SANDBERG is an aspiring hard rock band out of Norway, formed by vocalist Kim Sandberg in 2016. Their debut effort, "Higher Than The Sun," released in 2016, was a decidedly more metal effort, feeling closer to a DISTURBED-esque brand of groove metal. That could be in large part due to the lyrics been largely driven by the personal thoughts of Sandberg, which are rather harrowing and dark. However, their second full length effort to be released on the 18^th of May, "Monster," falls in line more clearly with their self-described "hard rock" sound. The chunky and groovy guitars remain, and define the band's sound, but everything is dialed back a notch. The songs are more melodic, the lead vocals are sung more than yelled, and the guitar tone (while still chunky), is much less harsh and distorted. It all works pretty well together, and despite being less "heavy," I think it is a veteran improvement on their first album. It's encouraging to see such a young band take a healthy leap like that on their second album, as opposed to falling into the expected sophomore slump.

Opener "Strigoi" has a FLAWLESS and gorgeous symphonic opening bit before descending into that familiar groove metal/rock sound. A fantastic opener, with heavier moments, softer moments, and plenty of phenomenal guitar work. Track 2, "Let It Fade Away" is melancholic and lamenting, it absolutely absorbed me from an emotional standpoint. The vocal work is outstanding; it is a very complete song. Then, followed by one of the heavier songs on the album, "We Can Steal Your Life Away," this 8-song effort already has established ebb and flow. I love that, and it demonstrates their skilled songwriting. It gives the album serious listenability. Especially with a genre such as this, it's easy to fall into a monotonous dribble of each song sounding like the previous. I am glad SANDBERG finds a way to stay away from that.

Track 6 "King Father" is an epic showstopper, featuring some lower and more melodic guitar work on the rhythm parts backed by gorgeous fluidity in the lead and solo guitar parts. It has less of a groove metal feel here, again giving the album a beautiful sense of variety. The chorus is catchy as hell, and everything blends together perfectly into a melancholic and dark sound. We even get a little bit of a breakdown in the bridge, that was rad.

This is a really, really great album. I honestly don't like rock very much, and I definitely don't like this brand of hard rock - most of the time. That shows how much credit SANDBERG deserves here, they took a sound I would normally dismiss and made it not only listenable, but outstanding. I have a lot of high hopes for SANDBERG, I strongly recommend giving this album a listen if you're in the mood for something a bit softer and more chill, but still delivers with the groove, chunk, and epic melodies. It will be on repeat in my playlist. Look for their first single release, "Circle of Anger" on the 13^th of April. It's one of the somewhat more generic and slightly less interesting tracks on the album, but it's an amazing song and does make sense as a lead single, giving a good sense of what the entire album feels like.