Well, the old and good Hard/Glam Metal with those excellent and charming melodies from AOR is back to the front, after a long time hidden into the depths of underground. And as the old and savage bands are returning from the dead since the last decade, new names are appearing as well. And the Greek quintet OUTLOUD is a veteran with 11 years of experience on their shoulders, and their latest album, "Virtual Hero Society", is the fruit of this aspect. It's an accessible and charming form of music, built with charming melodies, excellent keyboards parts and with seductive chorus (that ones that are easy to learn to sing). But they know how to play heavy due some traditional Heavy Metal influences (especially from NWOBHM) in some moments. Then, we can say that their musical style isn't new, but in their hands is something personal, different from the others.

The sound quality of "Virtual Hero Society" is truly excellent. We can hear all the musical instruments (and they are set with excellent tunes), and the volumes were set in the right way. And the balance between sound clarity with that necessary crude touch that a Rock album must bear is excellent. It's not perfect, but it's excellent, and you won't complain about it. "My Promise" with its charming accessibility (great melodies, a chorus that is easy to learn and good guitar riffs are heard here), "Virtual Heroes" (the balance between aggressiveness and melodies is fine here, because the melodies can be in both ways in the due time), "I Am the One" (the same elements of the previous one, but not as heavy as it), "World-Go-Round" (on this one, the accessible AOR side of their music is evident, filled with good melodies and choruses, but bass and drums are doing a fine work on this song), "We Got Tonite" (a feeling that we could hear on EUROPE's best moments can be heard here), and "Live With It" (charming accessible touch, but bearing strong and heavy guitars in the right moments) can be said as the album's finest songs. But hear it from the first song to the last one and chose for your own, because on each time you play this album, you'll be in love with new features you'll discover in the songs.

OUTLOUD is a very good band, and made of "Virtual Hero Society" an excellent album.