Review METALITE ‘Expedition One’

Metalite was founded 2015 in Stockholm, Sweden and since then three longplayers hit the shelves. With ‘Expedition One’ the next record waits in line with a scheduled release mid-January this year.

The band is very much into melodic metal and has, like many Swedish bands, an excellent feel for big melodies reflected by the sixteen songs that made it on the tracklist of this album.

Since Metalite doesn’t surprise with big innovations or unexpected twists. ‘Expedition One’ lives by its well-crafted melody lines which the blend with power and catchiness. Somewhere in the intersection between bands like Delain and Amaranthe, the five-piece knows how to please ear-channels and mind of fans of well-crafted melodic metal.

Equipped with a great sound and a visionary storyline, ‘Expedition One’ is an entertaining musical journey into the outer space. Metalite tell the fictitious story of living on the planet Earth in 2055 and it isn’t a romantic outlook into the future. The transparent citizen becomes reality more and more and diseases are increasing. Therefor life on a new planet needs to be explored which means that the plot isn’t exactly a new one. However, music and storyline fit well together while the sugar-sweet melodies grab your attention right away.

Also, craftmanship of the everybody involved is on a good level and it is singer Erica Ohlsson who delivers a very solid performance. It’s the second album with Ohlsson who joined the band in 2019 and songs like the dramatic ‘Outer World’ bring her voice to shine. Unusual is ‘Sanctum of Light’, one of the most pop-oriented tracks on the album. It’s an ABBA-esque touch that is added to the trademarks of Metalite and also the sugar icing might be a bit overdone, the result tastes well.

‘Expedition One’ is a well-done melodic metal album that entertains from start to finish. Not that we haven’t heard this kind of music earlier, yet it’s the mixture of genre-typical ingredients that offer a catchy music with a positive spirit and as colorful as the artwork indicates.