“Tunguska” is the eighth studio album from Swedish band Treat and their third since reforming in 2006. It was released on 14th September by Frontiers Music. The album follows on from the live release “The Road More Or Less Travelled” from 2017 and “Ghost of Graceland” from 2016; both of which I posted recommendations for. The track “Build The Love” was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 15th June and “Rose of Jericho” was on the Show on 17th August.

 

 

Treat was formed initially in 1981 by vocalist Robert Ernlund and guitarists Anders Wilkström and Leif Lijegren. The latter left the band in 1988 but the other two remain with the band, although Ernlund was replaced by Mats Levén between 1991 and 1993 when the band split up.


The band’s debut album, “Scratch and Bite”, was released in 1985 and followed by further albums in 1986, 1987 and 1989. Levén sang on the self titled album released in 1992. Treat’s commercial success came with the first two albums and the latter releases did not do as well, leading the band to call it a day in March 1993. By that time drummer Jamie Borger and keyboard player Patrick Applegren were part of the band.


A successful greatest hits release in 2006 called “Weapons of Choice” led to the band members deciding to reform and they played the Sweden Rock Festival that year. Ernlund, Wilkström, Borger and Applegren were joined initially by Nalle Påhlsson on bass. The latter was replaced in 2012 by Fredrik Thomander and he in turn was replaced by Pontus Egberg in 2016. The first album to be released after the band reformed was “Coup de Grace” in 2010.


The album is named after the Tunguska explosion in Siberia in 1908 and was chosen to reflect how the band felt about the new music. Wilkström stated that “it…illustrates how we want our albums to sound and feel in the 21st century. We managed to dig deeper into the lyrical content, and musically, the dynamics in the songs and production are more distinct as we let heavy, raunchy stuff co-exist with the softer side of the band.”

 

Check out the band’s Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/treatofficial/

 

 

About “NI Rocks Recommends”

The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. The albums that I’ll be recommending are those that you’ll hear me playing tracks from on my shows. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation to go check something out, not a traditional “review”!