review: Faithsedge

Faithsedge

Bleed For Passion

Scarlet Records

26 July 2019

Faithsedge is melodic and traditional heavy rock with a very strong dose of 1980s. The guitar sound is focused on melodies and hooks that people remember, and also places emphasis on good soloing. The guitar sound stays within the tradition of a clearer and pleasant style of classic, hard rock and heavy metal. Again, this guitar sound is along the lines of the guitar heroes of big stadium rock, without influences from the downtuned guitars of extreme metal nor from punk-hardcore. In short, the guitar takes up a big chunk of the listener’s attention due to the high use of melody, catchy chords, and some shredding. The other overriding focus of attention is the melodic singing, and the choruses are central to the functioning of the songs.

The older generations of fans that are familiar with this type of music would probably find Dokken and Stryper as two general points of reference, as guidelines for expectations. In this music the guitars, the singing and the choruses are three things that work to please fans of 1980s-style heavy rock that is in the hard rock/melodic heavy metal genre. Faithsedge now has four albums that have established a certain level of quality and expectations for good songs—rockers, anthems and ballads—that are recorded well. This new album delivers on both counts. Just as important, they continue delivering for those customers looking for old-school 1980s pure classic rock without any attempts to keep up with whatever trends and fashions there are in 2019. This album’s line-up is singer/songwriter Giancarlo Floridia, former Dokken lead guitarist Alex De Rosso and Mr.Big/Ace Frehley drummer Matt Starr, and ex-Stryper bassist Timothy Gaines.

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