Stephen The Poodles extends the glorious streak of powerful albums since their first launch in 2006. 'Performocracy' is a brilliant combo of melodic hard rock and heavy metal, many verses are packed with dark and modern riffs as depicted in their sophomore record, 'Sweet Trade' and the chorus was topped with sensational sing-along melodies as mostly seen in the third album, 'Clash of The Elements'.

The first three tracks are perfect examples to that move. Might not have an immediate hooks but couple of spins are rewarding and check out the monster chorus, this is the area where the band really shines. Out of 13 tracks, there are four tracks that I rated as 'perfect'. 'Cuts Like A Knife' is the first single and a beautiful bomb; 'As Time Is Passing' is an astonishing ballad with Samuel's vocal at its finest; 'Bring Back The Night' with its heavenly chorus; and 'Vampire's Call' with its extra-catchy riffs and tremendous chorus.

On the other hand, there are at least 4 tracks that could have done better and perhaps the weakest side of this album. 'I Believe In You' is poor at verse and doesn't have a very strong chorus; 'Action' is dark, slow, and not completely interesting; and the last two tracks should have been left out.

Nevertheless, the consistency of producing many awesome tunes in each album and accomplished the important task of bringing out a great production must be appreciated and I granted this a solid 85% and deserved a spot in my top 20. Fantastic album and hopefully the fifth album will reward us with an explosive surprise and a better output!

Stephen The Poodles released their third album, "Clash of The Elements", in 2009, as the follow-up to the mixed-receptions of 2007's sophomore release, "Sweet Trade", and also the first album with the new guitarist, Henrik Bergqvist, replacing the departure of original guitarist, Pontus Norgren. This album's style is a polished melodic rock, less metal if compared to their debut, and apparently was made to accommodate the tight competition with fellow Scandinavian melodic rockers, Brother Firetribe, Wig Wam, or H.E.A.T.

"Too Much Of Everything", in my opinion, is a weak opener and a poor positioning by the band. This midtempo track is too average to elevate the listeners' mood, instead they should have put the great anthemic and upbeat, "Caroline", or probably, "Don't Rescue Me", another better pick with a wonderful chorus. Giving 14 tracks to the fans surely a big treat, considering if you can find 3-4 fillers, you still have the chance of stumbling with at least 5-6 killer tracks, but after couple of listens, I think the good news is there's no filler at all here, but only half of them stand out as killers, while the rest of them are good, if not decent.

"Like No Tomorrow" and "One out of Ten" are among the highlights, worth checking out. "I Rule The Night" has catchy hooks and sing-along chorus, they even added a middle-eastern flair and I think this is their best work here. "Give Me A Sign" came out second with a modern melodic riffs and dreamy chorus. "Wings of Destiny" is such a beautiful and moving ballad, and packed with an unbelievably stunning chorus.

The production level is awesome, the rhythm section is tight, Jakob Samuel's voice is consistently great on every songs, I think "Clash of The Elements" put the band on the track again. If only several songs were tweaked better, this probably could top out their debut, but with "Metal Will Stand Tall" kept the champion title, this one is very close to beat it and a good buy if you like a fine melodic hard rock.