Serafino Perugino, he is certainly an icon to be remembered, the president of Frontiers Records, but most Metal and Rock fans might not even know of his involvements to fulfill one of the utmost special projects released by the label. So enough with the flattery for the gentleman, nevertheless the guy actually led a hell of a strike in the name of Hard Rock and Melodic Metal with the birth of this all start project called SWEET & LYNCH. You might have guessed who is the Sweet and who is the Lynch, however, don't miss a LoMenzo and a Tichy while you are at it, because they gave their whole for it as well as the formers. Scattering winks and influences of the foursome previous involvements like DOKKEN, STRYPER, WHITE LION, WHITESNAKE but also the emotiveness of AORish JOURNEY and Rock N' Roll grounds and prolific guitaring of VAN HALEN, the "Only To Rise" album was conceived. Trust yours truly here that after listening to it, you will easily gather that there is no way but up.

With an obvious catchiness as the name of the game, added by a pure radio friendliness to the concoction, "Only To Rise" reignited my passion for this kind of Hard N' Heavy, almost Hair Metal kind of flame, yet with the pompous spray and paint out. I truly respect George Lynch, as he is a pure divine of appetizing and nasty riffery and lead guitar mastery, but Mr. Michael Sweet of the STRYPER fame shown me that taking care of yourself as a vocalist really makes it worth. Just listen to his strong and utterly clear voice and would figure it out, a legend fuelling your ears. On the other hand, these two gents couldn't have made it through without a solid iron tight rhythm section that is both groovy and meticulously played, thank you James LoMenzo and Brian Tichy.

Following my early statement, "Only To Rise" is like a spider's web, it ruses everything heading its path, sucking you into his depths without letting you to cut the cord. Whether through guitar work, tremendous vocals or plain just good songwriting, I conjure that everyone would eventually find their identities within the lines. I actually found myself captivated to the sounds of the album's second ballad, "Me Without You". It might have that AORish silky smoothness, but Sweet, and his correlation with atmosphere of the song, left me speechless, returning to it time after time again. If I desired to start things up heavy, I tuned to the self-titled track, a beating 80's vibe DOKKEN style tune of Heavy Metal thunder force, yet with a much better vocalist at the helm. Lynch's signature sound and riffs filled with air with a sense of old class and when the solo began to erupt, it was unstoppable. "Strength In Numbers" came as something rather different a modernized version of the jumble of 70's and 80's directions with a larger than life chorus that filled my heart with appreciation, a magical expedition no doubt. First ballad of the release "Love Stays" added just a tad more fuel to the fire, a bit heavier than the previous, however, equally gentle in its overall AORish trace.

Like most of the best releases that I reviewed in the past, I prefer not to share everything that I witnessed on the release in order for you guys to find the classic moments on your own. With guarantee that would stumble upon them throughout each of the songs on the tracklist. Personally, I hope that this foursome power unit would be making more releases of this fashion as this melodic kind of Rock and Metal are everlasting.