Born in Italy in the early eighties and founded by guitarist Roberto Priori, DANGER ZONE got, at the very beginning of their long story, a cult status thanks to the release of their second album "Line of Fire" (1989), which was then remastered and re-released in 2011. "Don't count on Heroes" is their sixth full-length, which sees the new guitarist Danilo Faggiolino and a full time involvement of keyboardist Pier Mazzini (in the previous album the spot was shared with Michele Luppi), started being recorded in 2018 again produced by Priori and Jody Gray (who contributed to the original production of "Line of fire").

The hard-rock proposed by DANGER ZONE is not original nor innovative, but, damn, it is a hell of hard rock. Melodic to the bone, well played, well sung, well composed and well produced: I enjoyed it from the first minute to the last one. The opening "Demons or Saints" does not leave any doubt: an enthralling modern uptempo rock song, a catchy chorus, a delicious solo and pleasant vocal melodies by Giacomo Gigantelli. The same formula is used in the following "Faster than love" and "Somewhere out there", and only with the following "Destiny" the tempo slows down, where the sound is influenced by melodic acts like, in my opinion, Pride of Lions (which, to be clear, I love). After this small intermezzo, again the tempo rises again with "Down to passion", just to slow down again with the acoustic ballad "Rise again", which winks to HOUSE OF LORDS or WINGER.

The uptempo hard rock songs then play an important part for the remaining part of the album, with the sole break of "Forever now", a power ballad that, once again, proves the melodic qualities of the Italian quintet, together with the final "Eternity", a piano driven ballad, delicate and gentle, that closes with a touch of class this "Don't count on heroes". As said previously: if you are in the melodic music, this album is for you, because it has everything you would expect from a release like that; it misses maybe some innovation but honestly I do not expect a melodic band to have such a quality. I have found many references to band I love, but at the same time I have found a band mature and with clear ideas and good personality. Promoted!