There are times when a solo album of a known musician surprises us all in a bad way, due the extreme differences between both works. Some fans always forget that a solo album is an interior need of the musician we are talking about to express his/her’s other musical visions. But let’s be honest:
IMPERA, the musical project of Swedish drummer
Johan Kihlberg, shows an amazing form of music on
“Age of Discovery”.
On this album, you won’t find anything different you heard before, because on the songs pulses the purest and excellent Hard Rock/AOR essence, but with a whole modern insight. It was done and recorded in a way that the songs are amazingly catchy and tasteful to our hearts. The songs sound honest and always with very good amounts of energy and accessible arrangements. So be prepared, because
“Age of Discovery” will seduce you in a way that you couldn’t think of! As a project with many musicians, the first invitation was sent to the guitarist
Lars Chriss, who worked along with
Johan on the production of the album.And they built a strong, powerful and heavy sound quality, but with a modern and clean aesthetics that fits perfectly on the songs.
On the 10 songs of
“Age of Discovery”, it’s a hard work to choose the best ones, because the choruses are charming, the instrumental parts are excellent, and the vocalists did their best. But as just a reference for you all (and to keep my editor-in-chief happy, because I can lose my head if he becomes angry), but the heavy and bitter energy of
“That’s the Way That Life Goes”, the accessible rhythms and insight used on
“Fear”, the charming elegance of
“The End of the Road”, the fine and accessible melodies of
“Just a Conversation” (very good vocals and keyboards parts), the excellent guitars and backing vocals shown on
“The Right Stuff”, and the heavy weight shaped by melodic and good rhythmic work of
“It’s a Revolution” are the ones you can hear on the first time. But on the second, you’ll be in love with the album.
Listen to it and buy it at any cost!
Originality: 8
Songwriting: 10
Memorability: 9
Production: 9