REVERTIGO is a band/album by close friends Mats Levén (vocals) and Anders Wikström (guitar). They began working on it in 2016, and by September, a 3 song demo had found its way to Frontiers Srl who immediately signed the band.

The year is now 2018 and the album is finally ready to drop, and it has been worth the wait. The opening track “Hoodwinked” fires up the energy with a great guitar intro, plus the chorus has a great hook so you find yourself singing along. It’s followed up by the first single “Sailing Stones”, a moody piece that makes for an excellent single as it is a fine example of the overall sound of the band.

Mats Levén is an amazing vocalist, occasionally channeling David Coverdale or the late, great Ronnie James Dio. His powerful singing is a perfect counterpoint to the heavy riffage of Anders Wikström. When you want to listen to a melodic metal album, you want heavy guitars that don’t take away from the melodic impact of the song and in this case, the guitars drive the music forward in such a way that it makes you want to get up, play some air guitar and sing along with the chorus. Other than the drums, which are played by Thomas Broman, Mats and Anders play all the instruments on the album, which makes this achievement even more spectacular.

The 11 songs on the album seem to fly by so quickly that you want to listen to it again immediately afterwards. They manage to incorporate some interesting soundscapes within the album as well, giving a song like “Unobtainium” a bit of an Asian twist, or the slight Indian undertones of “Break Away”. The final track “Revertigo” is like a mission statement for the band, introducing the audience to everything they are trying to get across with their music.

The guitars hit you like a hammer and with a hint of keyboards to beef up the overall sound, this can truly be a heavy album. If you like your metal with heavy riffs, a bit of a progressive feel, often atmospheric, but always melodic, then REVERTIGO is the album for you. Highly recommended.

Album Highlights:

Track 2 – Sailing Stones, the lead single, track 3 – Symphony of Fallen Angels, atmospheric with a touch of the Beatles in there, track 7 – Unobtainium, a great metal ballad, and track 10 – Break Away with it’s absolutely crushing guitar.

Track 8 – Luciferian Break Up features Mats at his best; extremely powerful vocal performance. And track 6 – False Flag is Anders’ highlight for me with it’s shredding guitar solo.

Rating:

Vocals – 9.5/10

Musicianship – 9.5/10

Songwriting – 9/10

Production – 8.5/10

Overall – 9.5/10

Band Members:

Mats Levén – Lead vocals, Guitars, Keyboards

Anders Wikström – Guitars, Bass, Keyboards, Backing vocals

Thomas Broman – Drums

Label – Frontiers Srl

• https://www.facebook.com/ReVertigoOfficial/
• https://www.instagram.com/ReVertigoofficial/

Review by Brett