 FEED THE RHINO ‘I LIKE IT’
(INDEPENDENT RECORDS)
Out of New York comes FEED THE RHINO, a band clearly
inspired by fun 80s Classic Melodic Hardrock. One of the
members was involved with LOUD AND CLEAR, the excellent
melodic rockband that released 2 albums so far, and
somehow FEED THE RHINO isn’t too far away from LOUD
AND CLEAR, with the difference that this act is a bit
groovier, rockier and every now and then more modern
sounding than LOUD AND CLEAR. Nevertheless, the album
‘I like it’ is a great Melodic (Hard) Rockalbum
in the style of TESLA, BATON ROUGE, LILLIAN AXE, XYZ,
HARDLINE... 11 tracks are included on the CD, and it all
sounds very professional, with a strong crystal clear
production. The best songs can be found in the shape of
“Getting it” (semi melodic hardrock),
“Healing” (beautiful melodic rockballad, late
80s Power Ballad sound here!), “Breaking down the
walls” (classy 80s Californian fun uptempo melodic
rocker like QUEENSRYCHE meets VAN HALEN!) and
“Dreamer” (classy Melodic Rock).
What
sets this band apart from the other American bands is
their excellent lead singer Joe Cutrera, who sings with a
lot of passion and actually sings like the Rock and
Hardrocksingers sang back in the
80s in the USA, sing by heart with a lot of emotional
vocals (this can best be heard on the JOURNEYish ballads
“Healing” and “Everyone knows”), I
just wish this way of singing would return in the US
Melodic Rockscene, because nowadays only the European
singers give me that same feeling as I get when I hear
Joe singing on this FEED THE RHINO record. Concluded,
this is a recommended Melodic Hardrockalbum with very
good vocals, more info at: http://www.ftrmusic.com and e-mail them at: info@ftrmusic.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 CASUAL SILENCE ‘ONCE IN A BLUE
MOON’
(RED SEA RECORDS)
It took some time, but finally the Dutch Neo-Prog band
CASUAL SILENCE has released it’s new CD, their 3rd
record so far. In the past they were slightly more
Symphonic AOR based a la MAGNUM/ASIA, but on this new
record it’s pure Neo-Progressive Rock of the highest
level. You can compare the band to RICOCHER, PALLAS,
PENDRAGON, JADIS, IQ etc. The 9 songs on the band’s
new CD ‘Once in a blue moon’ are very
impressive, and also the production is fantastic, as well
as the artwork and liner notes in the CD booklet, it all
looks very professional. Highlights on the album are
“Foolish plane” (very good Progressive Rock),
“Dreampath” (nice duets between the 3 lead
singers! Great uptempo Neo-Classical Progressive Metal),
“Lambrusco evening” (strong Prog. Metal),
“Moon” (lovely semi-ballad) and closing track
“Casual silence” (10 minutes counting epic
Prog. Rock). Concluded, this new CD of CASUAL SILENCE
should gain them a lot of interest from all media all
over the world, because nobody can deny the high quality
of Progressive Rock/Metal established on ‘Once in
a blue moon’. Check out their site at: http://www.casualsilence.nl
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 ALIEN FORCE ‘PAIN AND
PLEASURE’ (KARTHAGO RECORDS)
We’re heading for the obscurity here with ALIEN
FORCE, a Dannish Metalband with two releases on their
mark. In 1985 they released ‘Hell and high
water’, and one year later it was time for
‘Pain and pleasure’. This band was playing pure
European Metal with a strong N.W.O.B.H.M. and German
Metal approach, somewhere between MAD MAX, early 80s
TYGERS OF PAN TANG and PRETTY MAIDS. Their sound was very
powerful, with a good lead singer upfront, and a big
guitar wall backing it up, making this a true winner for
fans of underground 80s Euro Metal. Now happily KARTHAGO
RECORDS has released both discs on CDs, and I am happy to
review their 2nd release ‘Pain and pleasure’.
Besides the original 8 tracks, this re-issue also
contains 3 Bonustracks. There’s basically for
everyone something on this record, from fast Melodic
Metal pieces like Alien” and the semi-ballad
“Don’t touch the fire” (starts as balla,d
but after 4 minutes it changes into a Powerful Metal
tune), midtempo melodic heavy rockers “The
hunter’s thrill” and “Miracle” (like
HEAVY PETTIN’ meets early DEF LEPPARD) to even
commercial (very strong) Melodic Hardrock like on the
fantastic “In the city” (best song of the CD,
like Y & T). This album has also got a huge sound, so
nothing sounds dated here, and if you like bands such as
MAD MAX, HEAVY PETTIN’, TYGERS OF PAN TANG, PRETTY
MAIDS, you will love this record definitely! More info
at: http://www.karthagorecords.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 BLACK FATE ‘COMMANDER OF
FATE’ (KARTHAGO RECORDS)
More obscurity from the 80s with the German band BLACK
FATE, whom released an LP in 1986 and then dissappeared.
The album became a wanted piece, with people paying 200
US Dollars for an original copy. Now, 17 years later the
album is re-issued onto CD by KHARTAGO RECORDS, a new
label that already released more of such rarities on CD
the past 2 years. BLACK FATE is a band that featured a
very good lead singer, Michael Hutteman, and the 8 songs
included on their album are very impressive even
nowadays. They played a mix of Euro, US and British
Melodic Metal, ending up sounding like a mix between
ANGEL WITCH, MAD MAX and GRIM REAPER. The first song
“Heaven can wait” is a deadringer for fans of
classy 80s US Power Metal, as this song sounds like a mix
between GRIM REAPER (yeah, they were British!) and early
TWISTED SISTER (their debut and ‘Under the
blade’ period!). Next track “Champagne” is
a slight let-down, as this was a standard German metal
song (a la ACCEPT), but happily the only weaker song,
because the best songs were up next. These are the
fantastic Melodic Metal tunes “Child of hell”
and “Wild in the streets”, both remembering me
of STORMWITCH in their early days, with also strong
similarities to MAD MAX.
The
classy 80s Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal sound continues on
songs like”Warchild” (catchy!) and “Frozen
heart” (strong semi-ballad, last minute uptempo
rocker). Although only 42 seconds, the
“Prelude” is a very good SCORPIONS orientated
introduction to the last original album song
“Midnight”, a great midtempo melodic heavy
rocker with strong hooks and a melodic chorus, kinda like
MAD MAX and STORMWITCH. Besides the 8 original tracks, we
can also listen to 2 Bonustracks, “Hello
America” and “Hot and pretty”. As the
title predicts, these were more American orientated, but
nevertheless great uptempo Melodic Hardrocksongs with a
very strong beat on “Hello America”. Without a
doubt, this album is a must if you want to learn how 80s
Melodic Metal sounded at it’s best! More info at: http://www.karthagorecords.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 MIRAGE ‘...AND THE EARTH
SHALL CRUMBLE’ (KARTHAGO RECORDS)
KHARTAGO RECORDS has established themselves as a real
quality re-issue label, because all their releases are
rarities from great 80s Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal albums,
and with interesting liner notes and lyrics in the CD
booklets. Besides, also the material has a great sound,
so nothing dusty dated sounding stuff. Also the re-issue
of MIRAGE, a Dannish band that released only 1 LP that
has it’s re-issue on KHARTAGO RECORDS now, along
with songs from their unreleased 2nd LP. The music is
very impressive catchy uptempo Melodic Heavy Rock. Opener
“Out there (Survivors)” is a very melodic
catchy upbeat melodic rocker that sounds like a heavier
version of PRISM mixed with Classy British Melodic Rock,
and a chorus that you can sing-a-long with after hearing
it just once. The following track “So many years
ago” starts calm, with a big Church-Organ/Hammond
kinda sound (a la HEEP), but develops into another great
uptempo Melodic Heavy Rocker. These first 2 songs are
very melodic and remind me a lot of Classy British
Melodic Rock from the mid 80s, like RAGE, TOBRUK, TORINO,
EXPORT, NIGHTWING...
However,
the song “Lords in Space and Time” reveals a
pure Metalband, with high pitched vocals included, so
this is really a change in style, as it sounds like KING
DIAMOND meets URIAH HEEP! Also the following track
“Apostle of Hell” is pure 80s Heavy Metal, with
the ‘666’ numbers as trade mark, this is very
much like BLACK SABBATH, so even a bit Doom here!
“Heading for the sun” is then again a fantastic
midtempo Melodic Rocker with a very strong chorus.
“Killer dwarf shorty” is slow, has funny
lyrics, but has a nice Melodic sound.
“Hellbound” follows and is a very good uptempo
Melodic Metal piece in pure 80s style, with a HEEPish
chorus. Last track of the original LP release is
“Punisher”, a . The addition of 8 bonustracks
is very interesting, because 4 of them were older songs
from the time before the LP release, while the last 4 are
from after the LP release. Notable is the change in style
again, with the band being a standard Metal band before
the LP release, while the 4 songs after the LP release
show a more melodic side of the band, kinda like TYGERS
OF PAN TANG who also changed throughout the years.
Highlights of tje Bonustracks are the uptempo Melodic
Rocker “Guiding light” (not unlike very early
EUROPE), “Searching” (typical Scandi uptempo
AOR with keys, very 80s, like TREAT!) and the melodic
rockballad “Turn on the darkness”. Concluded,
this is another highly recommended Melodic Heavy
Rock/Metal release. http://www.karthagorecords.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ARENA ‘CONTAGIOUS’
(VERGLAS MUSIC/BERTUS)
A few months ago ARENA released their new album
‘Contagion’, and now they have already released
something new. The CD is actually a mini-CD with 5 new
songs, but be aware, because these are 2 instrumentals, 1
acoustic track, a dancemix of ARENA songs and actually
only one real new song called “I spy”. Although
this is a very good typical ARENA track, I don’t
think it’s worth buying this CD for just one song.
But as bonus the band has added a Multimedia Extra.
Unfortunately this is only interesting for it’s
videoclip of “Skin game”, a computer animated
video by the way, because further the demo tracks are not
really interesting. Believe me, I am a big ARENA fan, but
this new CD is not as interesting as it may look. I had
hoped for a Live CD or even better, a DVD, because
that’s something where the fans are waiting for!
Their last CD is a highly recommended CD, but this
Mini-CD is not really interesting, only for the die-hard
ARENA fans!
(Points:
- )
FOR
MY PAIN... ‘FALLEN’
(SPINEFARM RECORDS)
FOR MY PAIN is a new band from Finland, and their debut
has been mixed at the famous Finnvox Studios
(STRATOVARIUS, NIGHTWISH). The album counts 10 tracks and
sounds like a mix between NGIHTWISH and STRATOVARIUS,
with some SONATA ARCTICA here and there. The songs are
mostly uptempo, not as fast as SONATA or STRATO, but more
uptempo melodic rockers. At times it reminds me of TEN,
yet with darker lead vocals. After a few songs I knew I
was listening to something really good. The band also
features NIGHTWISH keyboardplayer Tuomas Holopainen, and
although therre are similarites to NIGHTWISH, the big
difference is the male lead singer, who sings melodic (a
la HIM and NIGHTINGALE). Some may call this Gothic Metal,
but actually it’s damn close to Melodic Rock packed
in a big Metalish sound.
Opener
“My wound is deeper than yours” is a good
example, because this is actually uptempo melodic rock a
la TEN, yet I think people will say it sounds like a mix
between HIM and NIGHTWISH. Next track “Dancer in the
dark” is very impressive as it features a d uet with
a very good female singer (Miriam Renvag) and the song
has an excellent chorus. Happily, the CD continues in the
style of these great first 2 songs, with as other
highlights “Queen misery”, “Rapture of
lust” (fantastic catchy uptempo melodic rocker, like
STRATOVARIUS meets SONATA ARCTICA!), “Broken
days” and “Autum harmony” (chorus!).
Concluded, this album is big, it should be as huge as HIM
or EVANESCENCE, so go check it out, but even melodic
rockfans might want to check it out, as there’s some
great stuff on it!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
CYMORYL
‘STRANGE
EVOCATION’ (MUSEA RECORDS)
Out of France comes this quality band. CYMORYL is playing
Progressive Rock/Metal and actually they have an own
style, maybe somewhere between ARENA, RUSH and DREAM
THEATER, but yet very different from these bands, so
CYMORYL has an own style. They play their Prog Rock/Metal
at a high level, and the 8 included songs are very
impressive. It’s not as sensational as mentioned
bands, but they are definitely better than the average
Progrock/Metalbands. Highlights on this 67 minutes
counting debut CD of CYMORYL are the titletrack
“Strange evocation”, “My duty” (RUSH
meets SAGA) and “Eternal being”. Try it if
you’re a RUSH fan, because lead singer Alain Puget
sounds a bit like GEDDY LEE! More info at: http://www.cymoryl.fr
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 TOYZ ‘ONE STEP’
(DEMO)
Out of Paris, France comes a new band called TOYZ. This
is really a sensational band, because their 5-track demo
CDR sounds awesome. The production is crystal clear and
the included songs are very impressive. TOYZ is playing
80s influenced uptempo AOR/Melodic Rock. The CD starts
with a good melodic rocker called “One step”.
Then we get to hear the 2 highlights of the demo, namely
“She’s a star” and “Lost in Hong
Kong”, both excellent AOR Rockers with strong catchy
choruses. These 2 songs are really terrific and I can
easily say they are some of the best Independent AOR
tracks I’ve heard in a long time! The last 2 tracks
are a bit standard Melodic Hardrocksongs a la DANGER
DANGER, but in general speaking I can highly recommend
this band. More info on them at: http://toyzOnline.free.fr and e-mail them at: toyzContact@wanadoo.fr
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
AFTER
THE SILENCE ‘WEARY ANGELS HEART’
(INDEPENDENT)
AFTER THE SILENCE is a female fronted Dutch band, and the
band sent me their demo that includes 5 tracks. They
already informed me that it was recorded during a
rehearsal, so this is really a rough demo, nothing more
nothing less. So I will not discuss the sound quality
here, because that isn’t fair, but this review
should inform you about this upcoming band that will
definitely make it in the near future. AFTER THE SILENCE
is playing Melodic Rock/AOR with similarities to VIXEN,
WITNESS and 80s HEART. The band has a good female lead
singer, but because this demo is more like a rehearsal,
it’s hard to hear this, but if you tune in to the
semi-AOR ballad/rocker “Resurrection” you can
hear that this band has the potential in becoming a very
strong act. This song also has a progressive break
towards the end, and without a doubt it’s a very
interesting song. One of the other highlights on this
demo is definitely “Let love surround me”, a
very good strong midtempo AOR song with good vocals and
nice keyboardwork. Also closing track “Weary angels
heart” is worth mentioning, because this is
prime-time uptempo AOR/Melodic Rock. I really look
forward to a future official CD, with a real production,
so the vocals are not fading away like it is now on this
demo, then we can easily look out for a new exciting
AOR/Melodic Rockalbum with female lead vocals. For now,
check out AFTER THE SILENCE at: http://www.afterthesilence.nl and e-mail them at: afterthesilence.rocks@hccnet.nl
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
MANDYLION
‘WITHIN
FLAMES’ (DEMO CDR)
We’re back in Japan again with a very exciting
Melodic Sympho-Power Metalband called MANDYLION. They
play in the style of STRATOVARIUS, LABYRINTH, RHAPSODY,
SONATA ARCTICA... The production/sound is very impressive
(HUGE!) and instrumental they are quite impressive.
Vocally it’s not as good as the European acts, but
the catchy melodies and chorus make it up, and although
this demo CDR contains only 1 track, I can inform you
that the song “Within flames” is a fantastic
catchy uptempo Melodic Sympho-Power Metal track with very
nice keyboardwork (a la RHAPSODY) and a catchy melodic
chorus. This band sounds impressive, and I hope to hear
much more of them in the future! More info at: http://www3.to/mandylion and e-mail them at: studio_arcana@mac.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 LAUDAMUS ‘LOST IN VAIN’
(ESCAPE MUSIC)
A hot new Swedish band that was formed almost 20 years
ago, but ‘Lost in vain’ is their 2nd album so
far. The album features guest appearances by JEFF SCOTT
SOTO, MARTY FRIEDMAN, ROB ROCK and many others. LAUDAMUS
is playing edgy (and sometimes groovy) Melodic Heavy Rock
like a mix between KEN TAMPLIN, HAREM SCAREM, LION’S
SHARE and early MEGADETH. It’s sometimes quite heavy
and dark, and maybe not interesting for a fan of standard
Melodic Rock, but after listening to the 10 tracks of
their CD several times I can conclude that it’s
definitely a quality record that needs to be listened
several times before giving a real good judgement. The
highlights are “My hearts on fire” (good
melodic chorus), “In the final hour” (duet with
JEFF SCOTT SOTO, strong chorus, some Progressive
elements), “Free” (90s MALMSTEEN meets early
LION’S SHARE), “Lay your burdens down” and
“Salvation” (heavy riffs, but melodic uptempo
chorus). Not all the songs are convincing, because the
tracks “Die” and “Mother evolution”
are quite average, but in the end it’s a nice record
after all. Also, many Swedish vocalists have a very
melodic voice (a la JOEY TEMPEST), but the LAUDAMUS lead
singer Peter Stenlund has a raw voice, and because the
music is also sometimes quite raw, I can not say this is
typical Scandi melodic rockalbum. Nevertheless the album
still has it’s highlights and is highly recommended
if you enjoyed the KEN TAMPLIN record or want to check
out some big groovier Melodic Heavy Rock!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 PAIN AND PASSION ‘DON’T THINK
TOMORROW’ (ESCAPE MUSIC)
Another new Swedish band on the ESCAPE MUSIC label. This
band is called PAIN AND PASSION, and they play
Progressive Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal that has some
similarities to 80s FATES WARNING, but also influences
from classic 70s Hardrock can be heard (read: RAINBOW,
DEEP PURPLE, WHITESNAKE, THIN LIZZY and even BLACK
SABBATH). The band has a solid groovy guitar riff sound,
but mixed with the excellent melodic lead vocals of
singer Bjorn Asking this makes PAIN AND PASSION
interesting and most important, it gives them an own
identity. There are 10 tracks on the CD, and although the
band has an own sound, not all the songs are convincing,
but on the other hand the album can easily be listened to
from start to finish, because what we hear is definitely
quality music. The best songs on ‘Don’t think
tomorrow’ are “I’m not there
tomorrow”, “Get ready” and “Could I
walk away”. Concluded, this is a nice Progressive
Melodic Heavy Rockalbum, recommended if you like any of
the mentioned bands, but don’t expect something
really sensational. It’s a decent album, but not the
strongest release on ESCAPE MUSIC.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT ‘TRAMPLED
UNDERFOOT’ (STEELHEART RECORDS)
TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT is an American band playing Classic
80s US Power Metal, and they do it very well, at a high
level. Although they have a keyboardplayer (Kit Allen), I
couldn’t hear much keys, because TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT
is a real 80s US Power Metal based act, with powerful
vocals (singer Shawn Pelata) and an excellent guitarist
(Kyle Harrison) who plays his solo’s perfectly. The
music sounds like a mix between LORD WEIRD SLOUGH FEG,
very early QUEENSRYCHE, TWISTED TOWER DIRE and of course
IRON MAIDEN. 9 songs are included, and together with an
impressive production, this album is highly recommended.
Highlights on the debut CD of TRAMPLED UNDERFOOT are
“Merchants of death”, “Pride will
fall”, “Into the night”, “Poseidonus
wrath” and “Captured”. Concluded, this is
a MUST for every fan of classy 80s US Power Metal.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 SHAKRA ‘RISING’
(POINT MUSIC/AOR HEAVEN)
The Swiss band SHAKRA has been working it’s way to
the top for several years now, and ‘Rising’ is
their latest effort. For many years they have been the
third band in Switzerland, GOTTHARD and KROKUS always
being more popular, but with the release of
‘Rising’ I think SHAKRA has a good chance to
reach the same popularity as GOTTHARD and KROKUS. This
year all 3 bands released new albums, and although KROKUS
and GOTTHARD both reached the number one position in
their home country, SHAKRA also deserves such a high
ranking, because actually I think SHAKRA has delivered a
stronger album than GOTTHARD and KROKUS. This is the
album GOTTHARD should have made! ‘Rising’ is a
real 80s inspired pure Hardrockalbum that sounds like the
perfect mix between AC/DC, 80s DEF LEPPARD and VICTORY.
You can compare ‘Rising’ with albums like
VICTORY’s ‘Culture killed the native’,
HAREM SCAREM’s ‘Mood swings’,
BONFIRE’s ‘Fireworks’ and DEF
LEPPARD’s ‘Pyromania’, somewhere in
between you can place SHAKRA’s ‘Rising’,
but the band also has some similarities to BONFIRE and I
have to say that new lead singer MARK FOX is a good
strong singer with a raw voice that sounds a lot like
PRETTY MAIDS singer .
Anyway,
12 songs are included on ‘Rising’ and not a
weak track isn’t included, from the first tones of
“Now or never” until closing track
“Trapped” it’s all sensational Melodic
Hardrock what we get to hear. It sounds all very strong
and tight, and together with a catchy chorus, they are
all a pleasure to listen to. Highlights are “Done me
wrong” (strong uptempo melodic hardrock with a
catchy melodic chorus, like DEF LEPPARD and VICTORY),
“I will be there” (classy melodic Power Ballad
a la GOTTHARD’s “Heaven”), “My life
– my world” (strong Melodic Hardrock like HAREM
SCAREM’s ‘Mood swings’), “Sign in the
sky” (best song, fantastic uptempo melodic heavy
rocker like a heavier BONFIRE, with a lovely chorus),
“Fight the fire” (uptempo melodic Hardrock like
first couple of albums
of GOTTHARD) and the semi melodic rockballad
“Anything”. This album is a total must if
you’re a fan of big Melodic Hardrock, and I think it
beats the new albums of GOTTHARD and KROKUS!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
SOMNIAE
STATUS ‘CASSANDRA’
(ADRENALINE RECORDS)
The debut album of the Italian Melodic Progressive (Hard)
Rockband SOMNIAE STATUS was produced by DOKKEN guitarist
Alex De Rosso. Their debut album contains only 7 tracks,
and has a playing length of only 36 minutes (!), so I am
not sure if this should be called a full-length album.
Anyway, the music is pretty standard Progressive Melodic
Heavy Rock, not really interesting actually. The songs
are just not strong enough, and I know a Progressive
Rock/Metal band doesn’t write catchy songs, but I
mean, DREAM THEATER has excellent songs, but SOMNIAE
STATUS is just not of that level. The songs are just nice
to listen to, but it never gets sensational.
Nevertheless, the album is nice to check out if
you’re into Progressive Rock/Metal. Highlights are
“Nowhere run”, “Oracle dream” and
“Cassandra”, but don’t expect something
really sensational here.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 PRIDE ‘SIGNS OF
PURITY’
(POINT MUSIC/AOR HEAVEN)
The English Melodic Rockband PRIDE returns with the
release of a new CD titled ‘Signs of purity’.
The music is still classy 80s Melodic Rock a la BON JOVI,
JADED HEART, DOKKEN and XYZ. Most of the songs are
uptempo and especially the beginning (the first 6 tracks)
sound really good. Songs like “Could you
believe”, “Somewhere someway”,
“It’s just me” and “Say your not
lonely” are very strong uptempo melodic rockers that
combine the best of mentioned bands. Somehow, the second
part of the CD, the last 6 tracks, are sounding a bit
average, not bad or anything, but just standard melodic
hardrock, nothing special compared to the first 6 tracks.
Therefore the rating isn’t as high as expected, but
nevertheless I can still highly recommend this CD to fans
of 80s BON JOVI, DEF LEPPARD, DOKKEN, JADED HEART,
HARDLINE, FIREHOUSE, XYZ, DANGER DANGER...
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
CLIMAX
‘PLAY
SOME HEAVY’ (AUREO RECORDS)
CLIMAX is a Swiss band and ‘Play some heavy’ is
their debut CD, which was released a few weeks ago. The
band is playing Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock with some Metal
influences. The first song “Zero” is a good
start, as this is a nice uptempo Melodic Heavy Rocker,
actually very much reminding me of 80s German Metalbands,
like TALON, HIGH TENSION, TOX, STORMWITCH, RESTLESS etc.
The following 9 songs are more or less in the same style
as opener “Zero”, with as best songs
“Psycho bitch”, “Demonized”,
“Break” and “Fly”. So, what we have
is a good Melodic Heavy Rock/Metalband from Switzerland.
More info on CLIMAX at: http://www.climax-metal.ch and e-mail them at: info@climax-metal.ch
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 FATAL ATTRACTION ‘SIMPLICITY
RULES’ (ADRENALINE RECORDS)
Although ADRENALINE RECORDS is best known for it’s
Progressive Rock/Metal releases, this FATAL ATTRACTION is
clearly an exception, because ‘Simplicity
rules’ is a pure AOR record! The band from Sweden
was formed more than years ago, and during that period
they released a good debut CD (‘End of regulation
time’ in 1995) and after waiting several years (with
a few excellent advance songs), FATAL ATTRACTION finally
releases their follow-up ‘Simplicity rules’.
Together with a high class production, the 12 included
songs are all very impressive, and the AOR style of FATAL
ATTRACTION is comparable to AGENT, AVIATOR, FM, ALIAS,
JOURNEY and TOTO.
The
CD starts a bit soft, with the pure 80s orientated
Hi-Tech AOR/Poprocker “Simplicity rules” (a la
TOTO, DAVID ROBERTS) and the midtempo AOR/Westcoast tune
“Head above the water” (a la MARK SPIRO), but
from track 3 on this CD is as close to pure AOR you can
get. “Feel the fire” is a great uptempo AOR
rocker a la URBAN TALE, JOURNEY... “Anything it
takes” follows, and is a typical midtempo AOR song
like ALIAS, STREET TALK, GIANT... Then there’s the
fun uptempo AOR Rocker “In the heart of my
soul”, a really rocking 80s song a la JOURNEY and
AVIATOR. The absolute highlight of the disc follows in
the shape of “Stay on the line”, this song is
pure AOR HEAVEN, with it’s superb chorus, bringing
back memories of classy Scandi AOR (DAVINCI, TREAT,
ALIEN). The song “Valleys of heaven” starts
with some excellent classy 80s AOR keys, and develops
into an awesome AOR ballad a la JOURNEY, and if it has
been released 15 years ago, the US could have turn it
into a massive hitsingle!
The
CD continues with 2 more great uptempo AOR rockers
“Modern world” and “Silver son”
(excellent!). “Perfect dream” follows, and is a
nice midtempo AOR song. “Unknown world” is
another high class uptempo AOR piece, while closing track
“Third anthem” is a nice semi AOR ballad. I can
easily conclude that this release is a must for every AOR
fan! It seems like we only get to hear sensational AOR
from Scandinavia these days, with Sweden being the most
productive country. After many great releases the past
few years by bands like GRAND ILLUSION, URBAN TALE,
TOKEN, SHARA, BLIND ALLEY, COASTLINE, STREET TALK, ALYSON
AVENUE, TWO PIECE PUZZLE, JIM JIDHED etc. and now we can
now add the fantastic new CD of FATAL ATTRACTION to this
growing list of sensational Scandi AOR releases...
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
TIERRA
DEL DRAGON ‘ECLIPSE’
(DEMO)
This is one of the first bands from Venezuela I get to
hear and review here. Well, they seem to have done
verything pretty well, as their 2-track demo CDR sounds
quite impressive. What you get is typical for an
South-American band, so pure uptempo Neo-Classical Power
Metal with Euro Power Metal influences, kinda like a mix
between ANGRA and RHAPSODY, with some more Progressive
Metal elements here and there. Like most other bands from
the South American region, also TIERRA DEL DRAGON sings
in the Spanish language, but this isn’t a problem at
all. It’s a pity that there are only 2 tracks on the
demo CDR, because both “Eclipse” and
“Sobre las ruinas del castillo” are great
uptempo Melodic Power Metal tunes. The production is very
good, and with still a playing length of 18 minutes, this
is quite enjoyable to listen to. Fans of ANGRA, RHAPSODY
and HELLOWEEN should check out this band. They will
record some material in English soon, so that will be
interesting. For now, check out their site at: http://www.geocities.com/tierradeldragon2002 and e-mail them at: tdeldragon@yahoo.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 TARAXACUM ‘RAINMAKER’
(MTM MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
The supergroup around (former) members of STEEL PROPHET,
SQUEALER, EDGUY, HAGGARD and AXEL RUDI PELL is about to
release their 2nd CD ‘Rainmaker’. The CD has a
big excellent production by SASCHA PAETH (RHAPSODY,
KAMELOT, ANGRA) and although these are all names in the
Power Metal genre, the music of TARAXACUM is not pure
Power Metal, because sometimes it’s pure Melodic
Hardrock. This can be heard in the fantastic catchy
uptempo melodic rocker “Prayer in Unison”, a
song reminding me a bit of PINK CREAM 69. Anyway, the CD
has a very good impressive sound that will attract all
Melodic Rock/Metal fans. Other highlights include the
midtempo “Rainmaker” (very 80s German
orientated sound, like VICTORY), “Never to
return” (uptempo Melodic Heavy Rocker a la PRETTY
MAIDS), “Dark sunglasses” (lovely uptempo
AOR/Melodic Rock) and “In the end” (melodic
rockballad, very good vocalwork). Despite a few Modern
influenced Heavy Metal songs (“Disfunctional”
and “The red pill”), this is a great album that
will be loved by fans of Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ULTIMATIUM
‘FOLLOW
THE STAR’ (DEMO CDR)
Out of Finland comes yet another new sensational Melodic
Power Metalband. They are quite close to SONATA ARCTICA,
and I can easily put them next to other Finish bands such
as OLYMPOS MONS, THUNDERSTONE etc. There are only 4
tracks on their 3rd demo CDR, but you can clearly hear
that this is quality stuff what we hear. The songs are
catchy and very strong, with as highlights the uptempo
pieces “Follow the star”, “Through
winterland” and “In winter nights”.
Closing track “Angelwing” is a great midtempo
Melodic Heavy Rocker a la EDGUY. I must say that this is
really very impressive stuff what we hear on the demo CD
by ULTIMATIUM. They should easily be able to secure a
recorddeal, because this is prime-time Melodic Power
Metal stuff. Check them out at: http://ultimatium.cjb.net
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
BATTLE
RAM ‘BATTLE
RAM’ (INDEPENDENT)
This is a band from Italy and they play pure 80s US
Power/Speed Metal, with some references to AGENT STEEL,
so a lot of high pitched vocals can be heard here.
Instrumental it all sounds excellent and of a very high
level, but also vocally the singer Daniele Di Loreto can
easily sing the high notes. Even the production is very
good for a demo release, so in general this is a really
good demo CDR. If we have a look at the songs, 5 are
included and if you’re a fan of Classic 80s US Power
Metal, then this is a must for you! The absolute
highlights are the fantastic “Dark command” and
“Battering ram”, both very impressive tunes
that are as good as old QUEENSRYCHE or VIRGIN STEELE
tunes! More info can be found at: http://www.battleram.it
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
CRASHDIET ‘CRASHDIET’
(INDEPENDENT)
Although I am not a big fan of Glam/Party Hardrock, I
always loved bands like MOTLEY CRUE, POISON, WRATHCHILD,
PRETTY BOY FLOYD etc. However, most of the independent
bands that play this kind of Metal are quite average, but
happily the Swedish band CRASHDIET is an exception. These
guys play their brand of Glam/Party Hardrock quite well.
There are 6 well-produced tunes on their demo CDR, and it
sounds very good actually. Songs like “Gimme what I
need”, “We play it, you scream it” and
“California white” are great
Party/Hardrocksongs with influences from CRUE, although
the band also has some Melodic Hardrockinfluences, but
one look at the CD cover and you’ll agree with me
they look like some 80s LA Hair Metalband. That’s no
problem at all, because they sound pretty good and
therefore I can recommend this Glam Metalband. More info
at: http://www.crashdiet.shows.it and e-mail them at: crashdiet@telia.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SCREAM
ANGER
‘SCREAM ANGER’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Japan comes SCREAM ANGER, a good Melodic
Hardrockband that plays in the style of AXXIS and FAIR
WARNING. The lead singer’s vocals are high-pitched,
and although the sound is pretty good, I think the
included songs are not strong enough, but on the other
hand I hear that SCREAM ANGER is able to do some
interesting things, such as on the song “Answer
within”. Check out this Japanese Melodic
Hardrockband at: http://home.att.ne.jp/omega/SCREAMANGER
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
MOONLIGHT
TEARS
‘THE BLACK ANGEL’ (DEMO CDR)
This Demo of the French band MOONLIGHT TEARS contains 3
tracks and musically this female fronted band is clearly
influenced by the likes of NIGHTWISH. The high pitched
opera/theatrical female lead vocals of singer Innocenti
céline remind me a lot of NIGHTWISH, and also musically
they come quite close, yet the production is not that
good, but songs like “Kassandra” and
“Black angel” are indeed very good Power Metal
songs with Gothic orientated lead vocals. More info at: http://www.moonlighttears.fr and e-mail them at: moonlighttears@free.fr
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
SHINING
EDGE ‘IN
JAPAN’ (INDEPENDENT)
Back to Japan where we find SHINING EDGE, a Melodic Euro
Power Metal act that sounds pretty good on their CD
‘In Japan’. I haven’t got any info on
their songtitles, but the first and third song were the
best tracks, both great uptempo Melodic Rock/Metal songs
wih strong vocals and good guitar/keyboardwork. More info
on SHINING EDGE is available through e-mail at: h-se-tmr@hct.zaq.ne.jp
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 SEVENTH SON ‘IMMORTAL
HOURS’ (IRON PAGES)
Out of the thousands of N.W.O.B.H.M. came SEVENTH SON.
IRON PAGES has released a very interesting compilation of
songs the band recorded between 1983 and 1985, with the
addition of 2 bonustracks, recorded in this new
millenium. The band played classic N.W.O.H.M. orientated
Heavy Metal with strong similarities to bands like SAXON,
early TOKYO BLADE, WOLF and early TYGERS OF PAN TANG, so
pure Metal like it was played around 1981 in the U.K. by
thousands of bands. This disc is a nice collection of 16
tunes recorded by SEVENTH SON that are now for the first
time available on CD. Although many English bands were
moving to a Melodic Hardrock friendly sound, SEVENTH SON
hold on to their roots, which can be heard on all the 16
tracks on ‘Immortal hours’, which are all in
the classy NWOBHM style. The best songs are great uptempo
rockers like “Immortal hours”, “When
worlds collide”, “Silver to Gold” and
“Harder you rock” (hello SAXON!). Although the
sound quality isn’t as good as DENIGH, the other
release on IRON PAGES, this CD is still a must for
everyone who likes good old NWOBHM. One final note is the
bonustrack “Dangerous kiss”, a new song
recorded in 2000, and although it’s very different
from the band’s earlier material, this is the best
song of the CD! This song is prime-time uptempo Melodic
Rock/AOR like PRAYING MANTIS, and it sounds that good
that I almost can’t wait to hear more new material
in this style! Let’s hope IRON PAGES has more
surprises in the future with such rare releases, because
this is the only chance to get hold of such rare
material, and besides, the packaging is excellent, with
many liner notes, lyrics and pictures of the band. More
info at: http://www.iron-pages.de
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
1ST
AVENUE ‘DEMO
CDR’ (DEMO)
Do not confuse this Dutch band with the fantastic 1ST
AVENUE fom the early 1990s, because this 1ST AVENUE comes
out of Zwolle and they play a somewhat different style
than the other same named band. They play pure 70s Heavy
Bluesrock/Hardrock in the style of THIN LIZZY, BAD
COMPANY, FREE and very early WHITESNAKE. To succeed and
really play 70s kind of Classic Rock they also use
instruments made in the 1970s! I must admit that they
really are able to make good quality pure 70s Bluesy
Rock/Hardrock and songs like “Sweet talker” and
“Roselie” are sounding like a mix between
mentioned bands, although the production isn’t
really good, but on the other hand that’s due to the
fact that this demo was recorded live during a gig.
Anyway, if you’re into this kind of Rock, you must
check out this band at: http://www.1st-avenue.nl and e-mail them at: josgroen@home.nl
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 DENIGH ‘FIRE FROM THE
SKY’ (IRON PAGES)
IRON PAGES is keen on all British NWOBHM acts from the
early 1980s, and DENIGH was one of them. They made a
handfull of recordings during the early 1980s, but had to
wait for an official release until IRON PAGES released a
CD with all those songs last year. The band was playing
the typical NWOBHM at a very high level, quite close to
early TYGERS OF PAN TANG, but also Y AND T similarities
can be made here and there. 11 tracks are included on
this CD, and not only the sound is pretty good, but also
the songs are very impressive, and also quite important
to mention is that DENIGH had a very good strong lead
singer (Jon Everett). The best songs on the CD are
“Fire from the sky” (great high quality early
80s NWOBHM, pure TYGERS OF PAN TANG),
“Sentinel” (classy British Melodic Hardrock
with tempo changes, an epic tune of 8 minutes),
“Synthetic seduction” (good semi-ballad) and
“Give me strength” (calm start, great
semi-ballad/melodic heavy rocker). Concluded, this is a
highly recommended classy NWOBHM act! More info at: http://www.iron-pages.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
SANITY
‘THE
DEMO’ (DEMO)
SANITY is a band from Leerdam, Holland and their demo
‘The demo’ sounds pretty good for an
independent band. They play Progressive Metal with
influences from 80s QUEENSRYCHE, CRIMSON GLORY, DREAM
THEATER, SAVATAGE... The sound and the songs is very
impressive, and the only comments I can make is that lead
singer Kees van Keulen (ex-BAGHEERA) sings a bit forced
sometimes, but nevertheless the demo the band released is
very good. 4 studiotracks are included and 5 livetracks,
and most striking fact to mention here is that the demo
comes as a double disc, so you’ll get an audio CD
with 9 long tracks, and a live recorded gig of almost 30
minutes, so a DVD! This all combined makes SANITY a very
professional band and their ‘The demo’ a wanted
piece for fans of both 80s US Power Metal and
today’s Progressive Metal style. More info can be
found at: http://www.cf-sonsultancy.com/sanity.html and e-mail them at: chris@cf-consultancy.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
OPEN
UP FEAT. MORTON HOLM ‘OPEN UP’ (MTM
MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
There’s a whole story behind this band, because
leader MORTEN HOLM PETTERSEN once was a sprinter who
wanted to become one of the best Norwegian athletics, but
when he went to Portugal for a trainingcamp he got
poisoned through food and his whole life dramatically
changed. For over 13 years Morton stayed in bed with
fever, cold and many other complications. During that
period he began writing songs and the result was a band
that recorded all his songs. MTM gladly decided to
release the CD and so here it is, the first CD of MORTON
HOLM’s ‘Open up’. The music on the CD is
soft Westcoast/AOR/Poprock in the style of RICHARD MARX,
RICK CUA, KYLE VINCENT, JOHN TAGLIERI... It’s very
soft at times, and 80s inspired, radio-ready fun summer
poprock/pop/westcoast like a calmer version of NELSON.
The first 2 songs are interesting for the AOR fans, the
uptempo “Dreams” and the midtempo “A
joyful day”. Unfortunately the rest of the CD is too
Pop orientated to be featured here, such as the
PLAYER/EAGLES/AMERICA type of tunes “Anxious
mind”, “Where are you summetime?” and
“No hard feelings”. It’s nice to see this
release, because it will inspire many people who also
suffer from long-term illness, and it will give Morten
himself something to be proud of. However, the music is
not really interesting for the AOR/Melodic Rockfans, but
if you like Westcoast/Pop you will love this!
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘AFM
RECORDS NEW SIGNINGS/UPCOMING RELEASES 2003/2004’ (AFM RECORDS)
This is a new compilation CD by the German label AFM
RECORDS. Most of the songs are already released, but a
few are new. The most interesting ones are the great new
tracks by DIONYSUS and VOICE. DIONYSUS is featured with
the fantastic uptempo “Anima mundi” that sounds
like a cross between EDGUY and STRATOVARIUS. I look
forward to their upcoming 2nd CD which will be released
early next year. The new song of VOICE is titled
“Devilish temptation”, a sing-along typical
German Melodic Metal track which will be included on
their upcoming CD ‘Soulhunter’ which is
released in October this year. 2 interesting new tracks,
the rest is from bands like EDGUY, UDO, CIRCLE 2 CIRCLE,
AT VANCE, RAWHEAD REXX, MASTERPLAN, NOSTRADAMEUS..., but
not interesting if you own their albums.
(Points:
- )
 MALC MACMILLAN
‘THE
N.W.O.B.H.M. ENCYCLOPEDIA’
(IRON PAGES)
This is the ultimate book regarding the New Wave Of
British Heavy Metal, because it contains 800 pages and
includes 533 bands (and 182 pictures) with information on
almost every UK act that started playing Hardrock/Metal
in the early 1980s. The book was written by Malm
Macmillan, and he did an excellent job, with stories and
extensive written biographies on all those UK acts that
recorded mostly 7” singles in and around 1980/1981.
Of course the well-known bands IRON MAIDEN, SAXON, TYGERS
OF PAN TANG, GIRLSCHOOL, DEF LEPPARD etc. are featured in
long well-written stories, but did you ever hear of
obscure bands like STORMQUEEN, MASAI, KRAKEN, KOREA, LADY
JANE, KNIGHTRIDER and MASTERSTROKE. Well, this superb
book will give you an answer and it will definitely leave
you satisfied if you want to learn about the big UK scene
around 1981 when so many bands played your favourite
Rockstyle: Hardrock and Heavy Metal.
There’s
always the question which bands should be included, but
Malc has mainly focused himself on UK bands that started
playing Hardrock/Metal in 1979, 1980 or 1981, and they
must have released something in that period (7”
single, LP, 12” single or a Picture Disc), and
although some bands changed their style in the following
years they are still included (read: SHY, WRATCHILD, DEF
LEPPARD, because in the playing almost all the UK bands
played the same style, which was N.W.O.B.H.M.! Therefore
this book is the ultimate resource to check out if you
want to learn all there is tell about this very important
period in the history of Hardrock and Heavy Metal.
It’s especially recommended to collector’s of
all those early 80s released 7” singles by UK
Hardrock/Metal acts, but also journalists and included
bands need to have this brilliant book. You will need
several months (or even years!) to read this extensive
book, so I can highly recommend it to all NWOBHM fans!
You can buy a copy for 35,80 Euro through http://www.iron-pages.de
(Points:
9.5 out of 10)
 STEFAN RIERMAIER
‘HEAVY METAL AUS OSTEUROPA’ (IRON PAGES)
Eastern Europe is a very poor region here in Europe, and
also when it comes to good Metal and Hardrockacts
it’s an unknown territory for many Western European
Hardrock/Metalfans and that’s a pity because there
are quite a few interesting bands (read our Russian Metal
story for example). This book was written by STEFAN
RIERMAIER, the man behind KARTHAGO RECORDS, and he did a
great job in learning us about bands from Eastern Europe.
The most important countries included are Bulgaria,
former Yugoslavia, Austria, Poland, Russia, Slovakia,
Czech Republic and Hungary. It’s unbelievable how
many interesting bands are coming out of these countries,
there was really a big scene over there! The bands
included are mostly from the 1980s, 1990s and this
decade, because in the 1970s there wasn’t a single
band playing Hardrock in Eastern Europe, as it really
started around the mid 1980s.
This
book was written in German, so hard to read if you
don’t speak German (or Dutch), but it still gives
you details of the bands, style and discography which is
easy to understand for every living soul. Besides,
it’s a very complete book about the Metal scene in
Eastern Europe, because most of the bands I know are
featured, so nothing is forgotten here. Concluded I can
easily recommend this book to anyone who wants to know
more about the Eastern European Hardrock/Metal scene
which is unknown by many of us, and that’s a pity
because I have heard many good bands from there, such as
ARIJA, DIVLE JAGODE, OSMI PUTNIK, MANIAC, EDENBRIDGE,
EPIDEMIA etc. You can buy a copy for 19,25 Euro (+
postage costs 0,77 Euro) through http://www.iron-pages.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 PARAGON ‘THE DARK
LEGACY’
(REMEDY RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
The German Power Metal band PARAGON is back with the
release of their 6th CD ‘The dark legacy’. The
musicstyle hasn’t changed, so again we can hear
typical German Metal, quite heavy and raw to the bones.
If UDO would return to ACCEPT and decided to choose for a
heavier Power Metal style a la JUDAS PRIEST it would
sound like PARAGON! In the 13 years they exist now they
have built up a big reputation throughout Europe and I
can easily recommend the new CD if you enjoyed the
band’s earlier releases. Higlights on the new CD are
“Breaking glass” (German Metal at it’s
best!), “Black hole” (fast and furious),
“Green hell” and “The afterlife”.
Concluded, get this record if you’re a fan of raw
and rough German Metal and ACCEPT/MANOWAR.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
DIVINUS
‘THOUGHTS
OF A DESPERATE MIND’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Germany comes yet another sensational band. They
are called DIVINUS and they play high quality Melodic
Progressive/Power Metal that sounds very much like the
last CYDONIA record, due to the combination of melodic
and rawer (modern) vocals, as well as some elements of
Thrash into the Prog/Power Metal. However, the general
feel of this record is quite impressive, and also the
production is very good, so this could have been a label
release, but it’s an independent release. “The
blood of God” is a very sensational opener, a
fantastic uptempo Melodic Progressive Metal tune with a
strong chorus. Other highlights include “Behold the
truth” (although this song is slightly disturbed by
a Thrash/Death-Metal part), the semi-ballad “Into
the sun” (a la VANDENPLAS), “Devil ride”
(great uptempo melodic metal), “All you need”
(excellent!) and “November child” (great
Melodic Progmetal). Although this is a very good CD, it
could have been better if the vocals would have been
clean all the time, because now lead singer Daniel Ott
himself is now disturbing some of the songs which is not
necessary, just like we saw with the band CYDONIA some
time ago. Really a pity, because a song like “All
you need” shows how good this band could really be
if they would use only the clean vocals. The rating could
have been much higher, but it’s still interesting
enough to check out if you like quality Prog/Power Metal.
Anyway, more info at: http://www.divinusmetal.com and e-mail them at: info@divinusmetal.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
QWESTION
Y ‘QWESTION
Y’ (INDEPENDENT)
QWESTION is a 3-piece band from the USA, and their debut
CD was released last year. The album contains highly
skilled instrumental groovy and Progressive Hardrock with
some very good guitarplay. The album takes up to 60
minutes of playing length, and fans of VAI/SATRIANI will
appreciate songs like “Forest of the norm” and
“Yachacha”. Check it out for yourself at: http://www.qwestion.net and e-mail them at: strutter@qwestion.net
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THORGEN ‘HERETIC’
(BRENNUS RECORDS)
THORGEN is a French band and ‘Heretic’ is their
debut CD. It’s like we turned back the clock,
because THORGEN is playing pure 80s Heavy Metal with
French lyrics, very much like SORTILEGE, KILLERS, TRUST,
VULCAIN etc. etc. The band is slightly different than
those bands, because they have a very young female violin
player in their line-up. You can hear her at best during
the best song on the CD, the lovely pure 80s Melodic
Rockballad “Idees noires”, and I mean this is
really a wonderful song, very melodic and reminding me of
SCORPIONS. The rest of the CD is less interesting, and
sometimes a bit average, but on the other hand if you
grew up in the 1980s and were keen on French Metal, this
band is a must because they have switched the clock back
to 1985 when this kind of Metal was played by all
European bands! Best songs are “Apocalypse”,
“Video kid” and “Diabolique”. Not
bad, but also not the strongest release on BRENNUS
RECORDS.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
TAIFA
‘TAIFA’
(DEMO CDR)
TAIFA is a Spanish band and they combine Melodic Metal
with Flamengo, and actually it sounds pretty cool. They
sent me a demo CDR with 4 songs, 2 of them in Spanish,
the other 2 in English. They remind me a bit of MEDINA
AZAHARA, yet with some Progressive Metal influences here
and there. The best song is “A little bit of
heaven”, a very melodic song. The 2 Spanish songs
also sound pretty good, and with the mix of Latin,
Flamengo and Melodic Metal they are quite unique in the
scene. And it sounds pretty good too, so check out this
band at: http://www.reinodetaifa.com and e-mail them at:
reinodetaifa@hotmail.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 WALTHAM ‘PERMISSION TO
BUILD’ (INDEPENDENT)
What would happen if the RICK SPRINGFIELD of the early
1980s would join today’s HAREM SCAREM? Well, then
you would definitely have a band like WALTHAM. This new
band from the Boston area is finally bringing back a good
new type of uptempo Melodic Poprock I do like very much.
Most of those US Nu-Breed bands forget the melodies, the
guitarsolos and the catchy choruses, but WALTHAM gladly
took that all back from the 1980s to the year 2003 on
their debut CD ‘Permission to build’. These
guys are capable in writing catchy uptempo Melodic
Poprockers in the style of RICK SPRINGFIELD’s
unbeatable classic ‘Working class dog’ (the
best Poprock album of all times), with a slight modern
touch, just like HAREM SCAREM did on their last album
‘Weight of the world’. WALTHAM really rocks and
I am quite sure that live on stage they sound even better
than on this disc. Anyway, their CD sounds really good,
and most of the 12 songs are catchy uptempo melodic
poprockers, such as “So lonely”, “All I
want is you”, “Cheryl” (very catchy!),
“Don’t say it’s too late”,
“Nicole” (hello RICK SPRINGFIELD!!!),
“Laura” (am I listening to RICK
SPRINGFIELD’s ‘Working class dog’ here or
not!!!) and the hidden track after “Feelin’
it” (I am not gonna say of whom this song reminds
me!.
Sometimes
it’s just SO MUCH reminding me of RICK
SPRINGFIELD’s ‘Working class dog’, and
then I start to think that WALTHAM must have been playing
that record over and over again until they could write
their own music in this Melodic Poprockstyle with a
slight modern edge to keep it ready for today’s
radio format. The only time they slow things down is on
the great melodic Power Rockballad “Say it
again” (a la FIORE), but the rest is all catchy
uptempo Melodic Poprock. These guys completely succeed in
making me think there’s new hope for American
Melodic Poprock, let’s hope they will hold on to
this exciting style. Needless to say that this CD is a
total must if you’re into NELSON’s
‘Life’, RICK SPRINGFIELD’s ‘Working
class dog’ (sorry for mentioning him so many times,
but I can’t help it, it’s just so much like
that record!), late HAREM SCAREM/RUBBER and also the last
2 DEF LEPPARD records... More info at: http://www.walthamtheband.com and e-mail them at: lauriegail@earthlink.net
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
REI
LAGARTO ‘FREE
FALL’ (INDEPENDENT)
REI LEGARTO is a band from Brazil and they have released
2 CDs so far. This one was released 2 years ago, and they
are about to release a new CD, but in the meantime
it’s interesting to talk about their 2nd CD
‘Free fall’. The included music is well-played
groovier Melodic (Hard) Rock in the style of TRXITER,
XYZ, TESLA, yet due to the charasmatic vocals of singer
David Popp the band has an own identity. The best songs
are the melodic rockers “Sister” and
“Bitch” and the calm piano-ballad
“Burn” (good vocals). The production is strong
and the music is good early 1990s inspired American
Melodic Heavy Rock like a mix between SKID ROW, RATT,
TESLA, HERICANE ALICE, HURRICANE and XYZ, but I must
inform you that the last 4 tracks on the CD are a bit
disappointing and have not much in common with rough
Hardrock, so therefore a lower rating. More info on the
band can be found at: http://www.reilagarto.com and e-mail them at: reilagarto@reilagarto.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 ENCHANT ‘TUG OF WAR’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
The American Progressive Rockband ENCHANT is one of my
favourite bands, and last year’s ‘Blink of an
eye’ was their finest release, and at the end of
2002 it was clearly one of my favourite releases of that
year. Now it’s not even a year later, and the band
is already happy to release yet another new CD, their 7th
so far. Although I thought this was way too soon, after
giving the CD a few spins, the band has again proven to
be one of the best Progressive Rockbands around nowadays.
The CD contains 10 brand-new tracks and takes up to more
than 60 minutes of music. The reason why ENCHANT has so
soon a new CD out is due to the fact they don’t
tour, but happily in a few months they will do a small
tour in Europe, and maybe therefore they want to have a
new CD out for this tour. Anyway, it’s a good CD,
maybe not as good as it’s previous releases, but
therefore it needs to be played a few times more in the
coming months. Nevertheless, it’s a typical ENCHANT
CD, so again we can hear Progressive Rock with a lot of
clean melodies and of course the superb vocals of singer
Ted Leonard, who still reminds us of KANSAS’ STEVE
WALSH. Maybe the songs are a bit groovier than before,
and the choruses are less catchy than the previous
releases, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid
this CD, because it’s still a great record. The best
songs on ‘Tug of war’ are “Holding the
wind”, “Beautiful”, “Long way
down”, “Living in a movie” and
“Comatose” (best song). Concluded, all ENCHANT
fans should own this CD when it’s released in the
coming weeks, although it’s not as good as their
classic ‘Blink of an eye’.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
JACK
DAISY ‘STORY’
(INDEPENDENT)
I have a dream to once visit Japan and especially Tokyo
is a place where I would want to go soon, maybe in the
next few years. The reason? Well, it’s simple,
because over there our kind of music, no matter if it is
AOR, Progressive or Power Metal, it’s all very
popular over there, with bands like ROYAL HUNT, FAIR
WARNING, STRATOVARIUS, SONATA ARCTICA etc. topping the
charts. One more reason why I want to go to Japan is the
fact that there are so many Japanese Melodic
Hardrock/Power Metalbands, and most of them sound very
good. The latest discovery is JACK DAISY! This is an
all-female band and they play Melodic Hardrock, heavier
than VIXEN, but close to the first PHANTOM BLUE. Anyway,
the 4 songs on their CD sound very impressive, the
production is high-class and the instruments are played
very well. The included tracks are quite sensational,
with as highlights the uptempo Melodic Heavy Rockers
“Stand at the fate crossroad”, “Ocean of
light” and the fast catchy Power Metal song
“Forever dream” (best song, highly melodic,
with superb guitarplay by either Miho or Kazue, and a
catchy chorus a la SONATA ARCTICA/STRATOVARIUS). The only
let-down is the Thrash-Metal song “Bright
hope”, but with such a talented demo with very
diverse songs, this is a band tow atch out for in the
future! This is really a highly recommended all-female
band from Japan! Hope to see them in action someday! More
info at: http://www.jack-daisy.com and e-mail them at: jack-daisy@geocities.co.jp
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
UFO
‘BIG
APPLE ENCOUNTERS’ (MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS)
MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS has a new CD out, a live record of
UFO. The particular concert took place in New York on the
23rd of September 1975. 11 tracks were played and this CD
gives you a good idea of how it all went down there
almost 30 years ago. Although the sound quality is not
superb, the music speaks for itself with such classic
anthem UFO rockers like “Doctor doctor”,
“Let it roll”, “Shoot shoot” and
“Rock bottom”. Any UFO fan will be pleased with
this release, which is a nice addition to the already
huge collection of UFO collectables. More info on this
and other releases on MAJESTIC ROCK at: http://www.majesticrock.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
INSANIA
‘NEVER
2L84H8’ (STF RECORDS)
There are quite a few bands called INSANIA, but this band
comes out of Germany, and their CD ‘Never
2L84H8’ is a very good debut record. The band is
playing 80s orientated Euro Melodic Metal in the style of
MAD MAX, PRETTY MAIDS, CANNON, STORMWITCH... This is
really pure 80s, even the sound, it’s like we are
back in 1985!!! Don’t think it also sounds dated,
because the 9 included tracks sound really fresh and are
very impressive. I couldn’t find a weak song among
the 9 tracks, and if you appreciate the excellent 80s
guitar orientated European Melodic Heavy Rock/Metalsound
of bands like MAD MAX, PRETTY MAIDS... then this INSANIA
is a must for you, although I must inform you that some
songs sound a bit different (like the grunts on
“Trash”). Highlights on their CD are “The
spirit is gone”, “Greed”,
“Masquerade” and “Soulless” (very
melodic). Check this band out at: http://www.insania-metal.de and e-mail them at: insania@insania-metal.de
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
ABSURD
‘DERNIERES
SOMMATIONS’ (BRENNUS RECORDS)
ABSURD is a French band and their 2nd CD is titled
‘Dernieres sommations’. They play a somewhat
typical 80s French Rock/Metal style, not far away from
TRUST. What sets them apart from the standard Metal is
that they inject into their music a sense of humour,
which is best notable when the band performs on stage.
Nevertheless, their songs still sound very professional,
and some of their songs have some really good melodies,
like “De la magie sur les tapis”, the
semi-ballad “Tout seul dans mon slip” (a la
SCORPIONS), “Casting” (uptempo melodic heavy
rocker) and “Plus rien”. Although it isn’t
as good as most other BRENNUS RECORDS releases, it’s
still a good French Rock/Metal record.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
VYNDYKATOR
‘HEAVEN
SENT FROM HELL’ (UNISOUND)
This American band features members of of ALCHEMY X,
including singer Bob Mitchell, but on this record of
VYNDYKATOR he is more screaming a la PRIEST/UDO, so this
is nothing like the Prog Metal of ALCHEMY X. The
guitarists of VYNDYKATOR are very impressive, so
instrumental it sounds perfect, but unfortunately the 6
included tracks fail to impress. This is pure 80s Metal
with a strong ACCEPT/PRIEST orientated sound, with some
80s US Power Metal influences (“Rot in the
chamber” and “Mr. Murder” a la HELSTAR),
but in the end it’s only interesting for die-hard
True Metal fans. On the other hand I respect the fact
that VYNDYKATOR is making retro 80s Metal, but it’s
not as good as I had hoped for. More info at: http://www.vyndykator.net and e-mail at: stratchen@mmgpublish.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
HEAVY
GUITARS
‘STRUCTURAL DAMAGE’ (BRENNUS RECORDS)
HEAVY GUITARS is a French duo that has released a very
good instrumental Progressive Metal album. There are 11
tracks on the CD, and for almost 50 minutes it takes you
through a journey of some lovely instrumental guitar
orientated Progressive Metal a la SYMPHONY X, DREAM
THEATER, MALMSTEEN... Songs like “Jawbreaker”,
“Prelude” and “Crusin speed” are
simply excellent! This is a must for fans of instrumental
Prog Metal!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 SHINE ‘SHINE’
(INDEPENDENT)
Out of Switzerland comes SHINE, a new Melodic
Hardrockband and their 3-track CD was produced by SHAKRA
guitarist Thomas Blunier. It’s a pity only 3 tracks
are included, because it sounds very good, like a mix
between SHAKRA, JADED HEART and FAIR WARNING. Opener
“Go away” is a great uptempo Melodic rocker,
but the absolute highlight of the disc is the fantastic
semi melodic rockballad “The way to my heart”,
which reminds me a lot of FAIR WARNING, and this song
could easily become a huge hit! The final track “Go
away” was recorded live, and is a nice uptempo
melodic rocker. Concluded, this is a new sensational
Swiss Melodic Rockband that can be added to the growing
list of great Swiss bands, such as KROKUS, GOTTHARD,
SHAKRA, CRYSTAL BALL, CRAZY SWEEPER etc. More info on
SHINE at: http://www.shine-music.ch and e-mail them at: shine_box@hotmail.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
KRLES
‘DEJTE
PLAMENUM CO HORI/TO’ (INDEPENDENT)
KRLES is one of the first bands from the Czech Republic I
get to hear and review, and must say I am impressed with
them, because their 2 CDs sound really professional. The
band has a great female lead singer called Simona
Krtenova (who sings very raw, like BETSY/BITCH), a solid
big instrumental Melodic Metalsound and strong catchy
tunes. The music is like I said Melodic Metal, with
influences from the 80s and today’s (Neo-Classical)
Power Metalstyle. Their first CD from 1999 is called
‘Dejte plamenum’, and after seeing the title
you will understand the band sings in their own language,
but that’s not a problem, because the music sounds
pretty good. Most of the songs are uptempo Melodic Heavy
Rock/Metal songs like MAIDEN meets WARLOCK/DORO. The
highlights on the first CD are “Zelezo, zlato a
hnuj”, “Krav’n’roll”,
“Notorhead”, “Esmeralda” and
“Geronimo”. The follow-up is simply titled
‘To’, and was released in 2001. The musicstyle
is still the same, so this one is also filled with great
quality uptempo Melodic Metal, with as best songs here
“To”, “Certi jciou”, “O cem vitr
zpiva”, “Kletba” and “Ostrov
dokladu”. In addition, this second CD is also better
than their debut. This band is highly recommended to fans
of Female Fronted Metal, and all Melodic Metal freaks!
More info can be found at: http://www.interdata.cz/samosprava/krles and e-mail them at: krles@interdata.cz
(Points:
Dejte Plamenum: 8.0 out of 10/To: 8.5 out of 10)
ONZA
‘ZONA
CREPUSCOLAR’ (MELLOW RECORDS)
ONZA comes out of Spain, and they have released their CD
on MELLOW RECORDS, an Italian label. They play
semi-instrumental Neo-Progressive Rock with some Jazz
elements and also other influences, like the Spanish
guitar, to make them sound different than most other
Neo-Prog bands. And I must say it sounds pretty
impressive. They remind me a bit of JADIS, and out of the
9 included tracks, the best songs are “Mi planta
Alexandra”, “Cosmologia” and “Algo
mas que un procesa”. Concluded, this is a
recommended Neo-Prog band, more info at: http://webs.ono.com/onzaweb and e-mail them at:
onzaweb@ono.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
UDO
‘NAILED
TO METAL’ (AFM RECORDS/ROCK INC.)
‘Live in Russia’ was not a complete live-album
for UDO, as most of the ACCEPT Classics were missed, and
therefore they decided to release a new Live-album titled
‘Nailed to Metal’. This new live-CD contains
about an hour of mostly ACCEPT songs, such as “Balls
to the wall”, “Restless and wild”, “Fast
as a shark”, “Metal heart” and “Holy”,
so the fans get what they want, a true Live ACCEPT record
in the shape of UDO! The sound/production is close to
perfection, so get this record a.s.a.p. if you’re a
fan of UDO/ACCEPT!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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