What usually springs into mind when you hear or see the word cop? Naturally you think of a member of the police force who are always out there taking down criminals and restoring peace to the public. That is pretty admirable stuff putting your life on the line each day to protect the peace and the citizens no matter the cost. On the other hand, what if I told you there was a band who were called C.O.P? You may think it to be false as you may have never heard of them before and you'd be partially right but they are a band that exist and this review will talk about them and their debut album so let's get on with it shall we?

Hailing from Sweden and forming in 2014, this trio of Melodic Rock musicians all consist of members from the band GRAND ILLUSION including two brothers which is quite cool and the fact that all three are from the same band makes it easier for them when it comes to writing songs as they all know how each other work musically. Their debut album "State Of Rock" is out now and it is the subject of this review so let us see what this new Swedish Melodic Rock outfit have been able to create shall we?

Clocking in at around 46 minutes long across 10 tracks, the albums opening number "Loner" gives you a taster of what this new Swedish band are all about as it is full of catchy guitar melodies, cheerful keyboard harmonics/melodies and a passionate vocal performance which all help to get this album off to a great start. Next up is "I Want The World To Know" and this one is a pretty sweet AOR number with some catchy and cheerful melodies. "Nightmare" is a powerful mix of both Melodic Rock & AOR with some heavy guitar riffs, cheerful keyboard harmonics and a continual display of those passionate vocals which come together to make a cool song.

"Without You" is a beautiful ballad style song with some haunting melodies, powerful guitar riffs and passionate vocals. "On The Run" is the halfway point track and it is a fast paced and catchy Melodic Rock number with yet more cheerful melodies and riffs that make you smile. "In My Dreams" is one of the more heavier numbers on this record complete with sweet sounding guitar riffs, powerful vocals and excellent keyboard harmonics. "She's Gone" is a unique blend of Melodic Rock and AOR to deliver a beautiful and amazing song.

"In The Night" and "Broken Heart" are two powerful Melodic Rock number with some sweet guitar riffs and some cheerful keyboard melodies. The albums last song "Darkness" is a powerful closing number complete with melodic harmonies, heavy guitars and passionate vocals which all come together to create a cool end to a great record.

As a whole, this record sounds amazing but then when you put Sweden and Melodic Rock together, you are always guaranteed to get great sounding tunes and that's what you get with this new band. With the exception of a couple of small minute hit and miss vocal parts here and there, there's not really anything I can nitpick about as there's plenty of enjoyment in the songs. The melodies, the riffs, the vocals, the mixing and the production all sound very well done and each one is blended and crafted to match each song on this album and all of them sound sweet and excellent in their execution and that is all that needs to be said.

Bottom line, the Swedish Melodic Rock scene has some new superstars on it's hands in the form of C.O.P with their excellent debut album so make sure you get your hands on a copy, play it loud and prepare yourself as this year has been a strong Swedish invasion in terms of great music of which there has been plenty of so there's no telling what's left to come in the next two months but time will tell as they say.