"Heaven On Earth", the debut CD from Swedish Hard Rocking sextet, DEVIL'S HEAVEN arrived on my desk this week and after several spins has left a solid lasting impression! Comprised of veterans of the very large music community in Sweden, (bassist Jonas Reingold is also a member of Prog Rockers, THE FLOWER KINGS) makes this disc not sound like a first release at all! Self-described as "Melodic Metal of the eighties, with a mere comtemporary guitar sound" truly sums up what I heard...

The vocals of Marcus Nygren strongly remind me of Jonny Lindqvist of the much missed NOCTURNAL RITES. He really shines on tracks such as opener "Welcome II The Show" and "Demerital Action" and the band shows off their chops on instrumental, "Festung Europa". At times, the lyrics are a bit clichéd, but the quality of the performances make it a bit easier for me to overlook it. The only major fault of this release is the fact that there are 13 tracks - a few of them come off as filler and I would have rated this disc a bit higher if it was had 10 tracks.

Bottom line: if you enjoy hard rock with very good melodic vocals and heavy guitar tones, this is a good CD to add to your collection. I actually ended up thinking that if NOCTURNAL RITES decided to make a release that sounded like Switzerland's SHAKRA, the music would sound just like this.