PRESSURE is not your usual run of the mill normal Heavy Metal band. No, these Swedes, who came together in 2018 call themselves a ‘Story Metal band with strong connections to modern music, storytelling and showmanship’. As I can’t find anything else on the net musically, I am assuming that “Heroes Will Fall” is their first release. To make this review easier to digest, what they actually play is mid-tempo Heavy Metal. I know this is just an EP of 16 minutes, but that is more than enough to give you a good idea as to where they have come from, and maybe even where they will be heading in the future.

Let me start by saying that the production of “Heroes Will Fall” is very crisp and clear, which is a good thing if you are releasing your music yourself. It shows that you are very serious about what you do. Those are the first bonus points for PRESSURE. Unfortunately they are the only ones as well, as even after five years you can hear that there is no clear path they have descended on so far. And that, my dear friends, is definitely reflected in the music they play.

None of the songs on “Heroes Will Fall” are very coherent, jump from left to right to centre and back and forth. They are trying too hard to tell the story within a short time frame, thereby forgetting to make sure that the songs have that little bit of cohesion that will draw you in. Alas though, these songs are capable of doing just the opposite. They push you away, as you never get the feeling that you are listening to a band with a bright future.

But then again, if you break down what PRESSURE plays, you can hear that band leader and creative force Simon Forcell is a rather decent guitarist, keyboard player and drummer. And bassist Ignacio Arrua does very solid work. I also like the voice of Olli Violet, as she provides a bit of an angelic feel to the music. That can not be said about Olof Jönsson, as his voice just doesn’t fit the music. I sincerely wish that I could be more positive about “Heroes Will Fall”, but I just can’t. I would say that the PRESSURE is on Simon Forcell to prove that this is a fluke, and come back with a very strong next release.