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Hoping to capitalize on the new era digital media distribution is Sweden rockers Confidence. Casting aside labels and CD releases, Confidence plans to release all their material in a digital format (although I got a CD, thank you very much), basically four to five tunes, twice a year. Hail the new technology. Prelude is their debut, their first toe in the digital stream so to speak.

Getting to the Confidence style and their music, it might be best to callPrelude a varied disc of melodic hard rock, nearing metal. The opener Flesh and Skin is a jumbled arrangements, a mash up it sounds of many things going on at one time. It’s the least pleasing song here. War Torn Skies, musically speaking, is much better with more focus, an obvious direction. The same could be said for the final two, Never Meant to Be, an interesting ballad of sorts, and Poison Lies, a heavier, sometimes trudging number. It’s made more interesting by the piano and fine bass work.

The wild card here is the vocals and vocal arrangements You have to love Emil Kyrk’s passion and enthusiasm, but he doesn’t seem to know whether to sing, yell, or scream. He can definitely sing as found on the aforementioned ballad Never Meant to Be. Yet, even within this, he goes off course. Mostly, I just wanted him to stop.

Prelude is a good first step for Sweden’s Confidence, but not necessarily the best foot forward. Here’s to having ‘confidence’ in a better future.

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