Oct 282 min read

Tommy Denander - 'Cut In Ice - Revisited'

Thanks, Tommy Denander, for your contribution to music over the last forty years... long may it continue.

If you’re a fan of Melodic Rock, and you’ve bought the odd CD or two over the last four decades, chances are you own multiple albums featuring the talents of guitarist, songwriter and producer Tommy Denander. At the tender age of fifteen, the young Scandinavian signed his first record contract with the Swedish Hard Rock band ATC, who released their one and only album ‘Cut In Ice’ via Polygram / Vertigo in 1984. So, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of how it all started, Denander decided to re-record the whole ATC album, together with new American singer Rob Blake and drummer Neil Anami. The limited edition (500 CD’s) also contains a booklet, and also features the whole story of the band, plus lots of never-before-seen pictures.

This is not your archetypical guitar playing from Denander; instead, this is him channelling his inner “Rockstar”, and shredding like there’s no tomorrow.

Opener, ‘Cut In Ice’ sounds like it could have come off Def Leppard’s opus ‘High ‘n’ Dry’, and sets the scene for eight tracks of Melodic Hard Rock that never fears to step into the Melodic Metal genre. ‘I’m Alive’ continues, and is reminiscent of early Dokken, whilst the shredding intensifies further with ‘Reach Out’.

‘Above The Clouds’ is split in to two sections, with ‘Part 1’ being an impressive instrumental, before the vocals kick in at the minute-and-a-half mark for ‘Part 2’; the whole track is eight-minutes of pure Melodic Metal heaven. ‘Hard To Believe’ has a more commercial feel à la Dokken, whilst the riffs in ‘It’s Alright’ and ‘Bursting Out’ take a casual nod to the bands of the NWOBHM, with the latter containing a huge Saxon-like riff. The album concludes with ‘Nobody’s Heroes’, which sees more intense shredding, not seen since Boris Johnson and the “Partygate” saga.

I have to confess that I’ve never actually heard the original album, so comparisons are futile, albeit to say, Blake does a great job on vocals. The up-to-date production, whilst making it an enjoyable listen, does not detract from the fact that these were songs originally written four decades ago. The album contains a plethora of tectonic-style riffs, plus more solos than a Star Wars convention.

Thanks, Tommy Denander, for your contribution to music over the last forty years... long may it continue.

Reviewer: Mark Donnelly

Label: Pride & Joy

Genre: Hard Rock

Issue Reviewed In: 108

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