For a debut album, 'Into The Night' is a very sophisticated affair and well worth checking out.

Continuing with his impressive release of new artists, Andrew McNeice's MelodicRock Records has just released the debut album from Norwegian five-piece Melodic Rockers Outlasted.

'Into The Night' is awash with glorious harmonies, big choruses, and is a wet dream for any discerning AOR fan. You will be hard pressed to find any album, released this year, that starts with two numbers as strong as the gargantuan 'Someone Like You' and the haunting 'Ghost Of Love'. There are definite comparisons with fellow Norwegians Stage Dolls, notably on the opening track. Glenn Wikran's vocals, however, have a more melancholic cadence than those of Torstein Flakne.

The rest of the band, who all contribute superb background vocals, consist of rhythm section Aleksander Schjølberg and Rune Erling Pedersen on bass and drums respectively, pianist and keyboard player Odd-Børge Hansen and Terje Fløyli on guitars, who also handles production, which is first class; mix and post-production is by Ronny Wikmark (SD) and the mastering is by Harem Scarem's Harry Hess.

'Loving You Ain't Easy' is a little slower paced but well-orchestrated nonetheless but, similar to the rest of the album, never quite scales the heights of the opening two numbers. That is not to say the rest of the album is poor, far from it; tracks like 'Live For Today', 'I Want You To Know' and 'Living A Lie' are pure, keyboard-drenched AOR songs that many bands would sell their own mothers to write.

The ultra-catchy 'Sacrifice' precedes the beautiful ballad 'Anything For You', whilst 'Writing On The Wall' has a modern Asia vibe. The album concludes with another classy ballad 'Unbroken'.

The standard version of the album clocks in at only thirty-three minutes for the ten songs, therefore I would highly recommend investing in the "deluxe" version that contains two further excellent bonus tracks, 'Nothing Left To Say' and the ballad 'Back To You'.

For a debut album, 'Into The Night' is a very sophisticated affair and well worth checking out.

Mark Donnelly