Here we are with the fourth album from the British hard rock trio Edge Of the Blade. The longstanding duo of Alan Kelly and John Francis return, with Spanish guitarist Miguel Ángel Lopez in tow.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Edge Of The Blade
ALBUM: Trick Of The Light
LABEL: Indiegogo / Bandcamp
SERIAL: NA
YEAR: 2023
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: John Francis – lead & backing vocals * Alan Kelly – all instruments, backing vocals * Miguel Ángel Lopez – guitars
TRACK LISTING: 01 Some Kinda Way * 02 Ecstacy * 03 Still Want You Back * 04 Trick Of The Light * 05 Don’t Think That It’s Over * 06 Open Your Heart * 07 Love Has Gone * 08 Love Hate * 09 Broken Heart * 10 Love Stands Tall * 11 Everybody * 12 One Step From Heaven
RATING: 85/100
WEBLINKS: FB Page | Bandcamp Page | Indiegogo Page
Edge Of The Blade Background
Here we are with the fourth album from the British hard rock trio Edge Of The Blade. Click on their tag below to read further reviews we’ve done on them. The longstanding duo of Alan Kelly and John Francis return, with Spanish guitarist Miguel Ángel Lopez (Iron Curtain) in tow.
Edge Of The Blade were previously signed to Escape Music and Lion’s Pride Music. But for ‘Trick Of The Light’ they’ve gone down the indie path, pairing up with Indiegogo. They still have an arrangement with Bandcamp too. Check out the links above.
Upon first hearing the music on ‘Trick Of The Light’ is quite different than previous albums. However, there’s still some heated moments to lift the energy levels up. The track times range from 2 min 46 at its shortest to 4min 36 at its longest. So all very digestible across twelve tracks.
The Songs
There’s a few smooth synth melodies underpinning ‘Some Kinda Way’. Lopez’ guitar work adds the heavier aspect. Despite what I wrote above, this is not light.
‘Ecstacy’ has an unusual keyboard motif running through it. I quite like it though, again Lopez gives this a sonic boost with some effortless soloing.
‘Still Want You Back’ is the albums first ballad. The mellow verses soon make way for a series of power chords. These come crashing down at well placed juncture points through the song.
Ambient synths precede the title track ‘Trick Of The Light’. The arrangement is unique, where synths float, guitars add the contrast and vocal choirs abound.
‘Don’t Think That It’s Over’ is the shortest song here, but you are not short changed in any way. Those trance like synths are quite engaging. The soloing from Lopez adds the icing on the cake. An album highlight for me.
‘Open Your Heart’ takes a more organic approach initially, thanks to the guitar tone. The chorus adds in multiple layers of melody due to keyboards and harmony vocals.
The second ballad ‘Love Has Gone’ is dominated by a lead vocal and piano accompaniment mostly. It opens out into power ballad territory.
‘Love Hate’ despite the song title is quite a bright tune. The chorus lyric ‘I love you and I hate you’ is a reflection of our duality of emotions.
‘Broken Heart’ takes that emotional aspect one step further. It shows that Edge Of The Blade can live quite easily in AOR territory based on this.
‘Love Stands Tall’ sees the band moving more in a mainstream direction. The layers of keyboards ensures this track is well rounded, and underpins everything else going on.
‘Everybody’ rocks out more so than what we’ve heard so far. It has the makings of anthem, no doubt due to the gang vocals on the chorus.
The album finale is the third ballad ‘One Step From Heaven’. This track has a symphonic element, as it builds to something significant by chorus time.’
In Summary
Without doubt, the majority of this album is a solid listen. As you can see from my analysis above, I’ve gone through track with some detail. If there was anythibg averse I would’ve picked up on it immediately.
I like the way Edge Of The Blade have musically integrated based on the input of the three band members. All the main instruments have their moments in the sun, while the vocal work from John and Alan is exemplary.
Why they aren’t on a prominent record label is beyond belief. So in the meantime, support Edge Of The Blade on either of the two links listed above.
Edge Of The Blade on Video
Love Stands Tall
