Neonfly – The Future, Tonight
Release Date: 18th June 2021
Label: Noble Demon
Pre-Order/Pre-Save
Genre: Heavy Metal, Rock, Alternative Metal, Power Metal.
FFO: Dokken, Primal Fear, Magnum, Enbound, Sonata Arctica.
Review By: Snidely Whiplash
Welcome back to the metalepidemic.com review hotseat. This is your ol’ pal Snidely Whiplash, ready to give you the latest in rock and roll reviews. Let’s see how we feel about today’s band!
Today we’re reviewing NEONFLY and their new release THE FUTURE, TONIGHT. This is a band who has supported the likes of Alice Cooper and Dragonforce at various festivals since 2008. They have a very serious sound that isn’t too dissimilar to Dragonforce or Dream Theater, without all of the super fancy riff mountains. Changing styles of rock inside tempo changes, they are tight and very grand musically. The vocals range from that very dramatic Queensryche sound all the way to a rough screaming vocal that’s popular in modern metal. The song topics are serious and no nonsense, but the band bring it all together with a very rocking and tight sound.
I didn’t get any names of the guys in the group, so I can’t individually credit them. So, here’s what I heard. The drummer is seriously tight and steady. He hits the hard parts with a very strong beat and feel. The bass player lays right in the pocket with a thick, mammoth bass sound. The guitars are very Chris Degarmo from Queensryche, minus the twin guitar harmonies in most of the songs. There are some cool strings and keyboard parts that give the songs a nice topping. They definitely add to the big sound this band gives. The singer has that high, smooth tone on most of the tracks. His vocal lines are pretty good, but maybe slightly similar on some of the songs.
Overall, Neonfly is a solid and tight band, if you’re in the mood for serious, topic-driven rock music. Not a massive amount of hooks. I didn’t find myself wanting to sing-along to anything, but I did find myself wanting to head-bang from the get-go. I’m not a huge fan of screamer vocals, but they’re used really well on this release. They don’t overdo them and they’re placed in the right spots.
These guys sound like a good band to listen to and head-bang with friends at one of their concerts for sure. I wouldn’t be disappointed with them opening for a couple of other bands that slam, like Iron Maiden or Dream Theater.
(4 / 5)
