As 2015 comes to a close, it's time now for me to start listening to and reviewing albums set for a release in the New Year that is 2016. 2015 overall, I thought, was a pretty good year for music so it's interesting to see how 2016 will do. With all that said, it's time to jump into our first 2016 album review with a new CD from Danish Hard Rock quartet DEAR DELUSION.

Formed in 2008 in Copenhagen, Denmark, this quartet of Danish Hard Rockers released their debut album "Imprisonment" in 2013. After a few member changes and a change in labels, the group are ready to release their second album "Sleep of Reason", which will be out on January 15^th, 2016, so is it one you should pick up when it comes out, or is it one to avoid? Let us find out shall we?

Clocking in at around 40 minutes, across 9 new songs, the album opens up with a short instrumental called "Sinfonia" and this song builds up the tension, perfectly leaving you in anticipation before the first vocal track "Unmade" kicks in. When it does, this one wallops you hard in the face with a pure, raw, heavy and dirty sound that is pretty sweet.

The remainder of the record follows the same formula of creating songs that sound dirty, pure, and raw, as the album takes a neo-grunge rock approach to the music, which may sound depressing at first, but once you delve into the meaning, it all makes sense. Some of the songs that use this formula include "Righteous Man", "Scapegoat", "Everything is Nothing", "Coward" and the closing title track.

Once you have an understanding of it, you'll begin to appreciate the work that went into these songs, as their unique dirty grunge sound draws you in and once you're drawn in, good luck trying to escape. I mean this in a good way, of course, as the songs have a way of keeping you entertained and excited with their pure, raw, dirty and heavy sound

The songs have been mixed excellently to make the most of the dirty neo-grunge sound while equally balancing out the volume levels between the instruments. There may be an occasional moment where one is quieter then the other, i.e. the guitars being louder than the vocals, but this is only a small minute issue so it's not really something worth worrying about. Also, there may be one or two moments where the vocals do sound a little off in terms of the performance, but they're not too bad overall.

Bottom line, the sophomore release from the Danish Hard Rockers DEAR DELUSION is a record I recommend picking up when it comes out, as it has plenty of enjoyable melodies and songs which are pure, dirty, heavy, and raw. If you like music from Danish bands or an album that you can crank up loud and rock out to, then this is one for you to check out.<