Abandon All – ‘Strong’ EP

Melodic Metal

Inverse Records

Release Date February 2024

Reviewed by Smudge

Abandon All were formed in Finland in 2020. They have released six singles and a full-length album along with this new EP.

A fine intro starts ‘The Wolf And Owl’ and we’re off onto a rattling and screeching rocker that’s driven along by Havukainen’s double kick rhythm. We get the added bonus of Capri from Amberian Dawn helping on vocals. ‘Strong’ gives us a Judas Priest-style intro and a fine chugging riff that allows Sommer to give it large over the top before ‘Fake You’ rips into another melodic metal gem with its scatter gun rhythm and some more melodic lines from Nygren plus some very masculine backing vocals. We get a superb earthy instrumental on the final cut ‘37500’ which showcases Nygren’s fluid dextrous playing – but it it’s not flashy or showy.

I’ll admit that this took a couple of listens to fully appreciate but once I discovered all the pieces, I was pleasantly surprised. There are some great hooks and melodies that come across well in the big bold production which makes this a worthwhile purchase.

Track List –

1 – The Wolf And Owl

2 – Strong

3 – Fake You

4 – 37500