Album review: Peter Hermansson “Second Glance”
220 Volt drummer shows us he has more than drum sticks in his bag on a great solo album.
I saw Peter Hermansson live on stage for the first time in 1987. It was a show with one of my favourite bands, the Swedish melodic metal band 220 Volt, performing in front of a massive and enthusiastic festival audience in their hometown Östersund. Peter started drumming with 220 Volt before the band released its self-titled debut album in 1983. He is drumming in the current line-up of the band and has also played with John Norum and Talisman. Now we get to hear more of Peter when he releases his first full-length solo album. We already knew he is one of Sweden’s best rock drummers, but on this new album, we get to experience much more of this multitalented vocalist, musician and songwriter. Peter sings lead and drums on all songs on the album. He plays bass on a few tracks as well. We also get to hear his 220 Volt band mates Mats Karlsson and Mats Vassfjord perform. Other notable musicians guesting on this album include Nalle Påhlsson (Therion, Zan Clan, Treat, Easy Action), John Levén (Europe), Björn Englén (Quiet Riot, Yngwie Malmsteen) and Martin Thomander (Electric Boys). The album contains nine original tracks penned by Peter plus two covers, Deep Purple’s “Soldier of Fortune” and Nick Ashford’s “I Don’t Need No Doctor” (which has also been covered by Humble Pie, W.A.S.P. and many more). The music on “Second Glance” is best described as melodic 70s/80s hard rock with blues touches, some more contemporary parts and a few ballads in the mix as well. Peter has a seasoned, grown-up rock voice that fits this music style very well. “Set Me Free” is a ballad with some terrific guitars by Christofer Ståhl (Talisman) while “Last Goodbye” is an emotional ballad. “Ain’t Gonna Crawl” is an excellent modern rock song performed by Peter and Mats Karlsson. “Hero’s End”, a splendid and energetic bluesy hard rock song, is one of the highlights on the album together with the tracks “Revolution”, “Movin’ On” and “Perfect World”.
Peter Hermansson’s solo album “Second Glance” will be released on 16th April via GMR Music.
