CRYSTAL SHARK ‘MEGADOLON’
(TTS MEDIA MUSIC)
The German band CRYSTAL SHARK released their debut
‘Downfall of Eden’ at the end of 2000, which is
now followed up by ‘Megadolon’. The band is
playing typical German Metal, which means in the style of
ACCEPT, RUNNING WILD, SAXON, STEELER... The production is
very good, and fans of this genre will love this band a
lot. Highlights are “Flame of life”, “Time
after time” and “Destination unknown”, 3
catchy faster melodic Power Metal tracks a la HELLOWEEN.
The rest is typical German Metal a la UDO, RUNNING WILD,
GRAVE DIGGER, SINNER, with “Born dead” being an
ACCEPT clone. You either love it or hate it. Fans of 80s
orientated German Metak will dig this for sure.
Don’t mind the opener “Maelstrom of hate”
which is pure Thrash Metal. What remains is definitely a
quality CD here. More info at: http://www.tts-media-music.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 AFTERMATH ‘NATURAL
DESTRUCTION’
(ESCAPE MUSIC)
AFTERMATH is a band from New Jersey, with a release on
the English label ESCAPE MUSIC. This is definitely a
quality release, with excellent musicianship and a big
sound/production, but still not all the songs are really
convincing. A lot of the 11 included tracks are just nice
late 80s groovy melodic rockers a la WINGER and WARRANT.
The standout tracks are the 3 ballads “Lovin’
you”, “Behind these eyes” and “Pain
of the memory”, all 3 very strong Power Melodic
Rockballads a la DAMN YANKEES and NELSON. These 3 songs
show AFTERMATH at their very best, with outstanding hooks
and catchy choruses, so let’s hope a future CD will
also see such strong melodic rockers, because the
remaining 8 rockers on this CD offer now not much to call
it sensational. Nevertheless, fans of good old American
Melodic Rcok will like this album a lot I think.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 BACKSLASH ‘PRINCESS OF
DISHARMONY’
(TTS MEDIA MUSIC)
The German Female Fronted Melodic Metal band returns with
their third CD ‘Princess of disharmony’. The
album continues the melodic metal style created on their
previous albums, with the difference that this new record
is their best effort, with a crystal clear production and
lots of catchy songs. The music is comparable to HEADLINE
and DORO, and most of the included 12 tracks are uptempo
pieces, with as highlights “Hit me”,
“Waiting till the end”, “Wake me”,
“River of darkness” and “Rising like a
shadow”. Fans of Female Fronted Metal should
a.s.a.p. get this record! More info at: http://www.tts-media-music.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
PHARAOH ‘AFTER THE
FIRE’ (CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC)
PHARAOH is a band from Philadelphia, USA, and they have
released their debut on the Italian label CRUZ DEL SUR
MUSIC. The band is playing pure 80s US Power Metal, and
they do it quite well. Only the production and the lead
vocals of singer Tim Aymar is not that good, but
furthermore it sounds pretty nice. Most of the songs are
uptempo, with as highlights the last 3 tracks, which even
show a faster Euro Power Metal influence. In general, the
band sounds like a good mix between MAIDEN and MANOWAR.
Fans of real Metal need to check out this PHARAOH at: http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
NARCOZE
‘GENOMA’
(CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC)
Out of Brazil comes NARCOZE, a band formed in 1991, but
‘Genoma’ is their first album. Instrumental the
band sounds very good, typical Italian Power Metal a la
LABYRINTH, but unfortunately the lead singer spoils a lot
here, because his voice is very raw and not suitable for
this kind of music. He would have been better off with an
ACCEPT type of act, but the Symphonic Power Metal of
NARCOZE needs a melodic singer. Like I said, instrumental
it sounds very good, and even the songs are quite good,
but it’s just that the lead singer is not right for
the job, so I guess a future CD of the band should see a
change in lead singer, otherwise I am not sure if this
band will get a lot of attention, but be sure to check
them out for yourself at: http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
FRONTEARS
‘COMMITER/VICTIM’ (TTS MEDIA MUSIC)
‘Commiter/victim’ is the third CD of the German
band FRONTEARS. I never heard their previous albums, but
this new CD of the band is very strong and is definitely
one of the better Prog/Power Metal releases from Germany
lately. The songs contain big riffs and the Progressive
Metal in general has a slight modern sound, but the
choruses are all very melodic and catchy. Highlights are
“Dreams of suicide” (fantastic uptempo melodic
metal), “Sick love” (great faster uptempo
Melodic Metal with a guest female singer, like HEADLINE),
“Victims ballad” (great calmer ballad),
“Love and hate” (fast uptempo Euro Power
Metal), “I believe” (very good midtempo Melodic
Metal) and “I am the one” (great Prog/Power).
The guest female singer I was talking about is actually
Heike Grebita from BACKSLASH, who sangs backing vocals on
all the songs. So, what we have here is a great high
quality melodic Prog/Power Metal release from yet another
German band. More info at: http://www.tts-media-music.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
AGENT
STEEL
‘ORDER OF THE ILLUMINATI’ (SCARLET RECORDS)
The legendary Speed Metal band AGENT STEEL has released
it’s 2nd CD since their comeback in the late 1990s.
In the 80s they played pure Speed Metal, which they
probably invented, but nowadays a lot of things have
changed. There’s not much left of the original
line-up, and musically the style isn’t pure Speed
Metal anymore, because the new album ‘Order of the
illuminati’ (whatever that means!) is more sounding
like a mix between the old AGENT STEEL (which is fast
metal a la PRIEST) and newer sounds like Thrash and even
Modern (Nu)-Metal bits here and there all throughout the
album. Surely there’s some good quality Metal on
this record, on which you can even hear pieces of Classic
AGENT STEEL, but in general it’s just a reasonable
Metal release which will not beat all the other
‘better’ records in the Metal genre.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 BROKEN ARROW ‘ABYSS OF
DARKNESS’
(SCARLET RECORDS)
From Italy comes BROKEN ARROW, a very good new
Neo-Classical Metal act that features the likes of Nick
Savio, who played in WHITE SKULL and is currently a
member of VICIOUS MARY (released 1 album on FRONTIERS
RECORDS last year). BROKEN ARROW is playing melodic
Neo-Classical Progressive Metal that reminds me a lot of
SAVATAGE in their heydays. Most of the songs are midtempo
Melodic Metal, but towards the end the band throws in
some faster uptempo Power Metal tracks in typical Italian
style and actually these are the best tracks. I am
talking about “The call”, “Isaac story
part 1” and “Isaac story part 2”, all 3
great typical Italo Power Metal tracks a la RHAPSODY,
LABYRINTH... However, most of the time, this CD is a good
midtempo epic Melodic Metal record with a strong SAVATAGE
orientated sound, of which my favourite tracks are
“Abyss of darkness” and “The gothic
line”. Maybe this isn’t as good as mentioned
bands, it’s still a good quality Melodic/Prog Metal
record. Together with a big production by Lou Stefanini
(DOMINE, SECRET SPHERE, LABYRINTH), this is a recommended
Italian Metal CD!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
FEEDBACK ‘ROCK MY
SOUL’ (POINT MUSIC)
FEEDBACK are coming out of Munich, Germany, and the most
striking fact on them is that on this CD the famous
62-year old abbot primate Dr. Notker Wolf, who is the
highest monk of the order of Benedictines worldwide, i.e.
he is the "boss" of 25.000 nuns and monks (!)
He joined the band for the studio recordings after he met
Feedback at a summer festival where he was invited to jam
some songs with the band on stage. The band itself has
been existing for many years already, and their CD
‘Rock my soul’ is a 70s Classic Rock orientated
album. The first 2 songs are the highlights here, because
opener “My best friend” is a catchy uptempo
melodic rocker (a la BONFIRE and DEMON DRIVE), while the
big surprise is the AXE cover “Rock’n’roll
part” which is done very nicely. The band has a good
lead singer (called Oliver Olschewski), who reminds me of
MICHAEL VOSS of CASANOVA, MAD MAX and DEMON DRIVE fame.
Unfortunately the rest of CD is less Hard Rock and more
70s Rock with a Boogie Rock touch, not unlike STATUS QUO
here and there, so not really interesting. The
only other interesting songs are the midtempo melodic
rocker “Tell me why”, the strong semi melodic
rockballad “When fire burns” and closing track
“Magic”, an instrumental melodic rocker. I hope
a future CD will rock some more, like the first 2 songs
that sound really good, but like I said the rest is more
STATUS QUO orientated. More info on FEEDBACK at: www.silberpfeil.net and e-mail them at: as@silberpfeil.net
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
CARPTREE
‘SUPERHERO’
(INDEPENDENT)
‘Superhero’ is the first CD of the Swedish band
CARPTREE. The band is playing typical British Neo-Prog in
the style of JADIS and early MARILLION, yet slightly
calmer and updated for today’s standards. The songs
are very melodic, and with a playing length of 60
minutes, this is unmistakable a recommended CD for fans
of afforementioned bands. The absolute highlights are the
fantastic Neo-Prog Rocksongs “Host us, graft”,
“Flesh” and “Lie down” (very much
like JADIS). Fans of mentioned bands should check out
CARPTREE a.s.a.p. and discover another sensational band
in this neverending genre of Neo-Prog. More info at: http://www.carptree.com and e-mail them at: fosfor@carptree.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 TNT ‘GIVE ME A
SIGN’ (MTM MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
The legendary Norwegian band TNT has made yet another
comeback and this time they sound better than ever! Their
last couple of albums were very average 90s Metal
orientated, but with ‘Give me a sign’ the band
finally moves into melodic rock territory again. Lead
singer Tony Harnell made 3 excellent WESTWORLD albums
since the last TNT record ‘Firefly’, and you
can clearly hear a WESTWORLD similarity here and there on
the new TNT record. ‘Give me a sign’ is just a
sneak preview of things to come, because this is just an
18-minutes counting mini-CD with 5 new TNT tracks, but it
gives you a good idea of the new TNT sound. The
production is huge and these 5 tracks alone blow away
anything TNT has done since the mid 1980s.
Opener
“Live today” is a very impressive strong
uptempo melodic rocker in the classic TNT style.
“Give me a sign” is the only weaker track on
the CD. as this is a slightly modern orientated heavy
rock/metal piece like TNT also did on
‘Firefly’. “Satellite” then again is
a very catchy melodic poprocker like TNT never did
before, somehow reminding me of NELSON. Then comes the
excellent melodic semi-rockballad “Hey love”.
The CD closes with the best track, “Destiny”,
which is a classy uptempo melodic metal piece that grabs
back to the band’s classic 80s records and brings
back memories of the first two albums of EUROPE!
Concluded, TNT is back for good this time, and we can now
look forward to a very interesting full-length CD release
later this year to be released on MTM Music.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 FARO ‘DAWN OF
FOREVER’
(MTM MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
FARO is a hot new band formed around lead singer Chitral
Chity Somapala (the Sri Lanka born singer of AVALON), who
is an excellent lead singer. The CD FARO released on MTM
MUSIC contains 11 tracks and was produced by Markus Teske
(VANDENPLAS, SYMPHONY X, SAGA). The beginning is very
strong, with some very strong catchy melodic rocksongs,
but later on the CD the songs are a bit weaker.
Nevertheless, in general, this is still a high quality
release. The CD starts with “Living in
extremes”, which is a good uptempo melodic rocker.
“I remember” is a very strong midtempo melodic
rocker. Next track “Surrender” is a very good
catchy midtempo melodic rocker. One of the highlights has
got to be “Coast to coast”, a lovely midtempo
AOR song a la ALIEN, DAVINCI. The CD continues with
“You’re on the run”, which is a nice
uptempo melodic hardrocksong. Then comes the first
let-down, namely “We entertain ya”, a weaker
groovy rocker. Following tracks “Material
world” and “Shot down” are nice semi
melodic rockballads. “I am what I am” and
“The beast” are nice uptempo melodic
hardrocksongs a la SCORPIONS. Closing track “Long
way home” is a good semi-melodic rockballad a la
HARDLINE and SCORPIONS. Although I must add here that the
start was very promising, with 4 excellent melodic
rocksongs, the rest of the CD doesn’t reach that
level, but don’t let that put you off, because what
remains is that FARO has released a great quality Melodic
(Hard) Rockalbum!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 NORDICA ‘REBEL HEART’
(ADRENALINE RECORDS)
Portugal is beginning to deliver more and more quality
Hardrockalbums, because in the same style as MARVEL, we
get a new band called NORDICA. Their first CD ‘Rebel
heart’ was produced and mixed by Luis Barros
(TARANTULA) and mastered by TOMMY NEWTON (HELLOWEEN). In
other words, the production and sound is of a very high
quality, while also the artwork looks very professional.
The included 11 songs fall in the category 80s orientated
catchy melodic (hard) rock with a very strong BON JOVI
influence.
Although
the lead singer Diogo De Lima sings with a strong accent,
he starts to sing better and better as the CD develops,
but it’s easy for people to say that he wants to
sing like BON JOVI, because that is quite obvious (just
listen to “Give it all” and “Rebel till I
die”). The music is very good and is a mixture of
midtempo and uptempo rockers, with the occasional ballad.
Highlights are “Hide away” (pure 80s uptempo
melodic rocker, nice keys!), “Give it all”
(hello BON JOVI, midtempo melodic rocker),
“Imagination” (this is how BON JOVI should have
sounded, excellent midtempo melodic rocker with strong
chorus), “I believe” (I can’t help it but
mentioning BON JOVI again here in this great semi-melodic
rocker), “Two steps from paradise” (nice
keyboardwork, very strong uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker) and
“Stand” (catchy uptempo melodic rocker). People
who are into JOHNNY LIMA, 91 SUITE, ATTRACTION, ICE BLUE,
ADRIAN GALE or better said, 80s BON JOVIish catchy
singable melodic rock should check out NORDICA a.s.a.p.!
More info at: http://www.nordica-band.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
JOHN
SLOMAN ‘DARK
MATTER’ (MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS)
It has been a long time since we last heard something
from the British singer JOHN SLOMAN, but happily we can
now talk about a new CD of the former URIAH HEEP/GARY
MOORE lead vocalist. I remember a solo-LP he released
back in the 80s on FM Records (if I am correct here),
which was an excellent AOR piece, which I hope will get a
re-issue someday. Anyway, JOHN SLOMAN has released a new
CD entitled ‘Dark matter’, and musically he is
more grabbing back to his roots, which is Bluesy
Hardrock. The 10 songs on this CD show a very raw side of
John Sloman, because the songs are slow, dark and groovy,
while a strong Bluesy HardRock approach is also notable,
not unlike very early WHITESNAKE and BAD COMPANY, still
with an updated sound for today’s standards.
If
you listen closely, you can even hear elements of Classic
Hardrock from the 1970s (LED ZEPPELIN and BLACK SABBATH)
and GLEN HUGHES might be a good comparison. John has
combined everything into an exciting new style, which
sets this CD apart from anything else released at the
moment. It’s really an album you should listen lots
of times, before jumping to a wrong conclusion, because
it will grab you after a few spins. The man’s voice
is of course the strongest point of the album. Highlights
on ‘Dark matter’ are such rockers like
“New day”, “Humankind”,
“Weatherman” and “Dream a dream”.
Concluded, this CD may not appeal to all of you, but at
least it’s a recommended album that has an own
sound, and especially fans of JOHN SLOMAN should check
out this release a.s.a.p. More info at:
http://www.majesticrock.com (note that at the moment this
review was written I had not heard the new PRAYING MANTIS
on which John also sings, so therefore the first sentence
of this review is a bit awkward)
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
QUECIA
‘THIS
IS WHERE WE ARE’ (DEEP END RECORDS)
Out of the UK comes the female fronted band QUECIA, and
their first CD ‘This is where we are’ is quite
a pleasure to listen to. It’s a very calm
epic/celtic influenced Progressive Pop/Rock album in the
style of MOSTLY AUTUMN and KARNATAKA. 14 songs are
included, and although sometimes the CD is a bit too calm
for the rockers among us, it’s still very nice to
listen to the excellent female lead vocals of the
beautiful frontlady of the band, Kirsty McCarrick.
Higlights on the CD are “Fight for this”,
“See me fall”, “Alive”,
“Circles” and “Sleep walking in
paradise” (best song, a great uptempo AORish
rocker). This CD is highly recommended to the fans of
quality calmer Prog. Rock in the style of mentioned
bands. More info at: http://www.deependrecords.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 BURNS BLUE ‘WHAT IF...’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
BURNS BLUE is a new band formed around
guitarist/keyboardplayer VINNY BURNS (DARE, TEN, ASIA)
and vocalist SAM BLUE (GTS, YA YA). The first CD
‘What if...’ starts very promising with the
fantastic midtempo AOR track “Cool me down”, a
song with a very strong catchy singable chorus in the
style of DARE, TEN, YA YA’s classic second album and
classic FM. Happily, the CD continues in the same classy
80s AOR style of that opening track, because we get to
hear 11 more of such AOR perls. Highlights besides the
fantastic opening track are “Deadly sin”
(catchy uptempo AOR/Melodic Rocker), “I’m gonna
win” (80s uptempo AOR, very much like ASIA in their
heydays, yet with Y&Tish vocals of Sam),
“Tomorrow never comes” (hello 80s ASIA!), the
AOR rocker “Where are you now” and “To one
side” (fantastic early 80s influenced uptempo
AOR/Radiorocker a la PREVIEW, AIRRACE and even SAMMY
HAGAR’s record ‘Three lock box’).
Concluded, this is an excellent CD, highly recommended to
the AOR fans!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ESSENZA ‘CONTRASTO’
(KICK AGENCY PROMOTION)
6 songs are on the demo CD of the Italian band ESSENZA.
They play good Melodic Rock with Italian lyrics. Most of
the songs are quite nice to hear, with as favourites of
mine “Contrasto”, “Tutta la notte
rock’n’roll” (Rock and roll all nite!) and
“Pensieri”. Check out this 3-member band
ESSENZA at: http://www.essenza.ws
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
SRL
‘REQUIESCAT
IN PACE’ (KICK AGENCY PROMOTION)
The Italian band SRL released their CD in 2001, but it
was not until now till I got to hear and review their
album ‘Requiescat in pace’. The band is playing
Metal with an 80s orientated sound, yet updated for
today’s standards. 5 tracks are included, and
although instrumental it all sounds pretty good, vocally
lead singer Pietro has a very raw voice, which
doesn’t match with SRL’s music. Anyway, you can
check out this band for yourself at: http://www.geocities.com/srl41
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
 SIX MAGICS ‘DEAD KINGS OF THE
UNHOLY VALLEY’ (UNDERGROUNDSYMPHONY RECORDS/BERTUS)
This band are coming out of Chile, and they play Cliche
Italo style Power Metal a la LABYRINTH and RHAPSODY, and
they have a CD out on the Power Metal dominated label
UNDERGROUND SYMPHONY RECORDS. The again, when I listen to
their first tracks, I cannot deny that this is a very
impressive band again. “Storm” is the opening
song, and this is a fantastic catchy fast uptempo Melodic
Power Metal tune in a pure LABYRINTH style. With such a
start, it looks very promising for the rest of the CD,
and happily, the album sounds very good from beginning
until the end, with as highlights such
fast Power Metal tracks like “Infinite keeper”,
“Talisman”, “Eternal warrior” and
“Agony of a hero”. Besides all these
sensational songs, I must also add that the sound and
production is of a very high level, so this all combined
should lift them up above all the hundreds of other Italo
Power Metal bands. Last but not least it’s nice to
mention that the CD also contains a very nice video bonus
track of the song “Prince of pure light”, a
slower RHAPSODY influenced track. With SIX MAGICS, Italy
has another high quality band in the Power Metal scene!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 HEAVENBLAST ‘HEAVENBLAST’
(UNDERGROUNDSYMPHONY RECORDS/BERTUS)
We’re going to Italy once again, and be sure that
the band HEAVENBLAST is playing typical Italo Power
Metal. Happily, this is a very impressive band with an
excellent debut CD release on UNDERGROUND SYMPHONY
RECORDS. The band is reminding me alot of LABYRINTH
(again!), and especially opening track “Inside the
universe” is a very strong Melodic Power Metal track
with a Prog Metal touch here and there. The CD has a very
good sound/production, and basically everything sounds
perfect all throughout the album. Other highlights
include “Ready fly” (Germanish Power Metal with
a very nice keyboardsolo), “The hero of the eternal
flame” (fast melodic Power Metal),
“Heavenblast” and “Last smile” (Power
Ballad a la AXXIS/SCORPIONS). Concluded, HEAVENBLAST is
yet another quality Power Metal act from Italy to follow
the footsteps taken by RHAPSODY and LABYRINTH, but
happily they are not a copy of these bands, because
therefore they introduce many other Rock and Metal
influences, although they can surely be labelled as a
true Prog/Power Metalband!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
SYNASTHASIA
‘THE
LAND OF LORES’ (DEMO CDR)
This is a BIG surprise! Reading the bio and looking at
the picture of this very young band, I thought I was
gonna listen to a Nu-Metal band, but happily SYNASTHASIA
has absolutely nothing to do with Nu/Alternative-Metal.
In fact, SYNASTHASIA may be labelled as the latest
sensation from Germany, because their 2nd CD ‘The
land of lores’ sounds absolutely fantastic! I can
not believe I am listening to just an independent CD,
because this is as good as most released on major Metal
labels like METAL BLADE RECORDS, NUCLEAR BLAST and LIMB
MUSIC. SYNASTHASIA is playing very catchy strong uptempo
Melodic Metal with a strong 80s US Power Metal influence,
while also some of today’s Euro Power Metal (BLIND
GUARDIAN) can be heard. 10 tracks are included, and the
production is also pretty good. The band has a very good
lead singer (Dennis Schunke), and most of the songs are
quite sensational and super melodic. This is how Metal
should sound like, uptempo memorable songs with strong
vocals and catchy singable choruses, while still
featuring biting twin-guitarwork. The CD starts and
there’s no turning back as the CD continues to play
sensational uptempo Melodic Metal tracks like
“Discovery of the mask”, “The
attack”, “Quest for the dharacle”,
“The swamp”, “Salvation from the
curse”, “Gladstones’ fall”,
“Scotias’ death” (best song) etc. etc.
Without a doubt, this is a highly recommended band that
truly deserve a deal with one of the major Metal labels.
Check out their site at: http://www.synasthasia.de and e-mail them at: synasthasia@gmx.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 GLENN HUGHES ‘SONGS IN THE KEY
OF ROCK’ (FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
Vocalist GLENN HUGHES doesn’t need any introduction,
because this Englishman once sang with Classic
HardRockbands like DEEP PURPLE and BLACK SABBATH, and has
released solo-records on and off the past 25 years, but
also sang on GARY MOORE records, did projects with JOE
LYNN TURNER and had his own band called TRAPEZE in the
early 1970s. Now it’s 2003 and the man has a new CD
out on FRONTIERS RECORDS, who are very happy to have a
release of such a well-respected man on their label. Like
always, Glenn has delivered a quality Hardrockalbum, but
it’s not his strongest effort if I may add here.
Nevertheless, ‘Songs in the key of Rock’ is a
good groovy raw Hard/Heavy Rockalbum, with as highlights
uptempo rockers “In my blood” and
“Standing on the rock”, the semi-ballad
“Written all over your face”, the 70s AOR
rocker “Courageous” (a la BLACKJACK) and the
uptempo melodic rocker “The truth”. Concluded,
a nice record that will easily find it’s way to fans
of GLENN HUGHES!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 GRAYSON MANOR ‘BACK ON THE
ROCK’ (INDEPENDENT)
We’re moving to the Atlanta area in the USA where we
find a band called GRAYSON MANOR. They are said to be a
real Metal band, but if you listen to their songs, you
can clearly hear which band influenced them, which is
definitely MOTLEY CRUE. I like to pick out 2 tracks from
the 6 included, namely “Down and dirty” and
“One shot”. “Down and dirty” is an
uptempo Party Hardrocksong that sounds like MOTLEY
CRUE’s “Looks that kill period” (their 2nd
album), while “One shot” is uptempo classy 80s
Party Metal a la MOTLEY CRUE’s ‘Too fast for
love’ album. Both songs are pretty good, although
the MOTLEY CRUE similarities are very clear. The best
song on the mini-CD is however “Enemy”, a great
midtempo melodic hardrocksong. This is a good band with a
strong 80s LA Metal sound that combines elements of SKID
ROW, VAIN and especially MOTLEY CRUE. More info on
GRAYSON MANOR at: http://www.bradcoxrocks.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘MUNICH’S
HARDEST HITS VOLUME 3’ (POINT MUSIC)
If you’re looking for the perfect compilation, then
look no further, because Germany’s number 1
Rockstation ‘Munich’s hardest hits’ has
released their third compilation, again filled with high
quality ‘unknown’ AOR gems. 16 tracks and 74
minutes long you can hear some of the best recent AOR out
there, including some unreleased tracks. The extensive
booklet provides you all the info on the included bands
and artists, so you will be well informed about the
underground AOR/Melodic Rockscene when purchasing this
CD. Highlights include the 3 hot new Classic 80s AOR
songs by KAMERA, OUTLAND
and THE LEC ZORN PROJECT, 3 American acts that are about
to release a full-length CD and with their 3 songs we are
definitely in 80s AOR HEAVEN (a la SURVIVOR, STAN BUSH,
AVIATOR). Also interesting is the JIM PETERIK song
“Armageddon”, which is quite hard to get, but
is very good SURVIVORish AOR, yet with Jim’s own
vocals.
The
2 female fronted songs are the best you can get in Female
AOR today, becase both COASTLINE and LAKEHURST are
playing superb classic AOR, with the remark that
COASTLINE’s awesome debut is going to be released
very very soon. HENRY LEE SUMMER is featured with the
JOHN PARR orientated 80s Midtempo hi-tech AOR/Poprocker
“Shine on me”, which is one of his best songs
ever! The songs by MARIAH’S TRENCH, AMERICA
GOMORRAH, SILENCE, VAGH, GAMBLER and MARVEL are nice
Melodic (Hard) Rocksongs, but not as good as
afforementioned sensational AOR tracks by KAMERA,
OUTLAND... A surprise is a track by ALPHA, a legendary
mini-LP recording US act that are featured with their
fantastic classic 80s AOR/Pomprocker “Let it
go” that sounds like the perfect mix between NEW
ENGLAND’s debut and RAIL, with a ‘touch’
of TOUCH! Remaining acts are DEAN MORRISON with the radio
AOR ballad “Blue roses”, which definitely
sounds better than most BON JOVI ballads, and finally,
LAMORNA, the sensational German AOR act is featured with
“Take me back”, which makes us already looking
forward to their upcoming new record. So, this is like
the perfect compilation to discover many new sensational
bands playing classic 80s AOR/Melodic Rock. More info at:
http://www.munichshardesthits.com
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
HAREM
SCAREM ‘LIVE
AT THE GODS 2002 DVD’
(NOW AND THEN RECORDS/FRONTIERS RECORDS)
The Canadian band HAREM SCAREM has released a dozen of
albums since they started in the early 1990s, but still
their debut from 1991 is held as their best record, a
real AOR Classic! Last year they performed at the
ultimate AOR festival, ‘The Gods of AOR’ and
this DVD is a perfect registration of that excellent
performance. Only negative thing I would add is that
there is nothing extra on this DVD, and also the setlist
is a bit doubtful, because we only get 3 songs from the
classic first album and 2 from the second, and everyone
knows that these are the albums that are loved by the AOR
fan, and not the remaining 11 tracks which were played
from the other albums of the band. Nevertheless, the
performance was very good and so we can enjoy 75 minutes
of HAREM SCAREM music. Highlights are of course the older
songs, like “How long”, “Hard to
love”, “Honestly”, “Change comes
around” and “No justice”, but also the
somewhat modern songs “Killing me” and
“Warming a frozen rose” were nice to watch.
Although the DVD is rather short, everyone who went to
that show must buy this DVD, and also of course all the
HAREM SCAREM fans out there. Next DVD to be released is
JEFF SCOTT SOTO, can’t wait to see this one!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 NEXX ‘COLOURS’ (NOW
AND THEN RECORDS)
Female Fronted AOR acts are very trendy, and so are
Spanish bands, and NEXX is both! So, NEXX is a Female
Fronted AOR band from Spain, and they have just released
their debut CD ‘Colours’. The AOR style is not
too far away from COASTLINE, ALYSON AVENUE, WITNESS,
DANTE FOX, LAOS..., so big sounding AOR with catchy
choruses, and together with a fantastic production, this
CD is a total must for fans of mentioned bands. From the
very first seconds until the end of the CD, this is HIGH
CLASS AOR like it should be played. 12 tracks are
included, with a total playing time of 51 minutes. Opener
“Arches of faith” shows rightaway that we have
to deal here with a fantastic band, because this is
midtempo AOR of a very high level. The song is definitely
one of the highlights of the CD. Other highlights are
“Remember” (superb catchy and very strong
midtempo AOR!), “Get fire” (uptempo AOR),
“After the storm” (midtempo AOR) and “Good
time comes” (classic 80s uptempo AOR with superb
catchy chorus). Concluded, together with COASTLINE, this
NEXX album is the best you can get in classy female
fronted AOR nowadays!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 GARRY
SHARPE-YOUNG
‘A-Z POWER METAL BOOK’
(CHERRY RED RECORDS)
This is probably the ultimate book for the fan of
‘True Metal’, as it covers all bands worldwide
from A-Z that ever played pure Metal (Progressive, Power
and Heavy Metal). From the German band ABRAXAS to the
Swedish band ZONATA, and everything in between is
included in this extensive book. ROCKDETECTOR.COM is best
known for it’s ultra-large website that contains
information on ten thousands of Rock, Hardrock and
Metalbands, and they have sucessfully introduced their
first batch of books, Thrash-, Black-, Death-, Gothic-
and now Power Metal, which is just a start, because later
this year more books will follow, such as 80s Rock, AOR,
Female/Divas and books on British and American Rock, so
lots more to come.
The
Power Metal book also includes a CD with 16 tracks, all
released on the band’s particular albums, but still
a great compilation filled with great Power Metal tracks
by NOCTURNAL RITES, TWISTED TOWER DIRE, ZANDELLE,
SHADOWKEEP, CAGE, PEGAZUS... The book contains info on
the bands concerning their discography (each album is
noted with a tracklisting, label, year of release and
even chart positions when that occured), their line-up
and a short story on the band. Of course all the
well-known bands are featured, such as IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS
PRIEST, ACCEPT, QUEENSRYCHE, STRATOVARIUS etc., but also
many (young) new bands are included. Bands we’ve
never heard of, but are very interesting to check out,
such as FOUR SEASONS, THE EXPERIENCE, ETERNAL NIGHT,
EVASSION, DYNAMO, the Argentinian LEVIATHAN, LOST FOREVER
and many many more.
Of
course remarks can be made about the inclusion of some of
the bands, because ENCHANT is definitely a Progressive
Rockband and not a Power Metal act, and as the book is
based on Power Metal, the question remains which
Progressive Metalbands should be included. Finally, I
miss
some 80s Metalbands, such as MAD MAX, because their first
couple of albums are in the same style as PRETTY MAIDS,
and that Danish band was included, so why not include MAD
MAX.
If
you read the liner notes you will understand that not all
bands are included, due to the fact bands/labels and
promoters had to sent in their info, and if you
didn’t, well then there was a chance you were not
included. But that’s always the question when you
compile a book, and after reading the 500 pages of the
book I can easily conclude that this is the ultimate book
to have when you’re interested in knowing all the
facts on ‘True/Power Metal’. I already look
forward to the other books of ROCKDETECTOR.COM, which
should be released later this year on the UK label CHERRY
RECORDS. More info on this and other books on CHERRY
RECORDS at: http://www.cherryred.co.uk and check out http://www.rockdetector.com for many more
information on every band that ever played Rock, Hardrock
or Metal.
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
ENTROPHIA ‘GAME OVER’
(INDEPENDENT)
Power Metal from Finland is what we are talking about
here, and this very young band (aged between 17-19) is
playing typical Euro style Power Metal a la LABYRINTH,
STRATOVARIUS, BLIND GUARDIAN, THUNDERSTONE... After
hearing the first song “True angels”, you can
hear that this ENTROPHIA is yet another Finish band that
is making quality Power Metal, and has a future ahead of
them if they continue making progress on each and every
CD they will release in the coming years. The 3 songs on
this CD already prove us that ENTROPHIA is a band to
watch out for in the near future. The best song is
definitely opener “True angels”, a true melodic
Power Metal track. More info at: http://www.entrophia.net and e-mail them at: entrophia_band@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 TWISTED TOWER DIRE ‘CREST OF THE
MARTYRS’ (REMEDY RECORDS)
TWISTED TOWER DIRE are back with their third CD
‘Crest of the martyrs’ and without a doubt,
this is their best release so far. The CD has been
produced by Piet Selck (IRON SAVIOR, BLIND GUARDIAN), who
did a great job, and gave TWISTED TOWER DIRE’s
melodic Metal a strong German approach, so you get
(mostly) uptempo sing-a-long Metal pieces. 11 tracks are
included, and I must say that this CD hits like a hammer,
and is as good as similar acts like HAMMERFALL, DREAM
EVIL, IRON SAVIOR... Highlights are “At night”,
“Some other time, some other place”,
“Fight to be free”, “Transfixed”,
“The reflecting pool” (epic track of 7 minutes
long), “The witch’s eyes” (bonustrack,
re-recording of old TTD song) and “Guardian
bloodline”. All fans of Melodic Metal can easily buy
this CD, as it is one of the strongest albums of 2003!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
WINTERFELL
‘WINTER
IS COMING’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Pennsylvania comes another interesting US Classic
Metalact. They are called WINTERFELL, and their CD
‘Winter is coming’ counts 4 tracks. The
production is very good, and so is the included music.
Although there are only 4 tracks on the CD, the CD still
has a playing time of almost 30 minutes. The band has a
very strong melodic lead singer (Robb Graves) and 2
guitarists, so a big Metalsound is what we get to hear.
The songs are still very melodic, and quite catchy. The
style is very clear, Melodic Metal like a mix between
TWISTED TOWER DIRE and ICED EARTH. I must say it sounds
very impressive and this band could have easily been on a
major European label, but ‘Winter is coming’ is
really an independent release. The best song on the CD is
the 10 minutes counting epic ‘The will of the
ring”, with lyrics inspired by Tolkien’s
‘Lord of the rings’. Fans of classic US Melodic
Metal must buy this a.s.a.p. and they can do that by
sending $7 + $2 shipping and handling, more info at: http://www.winterfell.org and e-mail them at: winterfell@winterfell.org
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 LUJURIA ‘EL PODER DEL
DESEO’
(LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
Ths Spanish band LUJURIA is back with their fifth CD
release. The album is titled ‘El poder del
deseo’ and it’s definitely their strongest
release so far. The band still features the average lead
singer Oscar Sancho, but this time he sings better and
gets a lot of help in the backing vocal departement from
the lead singers of wonderful acts like TIERRA SANTA,
MURO and DARK MOOR. There are 11 tracks on the CD, and
the style is mostly uptempo melodic Power Metal in the
style of AVALANCH, TIERRA SANTA, MURO, yet with rawer
vocals. The production is very good and some of the songs
are quite sensational. Highlights are “Mozart Y
salieri”, “Dejad que los senos se acerquen a
mi”, “Levantate Y anda” (cool 80s keys),
“Priapo” (catchy chorus) and the TIERRA SANTA
orientated fantastic uptempo Power Metal pieces
“Solo son rosas” and “Traidor”. So,
LUJURIA has improved themselves on this CD, as it clearly
shiows a good Melodic Power Metal sound. Fans of
mentioned bands should check it out, although let me
remind you that the lead vocals are definitely not as
good, but on the other hand a few tracks also feature the
singers of mentioned bands, so that should keep you
pleased.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 JOE LYNN TURNER ‘JLT’ (MTM
MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
Mr. JOE LYNN TURNER has released a new CD titled
‘JLT’. The album is musically in the same vein
as the previous releases, so again nice Bluesy Melodic
Hardrock with a clear 70s approach, not unlike
WHITESNAKE, GLENN HUGHES, BAD COMPANY, LED ZEPPELIN and
SURVIVOR’s ‘Too hot to sleep’. Most of the
songs are pretty groovy, but still nice to listen to,
with as favourite tracks ballads like “Love
don’t live here” and “Excess”,
uptempo rockers like “In cold blood” and
“Drivin’ with my eyes closed”, the
midtempo “Dirty deal” and the pure WHITESNAKE
orientated “Cryin’ out loud”. By far, the
best song is the fantastic uptempo classic 80s
AOR/Melodic Rocker “Fantasize”, a song
reminding me of SURVIVOR. Joe will never record something
in the style of his debut solo record ‘Rescue
you’ from 1984, because that was his best release
ever, a fantastic Classic AOR record, check it out if you
havent’. If you’re keen on Bluesy Rock/Hardrock
in the style of mentioned bands, then you will totally
love this, but AOR fans better have a listen first,
because it has nothing to do with AOR. Still a good
release from Mr. Joe Lynn Turner!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
MAMA
KIN ‘THREE
IS COMPANY’ (DEMO)
MAMA KIN is a Finish band playing pure early 90s Sleazy
Hardrock in the style of CATS IN BOOTS, LA GUNS,
AEROSMITH, HANOI ROCKS... 5 short songs are included, and
with this kind of Hardrock it’s like you either love
it or hate it. The production is fair enough, and so is
the sound of the band, so if you count mentioned bands to
your favourite bands then songs like “Get the fuck
out” and “Champagne, chicks and Rock and
roll” are a must to hear, so you should then check
out MAMA KIN at: http://www.mamakin.tk and e-mail them at: kin@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
 RISING FAITH ‘THE ARRIVAL‘
(LIMB MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
The list of new Swedish bands goes on and on, and one of
the latest new acts is RISING FAITH. The difference with
the other Swedish bands is that lead singer Kristian
Wallin has a rawer voice, but the music is typical Euro
Power Metal (with a slight German Metal approach here and
there). The production and sound is very good, while the
mastering job was done by Andy La Roque (KING DIAMOND,
DEATH). 13 songs are included, and the best tracks can be
found during the second part of the CD. I am refering to
fantastic Melodic Metal tracks like
“Imaginations”, “Final day”,
“Thin line to evil”, “Shade of faith”
(excellent guitarplay) and closing track “Marching
on”. Basically, RISING FAITH is another recommended
Swedish Melodic Power Metal band!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 DUNGEON ‘A RISE TO
POWER’
(LIMB MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
Out of Australia comes DUNGEON, a very impressive Power
Metal band that mixes elements of 80s US and today’s
Euro Power Metal sound. ‘A rise to power’ is
the band’s third CD. They have a very strong
powerful lead singer (guitarist Lord Tim) and DUNGEON
sounds like a mix between 80s MAIDEN and AT VANCE.
Highlights on ‘A rise to power’ are “A
rise to power” (great high quality melodic Power
Metal, typical Euro style), “Netherlife” (bit
80s US Metal with a MAIDEN touch, great chorus),
“Insanity’s fall” (typical fast German
Power Metal) and the AT VANCE orientated melodic Power
Metal songs “The other side” and
“Stormchaser”. Concluded, this DUNGEON is as
good as the other Aussie Power Metal acts we have
reviewed the past few years (PEGAZUS, BLACK STEEL,
VANISHING POINT, RAVENS HEAD, VOYAGER, ANARION, BLACK
MAJESTY). Fans of mentioned bands should check out this
band a.s.a.p.!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 THE ARMADA ‘RAGE OF THE
ARMADA’
(LIMB MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
This German band features the likes of two STORMWITCH
members, drummer Peter Langer and guitarist Damir
Uzonovic. THE ARMADA’s previous mini’CD
‘The scent of darkness’ was recently reviewed
by me, but now LIMB MUSIC is about to release the
band’s first full-length CD ‘Rage of the
armada’. Although people compare the voice of lead
singer Dirk Schaffner to Jeff Scott Soto, I didn’t
notice the comparison and actually didn’t found the
singer that good, as he was screaming a lot of times
during the first couple of songs. Happily, later on the
album he starts to sound better and especially the last
6/7 tracks are very good. These are such great fast
Melodic Power Metal tracks like “Near dark”,
“Wheel of fate” and “Voices” and the
ballad “Crimson winter sunrise”. So after all
the band is playing good quality German Power Metal, but
the start of the CD (let’s say the first 4/5 tracks)
is not really spectacular. Fans of GRAVE DIGGER, PRIMAL
FEAR, STORMWITCH (yet with keyboards!) should have a
listen to this CD!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 MEDINA AZAHARA ‘VERSION ORIGINAL
CD+DVD’ (AVISPA MUSIC)
For more than 20 years the band MEDINA AZAHARA has been
one of the most popular bands in the Spanish region of
Andalusia. Their new CD ‘Version original’ has
already turned Gold and after listening to the CD and
watching the DVD I understand why, because ‘Version
original’ is an excellent Symphonic Melodic
Rock/Metal album. The CD includes 12 tracks, while the
additional DVD features 5 videoclips, 4 live clips and
interviews with the bandmembers, so in total you’ll
get about 140 minutes of quality music. The CD is
excellent, from start to finish it’s high quality
melodic heavy rock/metal and if you don’t mind the
Spanish lyrics, this is really a great album to listen
to. The band sounds like a mix between MAGNUM, PRAYING
MANTIS and TIERRA SANTA, with interesting keyboardwork
here and there, and most of the songs are catchy uptempo
melodic rockers.
Hard
to believe, but 10 out of the 12 tracks are covers, but
most of them are covers of original Spanish tunes, so
this is all new to most of the people outside Spain.
Highlights on the CD are the uptempo melodic heavy
rockers “Abre la puerta”, “Todo tiene su
fin”, “Adios al ayer”, “Anda
jaleo”, “No querio pensar en ese amor”,
“Pintalo de negro” (cool ROLLING STONES cover
“Paint in black”) and “Al padre santo de
Roma” (very catchy uptempo melodic rocker). This is
the band’s 14th album I believe, and I am quite
interested in hearing the previous records, as this new
record is really an excellent melodic heavy rockalbum!
Besides, there is also a DVD included, which contains
lots of great videoclips (shot in Morocco!) and live
clips, as well as interviews, so another 80 minutes of
entertainment. Concluded, this is a highly
recommended album!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 WARCRY ‘EL SELLO DE LOS
TIEMPOS’
(JAUS RECORDS/AVISPA MUSIC)
‘El sello de los tiempos’ is the 2nd CD of the
Spanish Melodic Power Metal band WARCRY. The sound and
production is very impressive, and so are the included 11
songs. Musically this is high quality melodic Power Metal
in the style of SAROTOGA, TIERRA SANTA, AVALANCH, RATA
BLANCA... The first song “Alejandro” hits like
a hammer, a fantastic faster uptempo melodic
(guitar-driven) Power Metal song. The CD continues more
or less in the same style, so this is a great
Melodic/Power Metal record. The highlights of the album
are “Capitan lawrence” (uptempo melodic
rock/metal), “Tu mismo” (catchy uptempo melodic
Power Metal), “Un logar” (excellent faster
uptempo Melodic Power Metal), “Dispuesto a
combatir” (superb catchy Power Metal),
“Vampire” (yet another great fast Power Metal
track a la TIERRA SANTA) and “Hacia delante”
(semi epic Power/Melodic Metal track). Concluded, this is
an excellent album that is highly recommended, especially
if you like TIERRA SANTA!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 MALLORY ‘BASKERVILLE’
(AVISPA MUSIC)
MALLORY is yet another Spanish Power Metal band, and
after just a few seconds you will agree with me that we
have to deal here with another quality band from sunny
Spain. The sound/production is huge and the included 13
songs are very sensational. What sets them apart from the
other bands in this genre is the use of Bagpipes, which
is a very nice additional instrument to use in this
Guitar/Keyboard dominated genre. Most of the songs are
uptempo and very powerful melodic Metal songs (with a
slight BARON ROJO touch here and there) like a mix
between TIERRA SANTA and MAGO DE OZ. Highlights are
uptempo Melodic Metal pieces like “Gatillazo”,
“Amigo fiel”, “Pan de ayer”,
“Ella Y ella” and the fantastic TIERRA SANTA
orientated “Viaje de la Esperanza” and semi
melodic rockballads such as “Lujuriosa historia de
Don Juan Sor Ines” and “Volver a caer”
(very strong melodic chorus). Without a doubt, this
MALLORY is a highly recommended band, especially those
who are into classy Spanish Melodic (Power) Metal!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 WINTERLONG ‘THE SECOND
COMING’
(LION MUSIC/BERTUS)
The Swedish band WINTERLONG is back with a new CD, and
also a new line-up. Guitarist/Bassist and founder of the
band, Thorbjorn Englund is still present, and so is guest
keyboardplayer Mistheria, but new to the line-up of
WINTERLONG is the excellent lead singer Mikael Holm,
while on drums we can hear Anders Johansson (HAMMERFALL)
and Andres Lil (VANDENPLAS). The album is better than
their debut, and after a few listens I can easily
conclude that this is a very strong Melodic (Power) Metal
record in the style of DREAM EVIL, ROYAL HUNT, NARNIA,
STORMWIND, HARMONY...
11 songs are included, of which the highlights are the
uptempo Melodic Metal tracks “We’ll be
immortals”, “Wild winter nights”, “In
worlds of illusions”, “Ride into the
skies” and “Evolution”. So,
WINTERLONG’s new CD is yet another highly
recommended Swedish Melodic Metal product!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 SECTION A ‘THE SEVENTH
SIGN’
(LION MUSIC/BERTUS)
We’re back in Scandinavia once again with a band
called SECTION A. This is more like a project band, with
a line-up featuring Danish
guitarist/keyboardplayer/bassist TORBEN ENEVOLDSEN,
drummer Andreas Lill (VANDENPLAS) and the fantastic
LION’S SHARE vocalist Andy Engberg. Special guests
are keyboardplayers Derek Sherinian (PLANET X) and Gunter
Werno (VANDENPLAS). Together they have recorded a very
impressive CD that contains 8 long tracks. The music is
Progressive Metal in the style of SYMPHONY X. Highlights
on ‘The seventh sign’ are “Riot”
(great catchy uptempo Melodic Metal),
“Tomorrow” (great semi melodic Prog Metal with
great keyboardsolos), “The man in the mirror”
(excellent epic Prog Metal) and closing track “Into
the fire”, which is a very good uptempo melodic
Power Metal piece a la SYMPHONY X. Fans of high quality
Progressive Metal a la VANDENPLAS, SYMPHONY X, DREAM
THEATER... should get hold of this SECTION A album, which
by the way has some beautiful artwork dopne by Thomas
Ewerhard (known for his work with bands like SPOCK’S
BEARD and VANDENPLAS).
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 NEW MACHINE ‘NEW MACHINE’
(AERIA RECORDS/SONG HAUS MUSIC)
I have not much info on NEW MACHINE, but their CD on
SONGHAUS MUSIC is very impressive. The band is a duo,
consisting of drummer/keyboardplayer/vocalist David
Garcia and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Bob Gilmartin. The
lead vocals are very good, so is the production, and last
but not least, the included 10 songs are very impressive.
Musically NEW MACHINE is playing a mixture of Progressive
Rock, Pomprock, AOR, Melodic Rock and some Progressive
Metal, something like PHANTOM’S OPERA, but then with
a dash of RUSH thrown in for good measure. The first 3
songs are very sensational. “New horizon” is a
great midtempo Progressive Pomprocker a la PHANTOM’S
OPERA. “Falling” is a great strong uptempo
melodic rocker, while “Blood in the ocean” is a
very good melodic rockballad in the late 70s/early 80s
style. The song “Cold” introduces some
Progressive Metal riffs with some nice keyboardwork,
sounding like PHIL VINCENT fronting SYMPHONY X. Another
highlight is the lovely classy 80s keyboard driven Power
AOR Ballad “Meant to be”. Closing track
“Waterfront” is probably the absolute highlight
on this disc, as this is an excellent semi Prog/Power
Melodic Rockballad in the late 70s style (TOUCH,
STARCASTLE, STYX), and clocks in at a staggering 11
minutes of playing time! NEW MACHINE’s debut CD is a
recommended piece to fans of Progressive and Pomprock,
but if you listen well enough you will notice that there
are much more influences than just the Prog/Pomprock, so
go check it out at: http://www.aeriarecords.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 SARATOGA ‘HEAVEN’S
GATE’
(AVISPA MUSIC)
The new CD-single of AVALANCH marks the return of one of
the Spanish hopes in Power Metal. The 4 tracks on
‘Heaven’s gate’ are very impressive and
prove that SARATOGA is indeed as good as TIERRA SANTA.
The titletrack is the English version of one of the
band’s earlier songs, and this is a superb uptempo
Melodic Metal track in the style of 80s IRON MAIDEN. In
the same style, but in Spanish, is the fantastic
“Lagrimas de dolor”. Next track “Show me
your pride” is a typical 80s Metal song with darker
and rawer vocals (a la BARON ROJO), although the chorus
is pretty good and is close to EDGUY. Final track of this
excellent mini-CD is “Se olvido”, a lovely
uptempo melodic Power Metal piece a la TIERRA SANTA and
AVALANCH. Concluded, buy this mini-CD a.s.a.p.!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
SUPERIOR
‘ULTIMA
RATIO’ (NTS RECORDS)
The German band SUPERIOR has made a comeback with their
new CD ‘Ultima ratio’. The album is probably
their strongest effort so far, because it sounds very
impressive. SUPERIOR is playing Melodic Progressive Metal
like a mix between EVERGREY and VANDENPLAS. The CD has a
playing length of 71 minutes and is a pleasure to listen
to from track 1 until closing track 15. Most of the songs
are quite long in length, and to my favourites I can
count “Ultra”, “Reflections”,
“Breeze of insanity”, “The unwanted”,
“Broken world” and “U R Resistance”,
all great (epic) Melodic Progressive Metal songs in the
style of mentioned bands. In other words, fans of bands
like EVERGREY, VANDENPLAS, MANIGANCE... should have a
listen to this impressive album!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 MZ ‘UNDER THE SILVER
CROSS’ (NTS RECORDS)
The band MZ consists of members of some well-known
Prog/Power Metalbands like MANIGANCE, ROYAL HUNT,
OVERSTEP, NIGHTMARE and a few others. MZ has already
released a few albums, and this new album on NTS RECORDS
is as usual filled with high quality instrumental
Progressive Melodic Rock/Metal. Highlights include
“Fallen hopes”, “Some better days”,
“Windy maze” and “Dragon fire”. Fans
of instrumental Neo-Classical Prog Metal will love this a
lot!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 LABYRINTH
‘LABYRINTH’
(CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS/SUBURBAN)
It took 3 years for the Italian Symphonic Power Metal
band LABYRINTH to release a new CD. The album is simply
titled ‘Labyrinth’ and has been released
through CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS. Happily, the music is
still the same, so we get to hear powerful melodic Power
Metal and for those who waited so long for a new
LABYRINTH album I can easily inform you that this album
is almost as good as the band’s most popular record
‘Return to heaven denied’ from 1998, which is
still held as one of the best Power Metal releases ever!
Anyway, this new CD of LABYRINTH is really fantastic,
from the start until the finish it’s high quality
Melodic Power Metal in the best Italian/European
tradition. All included 10 tracks are sensational, of
which my absolute favourites are “Livin’ in a
maze”, “Terzinato”, “Slave to the
night”, “Synthetic paradise” and
“Hand in hand”. This album will definitely be
one of the best Power Metal releases of 2003, so you know
what to do on the 30th of June when the new CD of
LABYRINTH will be officially released.
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 AVALANCH ‘LOS POETAS HUN
MUERTO’ (AVISPA MUSIC)
One of the best Power/Melodic Metal bands from Spain
returns with a new CD release. The album is titled
‘Los poetas hun muerto’ and follows the same
style as on the previous records. 10 songs are included,
and most of them are very good. Highlights are
“Lucero” (great uptempo Melodic Metal),
“Cien veces” (excellent Prog/Power with a
catchy chorus), “El viejo torreon” (great
midtempo melodic rocker), “Del cielo a la
tierra” (very good uptempo Melodic Metal) and the
lovely semi Prog. Metal song “Los poetas han
muerto”. Fans of typical Spanish Melodic Power Metal
a la TIERRA SANTA, SARATOGA, EASY RIDER will love this
record as well.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
LA
REVUELTA ‘LA
REVUELTA’ (AVISPA MUSIC)
Almost all the bands on AVISPA MUSIC are sensational
Spanish Metalbands, but LA REVUELTA is an exception to
the rule, because they play less interesting 80s
influenced Spanish Rock/Hardrock/ Boogie Rock&Roll.
It’s not bad what we get to hear, because there are
quite a few great songs on their CD, and the band also
has a great lead singer, but in general this is just an
average CD. The songs that do appeal are the melodic
rockers “Lo que sabemos tu y yo”, “lo dejo
todo por ti”, “El laberinto”, “Diaria
maldicion”, and “La ruleta”, which are
quite strong tunes that remind me of early 80s RICK
SPRINGFIELD/PAT BENATAR. Anyway, this one isn’t
interesting at all for Metalfreaks, but on the other hand
Melodic Poprockfreaks might want to check it out,
although the lyrics in Spanish.
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
TODD
HERZOG
‘WHAT I WOULDN’T GIVE’
(GILMAN HOUSE RECORDINGS)
Out of California comes singer/songwriter TODD HERZOG and
he sent me his debut CD ‘What I wouldn’t
give’. The man has a wonderful strong voice, but
unfortunately the music is a bit too laid-back for the
average AOR fan. On the other hand, a fan of
Westcoast-Pop/Rock is gonna love this album, as it is
filled with enjoyable peaceful melodic music. The rockers
are not gonna find much of interest here, and that’s
a pity, because Todd’s voice is perfectly suitable
for pure AOR-Rock a la MITCH MALLOY, FREDDY CURCI...
Happily, 2 songs show that Todd is able to do strong AOR,
namely the fantastic midtempo “Anesthesia” and
the lovely uptempo AOR rocker “Listen close”
(the only real rocker), these are the kind of songs I
hope Todd will make more in the future. Again I need to
add here that Todd has a fantastic voice, which should
easily make him heard around the world. I only hope for
some more rock material on a future CD, because the songs
on his record are mostly very soft Westcoast-Pop
orientated. The 2 AOR highlights on the other hand are
very impressive and prove that we should keep our eyes
open for this talented vocalist. More info at: http://www.toddherzog.com and e-mail at: voxart@toddherzog.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
VOYAGER
‘ELEMENTS
FIVE’ (V MUSIC)
Despite a few great Melodic Metal acts here and there
(BLACK STEEL, PEGAZUS), Australia has not been having a
very explosive Metal scene, but VOYAGER is the exception
to the rule, because their first CD ‘Elements
five’ contains everything that is desired in a good
strong Melodic Metal release. The sound/production is of
a very high level, and the band could’ve easily been
on one of the European labels with their strong melodic
Prog/Power Metal. The CD counts 14 tracks, and is
mucially not too far away from KAMELOT, yet with rawer
lead vocals and some (sadly) grunts here and there that
unfortunately disturb a few songs, but in general
speaking we have a winner on our hands here. Looking at
the songs, highlights include “To the morning
light”, ”The eleventh meridian”, “The
ancient labyrinth” (pure fast Euro Power Metal) and
“Monument” (LABYRINTH/RHAPSODY style with nice
keyboardsolos all throughout the song). More info on
VOYAGER at: http://www.voyager.com.au and e-mail them at: rudnicki@space.net.au
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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