UNIVERSE (1985)

Recorded at Humlan Studio, Stockholm, Sweden in Autumn 1984.
Mixed at Park Studio, Stockholm, Sweden

Side A

1. Rollin' On
2. Stories from the Old Days
3. Weekend Warrior
4. Lonely Child
5. Looking for an Answer

Side B

6. Angel
7. Woman
8. Strong Vibration
9. Burning Machine
10. Question of Time

Review written by: Christian Darchez from "Dioses del Metal"

Formed in 1982 in the Swedish town of Upplands Väsby, the same town as Europe, by guitarist Michael Kling, who had already played in other local youth bands such as W.C., the embryo of Europe, where he met John Norum. He began recruiting musicians for his project and found bassist Hasse Hagman, who had played in Joey Tempest's first band, guitarist Per Nilsson, drummer Anders Wetterström, and keyboardist Freddie Kriström. The most difficult part was undoubtedly finding the ideal singer to take care of the microphone, and Kjell Wallen was finally chosen. With the line-up complete, they quickly set to work on the band's debut, while also playing regularly in their hometown and the rest of Sweden, as well as supporting the Scottish band Nazareth on their tour to promote "The Catch" (1984). By the beginning of the following year, they already had a handful of songs with which they entered the studio and, under the Sonet label (a subsidiary of Universal), recorded the album that I am about to review today.

Universe, the Swedish band's self-titled debut album released in April 1985, showcased a band fully immersed in metal and clearly influenced by Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, Uriah Heep, Accept, Scorpions, Deep Purple, Judas Priest and others. The result is an explosive album of melodic heavy metal, fast, agile, extremely catchy and direct, which, without being entirely original, brought together all the characteristics of the aforementioned bands to create an album of great songs. From the beginning of the brilliant Rollin' on, a piece that is both pounding and melodic with the guitars of Kling and Nilsson, the very good rhythmic bases of Hagman and Wetterström, the melodic and more climatic keys of Kriström, to the wonderful work of Wallen on vocals, very much in the style of Joel Lynn Turner and achieving high notes worthy of applause. Moving on to the fast-paced Stories From The Old Days, which sounds very similar to Rainbow's Spotlight Kid, albeit with the speed and ferocity of Accept. Judas Priest is revisited in the hard-hitting but mid-tempo Weekend Warrior. The ballad Lonely Child features acoustic and electric sounds reminiscent of Scorpions. The groundbreaking high notes and riffs of the also very melodic Looking For An Answer are reminiscent of Thin Lizzy. Along the same lines, we have Angel, but with a very melodic and easily memorable chorus. Woman is perhaps the slowest song on the album, thanks to its syncopated rhythms and guitar phrasing.
At the end of the album, we have two great tracks: the almost AOR-style Burning Machine, full of guitar riffs and melodies in equal measure, and the strange but beautiful Question Of Time, with its changing rhythms, bringing the album's mere 38 minutes to a very satisfying close.

It is not difficult to understand why Universe failed to make the band famous (even though sales were not that bad) and could not achieve the success that their compatriots Europe did: the band's image was not glamorous enough to be marketed in that way and was much closer to the neo-prog of bands such as Marillion and Pallas. Their music was much harder and faster, drawing on classical influences and having very little to do with the hard rock of the moment. They also had little support from their record label, which was more interested in selling bands that were more in line with the current fashion. Quorthon (RIP) of Bathory once said in an interview, "In the 80s, it wasn't a good idea to start a band in Sweden that had nothing to do with glam. Musicians were afraid of sweating so much on stage that they wouldn't be able to sleep with any girls after a show."