{"id":23386,"date":"2014-11-28T00:00:14","date_gmt":"2014-11-28T00:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=23386"},"modified":"2015-01-26T21:58:50","modified_gmt":"2015-01-26T21:58:50","slug":"album-review-white-widdow-crossfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-white-widdow-crossfire\/","title":{"rendered":"WHITE WIDDOW – Crossfire (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHITE WIDDOW
Crossfire<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nAOR Heaven (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Featuring brothers Jules (vocals) and Xavier Millis (keyboards), White Widdow is an Australian melodic rock act which formed in 2008 out of Melbourne. The band also consists of guitarist Enzo Almanzi, bassist Ben Webster and drummer Noel Tenny.<\/p>\n

The combo released its self-titled debut platter in 2010 to much critical acclaim, and certainly didn\u2019t beat about the bush in releasing a sophomore effort \u2013 Serenade<\/em> \u2013 the following year. To continue their prolific nature, White Widdow hoped to release its third opus in 2013, but with the tragic death of drummer George Kristy and retirement of original bassist Trent Wilson this would become a testing time for the band.<\/p>\n

However, the posse quickly recovered and recruited two new members in Webster and Tenny, and the result is this new ten-track platter which once again boasts high quality songs all steeped in extravagant melody and awash with opulent hooks.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no wonder that on previous efforts the band had commercial success, because White Widdow is the sort of AOR act that could easy cross into chart territory. Distinctly 80s by design \u2013 especially in those sweeping keyboards and gorgeous vocal harmonies \u2013 Crossfire<\/em> is riddled with the sort of upbeat choruses that if released in the 80s we\u2019d still be humming today.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nary a track that goes by which doesn\u2019t dig its hooks in to the ears, with each track drifting by like a summer haze over the city. From slow, simmering segments of nostalgia to well-crafted chugs injected by throbbing synths, Crossfire<\/em> produces radio-friendly hit after radio-friendly hit, bolstered by Jules Mills\u2019 soulful croons which melt lusciously into those juicy rhythms.<\/p>\n

Okay, so there are moments when the anthems would be better suited to the 80s television show Miami Vice<\/em>, but we\u2019re all suckers for the driving guitar grooves of \u2018Angel\u2019, the slow-building chug of \u2018Born To Be A Rebel\u2019 and the synth-drenched glory of \u2018Dreams Don\u2019t Die\u2019. And naturally, the band also throws in a wondrous ballad or two, the most effective being the trickling \u2018Carry The Heartache\u2019 with its nodding drum. <\/p>\n

AOR doesn\u2019t get more heavenly than this, even though you know what is coming as each track develops into a nifty, delicate stomp. And while there are the expected clich\u00e9s which seem to come with the territory of this sort of melodic rock, the guys have crafted enough well-balanced anthems to convert even the most hardened detractors of this sort of soft metal.<\/p>\n

While many contemporary acts seem to fall short or lay on too much cheese in regards to creating a nostalgic trip through the annals of AOR lore, White Widdow has emerged like a ray of sunshine through the grey clouds and delivered its best opus yet.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WHITE WIDDOWCrossfire AOR Heaven (2014)Rating: 8.5\/10 Featuring brothers Jules (vocals) and Xavier Millis (keyboards), White Widdow is an Australian melodic rock act which formed in 2008 out of Melbourne. The band also consists of guitarist Enzo Almanzi, bassist Ben Webster and drummer Noel Tenny. The combo released its self-titled debut platter in 2010 to much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,1610],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-white-widdow"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23386"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23389,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23386\/revisions\/23389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}