{"id":50787,"date":"2015-12-23T09:57:31","date_gmt":"2015-12-23T14:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=50787"},"modified":"2015-12-23T09:57:31","modified_gmt":"2015-12-23T14:57:31","slug":"the-poodles-devil-in-the-details-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/the-poodles-devil-in-the-details-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Poodles | Devil In The Details<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Sr. Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"TheWhatever seemed to be swept away by a giant grunge wave twenty years ago, now is back in all its bombastic, melodic glory. Recent years brought a huge number of new bands trying to emulate, at their best, the \u201880s Glam\/Hair Metal or Melodic Hard Rock. The older fans relished the nostalgia while the younger generation \u2013 those not able to witness the actual heyday of the \u201880s Rock \u2013 embraced these groups\u2019 21st century swagger. One of such bands who embodied the resurgence of all things \u201880s \u2013 but with a modern twist to it \u2013 was The Poodles. In spite of their rather humorous moniker, the Swedish ensemble was rather serious in their claim that \u201cMetal will stand tall\u201d. And so will they, apparently, as 2015 saw the release of their sixth album Devil In The Details<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The opening track \u201cBefore I Die\u201d pretty much sets the direction for the rest of the tunes on the album, with its big stadium Rock feel, thick, pulsating drums and synth-tinted melody. \u201cHouse Of Cards\u201d relies more on the guitar-laden groove than its predecessor, with a generous dose of catchiness to the well-crafted chorus. First seconds into \u201cThe Greatest,\u201d the listener\u2019s eyebrows may go up a little bit. This mid-tempo essentially shows The Poodles at their poppiest \u2013 which is certainly not their worst, just a bit odd maybe. A return to the band\u2019s more typical Pomp Rock sound is marked by the song number four, a feisty piece entitled \u201cCrack In The Wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the opening riff to \u201c(What The Hell) Baby\u201d brings to mind is nothing else but the 8bit video game music \u2013 in all its hectoring, \u2018chipstyle\u2019 glory. Surprising? Think of this demure, robotic theme evolving into a huge, groovy track with clearly funky vibe to it. An interlude reach in harmony vocals \u2013 in vein of Queen and Revenge-era KISS \u2013 wasn\u2019t all that necessary perhaps, but it still doesn\u2019t stop \u201c(What The Hell) Baby\u201d from being one of the album\u2019s highlights. \u201cEverything\u201d is the other, with its infectiously bombastic chorus that harkens back to the revival of Scandi Melodic Rock and Wig Wam\u2019s \u201cIn My Dreams\u201d era. <\/p>\n

Next are the feisty groove of drum-driven \u201cStop\u201d and an obvious Zeppelin-esque flavor to \u201cNeed To Believe.\u201d An even if some Jimmy Page\u2019s fans may find themselves slightly grinding their teeth at the latter \u2013 don\u2019t worry, it\u2019s no \u201cCome With Me,\u201d but a neat piece of Progressive-tinted Hard Rock instead. On the other hand, the ninth track \u201cAlive\u201d seems a bit uninspired at first and one would have been eager to call it a filler if it hadn\u2019t been for the blistering guitar solo. \u201cLife Without You\u201d and \u201cCreator And Breaker\u201d are both bombastic rockers rich in clich\u00e9s and strongly embedded in the group\u2019s trademark style. Preceded with a short but powerful drum intro, a soaring mid-tempo \u201cBorderline\u201d closes the entire album on a particularly high, AOR-ish note with a total number of 12 songs included. <\/p>\n

Six albums already under their belt, The Poodles are not a passing fad or a novelty to the music industry anymore. They don\u2019t have to struggle in quest of their own style or question their authenticity anymore. They do what they\u2019re best at instead, a catchy but powerful mixture of Pomp Rock and Heavy Metal. Speaking shortly, Devil In The Details is an album that their fans have surely welcomed with open arms. And also \u2013 the one to have secured itself a place on all Melodic Hard Rock\/Glam Metal-oriented Top 2015 lists. With their sixth effort, The Poodles prove that \u2013 in spite of the revolving door of singers fronting Crashd\u00efet, Wig Wam\u2019s disbandment and the boyband-esque flavor to Reckless Love \u2013 the mid 2000s Glam Metal resurgence is still a force to be reckoned with. <\/p>\n

Genre: Glam Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJakob Samuel – Vocals
\nHenrik Bergqvist – Guitars
\nJohan Flodqvist – Bass
\nChristian Lundqvist \u2013 Drums<\/p>\n

Track List:
\n1. Before I Die
\n2. House Of Cards
\n3. The Greatest
\n4. Crack In The Wall
\n5. (What The Hell) Baby
\n6. Everything
\n7. Stop
\n8. Need To Believe
\n9. Alive
\n10. Life Without You
\n11. Creator And Breaker
\n12. Borderline<\/p>\n

Label: Gain Music<\/p>\n

Website: www.thepoodles.se<\/a> – www.facebook.com\/thepoodles\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Sr. Columnist — Whatever seemed to be swept away by a giant grunge wave twenty years ago, now is back in all its bombastic, melodic glory. Recent years brought a huge […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":50788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[2317,11909,11910,1094,1103,2491,8524],"class_list":{"0":"post-50787","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-devil-in-the-details","10":"tag-gain-music","11":"tag-glam-metal","12":"tag-hard-rock","13":"tag-heavy-metal","14":"tag-the-poodles"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}