Review: Scandic Tribe- Light at the End

Scandic Tribe are a new rock band from Norway,

according to them, the upcoming album, Light at the End is a concept one, and is slated to arrive on vinyl, which is great, in March of this year.

I dug the first song, Dusty Sunrise, which reminded me a bit of a lighter take on something that wouldn't sound out of place on Judas Priest's Point of Entry album, with a slight AOR touch as well.

The second song, Only Time Will Heal, is a more bouyant and funky song, that has some vocal harmonies that recall classic Kings X a little bit.

The third song (Fourth if you count the intro), Heaven, kind of reminded me of Dokken a little bit, and this was pretty cool.

Revolution of Confusion follows, and almost sounds like a modern version of something that would be on one of Deep Purple's Coverdale era albums, a slower, bluesy ride with a few moments of bombast thrown in.

On Life is Good, the album takes an unexpected turn. I wasn't really anticipating this, so it came as kind of a shock. The song has that 90's half ballad vibe that recalls some of the Jangle Pop/Jam Rock hits like those of Gin Blossoms or Counting Crows! Yes, it might be a weird comparison, but this actually continues in the latter half of the album. I am sure though, just to note, that because the band has overt 70's rock or (possibly) folk rock influences, that they share those with the aforementioned bands more than likely, rather than being (necessarily) influenced by the ones mentioned earlier.

The next song also continues the about face that this album has taken, but with a better vocal delivery than the prior one. Even if sometimes the vocals seem a bit overwrought on the mellower numbers, it works a lot better in this particular song.

Angel is an instrumental that has a bit of a mellow Hendrix vibe, a few of the previous songs have a bit of this, but on this track it's full on, intermixed with some 70's prog rock style volume swells that intermix with cool guitar harmonies.

My Sweet Baby Valentine continues in this vein as well, but to me is the weakest song on here, I don't think the vocal style works within the context of this song, and even though there are cool guitar parts as well as some strings, a more laid back vocal with more subtlety would have worked a lot better here. The slight neoclassical guitar solo bits are cool though

Heroes has that mellow vibe In the beginning but brings back the rock full on in it's second half. It's probably one of the best songs that has a triumphant vibe and lyrical vibe about it. I was reminded a bit of the band Ten (hard rock band) in the second half, and I enjoyed this quite a bit. The vocal delivery in the first half is exactly what was missing in some ways on the prior track.

Sad Time is a bit of a downer to end the album, it's another one in the style of the mellow tracks on here, and it doesn't stand out in the way the prior track did other than maybe a bit of a change of pace with a Saxophone part.

Overall, the band has potential, and unique qualities that make them stand out. The main contentions I have is that the band almost seems schizophrenic in a way, with the heavier, nearly metal tracks in the beginning and then going to a mellower style, this could confuse people in some ways, and could be better balanced in between these two styles.

The heavier tracks could use a few more solos (as the guitarist is definitely capable of) as well. My main criticism though is with the vocals. The vocalist has technique and style, but seems to be in “overdrive” throughout the whole thing. He does some terrific vocal harmonies and parts, but the caterwauling style used on the mellower tracks could be tamed to fit those songs better, while the heavy songs obviously fit this style perfectly.

The album's production is clean, and being assisted by the legendary Roy Z, is certainly something to note. 

You can get information on Scandic Tribe utilizing the following links:

www.scandictribe.com
facebook.com/scandictribe
instagram.com/candictribe
twitter.com/scandictribe
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-VnIg1G0E6-5R1-ttQnR8w