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Issa: Run With The Pack
Issa - Run With The Pack Music Review

Issa: Run With The Pack

Melodic Hard Rock
4.5/5.0

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Frontiers Music
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 04.04.2018

What goes around comes around. Three years since Crossfire, Norwegian vocal diva Issa Oversveen returns with her fifth solo album Run With The Pack. The album unites Issa with well-known songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Alessandro Del Vecchio for something of a return to her past.

Issa Oversveen Photo

Issa Oversveen

Or call it deja vu all over again. Run With The Pack finds Issa swerving back to the melodic hard rock of her very first album. I would even add that this album is even heavier, with most every song having a metal edge. This is not to say the AOR quality and accessibility are missing from the music. That's not even possible with a melodic guru like Del Vecchio at the helm.

Nevertheless, many songs pack a punch with strong riffs, a booming rhythm section, and downright bristling guitar solos from DGM's Simone Mularoni. Notable metal-infused hard rockers come with Am I Losing You, Run With The Pack, Irreplaceable, and Closer To You. Even "lighter" anthems such as The Sound Of Yesterday or Bittersweet are swollen with a wall of thick metal size riffage and a deep thundering rhythm section. Yet, even with the heaviness, these songs turn on AOR accessibility, whether by inherent melody, Issa's vocal harmony, or a sweet refrain.

But there are songs where those things are bumped up and the metal edge tapped down such as Talk To Your Heart, How Long, the true ballad Everything To Me, and possibly Sacrifice Me which features a duet with Revolution Saints' Deen Castronovo. I say possibly for that song because it also has sharp riffage and a tough bottom end. But, like all the songs here, the AOR quality is undeniable in the song's melody and infectious chorus. Perhaps the only difficulty here is that this metalish edge has the means to overwhelm Issa's voice, at times. Nevertheless, Issa's Run With The Pack is strong and ambitious album of melodic hard rock, infused with a metal edge, yet bristling AOR accessibility. Recommended.



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The Bottom Line

Issa's Run With The Pack is strong and ambitious album of melodic hard rock, infused with a metal edge, yet bristling AOR accessibility. Recommended.

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