Fatal Smile – 21st Century Freaks

“21st century freaks” is the fourth album from Fatal Smile.  The band come from Stockholm in Sweden, and over the last ten years have built up a good reputation with their albums and their live shows.  Fatal Smile have toured with bands like Dio, W.A.S.P., Queensryche, Lordi, Doro, Winger, and more and have played festivals including Sweden Rock, Wacken, Hard Rock Hell, and many more.

The new album was recorded during 2011 and was produced by MR. Y and it was mixed by Philty and MR. Y. The mastering was handled by Mats “Limpan” Lindfors at Cutting Room Studios.

Fatal Smile’s hard rocking sleaze sound really comes through well on this new album – it’s got lots of power and energy and really sounds good.  It’s probably their heaviest work to date, and keeps the sleazy attitude to the forefront.

Brief comments on a few of the tracks..

The album kicks off with “Welcome to the freakshow” complete with an introduction of a carnival freakshow caller enticing people to come and see the freaks.  This is the first single to be taken from the album.  It’s a great tune with a strong catchy chorus – an excellent start to the album.

“My private hell” is another great kick-ass song with a great chorus – one of my favourite songs on the album.

The final track on the album, “For the last in line” is a slow ballad.  It’s got a slow piano and vocal introduction before the rest of the abdn kick in and the pace picks up a bit.  For me this song doesn’t really match up to the standard of the rest of the album.  While including a ballad in a rock album is very common, sometimes it just doesnt really work and this is an example of that.

This is a great album that more than lived up to my high expectations after hearing the last two albums.  I look forward to seeing them on one of their UK tour dates as these songs should sound great played live.

21st Century Freaks is out now.

Fatal Smile are:

MR. Y – Guitars
Blade -Vocals
Alx – Bass
Philty – Drums

Track listing:

1. Welcome To The Feakshow
2. Nailed To The Wall
3. Raising Hell In Heaven
4. Judgement Day
5. Broken Heart
6. My Private Hell
7. Scarecrow
8. Innocent
9. Break These Chains
10. Take It To The Limit
11. For The Last In Line