Nubian Rose-Metal Revolution

Limewire/Cargo Records
2014

It's a well-known secret that I harbor a deep love of female-fronted rock, hard rock and heavy metal. That much should be said before I submit to you, the regular readers of my numerous rants and ramblings (otherwise known as reviews!) my coverage of  Nubian Rose's "Metal Revolution". But least you think that statement gives any band with a female vocalist an easy pass you would be mistaken. Like their male counterparts, female vocalists can range from great to ghastly. They can reach new heights of excellent or establish new lows for the genre. And obviously they can fall anywhere in-between those extremes. Women can do anything on the mic that men can and we are well past the point of that idea even being a subject that should be discussed. All of that brings me around to the struggle I had with this album. Or if you will the coverage of this album. Some wonderful people that I highly respect have brought up the point as to whether or not there should be "female-fronted" metal and "regular metal as opposed to simply "metal"? Should we as fans and critics alike really be making the distinction or is there still something to be gained by way of the classification "female fronted"? This is in no way a cop out on my part, but I can see the benefits and flaws of both arguments. For example take Stockholm's Nubian Rose. By dubbing the band "female-fronted" we are all at once painting them into a corner while also highlighting what makes them so special to begin with and that would be Sofia Lilja's amazing voice! It's a catch 22 as you don't want to take anything away from the fact that Sofia Lilja is absolutely brilliant on the mic (thus making "Metal Revolution" a hell of a radio-friendly melodic hard rock masterpiece!), but you also don't want to bypass the solid-rock standing that is Nubian Rose as a group. And make no mistaken about it friends. When it comes to the music on "Metal Revolution" this Swedish rock band is smoking hot! Guitarist Christer Åkerlund leads a smoldering line-up of talented musicians including Thomas LIndgren (guitar), Henrik Uhrbom (bass), David Algesten (drums) and Fredrik Åkerlund (keyboards) and with 80's bands such as Whitesnake, Dio, Scorpions and Michael Schenker (their listed influences) mixing it up with the likes of Van Halen, Kiss, Def Leppard and Guns 'N Roses (other influences not mentioned, but nonetheless there) the one feeling that you take away from an album like "Metal Revolution" is joy! Collectively Nubian Rose is a fresh, young and upcoming band that is chock full of yesterday's hard rock and heavy metal's attitude. But then again, Nubian Rose is remarkably a band that isn't afraid to let melody and the fundamental elements of rock and roll flow unrestricted through the course of their music. Taking all of that into account then does it really matter how we label acts like this? In the end isn't it more important how a band actually sounds then whether we call them "female-fronted" or not? Or is it all an argument better saved for another day? I'm leaning towards the latter as it simply doesn't get any better then a band like Nubian Rose and that goes for Sofia Lilja's enchanting voice and the first-rate Swedish musician's who surround her! For more information on Nubian Rose and their can't miss sophomore album "Metal Revolution" be sure to check out the band's official website here: http://www.nubianrose.com/Nubian_ROse/NUBIAN_ROSE_FRAM.html  Meanwhile the band's Facebook page can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/NubianRoseTheBand