Gründungsmitglied Tommi Holappa kann sich ein lächeln nicht verkneifen, wenn er sich erinnert: "Die Leute fragen sich immer wieder, warum es so viele frühere Mitglieder in der Band gab - das lag einfach daran, dass es ein Sideprojekt war!” Dennoch, während GREENLEAF sich seit der Veröffentlichung ihrer Debüt-EP aus dem Jahr 2000 der 20er-Marke nähern, sind ihre Prioritäten nie klarer gewesen: "Hear the Rivers” ist das siebte Album und das zweite für Napalm Records.

Mit ihrem Album “Rise Above the Meadow” (2016) etablierte sich die schwedische Band als eine der wichtigsten Acts im europäischen Heavy Underground. Dabei spielten sie mehr Headliner Touren und auf mehr Festivals, als jemals zuvor.

Mit “Hear the Rivers” setzt GREENLEAF sich nochmal selber ein Denkmal. Mit einer elektrifizierenden akustischen Präsenz scheinen sie die Feinheiten des Heavy Rock so zukunftsorientiert wie klassisch in seinen Wurzeln zu verfeinern.

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Founding guitarist Tommi Holappa smiles as he recalls, “People keep alwayswondering why there have been so many past members in the band and thereason is that it was a side-project.” Still, as Greenleaf approach the 20-yearmark since the release of their 2000 self-titled debut EP, their priorities havenever been clearer.

Hear the Rivers is the seventh Greenleaf album and second for Napalm Records. It follows a path that began on 2014’s Trails and Passes , when vocalist Arvid Hällagård and drummer Sebastian Olsson became part of amore permanent lineup that since then has also come to include bassist Hans Fröhlich. With 2016’s Rise Above the Meadow , the Swedish outfit established themselves as one of the most essential acts in the European heavy underground, playing massive festivals and headlining tours as they never hadbefore.

Accordingly, Hear the Rivers brims with that live energy while at the sametime pushing forward with the full-band dynamic that’s been developing overthe last half-decade. Recorded mostly live with producer Karl Daniel Lidén --also a former bandmate of Holappa’s in Dozer, as well as a former member ofGreenleaf -- it finds Hällagård a consummate bluesman in songs like the single“Good ol’ Goat” and “High Fever” while “Oh My Bones” taps into the ‘70sboogie that was Greenleaf’s core influence at their start, and as the first outingwith Fröhlich in the studio, “Let it Out!,” “The Point of a Secret,” and closer “The Rivers Lullaby” are all the more emblematic of the vitalforce Greenleaf have become onstage.

“It’s four guys standing in a room and playing together... the way it’s supposedto be,” summarizes Holappa. “It was great to finally have Hans involved in the writing of the songs, and recording with Daniel is always great because he knows exactly how the band is supposed to sound. And for every album the sound keeps getting better and better."

Truer words were never spoken. Hear the Rivers sees Greenleaf push deeperinto the outer reaches of their memorable craft than they’ve ever gone before,and with an electrified sonic persona, they seem to be honing the fine points ofa heavy rock as forward-thinking as it is classic in its roots.