JD MILLER
“Empyrean”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9.5/10

JD Miller are a melodic hard rock band from Sweden formed in 2011, releasing four albums to date – ‘Grand Intentions’ (2014), ‘World War X’ (2017), ‘Afterglow’ (2019), and ‘Empyrean’…

…emerging in 2024 featuring the bands heaviest sound to date! Taking their melodic hard rock roots with hints of AOR, the Swedish outfit add touches of the “modern rock” phenomena (that’s the rock equivalent of the “modern metal” phenomena), resulting in a much heavier album than you’d expect from the Boras foursome – ‘Empyrean’ appealing to a much wider audience than any of the bands previous albums! And I include metallers in that audience too, for the range of genres covered by the ten songs on offer is mind bending, JD Miller pushing boundaries and moving horizons with their latest release – ‘Prelude Of The Empyrean’ a two minute seductive instrumental to lure you in…

…to the new album – an album that gets going (proper) with the feisty ‘The Butterfly’. Hitting hard and kicking harder, ‘The Butterfly’ is a glorious blend of AOR, hard rock and Southern rock swagger – and all from a European band too! For as I’m sure you already know, it’s a widely accepted belief that AOR, hard rock and Southern rock all originated from America – JD Miller adding their own unique twist to an age old sound! An age old sound that in my opinion, has never gotten old, and never will – the Swedish outfit marching on with ‘Inside The Night’. Punching much harder than the (albums) opening gambit, ‘Inside The Night’ thumps and thuds its way forth, shuddering the ground it strides on, reducing nearby buildings to rumble! The variation across the albums first two songs is immense, JD Miller not afraid to mix it up with regards to sound, ‘Out Of Control’ entering the fray with a much bolder attitude. Not to mention an even greater punch than ‘Inside The Night’, moving from a flyweight right up to heavyweight! What a fantastic threesome to start your new album with – I can’t wait to see, err hear, what else is on offer!

And I don’t have to wait long either, ‘Empyrean’ moving swiftly on with the hard rocking ‘I’ll Never Give Up’. Maintaining the emphatic punch of the album so far, ‘I’ll Never Give Up’ moves into the realm of driving anthem, a song to play loud on a long country drive! But why stop at just this one song? Take the album with you and have it on constant replay, it’ll definitely be worth it – ‘Awake (We Are The Machines)’ maintaining the albums incredible drive and overall punchy nature. JD Miller are widening their sonic assault to new widths, leaving some of their AOR roots behind as they surge on with a harder, heavier intent than ever before! I tell ya readers, there’s gonna be plenty of surprised listeners, fans and followers out there, stunned at the direction the band has taken with their fourth album – ‘One In A Million’ lurching into view as the heaviest song heard so far! Stepping into heavy rock territory, ‘One In A Million’ is gonna engage a whole new range of rockers, JD Miller bringing their music to an ever increasing audience! An audience that are listening open mouthed…

…with many jaws hitting the floor as ‘One In A Million’ goes on to display the elegant pomp rock of legendary British rockers Magnum. Fucking fantastic stuff from the Swedish band, ‘Call The Police’ returning the punchy nature heard earlier, the band melding it with a gear changing tempo changing sonic assault that’s simply out of this world! Since the album began, it’s gotten better and better with each song that passes by, and still continues to do so as we reach song number nine (out of ten) – ‘Enemy’ hitting the ground running with more grit than everything heard previously! JD Miller are at their most hard rocking here, ‘Enemy’ standing tall and very proud right in the heart of hard rock territory – ‘Empyrean’ coming to a close more alive than at any other time! At eight minutes in length, album closer ‘Alive’ is by far and away the longest song on offer, delivering an epic swagger through every one of the bands musical influences! From its mellow beginnings to a rock roar and all out pace across the chorus break, ‘Alive’ is a marvellous meander around every nook and cranny of the rock genre.

Overall, a heavy hitting hard rock swagger, ‘Empyrean’ is a varied sonic assault firmly rooted in rock territory.

TRACKLIST

Prelude Of The Empyrean
The Butterfly
Inside The Night
Out Of Control
I’ll Never Give Up
Awake (We Are The Machines)
One In A Million
Call The Police
Enemy
Alive

http://www.jdmiller.rocks/
https://www.facebook.com/jdmillerband

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