JADED HEART
“Stand Your Ground”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Jaded Heart are a melodic power metal band from Germany/Sweden forming in 1994. The band released their debut album ‘Inside Out’ later the same year, and went on to release twelve more studio albums – including the compilation ‘Diary – Best Of’ and ‘Live In Cologne’ – over the next twenty two years. The bands fourteenth studio album ‘Stand Your Ground’ was released in 2020.

For this album, Jaded Heart have dropped the keyboards element from their arsenal, proceeding to deliver hard rocking, melodic heavy metal with infectious hooks and catchy choruses. ‘Stand Your Ground’ features an incredible thirteen songs, all kicking off with the defiant roar of the title song ‘Stand Your Ground’. Powering into life, ‘Stand Your Ground’ is fast paced metal with purpose – the driving rhythm planting feet firmly on the monitor and raising fists high in the air. An energetic start, Jaded Heart then switch gear to an anthemic stomp with the heavy hitting ‘One Last Time’. Bold and big riffing, ‘One Last Time’ has the kinda call to arms feel that bands such as Saxon, Manowar, and Powerwolf evoke. ‘Reap What You Sow’ highlights thrashy elements, especially the opening riffage – wow. Changing the mood to encompass a little menace and terror, ‘Reap What You Sow’ has a venomous vocal delivery, the bands singer spitting venom, as Jaded Heart pound and pummel the senses with one helluva aural assault.

‘Break Free’ returns to the mid tempo march of anthemic heavy metal, albeit a tad more melodic than the earlier ‘One Last Time’. A chant style chorus is gonna provide an in concert sing a long – and what a sing a long that’ll be! The chorus is delivered as a rabble rousing, up and at ’em, let’s stick together vibe. Full on pace lights up the atmosphere as ‘Hero To Zero’ flies out of the blocks, and then hits the brakes – very hard. A mid tempo heavy hitter, ‘Hero To Zero’ picks up the pace over the chorus break, delivering the most infectious sing a long on the album so far. With every song on offer chiming in at less than five minutes, ‘Stand Your Ground’ (the album) breathlessly canters along – no time for a breather here! And the intensity at which ‘Kill Your Masters’ is brought to life is overwhelming, hitting so hard you’re gonna be slammed into next week, no, make that next month. A hard hitting, knuckle dragging beast of a tune, ‘Kill Your Masters’ is as menacing as its title suggests. ‘Embrace A Demon’ roughs things up a little, delivering a hustle and bustle kinda vibe. And the chorus – yet another magnificent, melodic, and highly infectious sing a long. Fans of the band are gonna love this, new listeners are gonna adore this, and an in concert audience are gonna wet themselves at the feel good party atmosphere that Jaded Heart are gonna create. This is one album (and tour) not to miss.

And as the album enters its final third, the relentless barrage of heavy hitting songs doesn’t abate for one second – ‘Hopelessly Addicted’ swaggering around like it owns the place. Loud and proud, ‘Hopelessly Addicted’ is what you’ll be after listening to this album. The infectious and addictive nature is superb, with every song a killer, not one a filler. ‘Self Destruction’ is a high paced, high energy gallop – with a frantic rhythm and a catchy chorus. Jaded Heart are celebrating their twenty fifth anniversary as a band, and are as hungry now as they have ever been – maybe more! For this album is dynamic and emphatic, delivering a “can’t stop listening” experience of the highest order. Reducing the mood and delving into ballad territory, ‘Stay’ is all mellow and soulful, yet too hard hitting for a power ballad. It’s almost as though they’re struggling to leave their bombastic tendencies behind and let themselves drop fully into a power ballad. Keep your lighters down for if you raise them high, the band will blow them to bits with ‘Stay’s power. Pace and power make a return with ‘Lost In Confusion’, a high to mid tempo strut, featuring gear changes, a (mildly) aggressive vocal delivery, and yet another catchy sing a long chorus. A winning formula in my book. And in almost no time at all, we arrive at the final song. A majestic swagger envelopes the airways as ‘Inside A Hurricane’ bombastically canters forward. A heavy hitter, like so many of the songs on offer, ‘Inside A Hurricane’ brings a glorious end to a glorious album.

Overall, a barn storming rampage of heavy hitting heavy metal, highly infectious and overwhelmingly addictive, Jaded Heart have delivered a great album.

TRACKLIST

Inception
Stand Your Ground
One Last Time
Reap What You Sow
Break Free
Hero To Zero
Kill Your Masters
Embrace A Demon
Hopelessly Addicted
Self Destruction
Stay
Lost In Confusion
Inside A Hurricane

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