Review: Metalite – Expedition One

AFM Records (January 19^th, 2024)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

Swedish melodic power metal act Metalite are back with their fourth album ‘Expedition One‘.  The band has decided to challenge themselves and go all out with a sixteen-track concept album. Despite releasing three albums over a six-year period, my familiarity of them only comes in the form of their cover of Stratovarious’ ‘Hunting High and Low’. That terrific cover, along with the release of their impressive new single ‘New Generation’ made me want to hear more from the band.

Regarding the concept album, the story involves an expedition of humans in the near future traversing the universe in search of a new home. The songs seem more inspired by the story than constructing a narrative. Don’t expect ‘Operation Mindcrime‘ here. That should not deter you from purchasing the album. The music is what matters here, and the music is at times sonic perfection.

For me, that perfection comes in the form of the track ‘Sanctum of Light’, a song that will surely make my Top 10 list for favorite songs of 2024. It’s a powerhouse performance from the band, with sonics you would expect to hear from the band Ten or Magnum. The kind of song that would play just as you became victorious in some challenge you overcame. A true pick-me-up that soars in the versus, slows slightly in the bridge, then rockets with the chorus.  My favorite vocal performance from singer Erica Ohlsson and a song that I have played over one hundred times in the span of four days. This should have been released as a single.  I just can’t get enough. Truly something special.

I could go on and on about just that one song, but I don’t want to take away from the others.  There are several incredibly strong songs found throughout the album. There’s the exciting and intense ‘Aurora’, with its slightly progressive change-ups, ‘CtrlAltDel’ cleverly incorporates the title into the chorus while the band utilizes the keyboard to add a sci-fi/techno element to give it that cold, electric feel that band was trying to convey in the song. ‘Disciples of the Stars’ sounds like the best song Battle Beast never wrote. ‘Expedition One’ is a bombastic opener that does a great job of setting the tone and establishing the story arc of the album. There are about four more songs that I would say match the caliber of the ones I discussed.

My one and only complaint is an obvious one. At sixteen tracks, this is a bloated album, especially when you consider that none of the tracks are intros. All tracks are full songs. They should have cut the sole instrumental track ‘Utopia’ and possibly one more, perhaps ‘Outer World’ which is more of a brooding track and the least impactful song outside of the instrumental.

The other effect of the length of the album is the songs in the middle were not as memorable because of the strength of the songs found in the beginning and end of the album. That does not mean those middle songs are not good (‘New Generation’ is in the middle and made me want to review the album). It means that the collection is too long and almost feels like a double album.

Despite its length, the band did a good job constructing the ordering of the song to make for a well-paced album. You have tracks with varying grooves mixed throughout and one ballad that separates the first and second half.

The secret ingredient here is sound engineer Jacob Hansen, who mixed and mastered the material. I was surprised to find that there is no official keyboardist in the band, so all the sound effects and nuances lay at his feet. He does a tremendous job making the band sound like a million bucks.

Melodic power metal when done right is figuratively and literally music to my ears. This is a stellar album that makes me want to explore the band’s history. There is so much great stuff offered here that it took me some time to review this album as my favorites would change with every listen.  I had to narrow down my songs to highlight but could have easily gone on about four or five more tracks.  The band brings just the right amount of power and melody without one overtaking the other.  Start the new year off right by picking up this release. If there’s any justice in this world, this album should break the band wide open and have metal fans around the world placing this at the top of their lists for the year’s best album.

Tracklist:

1. Expedition One
2. Aurora
3. CtrlAltDel
4. Cyberdome
5. Blazing Skies
6. Outer Worlds
7. New Generation
8. In My Dreams
9. Disciples of the Stars
10. Free
11. Legendary
12. Paradise
13. Sanctum of Light
14. Utopia
15. Take My Hand
16. Hurricane