The formula of Ginevra may be simple – the execution par excellence. Assemble some seasoned musicians in the melodic hard rock, metal, and AOR fields and allow them to create a new outfit that has stellar songwriting plus magnificent performances at the heart of a record. Featuring vocalist Kristian Fyhr (Seventh Crystal), guitarist Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear), bassist Jimmy Jay (H.E.A.T.) and drummer Magnus Ulfstedt (Nordic Union, ex-Eclipse), the debut album We Belong to the Stars in 2022 impressed a lot of fans out of the gate – leading to this sophomore outing Beyond Tomorrow. These eleven tracks embrace a Nordic-sounding melodic hard rock/metal foundation, although exhibiting a bit more heaviness when necessary to establish themselves slightly different from the pack.
The keyboard presence often sits side by side to the guitar action – filling the sonic landscape in swaths of AOR-like tranquil beauty. Especially evident in the tradeoffs between Fyhr and Karlsson with some twin guitar harmonies that lead into a crunchy, mid-tempo groovy musical hook for “True North”, where Kristian’s glorious voice shines like a bright beacon surrounded by a plethora of multi-tracked background choir-like melodies. Propulsive rhythm section work carries the opening instrumental sequence and verses that make “Let Freedom Ring” another stellar composition, similar to the greatest efforts of Pretty Maids and Masterplan. It’s not as easy as one thinks to create compelling commercial hooks in such a way that captivate listeners through every pass – but that’s what you’ll hear in toe-tapping tracks like “Beat the Devil” (the gang vocals volley next to this 80s Kansas meets Eclipse musical wellspring) and highway ready “Higher”. Intertwining clean passages next to uplifting electric chord progressions, “Echoes of the Lonely” has that extra epic aura in certain vocal parts that fuse brilliantly next to the steady supply of arena rock, upper register melodies. Never fear that Magnus also knows when to rip out a shred-fueled lead break next to his thoughtful main songwriting duties – injecting the metal / heroic axe licks in all the ideal places.
The track record of Frontiers Music when it comes to these projects like Ginevra showcases more winning hands than losers. Beyond Tomorrow allows the quartet to once again develop material that crosses numerous melodic hard rock/metal styles in a tasteful manner – the results of which should be well received from plenty of followers.