THE EMPIRE STRIKES is a Finnish Rock N' Roll band formed in 2012 in the city of Helsinki.

The band's first released "1983" was released in 2015 and got great reviews from the press and helped the band to tour in Central Europe, Spain, Italy, The Baltics and Finland. In 2017 THE EMPIRE STRIKES released their second album "High Tide" with throughout Bootleg Booze Records (Europe) and Savage Magic Records (North America).

Now the band release their third studio album "Charm" and this is what we are going to talk about. The album starts with "The End" and it has a classic guitar riff from the 70's with some cool vocals. It reminded me of DEEP PURPLE and it feels cool. The next song is "Danger" and right in the beginning it feels like the classical Hard Rock from the 80's. Good vocal melodies, guitar riffs and bass n' drumming. It's a really funny song and it will make you sing out loud. Yeah, there was a 'Danger'... we've got "Blinded By The Light" which is the next song. It's a really good song to cheer someone up and also drive your car, motorcycle or only have a few beers. It has a very happy vibe and a kickass guitar solo as well.

"Theme For Roky" starts next and it's kinda of a ballad. The guitar groove reminded me of cuban music and that's awesome. The chorus is pretty catch and you will start to sing along right after the first vocal lines. There's some orchestrations in the chorus that made it more complete and livily. "Amor Por La Vida Hasta La Muerte" is a song that begins with aggressive riffs and very powerful vocals. It's the spirit of old Rock N' Roll right here. It's the perfect to band your head and sing until your vocal chords explode. The guitar solo is really bluesy and fits perfectly.

Imagine a far West scenario, grab a glass of Jack Daniels and start listening to "Tigerlillie". This song sent me straight to the old West and it has a great guitar, vocals, bass and drumming work. Nothing much to say about, just listen to it. The song "Rainmaker" has a striking chorus and the same Rock N' Roll formula that they used in the previous songs.

"Blackheart" starts with a buzzing drums, good guitar riffs and great melody work. The chorus is extremely fun and the music is reminiscente of the 80's. The next song "'lectric Voodoo" starts in a very dark way as the song takes shape and reaches its peak in the chorus. There's a very weird and creep guitar messy sound before the last chorus, but it fits the voodoo atmosphere. These guys knows what they are doing and they do it very well.

"Miss Margaret Collins" and "Leeches, Lies And A Mighty Hoax" follow the line of the previous songs and have maintained the band's excellence. The last song on the album is called "I Found My Love". It's a ballad that reminded me of some things from OASIS and I particularly loved this song. It's a great way to wrap up a great job.

It's amazing how a band from the cold and dark lands of Finland managed to create songs that reminded me of the great bands from the 70's and 80's. It's na extremely high quality band and they just released a great album.