Bridgeville is a Norwegian hard rock band with members from Iron Fire and Absinth. The formed in 2013 for the sole purpose of creating vintage, old fashioned hard rock. 'Aftershock' is their debut but it sure doesn't feel that way. It feels a little like a best-of eighties underground rock 'n roll, reminding me of anything between Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard and Whitesnake. In other words, hurray, I'm 18 again.
The album opens with the strong rocker 'Get On Top', which could either be a sexual recommendation or a first glimpse of the future of this band (or both, which brings back Kiss' groupies stories). It simply is a classic hard rock song that could have a place on any best-of classic rock compilation. What follows isn't any less interesting, like the highly immersive title track 'Aftershock' or the groovy single 'Black Rain'.
Bridgeville breathe the same quality as the bands I mentioned in this review. True, some people might find this music outdated, but those people usually are pre-adolescents whose opinions on music really don't matter. So you shouldn't hold back because of how they feel about this 'dad-music'. If you like these uptempo rockers, flashing guitar solos and rough but melodic vocals, this surely is your thing.
I needed only one song to be convinced, and that is the opening track, but there's plenty more vintage goodness to be found here. 'Keep Holding On' sounds like a track Bon Jovi forgot to write. 'Freakshow' could have been on Alice Cooper's 'Trash' album and 'Absinthia' is a good ol' heavy blues rock tune which will make many heads nod. So yes, this is excellent old school hard rock and that's perfectly fine...
​Serge