Review NIGHT LASER “Call Me What You Want”

Hamburg-based sleaze rockers Night Laser released their first album in 2014. “Fight For The Night” was the title of this first release and helped the band to publish the next two full-lengths on Out Of Line Music. Now it’s time for the fourth longplayer from these Hamburg rock enthusiasts and here it is.

“Call Me What You Want” is the title of the new album, which contains nine songs and two bonus tracks. Musically Night Laser stay in familiar territory. Inspired by the colourful sleaze rock of the 80s, the guys start with “Bittersweet Dreams”. The uptempo rocker is a well-chosen opener that shows that Night Laser have taken a next step. What bursts out of the speakers sounds professional and still has a vivid expression. You get the feeling that the move to Steamhammer has helped the band in their development and not to be underestimated is the line-up, which also looks a bit different from the one that recorded “Power to Power”.

Ingemar Oswald is the new drummer and since two years Vincent Hadeler and Felipe Zapata Martinez provide the riff power. Not to forget Dirk Schlächter at the helm and none other than Eike Freese who did the mix and mastering. You can hear this professional approach already when listening to the opener and it’s the powerful production that gives “Call Me What You Want” its rocking glamour.

Night Laser are at their best when they have the foot on the pedal, as in “No More Changes”. The weaker parts of the track list are the mellower songs like “Traveler in Time”. What is supposed to be a touching moment on this release is more of a boring moment that makes you want to press the ‘skip’ button.

Fortunately, these moments are not too dominant and it is much more fun to listen to the up-tempo ‘Laser Train’ and the heavy pounding ‘Captain Punishment’. New to the portfolio is a song called ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. Cello and violin enrich this powerful track that alternates between ballad and power metal. Although it is obvious that Benno Hanker’s voice fits much better to the power metal parts, the softer moments are better than on the previously mentioned “Traveler in Time”.

To sum up: Night Laser have taken a step forward. A lot of changes have happened during the last months and it seems that they have helped the band to develop. It feels a bit like “Call Me What You Want” is some kind of in-between album and it will be exciting to follow Night Laser’s next steps.