LANDFALL
“Wide Open Sky”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Landfall are a hard rock band from Brazil, releasing three albums to date – ‘The Turning Point’ (2020), ‘Elevate’ (2022) and ‘Wide Open Sky’…

…emerging in 2025 featuring eleven songs across an incredible hour of punchy hard rock! Melodic too, Landfall continuing to grow and mature with regards to broadening their rock horizons further and wider than ever before – ‘Tree Of Life’ launching the bands new album skyward in a blaze of bustling riffs, the up tempo lively nature instantly grabbing everyone’s attentions! And if the iconic “metal gallop” was a rock one, ‘Tree Of Life’ gallops hard to rock every listener’s head back and forth – ‘SOS’ maintaining the attention grabbing start ‘Wide Open Sky’ has made. The variation in pace here is eclectic, Landfall striding all over rock territory to offer every rock fan something to satisfy their myriad of tastes – and bear in mind we’re only two songs in!

So is ‘Wide Open Sky’ shaping up to be the bands best album in their short career? Damn right it is – ‘When The Curtain Falls’ proceeding to pound the ground harder than either of the two previous songs, the band proudly strutting their stuff right in the heart of the hard rock genre – pulling influence and inspiration from every corner! Many bands are content just to sit in one corner or run around in circles for their entire career, but not Landfall – hell no, they’re like nomads, wandering the land looking for new and fresh ideas. And boy have they got plenty, ‘Running In Circles’ hitting hard like a wrecking ball in full flight, shaking buildings and wobbling walls as every listener grins from ear to ear! And those grins are only gonna get wider as ‘No Tomorrow’ displays a much more melodic side to the band, AOR too – Landfall continuing their genre-wide rock romp!

The energy and drive across the first five songs is the stuff of arena rock, the band from Brazil delivering anthem after anthem as ‘Wide Open Sky’ strides straight into balladry with the lighters in the air ‘A Letter To You’ – every listener swaying from side to side as Landfall deliver the customary ballad that every rock album offers, all the energy of the album up to this point reined in very tightly! And letting it slowly seep back out across ‘Coming Home’s first thirty seconds or so, the band turn on their heels to storm off at the fastest pace seen on the album so far, ‘Coming Home’ jumping across the border wall into heavy rock territory, Landfall returning the “rock gallop” heard earlier very much to the fore! And with the energy level restored to normal, ‘Intoxicated’ brings a not heard previously bombastic boom to bear, the band shuddering the ground like never before, sending shockwaves right round the entire planet! And even though here in the UK I’m around six thousand miles away from the band, I definitely felt the ground tremble beneath my feet!

And clocking in at over six and a half minutes in length, ‘Hourglass’ is the longest song on offer and maintains the albums incredible happy mood inducing feel good factor, the band slowing the tempo to a stroll but increasing elegancy and majesty to new heights! There’s also a lot o’ hustle and bustle in here too, ‘Hourglass’ very much taking the scenic route across rock land, making plenty of stops for inspiration. A diverse and immensely varied offering, Landfall return to balladry with ‘Higher Than The Moon’ – this time mixing in a hymn-like swagger which out of nowhere becomes a thundering march after the one minute mark! To say that was an unexpected turn would be a lie, the Brazilian rockers continuing to surprise as the albums final song appears over the horizon – ‘Wide Open Sky’ ending with the title song ‘Wide Open Sky’. And the most melodic rocker you could ever wish for, ‘Wide Open Sky’ (the song) striding tall and proud right through the heart of the hard rock genre.

Overall, a heavy hitting yet melodic mix of hard rock, Landfall surprise and delight with every song on offer.

TRACKLIST

Tree Of Life
SOS
When The Curtain Falls
Running In Circles
No Tomorrow
A Letter To You
Coming Home
Intoxicated
Hourglass
Higher Than The Moon
Wide Open Sky

https://www.facebook.com/landfallofficial

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