The names Sweet & Lynch are synonymous in the world of 80s hard rock and heavy metal. One is the founding lead singer for everyone’s favorite black and yellow bible-thumpers, Stryper. The other, a universally lauded guitar hero who achieved superstar status in Dokken, and has been playing with his namesake band, Lynch Mob, ever since. Put the two together and you’ve got…Strokken! Dokker? Let’s be thankful these two icons didn’t go for such an atrocious hybrid name and instead settled on the simple Sweet & Lynch.
It was back in the mid ’10s that the Sweet & Lynch project first came to be. A pair of albums in Only to Rise (2015) and Unified (2017) materialized rather fast, before both musicians returned to their full-time vehicles. Knowing the track record of many of these Frontiers projects, one could’ve easily prematurely pronounced the death of the Sweet & Lynch project. Yet after 6 long years, countless creative excursions, and a global pandemic, Sweet & Lynch have united once again for their heaviest and strongest outing to date, Heart & Sacrifice.
While you’re not going to get anything on a Sweet & Lynch album that can be described as “groundbreaking”, what you will get is some muscular, old school, hard and heavy music that channels the finest moments of the 80s. Unsurprisingly, there is a distinct classic Dokken flavor to songs like the harmonious “Leaving It All Behind” and ultra-melodic “Give Up the Night”, the latter of which contrasts ominous verses with a powerful chorus. As someone who bows at the altar of Under Lock and Key, I couldn’t help but rejoice at these moments, as well as headbangers like the opening title track and “Rains Again”.
There are some surprises scattered about as well. “Will It Ever Change” and “It’s Time to Believe” lie somewhere between sludge, doom, and groove, pummeling the listener with some grim Sabbathian riffage. The upbeat “Miracle” and “Every Day” are hyperactive hard rock straight out of an FM radio playlist circa ’84, and “You’ll Never Be Alone” takes the sleazy Zeppelin approach in a fresh new direction. Granted, some songs on here are stronger than others, but aside from two sleeper ballads in “After All is Said and Done” and “World Full of Lies” (the latter did not need to be included, let alone close the affair), this is quite the enjoyable listen.
Sweet’s freakishly impactful voice adds flavor and fire that may otherwise not be present. It really is incredible how, 40 years into his career, not only is Stryper better than ever, but so is Sweet, improving as both as songwriter and vocalist with each subsequent release. As for Lynch, what can be said that hasn’t been said already? This is STILL the same guy who laid down the “Tooth and Nail” solo. It’s just a shame that he doesn’t let loose his pure metal side as often as he should. With all due respect to the subdued, bluesy stylings of Lynch Mob, when I’m listening to a Lynch solo, I want my face completely melted by the end. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of this on Heart & Sacrifice. Even the FBI agent behind my laptop camera is recoiling at the sight of my bare skull!
7 out of 10
Label: Frontiers Records
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Dokken, Stryper, Judas Priest