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Jaded Heart: Stand Your Ground
Jaded Heart - Stand Your Ground Album Art

Jaded Heart: Stand Your Ground

Heavy Metal Rock
4.0/5.0

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Massacre Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 25.11.2020 | Released: 27.11.2020

Once more we visit with Germany's Jaded Heart. Formed 30 years ago, the band has been a consistent and prodigious purveyor of heavy metal delivering a new studio album about every two years since 1994's Inside Out. With a consistent band lineup since 2014, the quintet returns with their fourteenth studio album, Stand Your Ground. While the band wrote the music for the album, Jaded Heart reached out to Johnny Lindberg to provide lyrics for the songs. Additionally, Stand Your Ground is the first Jaded Heart album without keyboards.

Jaded Heart - Click For Larger Image

Jaded Heart

Alright. No keyboards. Remember when keyboards were the bane of any heavy metal? Some bands, like Edguy, used to hide the synth dude behind the curtains for live shows. Maybe they still do. But I digress. With Jaded Heart, keyboards were mostly an accent or embellishment. Sure, they were there, but you could easily overlook them. So what now? Within Stand Your Ground, most songs turn upon guitar and vocal harmony, hard rock rhythm and groove, and catchy refrains to allow Jaded Heart to put "melodic" into their heavy metal rock. More fundamentally, the songs build upon thick and bold twin guitar riffage, a tough and heavy rhythm section, and more than a little gallop.

Generally, you find these elements appropriated in every song, beginning with sharp riffs roaring over an eager and enthusiastic rhythm section. Speed is added and can quickly excel the songs as the vocals drop in. Then the arrangement lead to some might guitar solos. You'll hear this formula with Hero To Zero, Stand Your Ground, Lost In Confusion, Reap What You Snow, and Self Destruction were the rock groove really comes through. Strong guitar lines, too. Alternatively, Jaded Heart can take a more heavy and steady metal approach with Embrace A Demon, the thumping and heavy Break Free, and Kill Your Masters, which offers some uncommon softer moments in the vocal arrangement. All said, with Stand Your Ground, once more and consistently, Jaded Heart offers fans another album of their assertive and energetic heavy metal rock, with keyboards noticeably absent.




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The Bottom Line

With Stand Your Ground, once more and consistently, Jaded Heart offers fans another album of their assertive and energetic heavy metal rock, with keyboards noticeably absent.

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