Amber, the new release from Kronowski, is a hybrid creature from another sonic universe. You haven’t experienced metal like this.
Kronowski is a one-man musical conception by artist Adam Kronowski, a very skilled musician and graduate from Berklee. All songwriting and performances were done by Adam, bringing many genres together into one sound experience. The guitars are aggressive, the bass is thick, and the rhythm is strong. You’re going to hear elements of alternative metal, modern rock, and vocals that bring an almost “pop” feel to the blend. Fans of Imagine Dragons, Linkin Park and even metal K-pop (yes, that’s a thing) will find this album impressive.
The mixing and mastering are pretty solid, and they should be. Dennis Ward (Helloween and Angra) mixed the album and Mika Jussila (Children of Bodom and Nightwish) mastered it. Everything’s produced really well, although the vocals are a bit more compressed and tuned than those who are used to a raw metal sound might be ready for.
There are a whopping fourteen songs on the tracklist, opening with Clean, with its catchy chorus. Time To Go starts with a vocal intro and dips down into a melody reminiscent of Kidneythieves before changing over to a hybrid pop metal sound. It’s a genre-bending song with a guitar solo bringing back the nostalgia of 80’s metal ballads. Can you imagine it yet?
Amber is a unique listening experience, put together intelligently. I found The Gauntlet to be cinematic, with keyboards holding up the guitars like harmonic scaffolding. All the songs on the album have great instrumentation. Kronowski is talented and clearly very passionate about music. He took inspiration for this work from Avenged Sevenfold and System Of A Down. Amber is a genre-twisting execution of alternative metal that is absolutely radio-ready.
Released February 22, you can hear it now on your favorite streaming platform.
Tracklist:
1. Clean
2. Amber
3. Jasmine
4. Time to Go
5. Dead Man
6. End of the World
7. Coming Home
8. Part of the Plan
9. Anything at All
10. The Gauntlet
11. Change You – Part I
12. What’s a Man to Do – Part II
13. The Way – Part III
14. On and On – Part IV
