Guitarist/composer Lars Eric Mattsson has to be one of the hardest working musicians in the business, rarely a year goes by without a release in one guise or another whether it be under his solo name, one of a number of projects or as in the case with ‘Tango’ the moniker Mattsson.

‘Tango’ marks the fifth album to be released under the Mattsson name and as with previous releases it follows the melodic prog metal vein but with infusions of symphonic, neo-classical and ethnic touches.  But a few cursory listens reveals that Mattsson has managed to pull all these tonalities into a cohesive unit and with extra listens the album really shows its worth developing into probably the best offering to date under the Mattsson handle.

For the 11 tracks Lars has got heavier, yet at the same time more melodic with some quite wonderful 7 string guitar riffery, coupled with some complex arrangements that manage to remain easily digestible yet mind blowing at the same time – the final 2 mins of opener ‘Never Stand Down’ see Mattsson do things with time signatures not even Dream Theater could comprehend and its immensely captivating. 

Vocals once again come from Hungarian female singer Adrienn Antal (who first appeared on the Mattsson ‘Dreamchild’ album) and her voice is balanced out with male vocals from Status Minor vocalist Markku Kuikka and Mattsson himself - and there are a lot of vocal performances to enjoy especially on the more straightforward numbers like ‘Believe’ with its marvellously impassioned vocal and catchy melodies which work nicely with the sitar. The title track  is unique taking the basis of ‘Tango’ music and throws it into a metal framework.  The final result is catchy with an almost metal meets Abba pop sensibility about it and will be stuck in your head for hours afterwards.

Elsewhere the variety on offer is impressive with each track serving up something new with other highlights coming in the guise of the  10:45 epic ‘The Great Escape’ which offers up everything and the kitchen sink in its arrangement and the full on metal attack of ‘Shadows’ although I’d like the vocals a little louder here but otherwise the album sounds very good.  Mattsson's guitar on the whole album sounds the most inspired he has for sometime, and his guitar tone is also better than on the last few releases.  The drum work of Eddie Sledgehammer is nothing short of spectactular but its the overall quality of arrangements that take centre stage on 'Tango'.

Overall Mattsson always serves up a veritable smorgasbord of material on each album, yet with ‘Tango’ the overall quality is high throughout and is a highly recommended starting place for anyone yet to hear Mattsson distinctive trademark sound.