"Into The Night" still remains a Top10 album, talking about releases of the last 4-5 years in the traditional Metal field. ENFORCER's outburst was so massive when their debut album was released in 2008 that reviews were outstanding everywhere and the band still is in most gig promoters' wishlist. Having seen them live a couple of times I should confirm their classic Heavy/Speed Metal is so firing onstage that they can set a venue/festival on total fire and drive you shakin' nuts. Now, with the Swedish band's second album to be released a good bet is on the way: will "Diamonds" push ENFORCER's fame scales up, will it just confirm this is a retro-lust gang of youths, will it even go unnoticed?

Unnoticed, no, to throw this option apart. "Diamonds" may seem milder at first in regards to the band's hammering debut, but I can promise it shall gradually step on you; "Into The Night" was more of a cutthroat nonstop assault breathing traditional British Metal fire but "Diamonds" may prove to be even more exciting. First of all there is more variety in the speeds shown throughout the tracklist: fast songs are on the menu of course ("Roll The Dice" ,"Live For The Night", "Take Me To Hell"), but some more mid-pace or up-tempo cuts are also visible ("Midnight Vice", "Nightmares"). This is by no way a sign of decadence, in my humble opinion; it possibly shows the band would like to focus equally on the melodies apart from the fast takers. And the melodies here (leads included) are really impressive, showing a clear reference to the Metal past but avoiding any 'lame' copycat comparison. Especially tracks like "Katana", "Running In Menace" and "Walk With Me" are painted with a classic Hard Rock coating revealing a more delightful broadened profile for ENFORCER.

Olof's voice is another nice surprise here: the young singer does not exceed screaming for the sole sake of screaming, he does enrich his singing laying down more 'pro' work visible all the way through the album. His fierce shrieking voice in the 2008 debut LP was a kick in the balls while I was wondering how the hell he could even keep a pace during live performances, but his voice now - just like the music - has extended its borders for the benefit of the band's fans.

Yeap, rest assured nothing has really changed in the ENFORCER camp. It seems "Into The Night" was more than just a shot in the dark; "Diamonds" (l-o-o-o-ve the vintage framed cover artwork) is a shining star, just like ENFORCER so far. You cannot accuse them as mere excavators/imitators of the golden 80s British/European Heavy/Speed Metal days, you can get caught in their music's bewitching face. Imagine a time when thinking of classic albums like this and that you may bring an ENFORCER album to mind as being overlooked but still remaining a lost gem.

The bet is already won; music-wise, at least. In one word, "Diamonds" looks spellbinding.

P.S.: The ethereal vintage fading outro in the instrumental number caught me by surprise...