Review NIGHTHAWK ‘Prowler’

If there’s someone who certainly doesn’t seem to have a boring time at the moment, then it’s Björn Strid. Not only is the singer currently on tour with his mother ship Soilwork, no, Strid also contributes with his voice to several other bands and projects. The Night Flight Orchestra is certainly one of the most established, while he straps on the guitar with Donna Cannone. Now with Nighthawk another band is added.

Nighthawk is the brainchild of Robert Majd (bass player in Metalite & Captain Black Beard) and started as a solo project.

Actually it should be just for fun. Majd wanted to play guitar and write some energetic rock songs. These ended up on an album, which was released in the summer of 2021 and was the initial spark to continue with Nighthawk.
The legendary Abbey Road Studio was booked and now a band had to be put together quickly, as there were several singers who had contributed to the debut album.

Nighthawk, that’s now Björn Strid (The Night Flight Orchestra, Soilwork & Donna Cannone) who joined on lead vocals, Magnus Ulfstedt (Ginevra) on drums, John Lönnmyr (The Night Flight Orchestra) on keyboards and Christan Ek (Captain Black Beard) on bass. These guys recorded nine new songs and also covered two classics.

Photo: Tim Russell

With ‘God of Thunder’ by Kiss and ‘Cover Me’ by Bruce Springsteen there are two real highlights that Nighthawk dared to cover and you can say it right away; they are two very accomplished cover versions. The band does not move too far away from the original and yet the songs sound relatively individual and are extremely dynamic.

The good thing about this record is that the own songs are in almost no way inferior to the classics. Already with the opener ‘Highest Score’ it becomes obvious that we are dealing with a great band. Rocking, down to earth and featuring beautiful keyboards, Nighthawk deliver real quality.

‘Running Wild’ is more mid-tempo before the rock’n’roll beast is unleashed with ‘Action’. The whole album sounds peppy and vibrant which may also be due to tracks like ‘Flame Still Burns’. Parallels to The Night Flight Orchestra can’t be denied here and yet, or maybe because of that, the song puts you in a good mood.

No matter where you drop the needle, what comes out of the speakers is excellent music. ‘Strike Like Lighting’, the gritty ‘Burn the Night’ and ‘Playing the Game’ are songs that really bring a Friday’s party to life.

The record ends with ‘See You Again’ and one is tempted to say – hopefully. With ‘Prowler’ Nighthawk have delivered a highlight in the still relatively new year 2023 and this album will surely block your turntable for quite some time.