One of the most important releases came to my hands very early, and the only thing that I can say is that I am very happy about that. I’m talking about The Poodles, a band that within 3-4 years and with two equal amazing LP’s became the best new melodic band in Europe at the moment. This year’s third studio effort was the big bet for the band. Is The Poodles one of the best melodic metal/hard rock bands of our decade? The answer is absolutely yes, despite the anxiety that was born after the exodus of their guitar player for Hammerfall. His replacement, Henrik Bergqvist, who didn’t impress me much at last year’s Sweden Rock festival (this was his first live appearance with the band, so the critic isn’t really fair), totally fills all requirements of his role, and maybe he is the reason for the freshness that exists in the whole album.

“Clash Of the Elements” surprises with its first song which is a beautiful ballad with very strong melodies that functions like an intro for the rock ’n’ roll party that follows, with “Caroline” and “Like No Tomorrow” being only two of the many new songs that if they had been released like twenty years ago they would have now been classics. “I Rule The Night” is the big hit of the album and it is equal to the great “Night Of Passion”, while “7 Days And 7 nights” has the best chorus I have heard within this year. The new album contains 14 tracks and even though at first I thought that were some fillers, after a few more listens they also grew up in my assessment. However, I generally believe that 11-12 songs are enough for a studio album – furthermore all classic albums contained 8 or 10 songs. 

The production this time is more pop-ish than in the previous albums, especially their first one, and this makes the malicious description of them as a Eurovision metal band reasonable. Personally, I don’t think that it is bad and, after all, what really matters is the songs. And with their great new songs, The Poodles will lift you up!