rock sound, and with good reason. They're darn good at it.

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The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]