Now that we've entered the second quarter of 2015, it's time for the Swedes to up their game, as so far the releases I've been sent so far from them have been a bit mixed, with a couple being outstanding releases, such as the new ECLIPSE album. But others have been a bit mediocre, especially if it's in the Heavy Metal genre, which always worries me, especially when it comes to Sweden as albums solely focused on that genre from them are never usually that good, in my opinion.

I don't mind if Heavy Metal is used on an album with other styles mixed in as well, such as Melodic or Hard Rock, but if it's too focused on that one genre alone, it's not really going to impress me and if you've read my previous reviews on this topic, you'll understand why I have these concerns.

Enough rambling, as it's time for the main subject of today's review, which is the newest release from THE POODLES and it's called "Devil in the Details" and I'm here to see if this release can hopefully reignite the flames of the 2015 Swedish invasion.

Formed in 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden, which by the way already bags them points, this quintet of Swedish musicians already have a few impressive statistics under their belt, with one of them being that they were the Swedish representative during 2006's Eurovision song contest where they played in 4^th, which is pretty damn impressive if you ask me, and so far they have several singles, one compilation, one live album, one DVD and six studio albums under their belt, with the newest one, "Devil in the Details" being the subject of this review.

THE POODLES are one of those bands whose name you hear about from time to time but you never really get around to listening to them, which is the case for me, but that changed when I got a promo of their latest album, so was it worth the long wait for me to check these guys out or wasted time?

I'm happy to say that it was worth it and that I'm glad I've now heard their music, as this is exactly what the Swedish invasion needs. "Devil in the Details" is 12 brand new songs spanning a total of around 46 minutes playtime, and every minute is enjoyable, as is the music. The band's profile on the Metal Archives website states their styles are Melodic Heavy Metal and Hard Rock and that garners them a few more points, as it's two different genres mixed in their music, which I do like, and the fact that they're from Stockholm is a bonus too, as this Swedish town has produced some amazing talent and THE POODLES are one of them.

The production on this record is top notch and there is plenty of things to like, including the excellent arrangements of the songs, the heavy guitars, the pounding drumbeats and the vocal performance, which is not only powerful and charismatic, but I can also detect a few vocal styles which remind me of other rock singers such as Tony Harnell, for example.

Because the production is good, that means you get some good tunes and these include the epic opener that is "Before I Die", the slow but still kickass "The Greatest", the melodic "Everything", the groovy "(What the Hell) Baby", the symphonic "Crack in the Wall", the powerful and heavy "Need to Believe" and the funky "House of Cards" to name a few.

Listening to those songs I mentioned above, plus the rest of the album, gives me a good clear view of just how diverse this band is in their musical styles and a good range of diverse musical styles equals points in my book, so it's so far so good and things are about to get better, as there aren't really any faults I can find here, but even if there were, the solid production and the power of this albums diverse melodies and styles will easily overpower those faults, making you forget about them completely.

Bottom line, this is exactly the type of music that belongs in the Swedish invasion, as this is much more like it. Why? It's everything I expect from the Swedes and this is exactly the type of music they can do if they bang their heads together and just get on with it, and this album is a good example of that, as it's powerful, heavy, melodic, and with a diverse range of styles and melodies, it's enjoyable to the point where replaying it over and over will never get boring. Definitely an album you should pick up and check out this year so you can see for yourselves why it's so good.
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