Minneapolis based band Cold Kingdom has released their long awaited full length album, Into the Black Sky. This compilation is eleven songs filled with creativity and raw emotion. The female fronted group released their first single and video, “A New Disaster” which has already reached close to 50 thousand views on YouTube in less than two months.
The first track on the album, “Under the Surface”, reels us into this hard rock high energy collection with a strong show of the musicianship from this band. There is a solid blend of keyboards, drums and guitars. In fact, about halfway through this song there is this thing called a guitar solo, a rarity in today’s rock world. Evan Ogaard shows us his heart and soul through his instrument.
“Desire” and “Devil in Me” keep up this pace with lots of hooks and melodies. Keyboards by Collin Pearson are prominent throughout and add a nice layer of interest to these songs.
Slowing things down on this album are two songs, “Left Me Haunted” and “After the Fall”. Both of these ballads show the complexity of the lyrics and the emotions that are translated through the beautiful vocals of Elissa Pearson. “After the Fall” has a church like feel and again uses the guitar to evoke real and genuine emotions in the listener’s hearts.
The balance of this record pumps out rocking jams that have intricate lyrics which are not repetitive. Many of the songs get you thinking and feeling encouraged. Ending with “Fear Is yet to Come” is a perfect to finale to motivate your inner fortitude to never give up and to not look backward.
If you like Halestorm and Evanescence you will definitely like Cold Kingdom. They are hitting up the Midwest hard this summer with several dates scheduled including RockFest and Moondance Jam.
