You know… if one were to explore Norwegian culture solely through the lyrics of Gluecifer's music, it would be damn near impossible to think that male adolescence in that country consisted of anything other than a quest to become the toughest kid on the block. I mean in a literal sense, the song titles "Lord Of The Dusk", "Go Away Man", and "The Year Of Manly Living" serve up that ego driven, tough guy image that one could only imagine an album titled Soaring With Eagles At Night To Rise With The Pigs In The Morning would offer.

Well, I'm still looking for the person who is saying to take the lyrical genius of Gluecifer seriously. I mean if the title of this album doesn't bring a smirk to your face recognizing the band's flair for the absurdity then you probably won't get very far into this album before shaking your head in disdain.

To put this review in context, Gluecifer is one of the current crop of 1970's style, macho, beer drinking, womanizing, guitar soloing, revivalist bands out of Europe, specifically Scandinavia, that have been said to have the potential to be the next rage of the hard rock music industry. Influenced mightily by such artists as Ted Nugent, MC5, Ramones, AC/DC, and KISS, this hard rock genre is currently shared by other leading Scandinavian bands, the Hellacopters, Backyard Babies, and their recently dismantled Norwegian neighbors, Turbonegro among others. Gluecifer's niche in this fraternity is probably in their ability to rock the hardest while confusing the listener with their off center lyrics.

As evidenced by the opening track, "Bossheaded", you'll immediately capture the previously mentioned toughness vibe with this rant, "Choose the highway or the path, Get a taste of Bossman's wrath, Feel the system of my math." Huh? Whoever suggested mixing math with a directional choice? There are plenty of other examples of such literary genius, trust me. But when was literary genius ever the norm for hard rock brilliance?

Well anyways, I digress…..maybe we should stick to simpler topics, namely the fourth track titled "Get The Horn". With a chorus chanting "Don't mess with the bull, your gonna get the horn", this cliché is a more appropriate depiction of the strength of Gluecifer's artistry. Either way, vocalist Biff Malibu is more than convincing with his pompous delivery of such a message.

With the band originally rooted in more of a punk rock style of delivery, Soaring With Eagles At Night To Rise With The Pigs In The Morning breaks away from the previous up tempo style the album's predecessor, Ridin' The Tiger. So what does this mean? It's a guarantee that punk rock purists will scream "sell out", the almighty tag that either propels a band into stardom or into a life of mediocrity. Well, plenty of today's current bands influenced by the AC/DC's, KISS' and Nugent's of yesterday have made a healthy living at their craft so we should not count this as a negative to the Soaring With Eagles effort. What it really means is that you can expect a more anthemic, fist pumping, chorus filled selection of songs complete with all the guitar hooks and catchy bass lines you would ever care to digest.

The following songs, "Silver Wings" and "Clean Gone Mean" are the two throwback tracks to the old-style Gluecifer sound. Accelerated guitar licks spiraling the songs into a punk frenzy will keep the old schoolers happy, but this album is largely reliant on anthem rock tracks such as "The Year Of Manly Living", "Get The Horn", and "Heart Of A Bad Machine".

Curiously, the one thing Gluecifer manages to stunningly accomplish is cop the same lead guitar riff from Ridin' the Tiger's "Bounced Checks" track on Soaring With Eagles's "Deadend Beat". Mind you, it is a deaccelerated version of the same riff , (go figure…..) but the saving grace is that they stole it from one of the better tracks off of their previous album. It's just such an obvious crime that it's worth noting.

So when it's all said and done, Soaring With Eagles At Night To Rise With The Pigs In The Morning will be remembered as Gluecifer's attempted mainstream crossover that probably peaks more than it valleys. As a follow up to its widely acclaimed previous punk style album, this effort is admirable and shows that the band still has room for upside potential in the hard rock arena.

Rating: B

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