GAELERI - Gates Of Rome (2014)

Genre - Hard Rock / Melodic Rock

Label - TBM Records / Roastinghouse Records
 

Track listing:

01 - Ready Or Not
02 - Queen Of Time
03 - Wannabe
04 - Gates Of Rome
05 - Let Your Love Bleed
06 - One Touch
07 - Entertain You
08 - No Boundaries
09 - One Step Closer
10 - Time Has Come

GAELERI is a Swedish hard rock act which founded way back in 1992. Originally known as Shooting Gallery, the band decided to drop 'Shooting' and change 'Gallery' to [gaeleri] - between brackets - before the 1996 debut album release.
Their sound has been often described as a mixture of '90s Whitesnake and Thunder and that exactly hits the nail on this new record. Thinking of present bands, House Of Lords, Newman and alike come to mind. I also hear a typical Scandinavian touch here and there, akin Swedish bands like Nation or Germans Domain.
Since the groovy, bluesy meaty hard rock opener "Ready Or Not" the band offers 10 solid songs in very classic vein of traditional hard rock. At places Gaeleri's overall sound and delivery reminds me Doug Aldritch's Burning Rain in the way of 'build the songs'.
Other highlights to mention are the very Eighties "Let Your Love Bleed", "No Boundaries" or " Time has Come", all plenty of catchy melodies, big guitar hooks and great vocals reminiscent of the 'good old days'.
GAELERI flirt with AOR in the midtempo "Wannabe", a really good atmospheric tune with some Dare influences in the harmonies.
Then, cuts like "Entertain You" and the slow "One Step Closer" have a melodic hard rock feel, where some acoustic guitars appear in the mix and even some piano.
As you see, [gaeleri] is a complete band and play all these related genres with ease, and very well indeed.
Don't let "Gates Of Rome" pass you by, it's a more than solid - the songwriting is fabulous - CD that will please traditional hard rock / melodic rock / AOR fans equally.
Production is truly bright, with an excellent mix handled by maestro Anders "Theo" Theander to Roastinghouse Studios in Malmo.

Very Recommended.
Rating 9/10