Former NIGHTWISH and current THE DARK ELEMENT vocalist Anette Olzon will release her new solo album, “Strong”, on September 10 via Frontiers Music Srl. The official lyric video for the disc’s second single, “Sick Of You”, is available below.
Says Olzon: “‘Sick Of You’ is a song for the ones who has been used, abused, lied to, and mistreated over and over again and now enough is enough and you’re taking back control of your life.”
Anette‘s second solo album, following 2014’s “Shine”, is a harder and faster musical offering than the debut. More importantly, “Strong” stakes a claim for Anette‘s well-deserved standing as one of the world’s top female metal vocalists.
The music for “Strong” was written and composed together with acclaimed Swedish guitarist and producer Magnus Karlsson. Together, Anette and Magnus managed to create an outstanding collection of songs which showcase Anette’s enormous vocal range alongside Karlsson‘s incendiary riffs. The songs are heavy, but still quite melodic and contemporary in their approach to the genre style. Additionally, “Strong” is mixed by Jacob Hansen (PRETTY MAIDS, VOLBEAT, THE DARK ELEMENT).
All in all, “Strong” is an album that masters the borders between heaviness and hookiness, all while showing an artist who doesn’t rest on her laurels, but heads boldly into the future.
Regarding the album’s first single, “Parasite”, Olzon previously said: “‘Parasite’ is a song about those who create disaster in this world with their lies, their schemes, their greed and hate. Hiding their intentions behind a respectable facade,” says Olzon. “Living in a world of a bit of chaos with a pandemic, crazy politics, violence, social media behavior and people venting their opinions upon others all the time is the foundation behind the idea of the lyrics for the album. Musically, I wanted a much heavier album, yet with strong melodies and took my inspiration from bands I like such as DIMMU BORGIR and IN FLAMES.”
Track listing:
01. Bye Bye Bye
02. Sick Of You
03. I Need To Stay
04. Strong
05. Parasite
06. Sad Lullaby
07. Fantastic Fanatic
08. Who Can Save Them
09. Catcher Of My Dreams
10. Hear Them Roar
11. Roll The Dice
Recording lineup:
Anette Olzon – Vocals
Magnus Karlsson – Guitars
Anders Köllerfors – Drums
Johan Husgafvel – Bass
Olzon originally joined NIGHTWISH in 2007 and recorded two studio LPs with the band before being dismissed in 2012 in the middle of the group’s North American tour. She was replaced by former AFTER FOREVER singer Floor Jansen.
Since the end of her five-year stint with NIGHTWISH, Olzon released “Shine” and formed THE DARK ELEMENT with former SONATA ARCTICA guitarist Jani Liimatainen. The group’s self-titled debut album was released in 2017; a follow-up, “Songs The Night Sings”, came out in November 2019.
Olzon and noted progressive metal vocalist Russell Allen (SYMPHONY X, ADRENALINE MOB) released a collaborative album titled “Worlds Apart” in March 2020 via Frontiers Music Srl. The project was issued under the moniker ALLEN/OLZON.
