Eclipse Rescue Rooms Nottingham 19-4-17

Sometimes a band comes on and you wonder who booked them for the tour that they are on and this was one of them.Franklin Zoo played a fuzzed up Black Sabbath/Alice In Chains sound that left the crowd in near silence!!

Luckily we all knew that One Desire were up next and with their debut cd released on Frontiers Records Srl a couple of weeks back has caused quite a stir in the melodic rock community.Within seconds of hitting the stage and breaking into their debut single Hurt that has had a huge near 360000 hits on youtube we knew we were watching something that could be very special.
The band Jimmy Westerlund on guitars,André Linman on lead vocals and guitar,Ossi Sivula on drums,Jonas Kuhlberg on bass guitar and with an added on the road keyboard player had only played their debut gig 6 days before but you would have never known.They must have rehearsed extensively as they were so very tight both musically and also vocally with both Linman and Westerburg's joint and backing vocals superb and also they traded guitar solo's too both showing dexterity and flair and always melodic stylings.

Hurt just has something that I haven't heard in a long time with it's heavy riff with keys riff added and a quite superb chorus and back in the day on MTV would have been massive.My first play was wow like that and I am not the only one as the reception they got from the crowd for a brand new band was amazing.

In their 35 minute set we got 7 of the debut cd's 10 songs with the Erik Martensson co written Apologize coming across a little heavier in the live setting but losing none of it's melodic appeal.

Love the summer feel to the fun Love Injection and their last 3 songs covered all of the bases.Ballad of the year This Is Where The Heartbreak Begins was superb with a scintillating chorus and Whenever I'm Dreaming was a brooding rocker and then Buried Alive (another Martensson co write) finished the set in style with it's metal edge backed by keys giving it a real depth and they left to a huge ovation.

If that is what they can do 2 shows into a career then we need to hold onto our hats as this will be a meteoric ride.

Eclipse can do no wrong in my eyes with album after album of upbeat top quality melodic rock with big choruses and even bigger guitars that make you want to raise your fist and scream the chorus back to them.

Recently released Monumentum has quite incredibly topped their back catalogue and it must have been a nightmare to decide what to play live as all 11 songs would fit.They have decided on 6 and topped up with a career best of this was a very special 70 minutes indeed.

Live Eclipse hit hard with Erik adding guitar to plenty of songs and he is an engaging front man asking the crowd for more at all times and never letting the pace dip and for a Wednesday night the crowd were vociferous in their approval.

Vertigo and Never Look Back off the new cd were greeted like long lost family friends with big big choruses and a pounding rhythm from new drummer Philip Crusner who is a character pulling different faces at photographers at every beat.

To Erik's right is Magnus Henriksen who's riffs are what Eclipse is built on and his short fiery guitar solo's always only add to the songs.

New album tunes included the fantastic ballad Hurt where Erik pored his very heart and soul into every word and showed off his melodic tendencies perfectly and his vocal range.
Jaded is stunning with Erik's guitar adding to the crunch and the chorus soared to the roof tops.A lot of Eclipse's choruses are huge and Erik's vocals are stunning and his technique shines through and he must have had breathing training as not many vocalist's could master such a tough regime.

Mid set with Erik on acoustic and Magnus's superb picked guitar melodies on a stunning Battlegrounds with the crowd joining at every opportunity was a highlight and with such a heavy set it showed off the band's melodies in another way.

Black Rain has a little drop in pace but makes up for it with it's heavy riff and Downfall Of Eden shone with it's Celtic tinged guitar soloing excellent.

Euro vision song Runaways was a welcome addition and Bleed And Scream ended a quite wonderful evening.

Eclipse are at the fore front of melodic rock and with a superb live show and Monumentum now in the racks there is no stopping their ascent to greatness.