 COASTLINE ‘COASTLINE’
(VINNY RECORDS)
We had to wait a while before the official debut CD of
the Swedish AOR band COASTLINE was released, but it
finally happened through the Spanish label VINNY RECORDS.
The CD counts 11 songs, and from start to finish this is
prime-time AOR with strong lead vocals of the female
singer Helena Rosendahl. Main songwriters in the band are
drummer Jan Hedlund and keyboardplayer Lars Melin.
Together with guitarist Thomas Hansson and bassist Tomas
Munters, they have recorded an awesome sensational AOR
album which has strong similarities to the Classic 80s
Female Fronted AOR sound of WITNESS, VIXEN, HEART and
ROBIN BECK. The songs are all very impressive, very
catchy with hooks and choruses are all over place, and
almost all songs could easily turn out to become big
hits. This is radio-ready AOR at it’s very best, and
among the highlights we can count uptempo AOR rockers
like “Restless heart, restless mind”,
“Miracle” and “Searching for an
answer”, and fantastic midtempo AOR songs such as
“Breaking a heart is so easy”,
“Love’s not for everyone” and
“Can’t live here without you”. I could
easy talk a full page saying how good this album really
is, but I think it’s best to get yourself a copy of
the first official COASTLINE CD for yourself, so you will
be able to agree with me that this release and the PRIDE
OF LIONS CD are together the 2 best AOR releases of 2003!
(Points:
9.5 out of 10)
MOONSTRUCK
‘COMPILATION’
(DEMO CDR)
Out of Osaka, Japan comes the band MOONSTRUCK and so far
they have released a demo, a mini-CD and had 2 songs on a
compilation CD. The CDR they sent me contains all their
songs, 9 in total and I must say it sounds very
impressive. The band has a strong female singer and
musically they play Melodic Hard/Heavy Metal with
Neo-Classical influences. The sound of all 9 songs is
HUGE, and if this was a CD it would have been a very nice
collection. Instrumental the band also sounds very good,
with (like all Japanese bands) a very professional
guitarplayer (K. Kubota) who can easily play some great
guitar solo’s. Anyway, like I said this sounds huge
and right from the start you will agree with me, because
a song like “Heaven’s gate” is very catchy
fast Euro Power Metal with a very strong chorus (a la
SONATA ARTICA). The band sounds like a mix between
STRATOVARIUS, SONATA ARCTICA, MALMSTEEN and DORO. Besides
that fantastic opener, other highlights are “Age of
greed”, “Messiah has died” and “Fatal
blow”. Concluded, this is quite a sensational
Japanese band that is as good as CONCERTO MOON for
example. More info on MOONSTRUCK at: http://www2.odn.ne.jp/moonstruck and e-mail them at: moonstruck@pop07.odn.ne.jp
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM ‘LAST
AUTUMN’S DREAM’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
This is a new supergroup from Sweden featuring 3 EUROPE
members (drummer Ian Haughland, keyboardplayer Mic
Michaeli and bassist John Leven), singer MIKAEL
ERLANDSSON and guitarist Andy Malecek (formerly FAIR
WARNING). Together they have recorded a great AOR/Melodic
Rockalbum in the true 80s style (EUROPE, TREAT, DAVINCI,
TALK OF THE TOWN) and their debut CD will be released
very soon on FRONTIERS RECORDS. The sound is big and we
basically get to hear high quality AOR/Melodic Rock, with
as highlights “Again and again” (very catchy
uptempo melodic rocker), “Blink of the eye”
(great semi melodic rocker) and “Going home”
(nice semi melodic rocker). Towards the end there are
some poppier moments like “Movin’ on”, so
it is not THE album of the year, but I can still
recommend it to AOR/Melodic Rockfans, although I had
rather heard some more uptempo melodic rockers like the
fantastic opener “Again and again. Nevertheless a
must for fans of classic 80s Scandi AOR/Melodic Rock!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘INFLUENCES AND
CONNECTIONS’ (FRONTIERS RECORS/BERTUS)
‘Influences and connections’ is a new special
the Italian label FRONTIERS RECORDS is going to start as
of 2004, and the first CD to be released in this series
is MR. BIG. Basically it’s a tribute CD to a famous
rockband and involved are lots of various artists and
bands. Most of them are very well-known, so this is a
very interesting new series from FRONTIERS RECORDS.
Although I have never been a big MR. BIG fan, this
tribute is very interesting, as we get to hear the
absolute top in Rock/ Hardrockworld on 1 CD. If we have a
look at the singers alone we can mention JOE LYNN TURNER,
PAUL RODGERS, JOHN WAITE, GLENN HUGHES, ANN WILSON,
MICKEY THOMAS and many others, but also some of the
guitarplayers appearing on this tribute need to be
mentioned, such as YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, STEVE LUKATHER,
RICHIE KOTZEN, MARTY FRIEDMAN and even (on bass) KEANU
REEVES (!!!). Anyway, 13 tracks are included, and
highlights include the AOR ballad “Just take my
heart” (with Mickey Thomas of STARSHIP on vocals),
the midtempo AOR rocker “Shine” (as covered by
Keanu Reeves’ DOGSTAR), the Classic 70s orientated
Hardrocksong “Daddy, brother, lover, little
boy” (with JOE LYNN TURNER on vocals and YNGWIE
MALMSTEEN on guitar) and “Green-tinted sixties
mind”. Clearly a must for MR. BIG fans, but also
fans of the particular bands/artists may want to check
out this tribute to MR. BIG. I wonder what bands will
follow (please for once do a SURVIVOR tribute!!!).
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 ERIC MARTIN ‘DESTROY ALL
MONSTERS’
(FRONTIERS RECORS/BERTUS)
The 19th of January 2004 will see the new CD release of
ERIC MARTIN, the man who started solo, releasing 1
excellent classic aor/poprock record under the moniker
ERIC MARTIN BAND, and 2 solo releases filled with typical
80s poppy AOR a la MICHAEL BOLTON. Then around 1989 he
formed a supergroup called MR. BIG, with whom he enjoyed
a lot of success, but a few years ago ERIC MARTIN also
restarted his solo career. This is his 3rd CD on
FRONTIERS RECORDS. Without a doubt, it is the best record
Eric has put out since 1983 (!), the year he released
that unbeatable classic as ERIC MARTIN BAND. Now he has
returned to the sound of that record, so what we can hear
on ‘Destroy all monsters’ is catchy uptempo
melodic poprock with a slight modern touch, but always
with good strong catchy melodies (not unlike a mix
between HAREM SCAREM’s ‘Higher’ and ERIC
MARTIN’s solo albums). I think this is a great
record that is easily suitable to be played on the radio.
The list of guest musicians is very lengthy, but some of
the names I can give you here, such as guitarists Jeff
Watson and Andre Pessis. The CD contains 13 tracks and
the highlights are uptempo melodic poprockers like
“What’s the worst that can be happen”,
“I woke up 2 late” (back to early 80s RICK
SPRINGFIELD happy poprock), “Burnin’ my
mind”, “If” and “Something
there”, but also a song like “Kansas”
which has a strong chorus. It’s a pity there are
also a few weaker poppier songs that don’t make any
impression (tracks 4,5,6,7 and 10), but nevertheless this
CD is a must for fans of ERIC MARTIN and of course if you
like Melodic Poprock with an 80s touch!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
NERONIA
‘NEROTICA’
(NOVA ENTERTAINMENT)
I did a write up on this German band sometime ago, but
now they have released an official full-length CD titled
‘Nerotica’. They play Melodic Progressive Rock
in the style of ENCHANT, EVERON, SYLVAN, yet with a bit
high pitched vocals (a la AXXIS). They have managed to
come up with an own sort of heavy Progressive Rockstyle
which is quite nice to listen to. 9 long songs can be
found on their CD ‘Nerotica’ and my favourites
would be “One moment” (great semi melodic
rocker), “Frost” (slow tempo Progressive
Melodic Heavy Rocker), “Naked pale” (semi
ballad) and closing track “She cat” (an
11-minutes counting epos). So this CD has 60 minutes of
quality music to offer, and you can check out the
band’s website at: http://www.neronia.net and e-mail them at: info@neronia.net
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
TIERRA
SANTA ‘LAS
MIL Y UNA NOCHES PROMO’
(LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC/ROCK INC/BERTUS)
One of Spain’s best bands, TIERRA SANTA, is about to
release a double Live-CD. Unfortunately I can not tell
you too much about it, because the promo I have here only
contains 5 songs of this very interesting upcoming live
release. These 5 songs are of course fantastic Melodic
Metal pieces and if you are familiar with the band, then
you will also understand what to expect on the double
live-CD which will be released soon.
(Points:
- )
 EASY RIDER ‘ANIMAL’
(LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC/ROCK INC/BERTUS)
The Spanish Power Metalband EASY RIDER returns and
releases it’s 5th CD titled ‘Animal’.
Unlike many other Spanish bands, EASY RIDER is singing in
the English language, which make their music worldwide
accesible. The band is clearly playing 80s American
orientated Power Metal, a bit due as well to the fact
they have an American lead singer called Ron Finn.
Anyway, their new CD counts 12 tracks, and right from the
start it sounds pretty good, with the fast uptempo Power
Metal piece “Visions”, the Progressive
“Chasing demons” and the uptempo Melodic Metal
of “Casting the shadow of sin”. Although the
following songs are less sensational, and also clearly
show other influences (Prog. Metal and some groovy
stuff), the rest of the album is still quite impressive,
with as other highlights “Neverworld”,
“Suddenly” (best song, lovely Melodic Prog.
Metal), “A new day” and closing track “The
dream lives on”. This CD is highly recommended to
fans of typical US Melodic Power Metal (read: SEVEN
WITCHES, EIDYLON, SYMPHORCE, HELSTAR, METAL CHURCH,
ARMORED SAINT).
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘MOTORMORPHOSIS:
MOTORHEAD TRIBUTE PART 2’ (LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC/ROCK
INC/BERTUS)
Although I have never been a big fan of MOTORHEAD, the
band has been a big influence on many Metalbands
worldwide, and this is already part 2 of the MOTORHEAD
tribute. 23 tracks are being covered by all sorts of
Metalbands, and the best ones (and most interesting acts
as well) are STORMWARRIOR, TWISTED TOWER DIRE, FYREDOGS,
POWERGOD, GUN BARREL, TRACEELORDS and DIVISION.
Concluded, a must for both MOTORHEAD fans and
Punk/Metalfans.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
OUTLAND
'DIFFERENT
WORLDS’
(MELODIC SYMPHONY/FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
I already reviewed this fantastic debut CD of the AOR
band OUTLAND sometime ago, but it has now officially been
released in Europe through Melodic Symphony, whioch is a
new sublabel of Frontiers Records. Below you can read the
review once again I did of the Japanese release.
We’re moving onto the USA, to California to be
exact, where we can find a new act called OUTLAND. Guess
what, these guys play awesome pure 80s AOR with
references to SURVIVOR, JOURNEY, BIG MOUTH, AVIATOR,
VISION 180, 80s NIGHT RANGER etc. These days it seems
like new bands in the US pop up here and there playing
this smooth classic 80s AOR-Rock sound, but OUTLAND can
easily be seen as one of the best new acts in this
returning genre in the USA. The band consists of 2
members, vocalist/guitarist/keyboardplayer JEFF PRENTICE
(who was a member of the METAL BLADE signed PREDATOR who
released some pure US Metal albums in the 1980s) and
bassist/guitarist/ keyboardplayer ROB NISHIDA (member of
2000 WEEDS). Together this duo has released an awesome
pure AOR album under the moniker OUTLAND. Somehow the
band has released it’s CD through AVALON/MARQUEE, a
big Japanese label, and I must say that this sounds HUGE!
12 tracks are included, and favourites would be such high
class uptempo AOR rockers like “Valerie”,
“One more night”, “Mary Anne”,
“Love cries” (awesome STAGE DOLLS cover),
“Strong enough” (DRIVE SHE SAID at their very
best) and “Different worlds”. The production is
very good and so are the 12 tracks, which features
excellent musicianship, so big hooks, catchy choruses and
very melodic lead and harmonyvocals! Without a doubt,
this CD is A TOTAL MUST FOR AOR FANS! Check out more at: http://www.outlandmusic.com and e-mail them at: outlandmusic@earthlink.net
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
RUSS
‘PIECES’
(PINE HILL RECORDS)
RUSS BONAGURA was reviewed a few years back I believe,
and he now has a new CD out forawhile. The album is
titled ‘Pieces’ and musically it is calmer
stripped down melodic pop/rock, not unlike the last
couple of albums of BRYAN ADAMS and BON JOVI, with even a
slight hint of ROBBIE WILLIAMS (yikes!). It’s
definitely not bad what we hear, but some uptempo
poprockers wouldn’t have hurt, because now it is
from start to finish all calmer semi ballad/midtempo
poprock, so most songs are in the same style, and not
much variation is presented. On the other hand, the
included 14 songs are all good quality semi pop/rocksongs
with good strong lead vocals by Russ, and highlights can
be found in the shape of “Little bird”,
“Take a minute”, “Our love”,
“Neglected” (the only rocker, closing track and
definitely the best song, very strong midtempo melodic
rocker with catchy chorus! Please more songs like this on
a future record!!!) and “Don’t waste my
time”. My only advise, put some uptempo rockers on
the album next time to make the album a bit diverse
instead of an album with 14 more or less the same kind of
tunes. Check out his site at: http://www.russonline.com and e-mail him at: frimpy@compuserve.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
SHINJUKU
CACTUS ‘DEMOS’
(DEMOS)
I received 2 demo CDRs of this Japanese band, and
musically they play Punky Rock’n’Roll. I am not
really impressed with the included 5 songs, and they are
definitely not one of Japan’s most interesting
bands. Only interested if you want to hear the Japanese
version of THE HELLACOPTERS with some MOTORHEAD
influences. More info at: http://www.shinjukucactus.com
(Points:
6.0 out of 10)
MELTGSNOW ‘MELTGSNOW’
(INDEPENDENT)
The band MELTGSNOW is taking us to the Far East,
Singapore to be exact. Their CD sounds very professional,
and introduce a good Melodic Heavy Rocksound with a lead
singer who is changing his voice all the time. Sometimes
he sounds like AXL ROSE when he screams, but then
suddenly the singer starts singing as low as HIM or
something in that range, while there are also some growls
here and there. It’s really bizzarre, because
instrumental this band is high quality Melodic Hard/Heavy
Metal a la MAIDEN, but vocally it’s hard to
categorise. Anyway, first song “Greed for
insanity” has some excellent guitar riffs, and
although most songs are not bad at all, I have some
problems with the way the singer is singing (what does he
want to sing, Glam/Sleaze, Gothic, Melodic Metal, he is
confusing). Maybe they want to be the next THE DARKNESS,
but I hope next time the singer sings in one vocal range,
because now the band sounds like a mix between METALLICA,
SEPULTURA, GUNS’N’ROSES and HIM. If you want to
hear how that sounds, then go to: http://www.meltgsnow.com and e-mail them at: HELLHORDES@MELTGSNOW.COM
(Points:
6.5 out of 10)
THE
TURNPIKE BAND ‘2012’ (DEAD ALIENS
PRODUCTION)
This American band is definitely playing the good old
American midwestern Classic Rocksound of the 1970s,
although it is more akin to a BLUE OYSTER CULT or THE
EAGLES instead of the more AOR/Melodic Rock style we
focus ourselves on when we talk about 70s Classic Rock.
Maybe there’s some REO SPEEDWAGON in the music of
THE TURNPIKE BAND, but the vocals are clearly more of
today’s genre (a bit depressing and not melodic at
all). This means that it is nice what we hear, but the
vocals are just not strong enough to keep everyone
interested the whole time, although there are some nice
songs on ‘2012’ such as the strong semi AOR
ballads “I still love you” and
“Bye-bye” and the uptempo rocker
“Lies”. Check out this band at: http://www.TurnpikeRocks.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
SNAFU
‘KRUMPT’
(INDEPENDENT)
OK, SNAFU is a Rockband, but they definitely have nothing
to do with melodic rock, as they play some sort of groovy
rockstyle with some blues influences, but apparantly only
interesting for people who like RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS or
something. Not interesting for the readers of this site.
(Points:
5.0 out of 10)
SIMON
LAKE
‘DEMO’ (DEMO)
SIMON LAKE is a band from New Jersey, USA and they play a
sort of 70s influenced Psychedelic Pop/Rockstyle which
sounds like a mix between KING’S X and
ENUFF’Z’NUFF. If you’re a fan of those
bands you can check out this mainly acoustic tingled
band. Further there’s not much of interest for the
melodic rockfan here. More info at: http://www.simonlakeband.com
(Points:
6.0 out of 10)
SOULSHAKE
‘SOULSHAKE’
(BABYLON RECORDS)
The New York based band SOULSHAKE has 5 songs on a CD
out, and I must say the start is very promising. Opener
“You don’t have to run” is namely a
fantastic classic 70s/80s AOR ballad with big harmonies,
like a REO SPEEDWAGON meets JOURNEY kinda thing. The song
features great lead vocals and a nice guitarsolo, so I
was looking forward to the rest and hopefully hear some
uptempo rockers, and track 2 “Keep me from you”
does even sound pretty nice as well, a great midtempo
semi melodic rocker. The band’s lead and
haronyvocals in these first 2 songs are really great, and
set them apart from all the Nu-Metalbands from the USA
nowadays. Anyway, the next song “Monkey
business” is weaker, a funky pop/rocksong like an
upset BILLY JOEL. The CD continues with the first uptempo
rocker titled “Revolution”. It’s a good
straight-forward song that definitely remembers of the
80s. Closing track is the groovy rocker “Groove with
you”. In the end, this is a very good little record
and I do hope to hear some more of these guys in the near
future. In the meantime check out SOULSHAKE at: http://www.soulshake.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
7TH
HEAVEN ‘SILVER’
(NTD RECORDS)
I remember a band called 7TH HEAVEN from long ago, but I
am not sure if this is the same band, although this
Chicago based 7TH HEAVEN has been together for 18 years
now, and with ‘Silver’ they have released a
double-CD with 30 songs in total and a playing length of
almost 2 hours. Musically they are mixing the 80s melodic
rock/aor with today’s nu-breed poprock, ending up
sounding a lot like the last DEF LEPPARD record.
There’s also some GLASS TIGER, THE OUTFIELD, CUTTING
CREW and that sort of 80s Poprock in their music. The
band has a good melodic lead singer called Andrew Blake
(who also plays guitars and keys) and all the choruses of
their songs are catchy, hooky, and filled with
harmonyvocals in the famous DEF LEPPARD style. One more
thing about the songs, they are all in the same style,
most of the time midtempo and after hearing a few songs I
was actually quite enjoying this band. Highlights are
“Ghost of me” (excellent midtempo AOR, this is
very good and a deadringer for fans of 1987 DEF LEPPARD,
BRYAN MCDONALD, MICHAEL MORALES), “Undone”
(great catchy midtempo melodic rocker), “While you
dream” (don’t you miss DEF LEPPARD making these
midtempo melodic rockers), “On the inside”
(great strong midtempo melodic heavy rocker),
“Invisible” (strong midtempo melodic rocker),
“Misunderstood” (midtempo melodic poprock, even
a bit like BYSTANDER), “Right by your side”
(FANTASTIC semi AOR ballad in a pure FOREIGNER/ALIAS/
SIGNAL style!) and “Everlasting love” (classy
80s uptempo Melodic Poprocker). The only negative thing I
could add is the use of a drumcomputer sometimes, like in
the songs “Ethereal”, “Breaking me
up”, “Cope”, “This pressure” and
“Fall into you, which is not necessary, because then
the band sounds a bit too modern and are only for the
Nu-Breed fans, although some of them are ven pure
Dance/House!!!. However, in general, this 2-CD set fits
somewhere between the AOR releases of FRONTIERS RECORDS
and the more Nu-Breed releases of ATENZIA RECORDS, so it
is definitely a high quality release. A must if you are
liked the recent DEF LEPPARD and HARRY HESS albums. Check
out their website for more info at: http://www.7thheavenband.com and e-mail them at: rich777@aol.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
ALAN
WHITTAKER ‘TOP
OF THE WORLD’ (INDEPENDENT)
You can get this CD free of charge, so that is quite
interesting I think. Musically ALAN WHITTAKER is bringing
us calm pop/rock with a strong 70s and slight 80s
approach. His influences come from PETER GABRIEL, CROWDED
HOUSE, YES, MARILLION, but the music performed here has
nothing to do with Prog. It is modest quality Popmusic,
with as highlights “Top of the world” (a la THE
WHO), “White noise” and “Home”.
It’s a nice album, but it will not appeal to most of
you I am afraid. Get your copy for free through Alan.whittaker@virgin.net
(Points:
6.0 out of 10)
DISORDER
AND CO.
‘KINDA WEIRD’ (INDEPENDENT)
A few years ago I reviewed a tape of the French band
LIGHTWAVE. Well, now they have changed their name into
DISORDER AND CO. and released a CD. It’s a very long
full-length CD (72 minutes), which is filled with quality
instrumental Progressive Rock/Metal, mostly instrumental.
There are some vocals as well, but I need to add that the
band is better off during the instrumental tracks, such
as the exciting tracks “Please hang up”,
“Bliss” and “Twinkie winkie”. More
info can be found at: http://www.disorderandco.fr.st and e-mail at: alexcocow@wanadoo.fr
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
SKINTILLA
‘SHEDDING
SKIN’ (INDEPENDENT)
The Australian band SKINTILLA is clearly playing US Power
Metal, not unlike SEVEN WITCHES, yet with a touch of
PANTERA as well, but in the end it sounds pretty good.
The Power Metal of SKINTILLA is very agressive with
raw-to-the-bone vocals of singer Darren Pretty (who looks
very mean and angry at the picture sleeve of his CD, so
don’t be fooled by his name!). Anyway, opener
“Trust” is very good American Power Metal, so
with heavy groovy guitars and raw vocals. Next song is
titled “White flag down” and as you might
expect this song reveals some Hardcore elements (read:
DANZIG). The remaining 4 songs continue in the US Power
Metalstyle like a mix between SEVEN WITCHES and PANTERA.
Check out this aggressive Metalband at: http://www.skintilla.com and e-mail them at: brandonp@chariot.net.au
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
GONIN-ISH
‘VARIOUS
ALBUMS’ (INDEPENDENT)
This is a Japanese band with a female singer and
instrumental it’s good Prog/Power Metal, and the
female singer is able to sing well, but then suddenly we
hear a very annoying Death-Growl which surely
doesn’t fit the music, so please get rid of those
growls next time. I even believe the girl growls, so this
is like ARCH ENEMY meets DREAM THEATER! Make up your own
mind, because it is only interesting for fans of
Progressive Death Metal! More info at: http://www2.ttcn.ne.jp/~gonin-ish/ and e-mail them at: goninish@yahoo.co.jp
(Points:
- )
VUTDEVUK
‘ICE
AGE’ (VIRUS RECORDS)
The one-man band VUTDEVUK is formed around
multi-instrumentalist Brady Arnold. 8 songs are on his CD
‘Ice age’ from 2003 and it surely starts
promising with the great Progressive Rock/Metal song
“A castle made of ice” which has good vocals
and some great Prog. Metal rhythms. The rest of the CD
takes a slightly different approach, some poppier
elements slip through and also experimental parts, but to
be honest it is definitely not bad what we get to hear.
The production is not good, as it sounds very
independent, but the music is good Prog. Rock with strong
melodies and good vocals (by Brady himself and guest
singer Adam Wheeler). Other highlights include the calmer
semi-ballads “Haunting” and “Divided”
which both remind me a lot of JADIS. Concluded, a good
independent CD, but if only the production could be
better, then this would be even more interesting to check
out. Now it’s recommended to Prog. Rockfans who
don’t mind a weaker sound quality. More info at: http://www.vutdevuk.com and e-mail at: vutdevuk@vutdevuk.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
PATAN ‘SANGRE DE
METAL’ (INDEPENDENT)
When the first couple of seconds has started of the CD of
the Argentinian band PATAN everyone will agree with me
that they sound a like a poor man’s JUDAS PRIEST,
but when the chorus of “Cansado de esperar”
comes around the corner it is definitely a little bit
different. The following 9 songs of the CD also have not
much to do with PRIEST, and even are a bit Melodic
Hardrock orientated on such great songs like “Dago,
el principe”, “Doble cara”, “Ave
fenix” and the semi-ballads “Arrores
paganos” and “Solitario”. One of the
highlights is definitely the fast uptempo Power Metal
track “Nadie hara nada por nosotros” which
features a great guitar riff. There are not many weak
songs on the album, maybe only “Sandor”. So,
basically you get a mixture of uptempo Power Metal and
Melodic Hardrock on the CD of PATAN, which sounds very
good, although it’s not as good as some of their
countrymen. Nevertheless, recommended to fans of RATA
BLANCA! You can easily get a copy of this CD through http://www.metaleros.de and e-mail at: Krukenberg@01019freenet.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘CVC#1
CLASSIC VIDEO COLLECTION DVD’ (LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC/ROCK
INC./BERTUS)
The Spanish label LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC has released a very
nice DVD, which includes videoclips of most of their
bands, such as MAGO DE OZ, TIERRA SANTA, ELEGY, METALIUM,
PORRETAS etc. Some of them are very interesting to watch,
as these are excellent Melodic Metal pieces, but there
are also a few Punk/Nu-Metalacts, but that’s due to
the fact that there are a wide diversity of bands signed
to LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC. Anyway, this is a very nice DVD,
with some great professional videoclips by especially
MAGO DE OZ and TIERRA SANTA.
(Points:
- )
DAVID
‘3
PREVIEW’ (DEMO CDR)
This is a sneak preview of the upcoming DAVID album.
Bandleader DAVID MIKAEL is best known for the stuff he
put out with MPG in the 1980s. This was prime-time
classic 80s aor/pomprock of a very high level, kinda like
LE ROUX, SUGARCREEK... Unfortunately after MPG he changed
his style a bit with his new band DAVID, but still played
Melodic Rock. The sneak preview of the 3rd DAVID CD does
see some slight changes, because it sounds poppier than
ever! The vocals are still very good and strong enough to
keep you interested all the way through. The drumcomputer
on “I can’t tell a lie” and “Number
one” are spoling the songs clearly and thats a pity
because songwise they aren’t that bad. Anyway, the
definite highlights of this sneak preview are
“Waiting for the big time” (a classy 80s
AOR/Pomprocker a la STYX/WRABIT, with a very interesting
guitarsolo towards the end) and “It was meant to
be” (classy uptempo AOR rocker like a mix between
80s LOVERBOY and HEARTLAND). If the whole CD goes like
these 2 rockers, then this will be something to look
forward to. Then again I truly hope to see a MPG re-issue
someday soon, which will also include some of the demos
they have recorded during that period, because some of
these unreleased are superb. Let’s hope ESCAPE MUSIC
will be interested in making a nice package of a MPG
re-issue, but this is just a suggestion, and I honestly
don’t know if it will ever happen... More info on
DAVID at: http://www.davidmusic.com
(Points:
- )
 EIDYLLION ‘ILLUSIONES’
(INDEPENDENT)
Here’s another quality Melodic Metalband from
ARGENTINA! They are called EIDYLLION and their album is
called ‘Illusiones’, and like all other Latin
Metalbands they sing in the Spanish language. The CD has
a playing length of almost 70 minutes, which is quite
long actually. 12 tracks are included and although at
first sight they sound like yet another typical
Argentinian Melodic Metalband on opener
“Adios”, if you listen to the whole CD
you’ll notice some more influences, such as the
fantastic 80s type of Melodic Rocker “El camino de
la fe” which sounds like a perfect mix between
MALMSTEEN, DOKKEN and TNT! Other highlights include
“Si tu alma puede ver” (uptempo melodic
rocker), “Siempre” (great semi-ballad),
“Demasiado tarde” (midtempo AORish),
“Pasion en sangre” (uptempo Melodic Power
Metal), “El septimo mandato” (fast Power Metal)
and “Alze la fe” (midtempo melodic rocker). The
band has a very good high-pitched lead singer, an
excellent guitarplayer, instrumental it is sounding
perfect, while the production is also very impressive, so
concluded this is a highly recommended CD. You can easily
get a copy of this CD through http://www.metaleros.de and e-mail at: Krukenberg@01019freenet.de
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 ROX DIAMOND ‘ROX DIAMOND’
(Z RECORDS)
It is now more than 10 years ago that the fantastic ROX
DIAMOND CD was released, and it had the bad luck of being
released in a time when AOR was pushed away by Grunge, so
unfortunately the album never got the attention it
deserved. Happily, Z RECORDS has re-released the ROX
DIAMOND CD and even added 1 bonustrack, the live song
“Rock bottom”. Anyway, this is without a doubt
an underrated AOR Classic that sounded like the perfect
mix between SURVIVOR, GIUFFRIA, PROPHET and TYKETTO.
Songs like “Heart of mine”, “Never too
late”, “You’re not the only one” and
“Lovin’ you” are instant AOR classics with
beautiful lead vocals (by keyboardplayer Paul Daniels)
and a very strong big melodic rocksound, very much
reminding me of the late 1980s. It’s unbelievable
that this was the only recording of the band, because
they could have been huge, if only the record was
released a few years earlier. Anyway, this re-release of
the ROX DIAMOND CD is giving it another push, and
hopefully we’ll even get to hear a full new CD of
the band next year!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 ORPHAN ‘LONELY AT
NIGHT/SALUTE’
(ESCAPE MUSIC)
Do you also think about the early 80s when AOR/Radiorock
was big in the USA and the radio was playing it all day
long? Well, there were so many bands back then and a lot
of their records are still only available on LP. ESCAPE
MUSIC however is doing a terrific job with re-issueing
all the old classics onto CD, because after the fantastic
re-issues of FRANKE AND THE KNOCKOUTS, SUGARCREEK, ZON,
STATETROOPER, BODY ELECTRIC and several others, the next
band entered the band’s growing catalogue. I am
talking about the band ORPHAN, a Canadian outfit whom
released 2 albums in the early/mid 1980s on CBS Records.
Production of their first album ‘Lonely at
night’ was done at the famous Power Station studios
in New York City by LANCE QUINN and TONY BONGIOVI. This
and the other album are both examples of the typical
early 80s AOR/Mainstream Radiorocksound which was so
immense popular in the USA and Canada with bands like
LOVERBOY, HAYWIRE, NIGHT RANGER, FOREIGNER, HONEYMOON
SUITE, BON JOVI topping the charts. ORPHAN fit in
perfectly and could have been also huge, but somehow that
didn’t happen.
Nevertheless, the 2 records they released are now
available as a 2-CD set on ESCAPE MUSIC. If we have a
look at the highlights of their albums, I should mention
such classic AOR rockers like “She told me”
(LOVERBOY style), “All over the world” (with
excellent twin-guitarsound), “Woman in love”
(pure uptempo classic 80s AOR a la AGENT, AVIATOR,
NIGHTWORK) and “Stand up” (PRISM meets early
80s BRYAN ADAMS), but also midtempo AOR/Poprock like
“Miracle”, “Any time at all” and
“The way it should be”. Although the first
album was clearly more AOR/Melodic Rock, and their second
saw the band moving into Mainstream Rock (a la BILLY
SQUIER) with the occasional AOR song here and there, I
still think both albums are very good. These 2 ORPHAN
albums, or better said, this 2-CD set is therefore highly
recommended to the fans of classic 80s AOR and should be
put next to those other classic 80s AOR records such as
the albums by AGENT, AVIATOR, HAYWIRE, URGENT etc. etc.
.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 SYMPHORCE ‘TWICE
SECOND’
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)
SYMPHORCE has returned to the metalscene with a new
strong Melodic Metal record. ‘Twice second’ is
their 4th CD and with each new album they develop an own
sound further and further. The style can be described as
a mixture of very heavy groovy guitar riffs and strong
melodic choruses. The band is making their Metal as
original as possible, so take influences from all
Metalstyles, such as Thrash-influences
(“Fallen”) here and there, Prog. Metal riffs
can be heard a lot of times (“Whatever hate
provides”), and even some PANTERA riffs (“Cause
of laughter”), but happily each song has a strong
melodic chorus. Highlights are “Tears” (uptempo
Melodic Metal with a very strong chorus), “In the
cold” (fantastic US Melodic Power Metal),
“Searching” (very good midtempo Melodic Metal,
with a chorus that sounds a bit like old QUEENSRYCHE) and
closing track “Cry on my shoulder”. The band
has released a very diverse record which will do well
with all Metalfans out there, and especially to those who
want to hear some big heavy groovy guitar riffs. A fine
return of SYMPHORCE will start the year 2004!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
FSB
‘VARIOUS
ALBUMS’ (UBP INTERNATIONAL)
The legendary Bulgarian band FSB are very popular in
their home native, but outside Bulgaria not many people
are aware of them. The band sings in their own language,
and they play a mixture of AOR, Pop, Poprock, Sympho and
New Wave, ending up sounding a bit like a poppier version
of TOTO. I recently reviewed 3 compilation CDs of the
band, and I heard some great rockers and ballads on those
records, but also some average quirky popsongs, and it
gave me a good idea of what to expect from all their
original releases. 7 releases and a single-compilation CD
were sent to me, and just like that compilation CD, also
each single album of FSB is filled with both great
AOR/Sympho and average Popmaterial, so the band is hard
to place in a particular style, as they are very
changeable in style. I think most of you will say that
they are a Popband, but there’s some AOR/Sympho
material on their records, such as the JOHN PARR
orientated aor/poprockers “I love you up to
here” and “Mummy” (from their 1987 record
‘I love you up to here”), the very good
Prog/Sympho songs “Celebration”,
“Winter” and “Child performance”
(from 1975, maybe their most interesting work, kinda like
RUSH and YES), the REO SPEEDWAGON type of AOR ballads
“High above” (1984) and “Not like
this” (1989) and their best song ever, the Classic
80s Sympho AOR rocker “We shall embrace again”
from their album ‘Ten years after’. Maybe their
live CD ‘FSB In concert’ is a good starter for
exploring this band, as this album contains the
band’s best songs, and also is their rockiest
affair, with such great songs like “Insomnia”,
“Day dreaming”, “Not like this” and
“On the road”. 4 of their releases on CD are by
the way just counting less than 30 minutes of playing
length, because the original LPs of these albums were
pressed in 45 rpm format for higher sound quality, so not
all CDs are full-length releases. Nevertheless, it is
nice to see that all the band’s releases have been
re-issued onto CD by UBP International. The band exists
for 30 years now and it would be interesting to see them
release a new CD which would see them bringing more Rock
orientated material, because when they rock they are
sounding very good actually. You can check out more info
on FSB at: http://www.fsb.com
(Points:
- )
MAGICK
‘OF
DECEIT AND LOVE’ (INDEPENDENT)
MAGICK comes out of Turkey and they play quality Power
Metal in a pure 80s US style. It sounds really good,
especially the songs “Death roll” (uptempo
melodic heavy rock), “Stained glass” (fantastic
classy uptempo Melodic Power Metal with great vocals and
very nice guitarwork) and “Bittersweet”
(uptempo Melodic Metal a la MAIDEN) are quite impressive.
5 songs are on their CD, and only the aggressive
“Mortal eyes” (a la NEVERMORE) and the fast
short “Mutilated” were not that interesting.
However, the other 3 songs are very impressive and sound
like if they were made by one of the high class US Power
Metalbands. This band should definitely get some
attention outside of Turkey, as they truly deserve it!
The 20-minutes counting video was very nice to watch and
gave me the impression that this band is quite popular in
Turkey. More info can be found at: http://www.magick.htmlplanet.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 SHINING FURY ‘LAST SUNRISE’
(METAL BLADE RECORDS)
This is a new project formed by drummer Ross Lukather
(family of Steve??? They do cover TOTO’s
“Rosanna”!!!), who has played with such Italian
bands like DEATH SS, LABYRINTH and ATHENA. Now he has his
own band, in which we can also find the fantastic lead
singer Francesco Neretti of ATHENA, keyboardplayer Oleg
Smirnoff (ELDRITCH, VISION DIVINE), guitarists Francesco
Chelini and Tommy Pellegrini and bassist Alessandro Cola.
With some additional help of Morby on vocals (TIME
MACHINE, LABYRINTH, DOMINE), Terence Holler and Martin
Khyn (vocals and bass in ELDRITCH), the band has released
an awesome CD titled ‘Last sunrise’. Musically
this is prime-time European (or Italian) Melodic Power
Metal which sounds very cheerful with the keys and the
catchy harmonyvocals during the strong choruses. Of
course people will say that this is just another
LABYRINTH, RHAPSODY clone, but without a doubt this is a
very good LABYRINTH copy, as everything sounds perfect!
The songs are fast and super melodic, just listen to the
first couple of songs like the fantastic “Broken
hopes”, “060501” and “Sleepin’
Coma”, all very fast and pure Italo Power Metal, so
big choruses to sing a long with and lots of keyboards.
The only time the band changes its style is on the
semi-ballad “Memories” (which even features a
sax), but the other 9 tracks are all classy Melodic Italo
Power Metal tracks. Actually most of the CD is a
highlight, so I can only give this album a high rating! A
must for fans of SONATA ARCTICA, LABYRINTH, VISION
DIVINE, RHAPSODY, ATHENA...
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
JOSHUA
WOOD ‘METAL
MENTAL MELTDOWN BOARD GAME’
(JPW METAL ENTERPRISES)
Wow! Who would have thought I would ever review a Board
game, well it has happened with this Board Game from
Canada. This is a fantastic Board Game made by JOSHUA
WOOD. There are 2500 copies produced and without a doubt
it’s the first in existence concerning Metal music.
I must also admit that it is done very professional and
gives you a lot of pleasure during those cold
winternights, as there are 2664 questions waiting to be
answered. The cardboard game board must be used when you
start playing, because you have to throw a number to move
on the cardboard, and then you can get a question in 4
different categories, ranging from easy to very hard (HB,
CC, SK or MM). The rules and the game itself is simple,
but the questions are very diverse, sometimes very easy,
but at times also very hard to answer right. Happily,
there aren’t any questions on Nu-Metal, but also not
many of today’s Prog/Power Metal. It is obvious that
creator Joshua Wood is a big fan of 80s Hardrock and
Metal, because most of the questions concern this period.
Not that I don’t mind, but there are probably lots
of teenagers/early twenties Metal fans who don’t
have that much knowledge of the 80s scene. However, the
real Metalfan will love this game a lot, as the questions
concern mainly pure Hardrock and Metal. Sample questions
are “What major label did CRIMSON GLORY sign
to?”, “Who played drums on the first CINDERELLA
album?, “How did Rhett Forester die?”,
“After leaving ACCEPT David Reece joined what
band?”, “What is Joey Tempest’s real
name”, “Who has a release called ‘The
eagle has landed?” etc. etc. Some are quite simple
to answer, but others you might know or might not know at
all, just depends on how much knowledge you have built up
during the years. It will definitely take you a few
months to answer all the questions, so I can HIGHLY
RECOMMEND this fantastic board game of Joshua Wood, the
only Metal Board Game in existence! Of course there are
some mistakes in a couple of the answers, such as TREAT
are coming out of Sweden and not The Netherlands as
stated on the game card, and MANOWAR does not have a song
called ‘Into glory ride’ (it’s an album
title), STAGE DOLLS are coming out of Norway and not
Denmark, the TURBO from Poland is better known than the
one from the Czech Republic. Apart from those few
mistakes, this is a very enoyable Board Game, and I hope
that in the future Joshua will provide us some new packs
with questions, and then I would suggest the packs of
AOR, Power, Glam, Prog, Vocalist and Guitar, so then we
will have lots more interesting questions to answer!
Anyway, more info on this fantastic Board Game, which is
a MUST HAVE for every True Hardrock/Metalfan, can be
found at: http://www.jpwmetalenterprises.com and e-mail him at: joshuawood@shaw.ca
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
QUEMAR ‘QUEMAR’
(VAMPYR DISCOS)
This Argentinian band is definitely not playing the
typical Power Metal so many other bands from South
America are playing. QUEMAR is more akin to Classic 70s
Hardrock like RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE, WHITESNAKE... The
band also adds some Bluesrock influences here and there
(like the weaker “Tiempo perdido”, but they are
their best during such great uptempo Melodic Heavy
Rockers like “Canos van a gritar” (pure
RAINBOW), “Furia sin piel” (faster
Neo-Classical piece, like MALMSTEEN/RING OF FIRE) and
“El alcohol va a recordar” and a great
semi-ballad like “Solo tus ojos”. It’s
good to see there are also good quality Hardrockbands
coming out of Argentina, but let’s not forget that
RATA BLANCA is also playing both Hardrock and Heavy
Metal! Anyway, fans of RAINBOW, who want to hear
something similar in style, but then with Spanish lyrics,
should check out QUEMAR. You can get a copy of this CD
through http://www.metaleros.de and e-mail at: Krukenberg@01019freenet.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
H30+
‘KRRRRPUIIIIITOUM...’ (DEMO CDR)
Should we take a band seriously when they come up with
such an albumtitle, or is the albumtitle just a way of
getting attention? Well, I can assure you that the band
is playing high quality Melodic Progressive Metal, so the
albumtitle is their way of getting attention. 2 songs are
on the new demo CD of the French band H30+ and both
“Turn the napkins” and “My little
rabbit” are fantastic high quality Melodic
Progressive Metalsongs like VANDENPLAS, ROYAL HUNT... The
songs are quite long, and
so this 20-minutes counting demo may be seen as a
mini-CD. Check ‘em out at: http://www.h30plus.fr.st and e-mail them at: legroupe@h30plus.fr.st
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
DRAMA
QUEEN DIE ‘PROMO’
(PROMO)
Out of Illinois, USA comes the new band/project DRAMA
QUEEN DIE, which is basically bringing us good-time 80s
fun Melodic LA/Glam Rock, like a mix between JOHNNY LIMA,
SHY TIGER, POISON and WHITE LION. 11 songs are on their
upcoming debut CD, which will probably be released
through TB RECORDS someday soon. The band features lead
singer/guitarist Andre Walker (who sounds like the
perfect mix between POISON, TUFF and JOHNNY LIMA),
bassist Chip Z Nuff and drummer Rick Parent from ENUFF
Z’NUFF. All the songs on the CD are very catchy pure
80s orientated Melodic Rockers, with as highlights the
uptempo party rockers “Die in vain”,
“Afraid of love” (classy 80s sing-a-long,
remember the good old days of PRETTY BOY FLOYD’s
classic ‘Leather boyz’? This is really fun
stuff!), “Wasted” and “Whatever happened
to rock and roll” (a SKID ROWish tune), but also a
melodic rockballad like “Where are you now” or
the midtempo ballad “Beautiful”. This is a very
good album actually and shows how Glamrock should be
played. Fans of mentioned acts will totally love this
record! More info at: http://www.dramaqueendie.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
ORATORIO ‘THE REALITY OF
EXISTENCE’ (RIVEL RECORDS/BERTUS)
Nothing new offered on this CD by the Finnish Power
Metalband ORATORIO, but if you’re keen on typical
fast melodic Euro Power Metal a la HELLOWEEN,
STRATOVARIUS etc. then you will love this CD. The sound
is huge (done at the famous Finnvox Studios by Mika
Jussila) and the included 10 songs are very impressive at
times. Opener “Chain of pain” is the typical
Euro Power Metal I was talking about, fast, catchy and
very melodic. However, next track “A lonely
prayer” is maybe more interesting, as this is a slow
melodic heavy rocker with a classic 70s/80s approach
(DIO), kinda like THUNDERSTONE and TAD MOROSE did on
their recent releases. As mentioned in the start of this
review, this band is mainly interesting for fans of
faster uptempo Power Metal, which can be heard in songs
like “Chain of pain”, “Ages before”,
“Glory and power” and “Shine the
light”, but I need to mention as well that the lead
vocals are a bit rawer than the other high-pitched vocal
dominated Power Metalbands. The band also has strong
Melodic (Hard) Rock influences in their music, so in the
end it’s not a pure Power Metal record after all.
This makes them stand out between the other bands, and
therefore I can still say that this is a good Melodic
Metal record on the Swedish label RIVEL RECORDS by a new
band from Finland, although it is not a total must to
own, because then I would prefer THUNDERSTONE, whom just
released a much stronger record in the same style.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SON
OF ERIC ‘SON
OF ERIC’ (SUGAR SHACK RECORDS)
I recently reviewed the band TOROK, well, lead
singer/guitarist of that American band is a guy called
Bryan Erickson. He also has a CD with his other project
SON OF ERIC. On the CD he released under that name we can
find 13 songs which musically are quite different than
TOROK’s music, but still interesting. SON OF ERIC is
basically bringing us pure Bluesy Hardrock with
influences from BADLANDS, WHITESNAKE, BAD COMPANY,
KINGDOM COME and LED ZEPPELIN. The vocals of Bryan are
quite strong and most of the songs are groovy and bluesy,
but melodic at the same time. Highlights are “1000
reasons”, “Wolf within”, “Walls are
coming down” and “Go like hell”. If you
like good old 70s inspired Bluesy hardrock, then you can
easily go for this SON OF ERIC. More info at: http://www.torokmusic.com and e-mail at: Sonoferic66@yahoo.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
PUMP
‘AGAINST
EVERYONE’S ADVICE’
(PULSE PROMOTION/METAL BLADE/SOULFOOD)
Yeah! This is a fantastic new band from Germany and they
play good old Kick Ass Melodic Hardrock with influences
from both American and German bands. Thieir debut CD
‘Against everyone’s advice’ sounds big and
can easily be put next to the recent releases of SHAKRA
and CRYSTAL BALL. The CD was produced, mixed and mastered
by TOMMY NEWTON (HELLOWEEN, VICTORY, CRYSTAL BALL) and he
always does a great job, also with this PUMP. Most of the
songs are uptempo/midtempo rough-in-your-face hardrockers
with strong sing-a-long choruses. The band is mixing the
late 80s American ‘swinging’ Groovy Melodic
Hardrocksound that dominated MTV back then (with bands
like TESLA, WARRANT, WHITESNAKE) with the typical German
Hardrocksound of bands like VICTORY and some KROKUS. The
CD starts very promising, with the super strong Melodic
Hardrocksong “Dangerous” which has a deadly
catchy chorus. Happily, the CD continues completely in
this style, so from track 1 until track 11 we get to hear
straight-ahead in your face ballsy pure 80s orientated
Kick Ass Hardrock!!! Other highlights besides the
fantastic opener are “Wasted” (midtempo),
“It’s too late” (ballad), “No fight
– no glory” (midtempo), “I’m
free” (semi-ballad) and “No fool like you”
(midtempo). A highly recommended piece to fans of early
GOTTHARD, CRYSTAL BALL, SHAKRA, VICTORY, WHITESNAKE...
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
X-TERRA ‘WOLVES’
(INDEPENDENT)
X-TERRA comes out of the US State of Pennsylvania, and
they play pure 1980s Hardrock/Metal. I remember this kind
of style very well, as so many bands from the US played
it in the mid 1980s, and it seems like the past couple of
years bands seem to pop up here and there playing it
again. Most of these bands were actually formed in the
1980s, and that’s the same thing with this X-TERRA,
who were formed back in 1985. Anyway, their professional
looking full-length CD has riffs, hooks and choruses that
sound like the mid 1980s US Hardrock/Metal. The band even
added some early 80s Radiorock (“The sun will shine
again” and a Glamrock riff a la CRUE/RATT
(“Where there’s a will”) sometimes, so
their music is very diverse, although it is clearly
always pure 80s. I have no problem with this at all,
because it is great to hear a band playing pure 80s
Hardrock/Metal, and besides the already mentioned songs
other highlights are “Calm before the storm”,
“All the way”, “It isn’t love”
(very catchy, pure TUFF actually!) and the ballad
“We all need a hand to hold”. The band reminds
me a bit of LONDON and BLACK’N’BLUE, only a bit
more polished maybe. Fans of classic 80s Hardrock should
check out this band at: http://www.xterrarocks.com and
e-mail them at: xterrarocks@mymailstation.com The CD is also
available through Cd Baby at: www.cdbaby.com/xterra
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
PROYECTO
MILLENIUM
‘LUCES EN EL CIELO’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Mexico comes PROYECTO MILLENIUM and their CD
‘Luces en el cielo’ was released just before
the big millenium bug everyone was talking about in 1999.
Everything went down well, and so we are now already 4
years later in 2004, and I finally get to hear and review
this CD. Although we have had some very good Mexican
bands, I think the South-American bands in the Prog/Power
Metal genre are slightly better. This PROYECTO MILLENIUM
is just a nice typical Prog/Power Metalband. Their CD
‘Luces en el cielo’ only counts 7 tracks, with
a total playing time of only 30 minutes, so a bit on the
short side. Like I said, the music is just typical
Prog/Power Metal, nothing sensational here. Songs like
the uptempo Melodic Metal pieces “Valle
magico”, “Angel de fuego” and “Sin
compasion” are nice to hear, but not really
spectacular. Also the sound/production is quite average,
especially during the last couple of tracks where it
sounds very weak. I don’t know what happened to the
band after the millenium break, but you can get a copy of
the CD through: http://www.metaleros.de and e-mail at: Krukenberg@01019freenet.de
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
 HEAVY PETTIN’ ‘ROCK AIN’T
DEAD’
(MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS)
It is now exactly 14 years ago when I bought myself a
copy of the 2nd LP ‘Rock ain’t dead’ of
the UK band HEAVY PETTIN’. I was just 13 years old,
but loved and played the record very much, and especially
the song “Sole survivor” became a favourite of
mine. In the years to follow I discovered many new bands,
and also got to hear the 2 other records of the band, but
that particular song always stick with me as the
band’s best song. Now it is the year 2004 and
finally the album has been re-issued onto CD, and then we
can hear how good these guys really were and what a big
shame it was they never had their breakthrough. Their
first album ‘Let it loose’ was a melodic
version of the typical NWOBHM sound of SAXON and TYGERS
OF PAN TANG, but their second saw the band moving into
the midtempo melodic rock territory of DEF LEPPARD. That
band had their big breakthrough just a few years ealier
with ‘Pyromania’ and HEAVY PETTIN’ were
the band to be the next one to become big in The States.
Everything on ‘Rock ain’t dead’ sounded
like the perfect follow-up to ‘Pyromania’,
especially considering the fact that the LEPPARD boys
took so much time recording a new album, so it would be
the perfect time for HEAVY PETTIN’ to release their
2nd LP. Unfortunately it didn’t turn out to be a big
success, and perhaps therefore it took almost 19 years to
make it available on CD. Anyway, it is now out on CD and
it sounds HUGE! This album could have been as big as
other Melodic Hardrockalbums at that moment (1985) such
as the millionsellers of BON JOVI, RATT, KROKUS, DEF
LEPPARD, AC/DC, SCORPIONS...
It kinda reminds me of that VICTORY classic ‘Culture
killed the native’ which also had that perfect
sound, but also didn’t become as big as expected.
Nevertheless, it is fantastic to hear this album again on
CD, because the Melodic Rock Classics all over the place,
such as “Lost in love”, “Angel”,
“Heart attack”, “City girl” and of
course “Sole survivor” (basically the song that
should have been at least Top 10 in the USA!!!). After
this record, the band got a bit frustrated, because they
didn’t score big-time and the following album
‘The big bang’ was basically the end of a
promising band. If you never heard HEAVY PETTIN’s
‘Rock ain’t dead’ classic, then you should
get yourself a copy of the CD as soon as possible, and as
a bonus 2 unreleased tracks are included, so also fans of
the band must get this copy!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 HEAVY PETTIN’ ‘LETTIN’
LOOSE’
(MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS)
At the same time as DEF LEPPARD released their
multi-million selling classic ‘Pyromania’, an
other British band (or actually from Glasgow, Scotland)
called HEAVY PETTIN’ released a fantastic debut LP
titled ‘Lettin’ loose’. This album could
have easily been become huge if it had gotten some more
promotion. Anyway, the music presented was a mix of
Melodic Hardrock and NWOBHM, kinda like a mix between
THIN LIZZY, early DEF LEPPARD, SAXON and TYGERS OF PAN
TANG. 20 years later MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS has re-issued
the classic onto CD, and added 2 bonustracks, so this is
without a doubt a highly interesting re-issue! Songs like
“In and out of love” (not the BON JOVI song),
“Victims of the night” (pure NWOBHM),
“Devil in her eyes”, “Shadows of the
night” and “Hell is beautiful” are classic
Melodic Hardrocksongs and unforgettable. The band went
onto release 2 more releases, and the 2nd ‘Rock
ain’t dead’ is an instant classic, which has
also been re-issued (read review below!).
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
PHIL
LYNOTT’S GRAND SLAM ‘TWILIGHT’S
LAST GLEAMING’ (MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS)
The last thing PHIL LYNOTT ever did was playing in a band
called GRAND SLAM, a strong pure Rockoutfit which saw
Phil finally back in a pure Rockstyle, after his solo
attempts and the dissapointing last THIN LIZZY albums.
MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS has released a CD filled with
material recorded on December the 4th 1984 at the Marquee
Club in London, and these are probably one of the last
recordings of Phil before his tragic death one year
later. The sound quality may not be impressive, but if
you’re a fan of PHIL LYNOTT you don’t care,
because this CD is filled with classy melodic
rock/hardrock in the best THIN LIZZY style. Best songs
are “Nineteen”, “Breakdown”,
“Dedication”, “Sisters of mercy” and
the THIN LIZZY classic “Cold Sweat”. A must for
THIN LIZZY/PHIL LYNOTT fans!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
MORIFADE
‘DOMI<>NATION’
(KARMAGEDDON MEDIA)
The Swedish melodic Power Metalband MORIFADE returns with
their 3rd CD titled ‘Domi<>nation’ and
right from the start you can clearly hear they have
progressed. The new CD is probably their best album so
far, with a big production (by Andy La Rocque of KING
DIAMOND) and a lot of sensational songs. Musically it is
in the STRATOVARIUS style, and after playing it a couple
of times I am quite sure of myself to say that this new
MORIFADE album is as good as both STRATOVARIUS albums
from 2003! Opener “Parallels” for example is a
fantastic uptempo Melodic Power Metal song with a very
strong catchy chorus. The band also reminds me a bit of
SUPREME MAJESTY and even NOCTURNAL RITES comes to mind
sometimes, so this is definitely high quality Melodic
Power Metal. Other highlights include
“Clarity”, “Panopticon” and “The
rising”. The CD also included a very impressive
videoclip of the song “Lost within a shade”,
while the limited digipack comes with 5 bonustracks, not
included on the normal CD. Concluded, this is a must-have
for fans of Melodic Power Metal!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
VELVET
DREAMS ‘VELVET
DREAMS’ (VINNY RECORDS)
The Spanish band VELVET DREAMS comes out of the Island of
Tenerife, and features the Italian singer Max Mucelli,
who has got a raw voice and actually is the weakest link
in this band. Although musically it is nice Melodic
Hardrock what we get to hear, I don’t think this is
the strongest release of VINNY RECORDS, as the new albums
of COASTLINE and FAITFULL are much better. Nevertheless,
there are some good Melodic Rockers on the first album of
VELVET DREAMS, such as
“Immortal”, “I wanna go”, “Fly
on a ray of light” and “Up yours”.
However, this is just a nice Melodic Hardrockalbum,
nothing more, nothing less...
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 FAITHFULL ‘LIGHT THIS
CITY’ (VINNY RECORDS)
Sometime ago I reviewed a great album by the Portuguese
band FAITHFULL. Well, now the band has signed to the
Spanish AOR/Melodic Rocklabel VINNY RECORDS, and they
re-released their album ‘Light this city’ with
a very good production by LUIS BARROS from TARANTULA. 12
songs are included, and the music is pure fun 1980s
Melodic Rock with catchy choruses, like a mix between
DOKKEN, NORWAY, 91 SUITE, 80s BON JOVI, 80s DEF LEPPARD
and WHITE LION. Highlights are such great uptempo melodic
rockers like “Light this city”,
“There’s no turning back”, “All I
want, all I need”, “Melting your ice” and
“Learned my lesson”. Concluded, a recommended
Melodic Rockalbum from Portugal and especially
interesting to have if you’re fed up with the last
couple of albums from BON JOVI, because this is the sound
BON JOVI should have followed, but didn’t after
‘Slippery...’!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
EL
DRAGON ‘LA
MASCARA DE HIERRO’ (INDEPENDENT)
This Argentinian band sounds like a pure 80s Heavy
Metalband, and it would not surprise me if this is a
re-issue of an album recorded way back in 1985 or
something. I haven’t got any information on EL
DRAGON, but if you like the 80s sounds of bands like
BARON ROJO, OBUS and MURO, then you will love this record
as well. It sounds a bit dated, but it’s pure 80s
Heavy Metal from start to finish. 8 tracks are included,
and with a playing length of more than 40 minutes
there’s enough to enjoy here if you’re into
this kind of pure Metal! You can get a copy of this CD
through http://www.metaleros.de and e-mail at: Krukenberg@01019freenet.de
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
HORCAS
‘REINARA
LA TEMPESTAD’ (DBN RECORDS)
Although many Argentinian bands play pure Melodic Power
Metal, there are also quite a few 80s sounding
Speed/Thrash-Metalbands and HORCAS is one of them. This
is pure 80s guitar riff orientated Speed/Thrash with a
bit cleaner vocals and not as heavy and raw as the
European acts, but still it is 80s Speed/Thrash, so only
interesting for the fans of that genre. You can get a
copy of this CD through http://www.metaleros.de and e-mail at: Krukenberg@01019freenet.de
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
IRA ‘GUERREROS
CLANDESTINOS’ (DENVER RECORDS)
This Mexican band called IRA is playing a mix of Speed,
Power and Heavy Metal, and it sounds a bit raw at times,
although their singer is able to sing both high and low.
Opener “Guerreros clandestinos” is a good
faster Melodic Power Metal song, but the following tracks
are a bit disappointing, and basically just nice Heavy
Metalsongs with a raw edge. 13 tracks are included, and
instrumental it all sounds very good and professional,
but the songs are just not sensational enough to make
this a winner, although here and there we can hear some
good tunes like the Power Metaltracks “Manipuladores
de la fe”, “Gladiator” and
“Psicopatas”. However, you can get a copy of
this CD through http://www.metaleros.de and e-mail at: Krukenberg@01019freenet.de
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
BLOKE
‘DEMOLICION
2002’ (HURLING METAL RECORDS)
BLOKE was one of many Argentinian Metlbands that played
Metal in the 1980s. Now there is a CD available which
contains 11 songs taken from their demos. Although it
sounds dated, the music is pure Heavy Metal like it was
played in the 1980s by thousands of bands worldwide. You
can compare their music to bands like SAXON, ANVIL,
ATILLA, ANGEL WITCH etc. etc. This is good old fashioned
Heavy Metal in it’s purest form. Like all other
bands from Argentina, also BLOKE sang in their own
language. If you’re into BARON ROJO and OBUS, then
this is a complete must to have! Very interesting by the
way are the 5 bonustracks of rare other Argentinian
bands, such as the fantastic bands GARGOLA and ASPEED,
hopefully more info on them soon. You can get a copy of
this CD through http://www.metaleros.de and e-mail at: Krukenberg@01019freenet.de
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
RENACER
‘HOY
COMO AYER’ (BLACKSTAR)
This is quite interesting, as the Argentinian band
RENACER recently released a CD through ARISE RECORDS, but
before that album, they released a mini-CD under the name
RENACER and a full-length album under the moniker
IMPERIO. Both are now available on a 2-CD set, which also
includes some great videoclips. Without a doubt, this is
one of the better sounding bands from Argentina. The 2-CD
set includes some great high quality Melodic Prog/Power
Metal, of which my favourite tracks are “Hoy como
ayer”, “Suenos perdidos”, “Chico
callejero”, “Antes que los veijos reyes”
and “Buscando algun lugar”. Highly recommended
to fans of bands like TIERRA SANTA, RATA BLANCA, MAGO DE
OZ... You can get a copy of this CD through http://www.metaleros.de and e-mail at: Krukenberg@01019freenet.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
THE
TREAT
‘IN TECHNICOLOR’ (ROCKULAR RECORDINGS)
The UK was always very important in the
Hardrock/Metalscene, but ever since the early 1990s it
seemed like there wasn’t any good new band coming
from the UK. The 1990s were a horrible time when it comes
to good quality British bands, and in 2003 we even got a
very average band called THE DARKNESS who went onto
having huge success, although they had a singer who
absolutely can not sing! In these desperate times you are
longing back to the early 1980s when thousands of new
NWOBHM bands came to the scene, and only MAIDEN, SAXON
and TYGERS OF PAN TANG survived the 2 following decades.
Anyway, now there’s a new band called THE TREAT, and
they play a mix of early 80s NWOBHM, Melodic Rock and
Poprock. It sounds fresh and completely different than
anything else in the UK. Without a doubt, this sounds
much better than THE DARKNESS. The lead singer can sing
and the songs are catchy, with as highlights great
uptempo melodic rockers like “Burnin’”,
“Rock you”, “24/7” and “The
hunger”. Finally, a good new band from the UK,
let’s hope they will get some attention from the
British media, and turn one of the above mentioned songs
into a huge hit. Almost forget to mention that the band
in general reminds me of the early 80s UK acts
DEADRINGER, NIGHTWING, RAGE, GEORDIE and EXPORT, so you
know a bit what to expect from this little band. More
info can be found at: http://www.thetreat.demon.co.uk and e-mail them at: info@thetreat.demon.co.uk
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BLACKWINE ‘BLACKWINE’
(CATALYSTACTION)
Wow, a band from Hongkong! And they do sound pretty good
as well, so quite interesting I guess. BLACKWINE is
playing quality Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock with some MAIDEN
riffs, although most of the time it reminds me of
LOUDNESS, EARTHSHAKER... The band sings in the Chinese
language, so it is impossible to hear what they’re
singing and also hard to mention songtitles. The best
songs are “2”, “3”, “7” and
especially “8”. There’s also some weaker
groovy Hardrock on the CD, but the sound quality is very
good and all together this is a good band from Hongkong!
More info at: http://www.blackwine.org
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
KRAISED
‘HAYWIRE
LOGIC’ (BELTIN’ RECORDS)
The band KRAISED is coming out of Arizona, USA and they
deliver a mix of 80s and modern Heavy Metal, with both
agressive and melodic parts. It kinda reminds me of DEE
SNIDER’s WIDOWMAKER, yet with some PANTERA heaviness
and even similarities to MEGADETH. The singer sounds like
a mixture between DEE SNIDER and DAVE MUSTAINE, while the
music is very heavy and groovy, typically for
today’s US Metalbands. Anyway, it sounds very nice
sometimes, although the singer also raps a few times and
that’s not really interesting. Highlights are
“Impact”, “Embossed”, “Close my
eyes”, “Bury me alive” and “Push
on”. Check it out if you like aggressive groovy
Metal with influences from both the 80s and today’s
modern Metalstyle. The CD is available through Nightmare
Records. The CD is available through Nightmare Records. More info can be found
at: http://www.kraised.com or send an e-mail at: kraised@qwest.net
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
TALISMA
‘CORPUS’
(UNICORN RECORDS)
The Canadian band TALISMA has released it’s first
official CD on the label UNICORN RECORDS. The band is
playing instrumental Progressive Rock that sounds not too
far away from RUSH and SAGA, yet without vocals of
course. 15 tracks are included, and although I said
instrumental, 2 of the songs feature guest vocals, so
it’s not a full instrumental CD, but almost.
Everything sounds quite professional, and basically
it’s quite enjoyable to hear this high quality
isntrumental Progressive Rock. Fans of RUSH will love
songs like “Corpus”, “Satanusky”,
“Corpus 2”, “Untitled” and “D
Double U”. Recommended to Progrockfans! More info
at: http://www.talismaband.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 WASTELAND ‘WARRIORS OF THE
WASTELAND’
(IRON GLORY RECORDS)
The German band WASTELAND recorded a high quality demo in
the early 1990s, and were about to release a CD, when the
Grunge-virus took over. WASTELAND even featured some
later PRIMAL FEAR members (Klaus Sperling and Stefan
Leibing), but it had to wait until recently when IRON
GLORY RECORDS decided to release a full-length CD of
WASTELAND, which includes the original demo tracks and
several unreleased bonustracks. 13 tracks in total can be
found on the CD, which has a playing time of 68 minutes.
Although these are demo recordings, the sound quality is
very good, and also musically this is prime time Teutonic
Heavy Metal in the best German (and MANOWAR) tradition.
It is not too far away from what we later got to hear of
a band like PRIMAL FEAR, so this is pure Heavy Metal like
it sounded back in the 1980s, without ever sounding
dated. Highlights are “Dreams of heaven”,
“Can’t wait”, “Calling out your
name” (a fantastic song, with lovely guitarwork),
“Still the world is sad” and
“Salvation”. Concluded, a must for fans of
PRIMAL FEAR, MANOWAR, RUNNING WILD, STEELER, GRAVE
DIGGER... More info at: http://www.IronGlory.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 METAL INQUISITOR ‘THE
APPARITION’
(IRON GLORY RECORDS)
The German band METAL INQUISITOR is a band formed at the
end of the 1990s, and this CD ‘The apparition’
was released in 2002, and that’s very interesting,
because these guys play pure early 80s NWOBHM/Classic
Metal in the style of RAVEN, RIOT, SAXON, WOLF, early
TYGERS OF PAN TANG... The sound quality is very good, and
therefore it doesn’t sound dated at all. 10 songs
are included, and I can really say that these guys surely
know how the early 80s sounded like in Europe, because
their whole CD is filled with Classic early 80s European
Metal that even reminds me of all those Dutch metal
heroes from that period (PICTURE, HIGHWAY CHILE, ALLIED
FORCES...). The singer has a German accent, but
that’s not annoying at all, and besides, the
guitarists of the band are making that up, because they
sound awesome! Especially songs like “Run for your
life”, “My sacrifice”, “Daze of
Avalon” and “Bernardo Gui” are a must for
people who long back to the early 1980s Metalsound!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SOLITAIRE
‘RISING
TO THE CHALLENGE’ (IRON GLORY RECORDS)
The Finnish band SOLITAIRE is bringing us pure 80s Bay
Area Thrash-Metal, it’s fast as the Power Metal of
nowadays, but none of the songs is melodic or catchy or
whatever, and all the songs are sounding the same.
It’s nice to have a band playing this style again,
but it sounds very dated nowadays and only die-hard
Thrash-Metal freaks will like this, because it was
another period-Metal style that didn’t last long and
has been forgotten ever since, with only the number 1
Speed/Thrash kings playing it
(METALLICA during their concerts!). I have no comments on
the musicians, because they surely can play very well,
but the songs are very average and all sound the same.
Then you can better put on the first couple of METALLICA
records...
(Points:
6.0 out of 10)
ARCADIA ‘DISTANCE TO THE
SKY’ (INDEPENDENT)
Here’s another quality band from the big Japanese
hardrock/metal scene. They are called ARCADIA and they
play very melodic hard/heavy rock/metal like a mix
between SCORPIONS and STRATOVARIUS, yet not of that high
level of course, but still the 5 songs of their album
‘Distance to the sky’ sound very impressive.
Opener “Holy light” is a great uptempo melodic
heavy rocker with some very impressive guitarwork. Other
highlights are “Land of tragedy” (melodic
rocker) and “The armor of soul”. Concluded,
another recommended Japanese band to check out, website
can be found at:
http://www.geocities.co.jp/Musicstar-Drum/4629 and e-mail them at: arcadia@heavy-metal.club.ne.jp
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
MIGHTY
D. ‘THE
LAST RISE’ (IRON GLORY RECORDS)
Out of Germany comes MIGHTY D., and they play Death
Metal, so not interesting for the readers of our site...
(Points:
- )
STIKKI
FYKK ‘EIGHT
LADIES IN THE LATE EIGHTIES’
(IRON GLORY RECORDS)
Although Glam metal is a style which is totally ignored
over here, and I also agree that some bands play the
style very badly, there are some great acts active in
this genre (or should I say were?). I am talking about
MOTLEY CRUE, POISON, PRETTY BOY FLOYD etc. The English
versions like TIGERTAILZ and WRATHCHILD were definitely
not as good as their American brothers, and it already
sounded a bit average, but this German band is really a
weak Glamrockband. First of all, the band is going over
the top with their image and the lyrics of their songs,
and their Punky Glamrock sounds far below average. This
is a bad Glamrock example, and only interesting for the
absolute die-hard Glamrockfans, although the best song of
STIKKI FYK is not nearly as good as the worst MOTLEY CRUE
song! No, I have to pass this one on, because it really
sounds very very weak...
(Points:
5.0 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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