ROULETTE – 'GO' Black Lodge Records Release date 25/07/2025

 

Now, if you’re still reading let me explain why. Cards on the table time dear friends, I’ll listen to, enjoy and review almost every kind of rock and metal you care to mention; but I am at heart, unashamedly, unapologetically and unreservedly…a melodic rock geek! When it’s done right, really right, there is a magic that is for me, unmatched. 

 

That said, when I was sent the new Roulette album to review, I was genuinely nervous for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I had just reviewed two stellar albums and the chances of getting three or the bounce are remote in the extreme, secondly and more importantly I like these guys and when it’s personal like that the disappointment can be crushing. This is Roulette though and if you’re not familiar with their work then this Swedish four piece have been on the go since 1985, and I was in the safest of melodic hands.

 

From the joyous opening of ‘Answer to my Prayers’ to the wistful melancholy of ‘We Remember You’ by way of the gorgeous groove of ‘Don’t be Sorry’ this is everything that I want from a melodic rock album. It’s four decades of experience poured into ten songs and although there is absolutely no filler and a whole lot of killer there is one song that I need to single out for a line or two of its own.

 

All my favourite songs all have one very simple combination in common and it’s one that was engrained in my musical DNA when I was being musically schooled and raised by my older brother. Build…bridge…hook…chorus, and the bigger the better! ‘Take Me As I Am’ is without doubt one of the finest examples of this I’ve heard since those halcyon days of yesteryear. It’s glorious in the extreme and even writing about it puts the biggest smile on my face.

 

Much has rightly been made these past couple of decades of the new wave of melodic rock bands that Sweden has produced. The truth is though that whilst the likes of H.E.A.T., Eclipse, Crazy Lixx et al are out there blazing their own trails, the fire that lit the way for them was sparked by bands like Roulette and I’m absolutely delighted that Sweden’s best kept secret have stepped out of the shadows and back into the spotlight.

 

Put simply; and to finish as we started with a simple tagline…Roulette’s GO is a ten-song explosion in the joy factory, and it comes complete with more hooks than a Peter Pan convention!

 

Much love

SS