Ah Sweden, how I love thee. Thoust are great at making excellent music and thoust continue to produce excellent bands and artists. Sorry for the usage of old English there but what I say is true and I know I've said it time and time again in previous reviews so I apologize for the over usage and the repetition. Anyway, onto the review and the band featured in this one is BULLETRAIN who this year release their debut album "Start Talking" on AOR Heaven on October 24^th.

This Swedish quintet of rockers, formed in Helsingborg, Sweden in 2006, and so far, they have released two EP's and one single. An album deal with AOR Heaven was almost sealed with the band but their former singer, Robet Lindell, chose to bow out from the band at the last minute, just as the album was finished, and naturally, this caused a major setback for the band, making them lose their album deal.

After a few years of problems and hardships, the band recruited their new singer Sebastian Sundberg and re-entered the studio in December 2013 to start from scratch and record their long awaited debut album "Start Talking". The album was produced by the duo RamPac (CRASHDIET and Mick Mara) and mixed by Buster Odeholm (HUMANITY'S LAST BREATH), and after hearing the album in the summer of 2014, AOR Heaven decided to give the band a second chance and soon that long awaited record deal was sealed.

The album, which clocks in at roughly 47 minutes playtime over 12 tracks, is pretty much what you'd expect from a Swedish rock band, but that of course, is by no means a bad thing as this country has produced some great bands and it would seem as if BULLETRAIN are joining or have already joined the ranks of those bands.

So what do we have here from an album that has been in the making for a few years now? Well despite the issues the band may have faced when making this album, they have clearly taken their time with this, but then that can be a good thing, especially when you want to make sure that your debut album is the best it can possibly be with the best musicians you can gather and the best producers and mixers you can find.

I am glad to say it's been time well spent, as this is simple straightforward Rock and Roll from a country who has the Rock gene flowing in their veins. It's heavy, energetic and guaranteed to get you headbanging, while you air guitar to the heavy riffs. Usually bands have one guitarist that play both the lead and rhythm parts with the occasional acoustic or harmony melodies, but here there is both a lead and rhythm guitarist, which is a good move, as it helps to lighten the load, so the lead guitarist can focus on the main riffs and the solo sections with the odd acoustic guitar here and there while the rhythm guitarist adds their own touch with melodies to accompany the lead guitars performance.

The vocal performance is exactly what you'd expect from a Swedish Rock album, as yes, there may be times when some of the words are unclear and you cannot hear the exact words but with music like this, it doesn't really matter as usually, nine times out of ten, the delivery and the vocals themselves do impress and amaze you and that's what you get here so all in all the vocals are pretty good.

So what do I think overall of this long awaited debut album from BULLETRAIN? You know, the band may have had their fair share of hardships and problems since their formation eight years ago. But they have clearly moved on and not let their problems affect their music. That statement is pretty apparent and clear in their debut album "Start Talking", as it sounds superb, just like a good Swedish Rock album should and this adds to the already extensive list of great bands and music to come out of a great country like Sweden and is highly recommended if you love Sweden and Swedish music.<