Norwegian AOR star Issa delivers ‘Fire & Ice’, her nineth studio release. Isabell “Issa” Oversveen is joined by Tom Martin (Guitar/Bass) and James Martin (Keyboards) on this eleven track offering. So what does this Scandinavian songstress have in store for us on ‘Fire & Ice’?

​

Well, unfortunately for this listener it was more ice than fire. The album left me feeling cold, rather than bringing the heat. This is more Steffen Iversen than Erling Haaland, shall we say. Adequate but far from top quality. Issa’s voice is solid throughout but musically it underwhelms, bringing bog standard AOR to the table.

​

This is very middle of the road from opening track ‘The Call of Love’ to the album closer ‘The Waiting Game’. So much so, I am struggling to think of anything to write about the album. I spent the whole album waiting/hoping for something to impress, instead the album just fades into listenable background noise. Established fans I’m sure will enjoy this release.

​

I think however, there are many other bands doing this style of AOR better especially from the Scandinavian region.