Princess – The Dark Side of God

Princess

‘The Dark Side of God’

Swan Records

Hard Rock

FFO: Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Sonata Arctica

Formed by the ex-Stick It Out and New Babylon man Freddie Wolf, Princess have had a rather busy schedule; not only has the Italian band ran themselves ragged with an endless touring schedule, Princess have also found the time to release an album a year since 2018. It is no surprise that with this itinerary, Princess are back with ‘The Dark Side of God’, their third album.

                ‘The Dark Side…’ is an album which shows Princess have no sign of tiring or slowing down; there is a creative muscle flexing and working hard here with an album which ebbs and flows nicely along delivering some quality hard rock inspired by a very retro groove. Yet, this is not one of those ‘vintage’ albums by a band playing to a different decade, there is a contemporary edge here that allows these influences to soar through a modern sheen as Wolf himself delivers a stellar performance showing just how versatile his voice is with a tone and timbre that would appeal to fans of Sonata Arctica. Although the band cite Queen, Zeppelin and Floyd as their influences, there is something insidiously metal here and the presence of Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens helps hammer this home on the excellent ‘The Night of Evil (Halloween)’.

                ‘The Dark Side…’ is a delightful album, it isn’t risky and it’s relatively safe, but there are a lot of enjoyable songs here that fans of classic rock are bound to get on board with.

Adam McCann