Polution – Call To Mind

Polution
Call To Mind
Label: POWER BLAST Records GmbH
Out: May 29^th, 2025
Playing time: 27:59

Swiss hard rock band POLUTION is back – with a new line-up, a fresh sound, and tons of energy.

This is how the email promoting the album ‘Call To Mind’ begins. The band was founded back in 1987, but twenty years passed before the debut album ‘Overheated’ was released. It wasn’t until 2008 that the time had come. Four years later, the successor ‘Beyond Control’ was released. After that, it was quiet, at least as far as further releases were concerned. I can’t say whether the band was active during this time. All press releases and Wikipedia are silent on the subject. However, the band’s third album will be released in May.

The opener ‘Don’t Wanna Leave Her’ is easy-going Melodic Rock. You can already hear here that you can quickly sing along to the songs. ‘Experience’ is more Hard Rock. The interplay between the two guitarists Marcel and Matthias Betschart is very good. ‘Never Let Go’ is a great Rock anthem that begs to be played on the radio. From the title, you would expect ‘Dreams’ to be a quieter song. But instead, it rocks out full of energy. The whole thing is rounded off with a good guitar solo. A short, dull-sounding guitar intro – then the dynamic riffing of the twin guitars in ‘S.O.D.’ takes over again. And the riffs bang again on ‘Bittersweet’. Pascal Gwerder’s voice sounds particularly smoky here. His vocals are also a trademark of the band. ‘Silence In Fall’ is a beautiful ballad. With lots of acoustic guitar. But also, with heavier sections and another big guitar solo that goes a bit beyond the balladlike realm. The final song has the fitting title ‘Last Goodbye’. Here you can once again hear hard riffs that stomp along.

‘Call To Mind’ does not offer the advertised Hard Rock throughout. Instead, it offers a series of Melodic Rock songs, all of which are suitable for airplay. You can literally hear the musicians’ joy in playing. Light but well-made and powerfully produced fare.

Polution – Bittersweet: https://youtu.be/WJpwTbR9n8w?si=bWavxkHc67fEYpMO

Lineup:

Pascal Gwerder – Vocals
Marcel Betschart – Guitar
Matthias Betschart – Guitar
Renja Schmidig – Bass
Armin Betschart – Drums

Track list:

• Don’t Wanna Leave Her
• Experience
• Never Let Go
• Dreams
• S.O.D.
• Bittersweet
• Silence In Fall
• Last Goodbye