Batman and Robin... oops I mean JORN LANDE and RUSSEL ALLEN returns for the second strike. This quite interesting project turned out to be quite successful and I guess the sales numbers of their last year debut attempt The Battle justify with no doubts this second coming.
I guess everyone knew that JORN LANDE (solo, ex-ARK, ex-MASTERPLAN) could sing hard rock / AOR tunes with ease (after all his COVERDALE-ish voice gives him a green light for such kind of music. The big surprise was RUSSEL ALLEN, a singer established with his quite heavy / prog act SYMPHONY-X. of course he has participated in the past in projects like STAR ONE and his solo album really differs from his main band still he never actually participated in something so light and happy in the past.
The Revenge walks pretty much the same line of The Battle. Singers exchange roles and occasionally they collaborate in duets. Who's doing a better job is something subjective since it's a matter of taste - both singers have exceptional voices and that's the bottom line from my side. As for the music included in The Revenge don't expect the re-invention of the wheel. Thought its more than obvious that the whole album rotates around the two star singers the songs can be considered quite good.
Produced by Magnus Carlson and mixed by Dennis Ward... well as you can imagine this doesn't sound like a bootleg.
In conclusion The Revenge is a really good piece of work - but mostly a chance to listen inside the same album two of the best throats in metal music.