REVIEW : Danger Zone / Closer To Heaven (2016)

Italian Hard Rockers Danger Zone are back with a new album! "Closer To Heaven" is the title of their new opus and in my humble opinion this is the band's best record to date. The band that was formed back in 1988 and released the debut in 2011 (!!!), strikes back with this extremely interesting slice of pure Hard Rock stuff.

After the release of "Line Of Fire", in 2011, Danger Zone came back two years later with the follow-up album “Undying” and played several gigs in Italy. In Summer of 2015, the Italians started the recordings of their next step with Roberto Priori and Jody Gray, and the production took place at the PriStudio in Bologna.

Danger Zone mixes perfectly the Hard Rock sound of the late 80's with plenty of melodies, a feel-good vibe and an updated sound and the final result is pretty solid. "Turn It Up", the opener, is a really cool and edgy Hard Rock tune that gives us a taste of what's coming-up next.  "Go!(Closer To Heaven)" is the first highlight here; a straight forward rocker with a catchy hook and chorus and a very good guitar work. In "I Am All In" we are dealing with yet another killer song; catchy to the bone with a melody that sends you closer to heaven this track grabs you at once and makes you wanna sing-a-long!! "I Love Crazy" is a tasty up-tempo hard rocker and "Human Contact" the band is movin' to some  'modern' paths. The chorus here is big and in-your-face!!!  Check out, also, the song that closes the album, "Hard Rock Paradise", that is pure hard rock heaven!!!

Bottom line is that "Closer To Heaven" is a damn fine slice of pure hard rock/ edgy AOR stuff that includes beautiful melodies, catchy songs, crunchy guitars and an 80's feeling all over it.

Rating :8/10

Track Listing :
1. Turn It Up, 2. Go! (Closer To Heaven), 3. Higher Than High, 4. I’m All In, 5. Here Where I Belong, 6. I Love Crazy, 7. All For You, 8. T’night, 9. Human Contact, 10. Not That Lonely, 11. Hard Rock Paradise