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Sweden's Dagger (surprisingly, there are only four bands listed at the Metal Archives with that name, I would have guess many more) is comprised of three gents formerly of Dismember, Fred Estby, David Blomqvist and Tobias Cristiansson along with Jani Kataja from Sideburn, but don't let the pedigree fool you. Dagger has nothing in common with the Death Metal from its members' past lives. The two songs on their debut 7", put out by High Roller Records, is vintage 70s/80s Hard Rock/Heavy Metal in the vein of Deep Purple, Ted Nugent, Rainbow and Uriah Heep. The vocals are gritty but clear, the song structures simple and straightforward and the solos classic song centerpieces. On the downside, the production is low and muffled so it doesn't sound like there is a lot of energy in the band's performance. This gives the songs a definite "laid-back" feel, though I'm not sure that was the intention. The songs are not all that catchy, either, so while I think I can hear what Dagger is shooting for, they didn't really get there on Mainline Riders. I'm a huge fan of this type of music so I have high hopes for Dagger, despite a somewhat inauspicious debut.