Treat – The Endgame

7/10

I guess nobody ever thought a band like Treat, the swedish hair metal veterans always two steps behind Europe back in the 80’s, would prove themselves such a vital force all these years later. But then again, nobody could ever foresee a success as the massive comeback album Coup de Grace (2007), which today has grown to be the bands most celebrated album in their whole career, even rising above 80’s classics The Pleasure Principle (1986) and Dreamhunter (1987). But, strange as it may seem, we are now 15 years away from Coup de Grace, which is just as long as that album was from the self titled swan song album Treat in 1992. But has that much really changed since the comeback? Honestly… not really. This sounds very much like all the albums released after the reunion, which is both good and bad.

As for the songs, it’s all familiar but in a good way. Dramatic tunes in a minor key with powerhouse refrains. It’s quite lovely! Treat of today isn’t that much about hair metal, but more melodic rock melted together with metal, and even though I sometimes slightly miss some of the old 80’s sweetness, the band probably stays so much more vital doing this thing than trying to write a new World of Promises or Get You On the Run.

So if the songs are so good, what’s lacking? Well, unfortunally it doesn’t sound too good. The band performs well, so nothing about that, but the production is a bit stiff and polished, and worst of all it uses autotuning. And a lot of it. This of course ruins a bunch of the pleasure listening to the album. I wished they would just throw all that away and not compress the album so much. That would give the great songs a greater credit, and that I wish for the future Treat albums, which I hope there will be many of! With unpolished production, of course. But for now, we can still enjoy The Endgame for all its precious values. This is good stuff!

Artist: Treat
Title: The Endgame
Label: Frontiers
Date of release: 8/4-22
Time: 55,17
Rate: 7/10
Stand Out Track: Rabbit Hole