Angry Metal Guy<p><a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/leverage-gravity-review/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Leverage – Gravity Review</a></p><p><i>By Steel Druhm</i></p><p>Finland’s <strong>Leverage</strong> are one of those bands that always seemed to operate at the outer fringes of heavy metal. Their 2006 <em>Tides</em> debut showcased a strong 80s rock base with just enough of an over-the-top edge to make it plausible to call them a metal act. Most of the songs reminded me more of <strong>Survivor</strong> and <strong>Night Ranger</strong> than any specific metal act, but the writing was catchy enough that it didn’t matter. Follow-ups <em>Blind Fire</em> and <em>Circus Colossus</em> kept the template in place with only modest tweaks, and when very distinctive frontman Pekka Heino decamped, they replaced him well with Kimmo Blom. Blom passed away in 2022, and now <strong>Leverage</strong> return with a new frontman as they try to soldier on. For 6th album, <em>Gravity</em>, they also added a full-time violinist to expand their sound beyond their familiar rock/metal blueprint. Since I’ve enjoyed all the <strong>Leverage</strong> albums to some degree, I was curious if they could bounce back from tragedy and keep on delivering the earwormy goods.</p><p>I’m happy to report that <em>Gravity</em> is very much a typical <strong>Leverage</strong> outing in most regards. New singer Paolo Ribaldini (ex-<strong>Skiltron</strong>) sounds a lot like both Pekka and Kimmo, so there’s no real acclimation period for the longtime <strong>Leverage</strong> fan. Opening cut “Shooting Star” is everything you’d want and expect from them, with big, bombastic radio rock energy pinging off a tougher metal aesthetic and a vague country-western drawl, and the writing is designed to stick immediately. The chorus is catchy enough to ensure you wear it home like gum in your back hair. Paolo wins you over immediately with bold, forceful vocals that bring enough power to the 80s retro party. From there, <em>Gravity</em> blasts through a series of tracks that balance cheese with iron, radio rock with metal, and the emphasis is always on hooks. “Tales of the Night” belongs on the soundtracks for <em>Rocky III</em> AND <em>IV,</em> and you will want to create your own training montage to this thing. “Moon of Madness” is so <strong>Survivor</strong> it almost leaves no survivors, but the hooks are there, and the fiddle bits are odd, but interesting.</p><p>The band takes some chances and stretch their writing at times, as on “All Seeing Eye” which sounds like a Dio-era <strong>Rainbow</strong> song that’s been lost in a dusty vault until now. It has that 70s coolness factor and the same grandeur heard on cuts like “Stargazer” and “The Gates of Babylon,” and Paolo really comes into his own with a gritty, badass performance full of gravitas. “King Ghidorah” sounds like a mash-up of <em>Nightbreaker</em> era <strong>Riot</strong> and the more hard-charging <strong>Deep Purple</strong> classics, and that means a rabble-rousing good time. Hell, even the nearly 10-minute title track works for the most part, stealing some of <strong>Avantasia</strong>’s trade secrets about writing ginormous power ballads crammed full of bombast and cheddar. It’s ultimately about 3 minutes too long, but it’s an entertaining tune at its core. The big set-piece tracks suffer some unsightly bloat, but the shorter, more immediate tracks power the album along at a brisk, breezy pace and keep you bopping along.</p><p></p><p>With the usual <strong>Leverage</strong> vets all in place and doing their thing, Paolo is given a solid foundation to work with and build from, and he impresses with his macho vocal efforts. He’s enough like past <strong>Leverage</strong> singers, but he has a few extra gears to reach for when needed. He does the whole Jorn/Coverdale hard rock growl well and brings enough of his own style to the table to sell the material like cupcakes outside a CBD superstore. Tuomas Heikkinen continues to marry hard rock and 80s rock idioms with harder-edged riffwork and makes it all work together. He can be flashy, but he’s the kind of guitarist that puts song before wank. New violinist Lotta Pitkänen is only noticeable at a few key moments, and the rest of the time she’s deep in the background behind the keyboards. I’m not sure she’s needed, but she does provide a nice gloss when audible.</p><p>I’ve never been disappointed by a <strong>Leverage</strong> album, though I have my favorites. <em>Gravity</em> is good enough to drop right in the middle of their discography with a few playlist-worthy cuts that demand poaching. If you like bands in the <strong>Brother Firetribe </strong>/ <strong>The Night Flight Orchestra</strong> vein, <em>Gravity</em> should be right in your wheelhouse. It’s not quite a must-hear, but it packs enough entertainment value to be worth a flyer. I’m glad they’re still with us. R.I.P. Kimmo.</p><p></p> <p><strong>Rating:</strong> 3.0/5.0<br><strong>DR:</strong> NA | <strong>Format Reviewed:</strong> Fucking STREAM<br><strong>Label:</strong> <a href="https://www.frontiers.it/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">Frontiers Music</a><br><strong>Website:</strong> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/leverageofficial/#" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">facebook.com/leverageofficia</a>l<br><strong>Releases Worldwide:</strong> June 20th, 2025</p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/30/" target="_blank">#30</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/brother-firetribe/" target="_blank">#BrotherFiretribe</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/finnish-metal/" target="_blank">#FinnishMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/frontiers-music/" target="_blank">#FrontiersMusic</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/gravity/" target="_blank">#Gravity</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/hard-rock/" target="_blank">#HardRock</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/heavy-metal/" target="_blank">#HeavyMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/journey/" target="_blank">#Journey</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/leverage/" target="_blank">#Leverage</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/rainbow/" target="_blank">#Rainbow</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/reviews/" target="_blank">#Reviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/survivor/" target="_blank">#Survivor</a></p>