There seems to be an unfortunate resurgence of 1980’s style radio rock—think ASIA, SAGA, TOTO—and its epicenter is Sweden. This is great news if that’s your jam. And if it is, a band you might want to look out for is REMEDY. REMEDY formed in 2022 in the fallout of Covid when the members, then session musicians, found themselves out of work. The solution was to form their own band. They released their debut album, “Something That Your Eyes Won’t See,” in 2022. For the last 18 months it has been warming on the backburner, but recently has been gaining exposure with refreshed marketing efforts from S-Rock Productions and Scream for Existence Marketing.

“Something That Your Eyes Won’t See” clocks in at ten tracks and 41 minutes. As you would expect from a group of session musicians, the production values are strong and the musicianship is pitch perfect. The songs are earnest in a campy sort of way. Something you might hear as backing music for an 80’s kids show, like the Power Rangers or He-Man.  Also not surprising is the fact that there are exactly zero heavy tracks on the album. Every song sounds like it’s going to break out into “The Final Countdown” by EUROPE.

The heaviest the band gets is “Sinners and Saints,” which edges in with atmospheric synths and then drops a fairly good riff. The clean, overly harmonic vocals then charge in. The track features some well-orchestrated lead guitar flourishes and an admirable solo. The best thing is the lack of synths in the foreground. Definitely the best track on the album. “Sundays at Nine” is also tolerable. A sappy sweet, melodramatic number that you could play when your grandparents come over for a meal. And that’s about as close as I’m going to get to a standout list for this album.

One thing that puzzles me about the album is the cover art which features a glassy, wide-open eye with a spider stretched across it, maybe ready to strike, maybe ready to just cruise on. Reminds me of the recent trailers for Sting, the 2024 spider horror movie. To be clear, there is nothing on the album that even remotely evokes this imagery. Again, puzzling.

I get the appeal of REMEDY. There are many, many people on this planet who will love this album. I’m just not one of them—and I doubt many Metal Temple readers are either. If you have a thing for 80’s pop rock, you might enjoy this album. Otherwise avoid at all costs.