An entertaining, old-school, vinyl length record packed to the brim of well-played, well sung and well written Classic Rock.
Dust is a Swedish quartet who play unashamed Retro Rock and 'Soulburst' is their second offering. The band, comprising of Roger Solander on vocals, Örjan Englin on drums, Bernt Ek on bass and Johan Niskanen on guitar, proudly state the album was recorded live and claim to be a mixture of Dio, Bad Company and Deep Purple.
Listening to 'Sun Rising', I certainly agree on the Rock label they have given themselves, but in terms of influence, I thought this sounded much more like The Answer than any of the aforementioned acts. It's very good, however, and 'King Is Coming' does have a BC-tinge to it in the verse, while Solander's vocals cut through with soaring ease. 'Come On!' is a fun Rocker while 'Waiting For You' takes the tempo down with a Blues influence.
There's little in the way of ballads here, with 'Bad Boy', 'Free', 'Soul Stealer' and 'Keltic Wheel' all Rocking hard and heavy, while album closer 'Blind' employs a slow burn to great effect. The approach to recording live has paid dividends with the band sounding tight and powerful. There's great depth to the bass tones of the album which offset the vocals and guitar solos superbly. Some of the songs I'd put in a similar vein to what I heard on the debut album by Inglorious, it's carried out with similar enthusiasm and passion.
'Soulburst' is an entertaining, old-school, vinyl length record packed to the brim of well-played, well sung and well written Classic Rock. Impressive.
James Gaden