Review DOKKEN ‘Heaven Comes Down’

One week after the former Dokken guitar hero George Lynch has released a new album with Lynch Mob, his former companion Don Dokken follows close behind. Dokken was an institution in the 80s when it came to melodic heavy metal and albums like ‘Under Lock and Key’ and ‘Tooth and Key’ belong to the best the genre offered.

Unfortunately, the heydays could not be continued endlessly and after a respectable album called ‘Back For the Attack’, Dokken could not maintain their winning streaks afterwards.

Now after band leader Don Dokken had to fight with some health issues he was ready to record another Dokken album. Well, the band name still sounds promising and one hopes for a continuation of the sound of the 80s. If the new album even carries the promising name ‘Heaven Comes Down’ (fans of the first hour still remember ‘When Heaven Comes Down’ from the ‘Tooth and Nail’ album), then one may have a certain expectation for the new output.

So much in advance; ‘Heaven Comes Down’ can not quite continue the 80s successes and yet Don Dokken has managed to deliver a pretty good record.

An important part of today’s Dokken is guitarist Jon Levin. His way of playing the guitar gives the album a certain basic strength, which is beneficial to the album, because many of the songs are rather in the mid-tempo range.

The fact that Dokken 2023 recall the good old days becomes clear not least with ‘I’ll Never Give Up’. A few parallels to ‘Will the Sun Rise’ quickly become evident, without the new song being a version 2.0 version of the ‘Under Lock and Key’ blast.

However, the entry into the album is made by a song called ‘Fugitve’ and one gets the impression that rather personal lyrics are what make up the song. Style-wise, it’s a pretty good track that you’ll enjoy listening to.

‘Gypsy’ can keep the set level and bangs powerfully out of the speakers, followed by ‘Is it Me or You’ which has a rather bluesy feel to it. Also in the second half of the album Dokken is convincing, even if a small saturation effect starts to take over.

‘Heaven Comes Down’ is a record, which you can listen to as a fan of the band for more than once. It is not the major unleashing, but ‘Heaven Comes Down’ is definitely not a disappointment either. Rather, this album is a well-made and entertaining addition to the extensive Dokken discography, which was not necessarily expected to be like that.