I honestly thought that Sweet & Lynch had put this music project on ice, so I was kinda surprised to learn that they were about to come up with a new release after 6 years. For those who do not know, Sweet & Lynch music collaboration that features two iconic hard rock / metal figures, vocalist & guitarist Michael Sweet (Stryper, Iconic) and guitarist George Lynch (Lynch Mob, The End Machine, ex-Dokken). On this album there’s Alessandro Del Vecchio (Edge of Forever, Hardline, etc.), who also co-produced this release with Michael Sweet, on bass, and Jelly Cardarelli (Lalu) on drums.
As you can imagine, both Michael and George are doing what they know best. They deliver hard & heavy music with heavy riffs, excellent guitar solos and nice melodies. On the other hand, one could argue that they don’t bring anything new to the table, and they’d be partly right. The music is a mix of Dokken and Stryper, but in a more melodic and hard rockin’ way. The production is heavy, dynamic and punchy. As I mentioned before, Sweet along with Alessandro have taken care of it.
Frankly, “Heart & Sacrifice” is way better than what I expected when I first started listening to it. Not that the members aren’t true pros, but it wouldn’t be the first time that a band or project with great musicians on its roster fails to deliver. Yeah, most of the tracks rock hard, but I think the more melodic & atmospheric ones like “Leaving It All Behind”, “After All is Said and Done”, “Given Up the Night”, “Will It Ever Change” and “World Full of Lies” offer more variety to the final outcome.
Sweet & Lynch showcase their unwavering passion for creating hard & heavy music with fine melodies, therefore I think all the hard rock and melodic metal enthusiasts should give this album a chance.
