Review: Victory – Circle of Life
AFM Records (September 13th, 2024)
Reviewer: Jason Hopper
Victory is one of those bands that is incredibly underrated and needs to be mentioned in the same way that many classic 80s based rock bands are discussed. One of the saddest aspects to their underappreciation is the band’s ability to still make quality material after having been around for 40 years. Most bands from the 80s cannot say the same. Perhaps it is different in other parts of the world, especially their home country of Germany, but here in America, this band is never talked about and why it took me so long to discover them.
I had the chance to review their last album, the terrific ‘Gods of Tomorrow‘ (review here) and was impressed by how strong the band still sounded. I was hoping to get more of the same with this latest release ‘Circle of Life’. I did not get more of the same, I got more than I expected. The band are on fire with this new release, and I’ll say this album, as a full entity, is stronger than some of their earlier releases. I am a big advocate for properly paced albums. The album intersperses faster and slightly slower melodies, with all tracks still having the capacity to rock your face off!
The variety of melodies is vast and exciting. The album opens with ‘Tonight We Rock’ and I assure you the earnestness and commitment by the band overtakes the cheesiness of the cliched title. It’s written and designed to be the opener for any show they do on their subsequent tour, and it does exactly what it was created to do, get the crowd riled up.
What follows is one memorable melody after another. Guitarist and founder Herman Frank has a mastery of rhythms. I loved every song on this album, so I’ll highlight a few of my favorites, which is not an easy task amongst all these terrific tracks. First single ‘Count on Me’ hits hard and fast and is one of those tunes you want to play while you tear down the highway. The counterbalance to that fast-paced track is the follow up song, ‘Surrender My Heart’. Lyrically the song could be a ballad, with its romantic undertones, but Herman goes the route of a thick grooved rocker, slowing the melody down without compromising the heaviness.
While Herman offers some choice solos throughout, my favorite is found in mid-tempo banger ‘Falling’. Herman doesn’t overplay, his shredding is kept to a minimum and his finger tapping is on point. Admittedly, this song’s feel is like ‘Surrender My Heart’ but just different enough lyrically to stand on its own. Following track ‘Money’ rips! The fastest song on the album. You really can’t go wrong with a melody that consists of speed strumming a muted “E” chord. It gets the blood moving and would be considered my favorite song amongst a sea of great tracks.
‘Reason to Love’ is the closest the album comes to a ballad, with the track being a mid-tempo, slightly laid-back rocker. Lyrically similar to ‘Surrender My Heart’, what makes this song stand out is the conviction in the voice of singer Gianni Pontillo. With the doubling of his voice in the chorus, he sells the emotion and underlying pain with his words. The album closes with the high energy party anthem ‘Virtual Sin’. Different from anything else found on the album, it leaves the listener on a high with its hedonistic scorched earth approach to tearing up the town.
This album will satisfy previously established fans of the band and can easily recruit new ones. Every song is a banger, and I am so grateful to be living in a world where 80s established bands still have the means and ways to produce exciting material that gets their fans as excited as they were when we were young. Get this album upon release, you will not regret it.
Tracklist:
- Tonight We Rock
- American Girl
- Count On Me
- Surrender My Heart
- Unbelievable World
- Moonlit Sky
- Falling
- Money
- Reason to Live
- Virtual Sin
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