CD-Review: Confess - "JAIL"

The "New Wave of Sleaze Metal" gained a huge fanbase over the last ten years and especially Sweden is the stronghold of Sleaze. Year after year new bands try to find their place in the scene. Some days ago the new Sleaze Metal band CONFESS released their debut album "JAIL". Let's see if they can keep up with the rest of the scene.







Confess was formed in Stockholm in 2008 by singer John Elliot. You see, it took them six years to produce  their first full-length album. So the band had enough time to write great songs and yes, most of the tracks are really good, especially for a debut album Confess make a much better figure than their colleagues of Hardcore Superstar, Crashdiet or Crazy Lixx on their latest releases!

The record sounds rough, dirty, conventional but also somewhat fresh at the same time. While the first three songs remind me more at the typical edgy Street Metal stuff from Hardcore Superstar (especially "Pay Before I Go") the band goes over to more 80's influenced Glam Metal when the first ballad "Take Aim" shows up. This song is the first true highlight for me with huge choirs, nice melodies and amazing guitar solos.

Those elements are pushed further with the following tracks. Escpecially the ultra catchy "Setting Sails", "Back To Hell" and the hymn "Got Lucky" combine all the trademarks of great 80's Metal. Here the band shows that it isn't just about power-chords nowadays - also strong melodies are important and Confess really know how to combine catchiness with all that dirt and rawness.

Yes, there are also some little fillers on here ("Cardiac Arrest", "Get Me Down" ) , where the band sounds a bit too stereotypical and also the penultimate song "Intervention (Sin & tonic, Pt. 2)" is a bit too long to my ears, but it doesn't affect the listening experience that much. At the end of the record Confess have a very special treat for us: the Tina Turner cover "What's Love Got To Do With It". I never thought that, but the song fits perfectly to the band and is pure fun to listen to!

Productionwise everything sounds raw and edgy, like you would expect it from such a record. Like I mentioned above the bandsound is very traditional and beside all those influences of Mötley Crüe, Skid Row, Hardcore Superstar and so on, the uniquness remains on track. Also vocalwise Confess sounds like any other band of that genre, but the band has one advantage: they have the better songs. So all in all this is a really good record for all you Sleaze Metal fans out there. You should keep an eye on these guys, because Confess is a promising band and I'm pretty sure we will hear much more from them in the future! Well done!

8/10

Tracklist: 

01. Pray For The Prey (intro)
02. Relationshit
03. Scream
04. Pay Before I Go
05. Take Aim *
06. Bloodstained Highway
07. Setting Sails *
08. Back To Hell *
09. Got Lucky *
10. Cardiac Arrest
11. Get Me Down
12. Intervention (Sin & Tonic, Pt. 2)
13. What's Love Got To Do With It (Tina Turner cover) *

* best tracks

http://www.confess.se