 IRON PAGES ‘HEAVY METAL MADE
IN GERMANY 1’ (IRON PAGES)
From the same team that brought us US Metal 1-3 also
comes HEAVY METAL MADE IN GERMANY. This book contains
about 215 pages and is not a full and complete book of
the German Metal story, as many bands are not included
(like HELLOWEEN), but a part 2 is being planned for the
near future which will contain the remaining famous
German Metalbands as well as countless other unknown
bands. The reason why not all famous bands are included
in part 1 is probably due to the fact that the authors
want to keep a possible part 2 also interesting, so
therefore offer the remaining famous bands in other
parts. Still this part 1 of HEAVY METAL MADE IN GERMANY
offers enough information on about 100 bands, ranging
from established acts like ACCEPT, BONFIRE, GAMMA RAY,
GRAVE DIGGER, KREATOR to lesser known acts like OVERDOSE,
OUTCAST, INVADER, KYMERA, CARRIE, BRESLAU, STRAIGHT
SHOOTER and many others. Just like the US Metal Books,
also this book is written in Germany and is probably just
the beginning of a series of books about German
Metalbands. The additional pictures are also interesting
to see, along with the well-written reviews. You can buy
the book at: http://www.iron-pages.de
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 JOSE LUIS GRANADO ‘LARGA VIDA AL ROCK
AND ROLL’ (INDEPENDENT)
Spain has been one of the most productive countries in
Europe when it comes to (Hard) Rock and Metalbands.
Especially the past few years so many new bands and
labels have surfaced from sunny Spain and therefore they
can easily compete with the big scenes from Sweden and
Germany nowadays. The only difference with these
countries is that Spanish bands (almost) always sing in
their own language. I haven’t got a problem with the
language barrier, but a lot of the West European
Metalfreaks refuse to listen to bands that sing in
Spanish, and that’s really a pity, because in Spain
we can find some excellent bands nowadays such as TIERRA
SANTA, AVALANCH, SARATOGA, LA FASE, SANGRE AZUL, DARNA,
MURO etc. One of the biggest fans of Spanish Rock/Metal
us JOSE LUIS GRANADO, who wrote a book on this subject.
The title of the book is ‘Large vida al rock and
roll’, named after an albumtitle of BARON ROJO. It
contains 221 pages about Spanish Rock/Metal from
1970-2002, so 32 years is discussed in the Spanish
language. The book is not as discography orientated as
most other Metalbooks, because Jose decided to make a
sort of story on Spanish Rock/Metal which includes parts
reviews, interviews and seperate stories of the decades
in the 1970-2002 period. The final 50 pages of the book
are decidated to all Spanish bands that played Hardrock,
AOR or Metal, so a complete discography here of every
Spanish band that ever released a CD, LP or 7”
Single. Those 50 pages are very easy to understand for a
non-speaking Spanish reader. However, the rest of the
book is harder to read and understand if you don’t
speak Spanish. In total there are 3 interviews with
members of bands like BARON ROJO, PANZER and AVALANCH.
The extensive discography contains 350 bands, whom
together released 88 LPs/Singles/CDs. The book is very
easy to use when you are looking for a Spanish band from
the past that played a Hardrock or Metal related style.
The stories and interviews are quite hard to read, but
for the fan of Spanish Metal this book is a total must.
If you like TIERRA SANTA, then buy this book and you will
discover how many more bands are playing in this style!
You can get a copy through: dingo-zgz@terra.es
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 SIN ‘SOMEWHERE INTO
NOWHERE’
(MTM MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
SIN is a new German/English Rockband with their debut
release on MTM MUSIC. The music is 80s influenced catchy
Melodic Rock with some AOR influences here and there. The
CD has a very big sound, while it contains 10 songs. The
band features a fantastic singer from the UK called JASON
MARKS, and his voice is very sensational. The music is
very good and right from the start you are HOOKED! Opener
“Crucified” starts the album very impressive,
because this is a prime-time catchy uptempo melodic
rocker with a lovely singable chorus. Happily, the CD
continues in this style, so actually we are listening to
a really sensational Melodic Rock/AOR record that brings
back memories of other fun summer 80s orientated AOR
music of bands like DANGER DANGER, 80s BON JOVI, SHY,
AVIATOR, ROXUS, FAIR WARNING, ROX DIAMOND... Besides the
fantastic opener “Crucified”, other highlights
are “Throwing it all away” (SUPERB UPTEMPO AOR
HEAVEN!), “All of my heart” (BIG AOR Ballad!),
“Freefalling” (catchy uptempo melodic rocker),
“Rain” (great semi AOR ballad a la FAIR
WARNING), “All or nothing” (catchy uptempo
melodic rocker) and “I know” (strong semi
melodic rocker). MTM has not released that many great
albums lately, but this SIN (Somewhere Into Nowhere) is
clearly an exception, because their album is a killer
record for fans of classy AOR/Melodic Rock!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘TRIBUTE TO VAN
HALEN’
(MTM MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
MTM MUSIC has released a tribute to VAN HALEN, which not
only includes VAN HALEN tracks from both the DAVID LEE
ROTH period and the SAMMY HAGAR period, but also songs
from both singers’ solo careers. 12 songs are
included here and such respected musicians from bands
like TNT, DOKKEN, TUFF, RATT, ENUFF Z’NUFF,
DANGEROUS TOYS, AEROSMITH etc make their appearance. Of
course this is a quality tribute, but it’s not a
must to own. However, it’s nice if you’re a VAN
HALEN fan to hear other musicians perform your favourite
VAN HALEN tunes, such as “Why can’t this be
love”, “Panama”, “There’s only
one way to rock” and “When it’s
love”.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BARON
ROJO
‘PERVERSIONES’ (ZERO RECORDS)
The legendary Spanish metalband BARON ROJO has just
released a new CD, but unfortuantely it’s not their
strongest release. It’s also not a real new
studio-album, as ‘Perversiones’ contains 16
covers (in English). They are performed very well on the
other hand, with great versions of classic Rocksongs by
RAINBOW, TED NUGENT, MICHAEL SCHENKER, JIMI HENDRIX,
BLACK SABBATH, BAD COMPANY, LED ZEPPELIN, DEEP PURPLE,
AC/DC and many others. Like I said BARON ROJO did a good
job, but I guess the real fans are waiting for a new CD
with own material, hopefully that will happen soon, a DVD
is already planned.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 IRON PAGES ‘US METAL VOLUME
1/2/3’
(IRON PAGES)
The German Fanzine/Label IRON PAGES released 3 editions
of US Metal, all of which contain different groups. To
get a good view of the once huge US Metal scene these 3
books should be bought all together, as the 3 books
together hold about 500 bands with all info there is on
them. Each book contains about 200-220 pages, so in total
a stunning 600-650 pages! Of course the well-known bands
are included, such as MEGADETH, METALLICA, FATES WARNING,
SLAYER, JAG PANZER etc. but also unknown and very rare
bands are being reviewed here, such as the obscure
KRONEN, LAWSUIT, HAVEN, MILITIA, MASQUE, DARK KNIGHT,
FORGOTTEN CHILD, STRYKEN etc. These are 3 seperate books,
so there isn’t a band mentioned twice here. The
books were written by Otger Jeske, Arno Hoffman, Stefan
Glas, Sandra Eichner and Matthias Mader, and more
importantly, they are written in German. This may hold
back the English speaking readers, but I can guarantee
you it’s still easy to understand, although for
German or Dutch people the books will be much more
interesting and easier to read. Anyway, the reviews of
the featured bands are well-written, with occasionally
some nice jokes, but above all, very informative and
after reading it you’re completely informed about
anythign related to a particular band. Each band also has
it’s complete discography mentioned, so it is easier
to learn everything about the big US Metal scene that
once (in the 1980s) ruled the world. Nowadays there
isn’t a scene anymore, but back then in California
the Metalbands were at every corner of every street (in
LA and San Francisco), although these were mostly
Party/Glam or Thrash Metalacts. The True Metalbands
originated all over the USA and Canada! I must not forget
to mention that Canadian bands are also included in these
books. Anyway, the books are especially recommended to
the die-hard 80s US Metalfreaks, also if you want to get
to know more obscure bands from that decade. You can buy
the books at: http://www.iron-pages.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
DEREK
MCDONALD
‘RECORDED HISTORY ROCK MUSIC ENCYCLOPEDIA ON
CD-ROM’ (EMPEROR MULTIMEDIA)
Canadian based Author, Music Historian and Record
Producer DEREK MCDONALD has released a CD-Room book,
consisting of 625 pages of text covering the life and
times of Rock’n’Roll from 1954-2002. The CD-Rom
has been available sicne earlier this year and covers the
unique talents of author Derek who wrote hundreds of
reviews of all sorts of bands, from Rock, Hardrock to
Metal. The CD-Rom is actually a large book, but then on
your PC screen. It was hard to include all bands and all
their releases, so don’t expect a complete
discopgraphy/biography of each band here, but more a look
at a lot of Rock and Metalbands, including for example
STRATOVARIUS, but also unknown acts. 700 album reviews
are included, 500 biographies and as an extra
there’s also a music video by ROBERT JACKSON and
additional music by bands like SNAKE EYES, BETRAYER, J.D.
BRADSHAW and DREAM OR NIGHTMARE. Most of these are rare
underground Hardrock/Metal. Anyway, the CD-Room is
available for only $10 and a new CD-Rom is already in the
mkaing, probably called ‘The polishing of
Metal’, so we look forward to that one, in the
meantime for more info go to: http://www.diskery.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SEVEN-ELEVEN
‘FIRED
BY THE SPIRIT’ (DEMO CD)
The German band SEVEN-ELEVEN released a 4-track CD titled
‘Fired by the spirit’ almost 2 years ago now.
They play a slightly modern but melodic sort of
Progressive Rock, a bit like FOR ABSENT FRIENDS here and
there. The singer has a typical German accent, but
actually it sounds pretty good here, and so are the 4
included tracks. Highlights are the very melodic tunes
“Thousand miles” and “I cannot
believe”. Check out this band for yourself at: http://www.seven-11.de and e-mail them at: Hartmut.Schielke@t-online.de
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
TRIZNA
‘NEED
FOR SPEED’ (RUSSIAN IMPORT)
Out of Russia comes TRIZNA. They play 80s influenced
catchy Melodic Rock, but due to the fact they have a very
average lead singer, their CD ‘Need for speed’
is not really interesting. Instrumental it all sounds
fine, although it’s melodic rock by the book, some
of the songs are quite catchy (such as “1”,
“2”, “6” and “7”). The
average lead vocals however are spoiling things a bit
here. In fact the band reminds me of the German bands
circa the late 80s that all tried to make this kind of
melodic rock, but failed completely. The 2 ABBA covers
are also making this record less interesting. Only
recommended to die-hard melodic rockfans who don’t
mind weaker vocals. You can buy the CD at www.metal-cd.ru
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
MASK
‘THE
ANCIENT ILLUSION’ (MUSIC TERM JAPAN)
Out of Japan comes MASK, a great Melodic Heavy
Rock/Metalact. Their CD ‘The ancient illusion’
is a very strong pure 80s influenced Melodic Metalalbum.
There’s some really fantastic keyboard and
guitarwork on the CD, while also the vocals aren’t
that bad, maybe not as good as European/American acts,
but nevertheless good enough for a Japanese band. Some of
the 12 songs are really great, such as the fantastic
songs “The day of dead”, “Dance with
time”, “Dream magic” and “Woman in
blood”. It’s not as good as CONCERTO MOON or
LOUDNESS, but still recommended to those who are into
Japanese Hardrock/Metal. More info at: http://homepage2.nifty.com/maskedmusic and e-mail them at: icd36508@nifty.com or maskedcircus@yahoo.co.jp
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
TUBLATANKA
’20
ROCKOV’ (SONY MUSIC/BONTON SLOVAKIA)
TUBLATANKA is a legendary band in Slovakia, where they
are HUGE! They have been active for 20 years now, and
released about 12 albums in that period. This CD ’20
Rockov’ is a best of album with songs taken from
their released albums. Although in Slovakia people might
find this album not that interesting, in the rest of the
world this CD is the best way to learn about this awesome
band. It’s incredible how good these guys really
were (and still are!), because this CD contains 21 great
tunes that fall almost all in the Melodic Metal style.
Especially the 80s songs are very N.W.O.B.H.M.
orientated, such as the awesome fast “Skusime to cez
vesmir”, but there’s also a lot of Melodic
Heavy/Hard Rock material included, as well as some
ballads. Most important is that from start to finish this
CD is high quality stuff and I am very glad the band
never really changed and always played Melodic
Hardrock/Metal, although the later tunes showed some
modern influences. The band reminds me a lot of DIVLJE
JAGODE, which was one of the best Yugoslavian bands ever!
Back to TUBLATANKA, some of the highlights on this best
of CD are “Judas”, “Pravda vitazi”,
“Demon pomsty”, “Bez tvojej lasky”,
“Stojim, padam”, “Znova sam v
uliciach” and “Stupam”. If you never heard
of TUBLATANKA, then this is the CD to purchase. Fore more
info go to: http://www.tublatanka.sk
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ZARDANADAM
‘ZARDANADAM/KORSAN’ (INDEPENDENT)
A melodic hardrockband from Turkey! Yes it’s really
the truth and they are actually quite good, although the
lyrics are also in the Turkish language. The band’s
first same titled album was released 2 years ago. The
album contains 6 tracks and musically is very melodic
rock orientated. The best songs are uptempo rockers like
“Tamambocegi”, “Gidiyorum”,
“Sebep” and “Hersey gibi”. Their 2nd
CD from 2002 is titled ‘Korsan’ and the first
song “Kucuk sirin bir cuma aksami” is a great
catchy uptempo
melodic rocker. The uptempo rockers show ZARDANADAM at
their very best, while the slower songs are weaker.
Besides the opening track, other highlights include
“Hepsi hepsi hayat nasil olsa” (fantastic
catchy uptempo melodic rocker), “Boyle demisli
ruzgar” (great semi melodic heavy rocker),
“Mayis” (uptempo melodic rocker, pure 80s riff,
WHITE LION/DEFLEPPARD), “Ayip” (uptempo melodic
rocker once again) and “Saris inlar boktur”
(another catchy uptempo melodic rocker). This is really a
good band, although the language barrier might be a
problem for some of us, but melodic rockfans can easily
check out ZARDANADAM at: http://www.zardanadam.com and e-mail them at: zardanadam@hotmail.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
DARK
FORTRESS ‘LIGHT
AND DARKNESS’ (INDEPENDENT)
Although the CD was released 3 years ago, it was never
discussed on our pages, so here a review from our side.
DARK FORTRESS is a German band and their CD ‘Light
and darkness’ contains 12 tracks. Musically they
play typical German Power Metal/Melodic Heavy Rock with
raw vocals. They remind me a bit of a heavier GRAVE
DIGGER, so actually this is pure raw Heavy Metal like
only Germans are able to produce. The best songs on the
CD are “Tell me why”, “No flowers on your
grave” and “Was du Willst”. The band is
currently working on new songs, for more info go to: http://www.Dark-Fortress.de and e-mail them at: info@dark-fortress.de
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
SOMNIATOR
‘MASTER
OF DREAMS’ (INDEPENDENT)
Sometime ago I reviewed a demo of the band SOMNIATOR, but
now they have released a full-length CD titled
‘Master of dreams’. Everything looks very
professional and the music is catchy typical Euro Power
Metal. 8 songs are included, and the first couple of
songs are just nice, but with the fantastic song
“Just one reason” SOMNIATOR has got a true
winner on their hands, as this song is really awesome
fast catchy melodic Power Metal. Other highlights on the
CD are “Faith of Pharaoh” (great Melodic Heavy
Rock) and “Eye of hurricane” (Power/Prog
Metal). Although not all songs are convincing, this
surely is a quality band from Brazil, and for more info
you should go to: http://www.somniator.hpg.com.br and e-mail them at: somniator@starplace.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BLACK’N’BLUE
‘BLACK’N’
BLUE’ (MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS)
In 1984 this LA band released it’s debut and almost
20 years later their same titled first album is still
their best effort. The band was seen as another typical
LA Glam Metalband, but that debut album was not pure Glam
Metal, because the 5 boys rocked harder than any other LA
band at that time. The ‘Metal’ production by
DIETER DIERKS (SCORPIONS/ACCEPT) gave the band a diferent
touch than LA bands like CRUE and RATT, although I need
to add here that CRUE and RATT both were in the same vein
as BLACK’N’BLUE on their first couple of
albums. Anyway, BLACK’N’BLUE somehow had a
harder edge (think of early TWISTED SISTER, ICON or a
regular NWOBHM act from around 81: even RAVEN comes to
mind!) and the 10 songs on their debut album were the
living proof. The sound was big and catchy, but still
pretty rocking, with such classic anthems like “The
strong will rock”, “Autoblast”, “Hold
on to 18” and “Chains around heaven” (that
even landed a spot on the ‘Metal Massacre Volume
1’ compilation that gave birth to bands like
METALLICA and RATT!). Anyway, it’s great to hear
that fantastic debut album of BLACK’N’BLUE
again, now re-released on CD by MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS.
This is a very underrated album that should actually be
heard by both Glam and Metalfans, because it brings out
the best of both styles, although not many people will
like both genres this first BLACK’N’BLUE record
is the perfect mixture!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
BLACK’N’BLUE
‘WITHOUT
LOVE’ (MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS)
MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS managed to re-release the first 4
records by BLACK’N’BLUE, and of course their
debut is their finest release, but also ‘Without
love’ has it’s moments’. The style however
was a slight change with the late LOVERBOY (and later BON
JOVI) producer BRUCE FAIRBAIRN who gave
BLACK’N’BLUE a typical North American
Rocksound, so with big harmonyvocals and a straight
rocksound. ‘Without love’ has nothing to offer
for Metalfans, so it is far removed from their
‘Metal’ orientated debut CD from 1984.
Originally released in 1985, and now re-released by
MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS, this album was a mainstream US
Melodic Rockrecord that sounded like a cross between mid
1980s DEF LEPPARD and a rockier LOVERBOY. There were some
really awesome Melodic Rocksongs on the album, such as
“Rockin’ on heaven’s door” (DEF
LEPPARD CHORUS!), “Without love” and “Miss
Mystery” (midtempo, almost AOR!), but some of the
last 5 tracks (like “Two wrongs” and
“Swing time”) had not much to offer, so
compared to their classy debut, this album was not
perfect all the way, but had its ups and downs.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
BLACK’N’BLUE
‘NASTY
NASTY’ (MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS)
BLACK’N’BLUE guitarist Tommy Thayer is
currently KISS guitarist, not bad for someone who counted
KISS as his heroes when he was just a kid in the 1970s.
Anyway, the 1980s brough him some fame with
BLACK’N’BLUE, although the band never reached
the success of bands like RATT, CRUE or DEF LEPPARD. The
third album ‘Nasty nasty’ saw them moving more
into midtempo Rock’n’roll like a mix between
DEF LEPPARD and AC/DC, with some KISS thrown in for good
measure. The production by GENE SIMMONS was of course
good, but it’s a pity he co-wrote a few songs,
because the mid/late 1980s were a very bad musical period
of Mr. KISS (just listen to his horrible KISS songs of
that period!), and so the first 3 songs on this record
are nothing special. It gets so much better when
BLACK’N’BLUE writes their own songs, such as
the fast uptempo Metalsong (yes you read that well!)
“Kiss of death”. Other highlights are “12
O’clock high”, “Do what you wanna
do”, “Rules” and the JONATHAN CAIN (from
JOURNEY) penned midtempo AOR Ballad “I’ll be
there for you” (they sound like HONEYMOON SUITE on
this song, never heard so many keys on a
BLACK’N’BLUE song!). Concluded, this CD saw the
boys making a record with about 6 really good songs, but
also 3 average tracks (the first 3 GENE SIMMONS
co-written tunes).
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BLACK’N’BLUE ‘IN HEAT’
(MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS)
The 4th and final BLACK’N’BLUE album ‘In
heat’ saw the band again using GENE SIMMONS for the
production and co-songwriting job. It’s definitely
not the band’s strongest album, because the album
has a very big GENE SIMMONS touch, which just wasn’t
good at that time. The man wrote some Classic KISS songs,
but actually had his last real good song on the KISS
record ‘Creatures of the night’ (“I LOVE
IT LOUD”), so his interference on another
BLACK’BLUE album was really a pity, because the band
sounded so much better without him. Nevertheless,
‘In heat’ is still a nice typical 80s Rockalbum
(especially for KISS fans), but if you really want to
hear some great stuff of BLACK’N’BLUE, then
check out their debut CD. I hope MAJESTIC ROCK RECORDS is
also able to release some of the unreleased early demo
stuff of this underrated band. In the meantime, check out
the 4 CDs released by MAJESTIC ROCK at: http://www.majesticrock.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
MCCOY ‘BRAINSTORM’
(ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
Bassist John McCoy is best known as GILLAN member, but he
also released a bunch of records under the moniker MCCOY.
‘Brainstorm’ is one of these albums, a very
diverse record that contains Hardrock, AOR, and
instrumental soundtrack pieces. Among the musicians we
can find drummers Michael Sciotto and Bobby Rondinelli,
both also known for countless other sessionjobs. This
MCCOY offers 15 tracks, of which the highlights can be
found in the shape of “On and on” (midtempo AOR
ballad a la FOREIGNER), “I know a place” (very
catchy uptempo melodic heavy rocker), “Don’t
walk away” (AOR rocker a la FM/SHY), “Save
me” (ZINATRAish 80s Melodic Rock), “Tarot
cards” (pure 80s fun keyboard driven uptempo
AOR/FM-Rocker) and “Bad Luck” (early 80s
NWOBHM!). The last 4 tracks are actually recordings for
horror movie soundtracks, so semi-instrumental epic
pieces based on bass, keys and drums, very different from
the rest of this CD which was clearly more fun
AOR/FM-Rock orientated, but still a song like
“Disillusioned” is a nice calmer ballad. I can
really recommend this CD to AOR fans, although
MCCOY/GILLAN fans should also grab this album a.s.a.p.!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BERNIE
TORME
‘LIVE SHEFFIELD 1983’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
Guitarist BERNIE TORME is best known as GILLAN member,
but he also released some solo-albums, of which this
live-album is one of them. The included music is not
really straight Hard Rock, more a heavier version of 60s
Rock (a la THE STONES, THE WHO and THE STOOGES), with
occasionally a more Hard Rock inspired song (“Turn
out the lights” and “No easy way”). If you
count THE ROLLING STONES or HANOI ROCKS to your favourite
bands, then this TORME might be right up your alley,
because this is the same kind of Sleazy 60s
Rock’n’roll. The sound quality isn’t that
good, but I guess TORME fans can easily check out this
live album.
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
SEVENTH
HEAVEN ‘SO
CRUEL’ (DEMO CDR)
Out of Japan comes SEVENTH HEAVEN, a female fronted
Melodic Heavy Rockband that sent me a 3-track CD. The
sound is very impressive, and so are the 3 songs. Opener
“So cruel” is a midtempo melodic heavy rocker.
Next track is a catchy uptempo melodic rocker a la VIXEN,
while closing track “Still alive” is fast
classy Euro Neo-Classical Power Metal. So, 3 great songs
with a big sound/production, in other words another high
quality band from Japan! More info at: http://www.geocities.co.jp/MusicStar-Keyboard/5502/ and e-mail them at: ceddie1907@hotmail.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THERE
‘WE
ARE’ (WHAT’S NEXT RECORDS)
This American band has got an own sound which is a
mixture of Doom Metal and Classic Hardrock, ending up
sounding like a mix between BLACK SABBATH and THIN LIZZY,
yet not of such a high level, but influences clearly are
from those 70s Rock/Hardrockbands. The production of
their new CD ‘There we are’ is very good and
the original sound of THERE is pure 70s with a very heavy
groovy guitarsound. This CD was recorded live and sounds
very professional. Highlights are “All over for
you” (Typical 70s US Rock), the Doom Metal songs
“The flow”, “Snowblind” and
“Ransak”. There are also some LED ZEPPELIN
influences here and there, and even KISS similarities can
be heard (although not much, more in the guitarsound this
is notable). Anyway, a nice quality record recommended to
fans of 70s Hardrock. More info at: http://www.thererock.com and e-mail them at: sayjim@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
LISA
COPPOLA
‘A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME’ (ANY OTHER NAME
RECORDS)
From New Jersey comes singer LISA COPPOLA, a girl with a
strong voice, but unfortunately her music is way too soft
for the rockers among us. Songs like “Take my
heart”, “Simon’s kiss”, “Leave
me here” and “You were mine” (DEPARTURE
song which Lisa co-wrote) are nice light-weight
poprockers, but actually this is more a Countrypopalbum a
la SHERYL CROW, so not really interesting for readers of
our site, but the girl can sing alright, but maybe some
more electric guitar next time? Anyway, check out the
site at: http://www.lisacoppola.com and e-mail them at: anyothernamemusic@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
BARON
ROJO ‘BARON
EN AQUALUNG’ (ZERO RECORDS)
This is a double-live CD of the legendary Spanish band
BARON ROJO. In their homecountry they are really huge,
and this live-double CD proves that they are very good
indeed in bringing classic 80s Hardrock/Metal that
inspired hundreds of new bands in playing this very
popular style in Spain. They were one of the first to
play European Hardrock/Metal with influences from the
English and American bands, with vocals in Spanish.
Nowadays bands like AVALANCH, SARATOGA, TIERRA SANTA, NU,
MURO and many more are also very popular in Spain, but
back in the 1980s BARON ROJO started this new style for
Spain. The 2 Live discs of ‘Baron en aqualung’
contain 24 of the best tracks BARON ROJO made the past
20+ years. Highlights are “Breathoven”,
“20+” (great melodic rocker), “Te espero
en el infierno”, “Concierto para ellos”,
“Dame la oportunidad” (great midtempo melodic
rocker), “Cneste lo que cneste”, “Siempra
estas alle” (ballad) and “Resistere”. Some
of the uptempo melodic heavy rockers remind me of Y AND
T, but there are some negative marks to be made here, as
BARON ROJO uses Trumpets sometimes that sadly disturb
about 6 songs. Nevertheless this CD proves that BARON
ROJO still belong to the top of Spanish Hardrock/Metal!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 JANNE STARK ‘THE ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF SWEDISH HARD ROCK AND HEAVY METAL VOLUME 2’
(PREMIUM PUBLISHING)
Sweden is one of the leading countries when it comes down
to quality AOR, Hardrock and Heavy Metal. It all started
for the Swedish musicbusiness with ABBA in the 1970s, a
legendary Popband that became one of the most popular
bands in the whole world, and soon after in the 1980s
EUROPE and MALMSTEEN became the icons of the Swedish
Rock/Hardrockscene. In the mid 1980s both were at the
absolute top, with EUROPE being number one all over the
world with their smash hit “The final
countdown” and YNGWIE MALMSTEEN getting ready to
take over Japan, where he reached superstardom in the
early 1990s where he sold millions of records making him
a Guitar God in the land of the rising sun which still
continues. EUROPE however never reached the incredible
success they achieved in the 1980s, but they were very
important for all the other new Swedish bands that would
follow in the footsteps of this legendary Swedish band.
It’s
amazing how many bands followed, some names I can mention
are TREAT, DALTON, DAVINCI, TALISMAN, HAMMERFALL,
STORMWIND, DREAM EVIL, ALIEN, NARNIA, SUPREME MAJESTY,
NOCTURNAL RITES, STREET TALK, BAD HABIT etc. etc. All
these bands (and many more!) were somehow influenced in
the 1980s and 1990s by the likes of EUROPE and MALMSTEEN,
with the result that the past 10 years many new bands in
the Neo-Classical Melodic Metal genre emerged from
Sweden, while in the 1980s many AOR/Melodic Rock bands
were formed after the success of EUROPE. The best way to
discover how big the Swedish Hardrock/Metal scene really
is can be read in this fantastic book by JANNE STARK.
Volume 1 was released a couple of years ago, but since
then lots of new stuff has been released, so therefore a
new volume. Not only AOR/Melodic Rock, Neo-Classical and
Progressive Rockbands, but also Death/Black/Thrash and
any other related Hardrock and Heavy Metal genre is
included here, so you get a total view of the big Swedish
Hardrock and Heavy Metalscene. The book is written in
rather simple English, so all non-English speaking people
will easily understand the words.
The
book is a real encyclopedia, so the bands are discussed
in the A-Z format, with the complete discography of each
band, so the 7”, mini, LP, CD etc. are all mentioned
with every band. Also the line-up and a brief story on
each band, with the inclusion of possible references to
other bands/projects the members of the particular band
are/were involved. In other words, this is the ultimate
book to learn about all there is to know about the
Swedish Hardrock/Metalscene. The informative pages are
filled up with exclusive pictures of the bands and
CD/LP-covers, so it all looks very nice and is really a
pleasure to read. JANNE STARK, who is also a member of
the Swedish Hardrockband LOCOMOTIVE BREATH, did a
fantastic job once again and I can easily call this the
ultimate book about a country that has brought us so much
awesome music, thumb up for this book! The book also
features an additional exclusive bonus CD with great
unreleased tracks by TALISMAN, MALMSTEEN, EUROPE etc. So
that’s another reason why you should buy a copy of
this excellent book! More info can be found at: http://www.jannestark.com The ISBN-number of the
book is 91-89136-13-6, so with this number you should be
able to purchase this book through your local bookstore.
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
CRYME
‘SCENE
OF THE CRYME’ (PAINKILLER RECORDS)
CRYME comes out of Belgium and it’s great to see
there is finally a good new band from the country that
didn’t brought us many good Hardrock/Metalbands in
the past. CRYME is an exception, and their debut CD
‘Scene of the cryme’ is a good old fashioned
80s American orientated Melodic Hard/Heavy
Rock/Metalalbum with some slight modern touches, but
mainly this is a classy Hardrock/Metal inspired album,
not unlike DIO, BLUE MURDER, 90s Y AND T, HURRICANE, but
sadly also other influences can be heard, so read on...
The first song “Midnight sun” is a very good
uptempo Melodic Heavy Rocker with good vocals and a
strong chorus. Next tune “Razor edge” and also
“Blood sweat and tears” and “Crocodile
pit” are a bit weaker (with the aggressive vocals
reminding me of PANTERA), but the band’s diversity
in styles is continued on the rest of the CD, with ups
and downs. Besides the great opener “Midnight
sun”, other highlights are “Just another
tale” (very good semi melodic rockballad with
excellent vocals, reminds me of late 80s US bands like
TESLA/LILLIAN AXE), “Sweetest crime” (good
midtempo melodic heavy rocker), “You won’t last
any long” (awesome midtempo melodic heavy rocker a
la WHITESNAKE!) and “Gone but not forgotten”
(nice bluesy groovy Hardrock). A song like “Moskow
girls” is another change in style as this is typical
80s Metal with a simple chorus. Besides the 3 already
mentioned PANTERA type of songs, also the Grungy
“Detoxicated” is a weaker song, so not the
whole CD is interesting, but nevertheless this is still a
quality record. I hope they drop the PANTERAish songs
next time, because they are able to make some really
great music. More info at: http://www.painkiller-records.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
QUARTERMASS
2 ‘LONG
ROAD’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
This is somewhat a legendary band, as the English band
QUARTERMASS was formed in 1969 and had their fifteen
minutes of fame during the early 1970s with a few
Progressive Rockalbums (a la PROCOL HARUM), but now 30
years later a new version of the band has emerged with as
only original member drummer MICK UNDERWOOD. This new
version also includes former DEEP PURPLE bassist Nick
Simper and 2 ‘younger’ skilled musicians called
guitarist Gary Davis and vocalist/guitarist Bart Foley
(who has a great voice by the way). I never heard the
early 1970s records of QUARTERMASS, but I guess they
sound different than the stuff we hear on this CD,
because ‘Long road’ is a good Rockalbum that
has elements of AOR, Classic Rock and Boogie Rock mixed
into one melting pot.
Sometimes
it even reminds me of URIAH HEEP, yet a bit less rockier
here and there, and maybe a comparison to the better
stuff of BLUE OYSTER CULT (“Don’t fear the
reaper” type of songs) or 38 SPECIAL is also
notable. In other words, this is not a Hardrockalbum, but
for the AOR fans it might be interesting to check out,
because the first couple of songs are actually pure 80s
type of AOR tunes such as “Prayer for the
dying”, “Good day to die” and
“Suicide blonde”, songs with good vocals,
hooks, catchy choruses and great guitarsolos, all very
melodic and even SURVIVORish! Other highlights are
“River” (great semi AOR ballad a la 38
SPECIAL), “Woman in love” (semi bluesy melodic
rockballad like RAINBOW meets WHITESNAKE, yet a bit
calmer) and “Coming home” (uptempo
AOR/Mainstream rocker, very 80s, a bit like STRANGER
circa their 1982 debut). As special guest we can welcome
DON AIREY who provides some great keyboardwork on this
album. In the end I can only conclude that this is really
a great AOR album with the feeling of 70s Classic Rock,
especially recommended to the AOR fans!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
BARON
ROJO ‘VEINTE
+’ (ZERO RECORDS)
The legendary Spanish band BARON ROJO released their
debut in 1981, which sold 100,000 copies in Spain, so
therefore the band already had reached a huge popularity
right from the start in their homecountry. Now 20 years
later the band is still alive and very popular in Spain,
with ‘Veinte +’ being their latest studio CD.
The CD picks up the sound created on the previous
records, so classy 80s Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal a la Y
AND T, yet with Spanish lyrics. 12 songs are included.
The best songs are “Sigue” (a great uptempo
melodic heavy rocker), “Vendiendo El Juicio
Final” (great uptempo Melodic Metal),
“Salvavidas” (nice semi-ballad), “Veinte
+” (the titletrack and a great catchy uptempo
melodic rocker) and “La Zona Siniestra” (yet
another great uptempo melodic rocker). Most of the songs
sound quite good, only “Famosas” is weaker Funk
HR a la EXTREME, with even some trumpets, but in general
this is a good Spanish Metalalbum, although I think the
newer acts like TIERRA SANTA, SARATOGA, AVALANCH etc. are
better than these older rockers.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SAXON
‘DIAMONDS
AND NUGGETS’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
This is really a great and interesting SAXON CD, as it
contains some very rare work of the legendary UK
Metalband. This CD contains songs which can not be found
on the regular albums of the band and still it sounds
like a pure SAXON record! The sound quality is also very
good, so all SAXON fans MUST get a copy of this CD
a.s.a.p.! The CD contains rare live recordings,
unreleased studio tracks and very rare demo tracks from
the pre-SAXON period. In total you get 19 songs, with a
total playing length of more than 70 minutes! Highlights
include such rare live versions of “Midnight
rider” and “Stallions of the highway” and
great unreleased typical SAXON tunes like “Turn out
the lights”, “Coming to the rescue”,
“Stand up and be counted”, “Make ‘em
rock” and “Still fit to
rock’n’roll”. Also included is the first
song (“Walking”) SAXON ever recorded, way back
in 1972! And the extensive inside liner notes are very
nice to read, so concluded, a must for SAXON fans!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘G5
SUMMIT: MAXIMUM VELOCITY’
(FOSSIL RECORDS)
This compilation CD shows that there’s a lot of
talented guitarists wandering around in the USA. 5
different guitarists from all over the USA recorded
several songs for this CD, on which we can find in total
17 tracks. Most of the songs are instrumental, except for
the fantastic midtempo Progressive Melodic Rocker
“Eye to eye”by WAYNE EDWARDS that reminds me of
80s QUEENSRYCHE/CRIMSON GLORY. Further this is a great
compilation featuring awesome instrumental Hardrock,
Melodic Rock, Progressive Rock/Metal and Melodic Metal.
The other guitarists are CHRIS HATTINGH, ADAM PUCHALSKI,
MARK SCHUSTER and JIM REINDEL who all deliver great
instrumental tunes. Guitarfreaks should check out this CD
a.s.a.p., more info at: http://www.fossilrecords.net and e-mail them at: g5_summit@yahoo.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
DREAMSHIP ‘ANCESTRAL
VOYAGE’ (INDEPENDENT)
The interesting thing about this CD is the fact that the
2 members of DREAMSHIP never met each other! They live
about 2,000 miles apart from each other, but succeeded in
the first complete album composed, arranged, produced,
recorded, mixed and mastered entitely via the internet.
The members of DREAMSHIP are called Timothy Martin (keys,
guitars, vocals, drums) and Ed Schaum (guitars) and
toegther they made this epic CD titled ‘Ancestral
voyage’. Musically it is not too heavy, but pure 70s
influenced (Neo) Progressive Rock that combines elements
of YES, ELP and ALAN PARSONS PROJECT. The CD is a trip
through the nature with atmospheric and ethnic songs that
still fall in the Progressive Rockstyle. The album is
divided in 5 parts, starting with the “Ancestral
voyage” and ending with “Final
destination”. This is definitely a unique album that
bursts out with quality music, recommended to fans of
calmer Progrock. More info at: http://www.dreamship.org
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
CATERPILLAR
‘CATERPILLAR’
(INDEPENDENT)
Multi-instrumentalist THOMAS LANDAUER from Austria is
also a member of STILETTO, a Hardrockband we reviewed
sometime ago, but in the meantime he also does some solo
stuff. The solo-CD he released is called CATERPILLAR, and
it shows on 8 tracks the skills of this talented musician
who plays guitar, bass, keys and drums on this record.
Without a doubt, this is a quality record, recommended to
fans of instrumental melodic rockmusic, although there
are also come calmer parts on the record with the
acoustic guitar. The CD takes up to 30 minutes, so not
really long, but nevertheless interesting for
guitarfreaks. For more info, e-mail at: thomas.landauer@chello.at
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BORGOGNA
‘PROMO
2003’ (DEMO CDR)
Out of Italy comes BORGOGNA, a new Melodic Hardrockband.
They play a late 80s/early 90s American orientated fun
uptempo melodic rockstyle a la DANGER DANGER, FIREHOUSE,
TYKETTO... The 3 songs on their first demo CDR are very
good. The demo starts with the catchy uptempo melodic
rocker “Dirty roses” that leaves you with a
positive feeling and brings back fond memories of the
days when bands like FIREHOUSE, DANGER DANGER, DOKKEN,
STRYPER, DAMN YANKEES were huge in the USA. Next track
“All your love” is another great hookladen
uptempo melodic rocker and closing track “Sweet
regina” is a strong uptempo melodic Hardrocksong.
The band has a good lead singer, and the sound of their
demo is very good (both the production and instrumental),
so I can easily recommend this band to all the Melodic
Rockfans. More info at: http://www.borgogna.it and e-mail them at: pierpaolo@buzzi.it
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
JUGLANS
REGIA
‘PRISMA’ (INDEPENDENT)
This Italian band started in the early 90s as a NWOBHM
band, but nowadays they are more a Melodic Progressive
Hardrockband. Their CD ‘Prisma’ contains 5
well-written songs that fall somewhere between
Progressive Rock and Melodic Rock, with a touch of Prog.
Metal here and there. The keyboards are very important
for the sound of JUGLANDS REGIA, so they have a Symphonic
touch and most of the songs are uptempo (and very good
actually). Highlights are “Respira”,
“Pioniera” and “L’ombra”.
Concluded, this is a highly interesting Italian band that
might attract both ProgRockfans and Melodic rockfans.
Check them out at: http://www.juglansregia.com and e-mail them at: max@juglansregia.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 TOMORROW’S EVE ‘MIRROR OF
CREATION’ (SOURCE OF DELUGE RECORDS)
A few years ago we were surprised by the release of the
fantastic debut CD of the German band TOMORROW’S
EVE. Now the band has released a new CD titled
‘Mirror of creation’ and I can easily call this
a PROG METAL HEAVEN album that is as good as VANDENPLAS,
SILENT EDGE and DREAM THEATER. This album is SUPER HIGH
QUALITY from the start until the finish. The CD has a
playing length of more than 70 minutes and is really
perfect if you enjoy bands like VANDENPLAS, THRESHOLD,
SYMPHONY X and ENCHANT. The songs are long and very
melodic, with typical Prog. Metal instrumental passages,
but also lovely melodic hooks and choruses, very much
like VANDENPLAS, yet still with an own identity. The band
has a very good lead singer, Rouven Bitz, and to me this
is a record that is easily a MUST, because it is really
perfect! Highlights can be found all throughout the CD,
with as true winners “If eyes turn blind”,
“Lost”, “New orders” (SUPERB, a bit
like SYMPHONY X) and “Point of no return”.
Every Prog. Metal fan should save their money, pass on
all the other releases and go buy this CD instantly!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
SION
‘PRISMA’
(INDEPENDENT)
This is a band from Argentina, and they sent me 2 CDs.
Their untitled CD contains 80s Thrash, not really
interesting, instrumental very good, but vocally not
good. The other CD is titled ‘Prisma’ and this
is a very nice calm instrumental Jazz/Fusion/Prog record.
10 tracks are included, and although this will only
attract the open-minded Prog fan, because it is sometimes
pure Jazz, I like this record for the late nights. But I
guess it’s best when you check this band out for
yourself at: http://sion.band.net.ar and e-mail them at: bsion@radar.com.ar
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 DOMAIN ‘THE SIXTH
DIMENSION’ (POINT MUSIC)
The German Melodic Rockband DOMAIN returns with a new CD
release, their 6th I think. ‘The sixth
dimension’ sounds very good and is maybe their best
effort. The production is huge and some of the songs are
really catchy melodic rockers. This is a pure Melodic
(Hard) Rockalbum with strong 80s influences and some
great guitarplay. 13 tracks are included, opener
“World gone crazy” is a good midtempo melodic
rocker a la JADED HEART. Next track “Your favourite
curse” is a very catchy uptempo melodic rocker (a la
early BON JOVI), with a fantastic guitarsolo and a lovely
memorable chorus. “King’s tears” is a very
different kind of song, but still very good, it’s a
bit Folk-Metal, very much like BLIND GUARDIAN/MAGA DE OZ.
Then comes the ballad “One perfect moment”, not
such a strong ballad, but well enough to listen to,
although the BON JOVI ‘Bed of Roses” comparison
is quite clear here, but I also hear some STAN BUSH in
this tune. “Burning red” is faster uptempo
melodic heavy rocker like MAD MAX, PRETTY MAIDS and a
slight LABYRINTH/RHAPSODY touch in the instrumental
keyboard/guitar approach. The diversity continues all
throughout the CD and this makes the new DOMAIN record
their best album and also a much recommended piece!
Besides “Your favourite curse” and
“Burning red”, other highlights are
“Skylighter”, “Young hearts can fly”
and “Talk to the wind” (a good GLENN HUGHES
imitation here!). Concluded, this is a very strong DOMAIN
record which is recommended to all fans of true Melodic
Hardrock/Metal.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 SILVER ‘INTRUDER’
(GERMUSICA/POINT MUSIC)
This
is already the third CD of the German/UK project SILVER,
an all-star line-up once again with many well-known
musicians like DON AIREY, BOB DAISLEY, MICHAEL VOSS, GARY
BARDEN, BERNIE TORME and TOMMY DENANDER. Most of these
names will ring a bell with the fans of Classic Hardrock
and together they have recorded a big sounding Classic
Hardrockalbum that sometimes reminds me a bit of BRAZEN
ABBOTT and HUGHES/TURNER PROJECT, yet nowhere as good as
those 2 giants of Classic Hardrock! 11 songs are
included, and although not all songs are strong enough to
be remembered, it’s still a quality Hardrockalbum.
Highlights are “Troublemaker” (midtempo melodic
rocker, late 80s style), “Drowning” (good
AORish chorus), “Kismet” (this is more like it,
Classy uptempo AOR/Hardrock, best song by far!) and
“I don’t love you anymore” (semi AOR
Rocker). We can also find some very disappointing songs
on the album, such as “Dance with the devil”,
“Bleed”, “Come on” (way too simple!)
and “How does it feel”. I had actually hoped
for something better from such a handfull of highly
skilled musicians, but on the other hand it’s a good
quality record, a little played on safe and with no real
sensational pieces, but enough to have a listen if
you’re a fan of one of the members.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
THE
GUARDIAN
‘DRAGONLAND’ (INDEPENDENT)
There’s a Belgium Metalscene starting to grow, with
recent bands like CRUSADER and CRYME releasing good
quality CD and now it’s time for THE GUARDIAN. They
play pure 80s Melodic Hardrock/Metal with influences from
SAXON and KILLER. Vocally it seems like the band has 2
lead singers, a raw and more melodic clean vocalist,
because first track “Dragonland” is a great
Melodic Metal piece with good vocals, while second track
“Lords of eternity” is much rawer and a bit
standard Metal. However the liner notes said that the
band only has 1 lead singer (Guitarist Luke Lambregts),
so he is probably able to sing at different levels, but I
prefer the higher vocal range which he is easily able to
sing quite easily. Anyway, highlights on the CD are such
great Melodic Metal tracks like “See me
coming”, “Cross the swords”,
“Dreaming” (lovely song) and “Never
again”. Without a doubt, this is a pretty good album
from a Belgium Metalact. If you enjoy the likes of
KILLER, SAXON, TYGERS OF PANG TANG, PICTURE etc. then you
will like this THE GUARDIAN a lot I think! More info at:
http://www.theguardian.be/ and e-mail them at: luke.lambregts@pandora.be
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
JRS ‘LOSS FOR
WORDS’ (FOSSIL RECORDS)
Multi-instrumentalist JEFFREY RYAN SMOOTS has a new CD
out titled ‘Loss for words’. The album is
filled with high class instrumental Progressive Melodic
Rock with a ProgMetal touch here and there. It all sounds
very impressive and the fact that Jeffrey did everything
on his own is making this CD even more interesting. Songs
like “Unearthly ambition”, “King
lerxst” and “Zeta principle” are great
instrumental Progressive Melodic rockers. Every
guitarfreak should check out this awesome CD at: http://www.jrsmoots.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THE
MYSTERY ‘FACING
THE STORM’ (THUNDER RECORDS)
Out of Germany comes THE MYSTERY, a great female fronted
melodic hardrock/metalband. They have a good lead singer
(Denise Olbrich), the production is impressive, the
artwork looks professional and the included 12 songs are
very good, so everything together this is a real quality
CD. The best songs are such great uptempo melodic heavy
rockers like “Facing the storm”,
“1.000.000 light years away”, “Hells
gate” and “Tell me whether”. Also quite
good is the midtempo melodic rockers “Broken”
and “Would you forgive” that both even remind
me of EVANESCENCE! However, mostly this pure 80s inspired
band reminds me of DORO, TWYSTER, CHARISMA, BACKSLASH,
ROUGH and that type of typical German Female Fronted
Melodic HR/Metal. If you enjoy good strong female fronted
melodic hardrock/metal, then check out this band at: http://www.the-mystery.de where you can order
their CD and e-mail them at: alex@the-mystery.de
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BROKEN
HOME
‘BROKEN HOME’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
BROKEN HOME was formed in the late 1970s by former
members of the UK band MR. BIG. Their debut album was
produced by MUTT LANGE, who scored massive with his
productions of DEF LEPPARD, AC/DC, BRYAN ADAMS, CITY BOY,
HUEY LEWIS and SHANIA TWAIN (who is his beautiful wife).
BROKEN HOMES didn’t reach that much success, but
their first record was quite good actually. The album has
now been re-issued onto CD by ANGEL AIR RECORDS. 10
tracks are included and musically it is pure late
1970s/early 1980s Mainstream AOR/Poprock, a bit quirky
sometimes, reminding me of CHARLIE, CITY BOY and PHOENIX.
Nevertheless, the CD features some great AOR songs, such
as “No chance” (awesome!), “death of
Gog”, “Run away from home: and
“Jerusalem”, but also some poppier material. If
you count CHARLIE and CITY BOY to your favourite acts,
then this will also be up your alley! The band also
recorded a 2nd album titled ‘Life’, but that CD
re-issue was done by RMO records 3 years ago, so no
review of it here.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
FANCY
‘WILD
THING/TURNS YOU ON’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
ANGEL AIR RECORDS is an English label specialized on
Classic 70s Rock/Hardrock/Pop, and the 130+ releases they
have done so far are all quality releases. Their releases
come with extensive liner notes and impressive artwork,
making this re-issues of classic albums worth investing
your money. FANCY is one of their releases. This band was
one of the first female fronted rockacts. They managed to
release 2 albums in the early 1970s and both are now
pressed onto 1 CD, with the addition of 3 unreleased
bonustracks. The music is somewhat dated, but very
important for that period as it probably influenced a
whole lot of other female fronted acts (PAT BENATAR,
HEART, THE RUNAWAYS) that followed the footsteps of
FANCY. The band’s music was a mixture of Pop and 70s
Rock, and if you’re somehow looking for FANCY music,
then this CD offers you everything the band has ever
recorded. Highlights are such good 70s Rockers like
“Touch me”, “Wild thing”, “I
don’t need your love” and “I’m a
woman”. Although this is not really Rock/Hardrock,
because there are clear similarities to a JANIS JOPLIN
here, still FANCY brought as one of the first a woman at
the pitch in a real Rockband. Recommended if you want to
hear how the music sounded of one of the early female
fronted rockacts.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘A
TRIBUTE TO URIAH HEEP/A RETURN TO FANTASY’ (CENTURY
MEDIA)
URIAH HEEP is one of the most legendary Hardrockbands in
history. For over 30 years they have been bringing us
some of the best Hardrock, and especially the last couple
of years the band has been having a lot of renewed
interest which resulted in large tours throughout
especially Europe. Now there is also a tribute CD
available, which includes some very interesting
coverversions of some of the best HEEP songs. The CD
holds 13 tracks, and each band has recorded their own
version of a Classic HEEP song. Happily, most of the
versions can be categorised in the Hardrock/Metal corner,
so no extraordinary versions here. Highlights can be
found in the shape of NARNIA (“Sunrise”), LIEGE
LORD (“Too scared to run”), VINTERSORG
(“Rainbow demon”), LANA LANE (“Weep in
silence”) and METALIUM featuring KEN HENSLEY
(“Gypsy”). Finally a tribute which is really
interesting, so all HEEP and Hardrock/Metal freaks should
check out this awesome tribute a.s.a.p.!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
CHOSEN
‘CHOSEN’
(CHOSEN ONE RECORDS)
CHOSEN is an American band that sent me a 14-track
full-length CD that falls in the category groovy
Hardrock/Metal. The band sounds a bit like a mix between
DIO, WASP and MANOWAR, although their influences come
from JUDAS PRIEST and IRON MAIDEN, but yet gave it an own
identity. The production is fine and I am glad to finally
hear an independent US band not playing Nu-Metal, but a
more classic Metal orientated style. Highlights are
“Rain”, “Out of miracles” (ballad),
“The call”, “Unsaid” (ballad) and
“On the rise”. The sound is pretty raw, but the
band has a good strong lead singer (Troy Feltz), so this
is interesting for the fans of pure Metal. More info at: http://www.chosenmetal.com and e-mail them at: Strutterzine@chosenmetal.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 MILES ABOVE ‘FURTHER’
(ESCAPE MUSIC)
On Escape Music we can find the band MILES ABOVE, one of
the first modern sounding bands on the label. It seems
like every AOR/Melodic Rocklabel is starting to release
more modern melodic poprock stuff (ATENZIA, MTM, Z
RECORDS), so ESCAPE MUSIC is also following this trend,
but happily most of the signed acts are still a bit in
the melodic rockstyle, and MILES ABOVE is no exception,
because they also mix modern sounds with classy
AOR/Melodic Rock. Actually their CD ‘Further’
is very good and shows that AOR can also sound modern and
updated without losing the melodic hooks and catchy
choruses. The band also has a good singer (Tim Hicks),
who writes all the songs together with producer Corey
Macfadyen (who happens to be the nephew of famous
Canadian Rock producer JACK DOUGLAS). Although the CD
contains a few poppier tunes (“Persuade me”,
“Don’t rush”, “When you hold my
hand” and “St. Mark’s square”), most
of this CD is impressive modern sounding AOR/Melodic
Poprock. The best songs to me are “Me and you”
(very strong semi AOR ballad like THOMAS VIKSTROM, BRETT
WALKER, catchy and radio-ready!), “Baby’s so
good” (catchy semi AOR ballad once again),
“Every moment”, “Running away”
(strong pure AOR) and “Weather the storm”.
Concluded, this is recommended to all AOR fans who
don’t mind a slight modern touch here and there!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
MR.
BIG
‘SEPPUKU’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
Before there was ERIC MARTIN’s MR. BIG in the USA,
there was a UK band called MR. BIG in the 1970s. They
scored a massive hitsingle with “Romeo”, and
released 2 albums on EMI records before being droppped by
the label. However, the band recorded a third album
titled ‘Seppuku’, which was produced by IAN
HUNTER. The album never saw the light of day until now,
because ANGEL AIR RECORDS has released the 3rd album of
MR. BIG on CD. The music is very 70s, so Pop and
Rocksongs melt together. The ballads are very soft (of a
SMOKIE and ROD STEWART kind), but if we have a look at
the rockers on this album we can hear some great catchy
melodic rockers that sound like a mix between REO
SPEEDWAGON, STYX and BACHMAN TURNER OVERDRIVE. These are
the songs “Place your bets” (hello 70s REO
SPEEDWAGON!), “Here it comes again” (a more
AORish ballad), “Goosestep” (quirky poprocker a
la CITY BOY), “Tonight” (typical early 80s
poprocker), “Behind enemy lines” (good rough
70s rocker), “Seppuku” (epic piece, very STYX
orientated semi-rocker) and “You won’t see
me” (uptempo hard Glamrocker with an AOR/Pomp
chorus). The band featured a great lead singer (with an
AOR type of voice) and the songs were mostly of a high
quality. Fans of the band must buy this ‘new’
record a.s.a.p.!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
KHAOS
‘FORJADO
EN ROCKA’ (COSTA NORTE RECORDS)
In the category ‘very obscure’ we can add the
band KHAOS. They were a band from Honduras (!) who
managed to released an LP in 1985, which got re-issued
onto CD 15 years later. The album was very important for
South-American Metal, because it was one of the first
real Metalalbums. The sound of KHAOS was clearly
influenced by the N.W.O.B.H.M. which had just died in the
UK, but somehow made its way across the Atlantic Ocean
and so influenced bands from South America. KHAOS was
definitely the first Metalband from Honduras, and just
recently we have seen other Metalbands following the
footsteps of KHAOS. Anyway, the Melodic Metal of the band
sounded good, not sensational, but for a band from
Honduras quite impressive. Highlights are uptempo heavy
rockers like “Roleando”, “Jungla
Metal” (catchy melodic tune), “Antes de la
erupcion” and “Reaccion retardada” (like
the very first TOKYO BLADE!). The artwork of the re-issue
looks very professional and on the pictures you could see
that KHAOS was a very young band back then, so they are
not that old now I think. Soon a new CD will be released
as KHAOTICOS, so we will hear how it will sound 18 years
later! More info at: http://www.metal-treasures.at/khaos.htm and e-mail them at: khaoticos@khaoticos.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
MERCURY
FANG
‘LIQUID SUNSHINE’ (RIVEL RECORDS)
We’re back in Sweden once again with the band
MERCURY FANG, and their 14-track CD ‘Liquid
sunshine’ is a high quality release, influenced by
the 70s and 80s melodic hardrockbands. The band has put
all kinds of styles within the melodic hardrockscene on
the record, wether that be groovy, straight-forward,
uptempo, midtempo, semi-ballad or even AOR, it’s all
included and it gives the CD a very diverse approach that
will attract many people. The band has a great lead
singer and a very impressive rhythm section. Besides,
also the songs are all very good and the production is
huge! This is without a doubt a great release of a very
high level. Highlights can be found in the shape of
uptempo melodic heavy rockers like
“Hello/goodbye”, “Come to me” (catchy
chorus) and “Invisible crime”, and the lovely
midtempo AOR/Melodic Rock of “You need my
love”, “Voice left unheard”, “On the
moon” and “I believe”. The CD was
engineered and mixed by PONTUS NORGREN, some backing
vocals were done by HOUSE OF SHAKIRA, while the release
of the CD is on the Swedish label RIVEL RECORDS. More
info on this great band at: http://www.mercuryfang.tk
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 BOGART’S TOUCH ‘BOGART’S
TOUCH’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of France comes a great new melodic rockact called
BOGART’S TOUCH. They have released a CD with 11
tracks that musically are pure 80s melodic rock in the
style of FIREHOUSE, WILD FRONTIER, DANGER DANGER, 91
SUITE and early BON JOVI. The lead vocals are not as
cheesy or sugarsweet as the American Melodic Rockbands of
this genre, but Luke Pratt sings a bit rawer (a bit like
SEBASTIAN BACH of SKID ROW), however the harmonyvocals
are crystal clear and very notable for this type of rock.
Just listen to the catchy chorus of opener “Poisoned
love”, a great strong uptempo melodic rocker. The CD
continues in the same style, so all throughout the album
we can enjoy catchy (mostly uptempo) melodic rock like
BON JOVI used to make (circa ‘Slippery when
wet’ period) with as highlights “Loosin’
your life”, “Save me”, “Shadow
dance’, “Tell me why” and “On a wild
goose chase”. There’s also some weaker
semi-rock material on the CD, such as “Heaven needs
to fall”, “Ocean wind” and “Russian
roulette”. Nevertheless, this is still a highly
recommended piece if you enjoy classy late 80s US (read:
Californian, read: 80s L.A. Sunset Boulevard sound!)
Melodic Rock such as DANGER DANGER, FIREHOUSE, KNOW
ILLUSION, JOHNNY LIMA, SHY TIGER, ANATOMIC, PASSION
RISK... More info can be found by e-mailing them at: Quersey@wanadoo.fr
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 MARTIN POPOFF ‘THE TOP 500 HEAVY
METAL SONGS OF ALL TIME’ (ECW PRESS)
Martin Popoff is a respected Canadian rock/metal writer
for magazines like CLASSIC ROCK, ROADIE CREW, RECORD
COLLECTOR, GUITAR WORLD... He has also written 4 books,
of which ‘The top 500 Heavy Metal songs of all
time’ is his latest publication. The book is not the
man’s personal top 500, but a somewhat complete and
true list of the 500 best Heavy Metal songs of all time
as chosen by 18,000 individuals who sent in 4,500 songs
of which these 500 were the most voted. The book holds
about 500 pages, and of course the main theme here are
those 500 songs. Each song is described by Martin himself
and also a comment of an involved bandmember who
wrote/performed the particular song is placed with every
song. With every song the total amount of points is
mentioned and the album on which you can find the
particular song (plus year and label), so you can get a
good view on every included song. Instead if plain facts
you get a great book that you can easily read from start
to finish as it is very diverse and especially all the
quotes of the involved bandmembers is quite interesting
to read.
Almost
500 quotes are used, of which the most interesting ones
come from RONNIE JAMES DIO, OZZY OSBOURNE, BLACKIE
LAWLESS, ANGUS YOUNG and BRUCE DICKINSON who are quoted
several times, making this book already a true winner for
fans of these respected true Metal musicians! Back to the
songs, well I am not gonna spoil anything here with
mentioning the top 10, therefore you need to buy the
book, but I guess it doesn’t really matter what song
made it to number one, because this book is mainly
interesting for it’s comments on the included songs.
Martin shows clearly his own opinion on each song, which
is not always positive, but the bandquotes make that up.
These quotes keep you continuously interested in reading
further. The top 500 itself could have been a bit more
diverse, because some bands are featured with 20+ songs,
while others are not even included (RHAPSODY, LABYRINTH,
TRIUMPH, SYMPHONY X, STRATOVARIUS, KAMELOT, SONATA
ARCTICA or any other recent Power Metal band) or just one
song (KANSAS, Y&T), but I guess the Metalfans hold on
to their roots, so mostly 70s/80s stuff is included in
the list, such as BLACK SABBATH, LED ZEPPELIN, JUDAS
PRIEST, AC/DC, IRON MAIDEN, METALLICA, MEGADETH etc.
Rather funny is the inclusion of LA Glam Metal bands like
POISON (!), RATT, CRUE, TWISTED SISTER in between MANOWAR
and METALLICA, quite ironic as in the 1980s these bands
could never be mentioned in one sentence, but times have
changed.
Anyway,
the book is an awesome read and one will always disagree
with such lists, but that isn’t the case really
here, as the book is more interesting for it’s
comments and quotes than the real list. However, the True
Metal fan can easily buy this awesome read! The ISBN
Number is 1-55022-530-8, so that should be enough to get
this book through your local bookstore, otherwise jump to
the website of publisher ECW PRESS at: http://www.ecwpress.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 SEVEN SERAPHIM ‘BELIEVE IN
ANGELS’
(SCARLET RECORDS/BERTUS)
Quality stuff from the USA! SEVEN SERAPHIM is a new band
from America, and they have released a fantastic super
high quality album on SCARLET RECORDS. Musically they
play very melodic Neo-Classical Progressive Metal, a bit
like a mix between MALMSTEEN, SYMPHONY X, TIME MACHINE
and KAMELOT. The production and artwork are very
impressive and so are the 10 included tracks. The only
negative point is the short playing length, because out
of the 10 included songs, 4 (!) are short
intro/outro/instrumentals, so leaving only 6 tracks with
only 32 minutes (!!!) of playing time, this is really a
short CD, almost a mini-CD! Nevertheless, the music is
very good, with as highlights “Lady Jade”,
“Song Blaque” (fantastic, KANSAS meets SYMPHONY
X), “Dance in the red” (big midtempo Melodic
Neo-Classical Metal), “The hand that feeds” and
“The rain keeps falling” (AOR/Melodic Rocker,
with also ENCHANT influences). Concluded, great songs, a
fantastic lead singer, wonderful keyboard/guitarwork, so
an excellent ‘short’ album, but please next
time double the playing length of the record!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
GILLAN
‘THE
GILLAN TAPES VOLUME 3’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
ANGEL AIR RECORDS has a nose for obscure Classic Rock
material, and GILLAN has had a lot of CD releases on the
English label. ‘The Gillan Tapes Volume 3’ is
just one of them, and certainly a very interesting piece
for fans of IAN GILLAN, as this 2-CD holds 27 tracks in
total! The included songs are all unreleased, live or in
some sort of Demo version not released to the public
until now, so all GILLAN fans must own this CD
definitely! The music offered here is ofcourse Bluesy
Classic Rock/Hardrock with strong DEEP PURPLE and LED
ZEPPELIN references here and there (“Running white
face city boy”), and although most of the songs
already appeared on some GILLAN record, these are all
unreleased versions of GILLAN classics. Although I am no
huge fan of GILLAN, this double CD pleased me a lot as it
offers some of the best GILLAN ever recorded, with as
highlights to me songs like “Sunbeam”,
“Long gone”, but especially the songs from the
second CD ‘For Gillan fans only’ where we can
find great uptempo melodic rockers like “Higher and
higher”, “Your mother was right” and
“Come tomorrow” that are all close to Classic
British Rock/Hardrock (read: RAINBOW, URIAH HEEP, UFO,
HUGHES/TURNER PROJECT). This CD is a must for GILLAN
fans!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THE
URBANE ‘GLITTER’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
Modern but melodic rock, with a progressive touch,
that’s what THE URBANE is bringing us. The first
track on the CD “Chain smoking a way to your
heart” is perfectly showing the sound of the band,
as this song is quite modern, but the chorus is very
melodic (like AOR meets Neo-Prog). Some comparisons to
SPOCK’S BEARD can be made, but following song
“12” is more straight-forward modern melodic
nu-breed rock with still a JADIS tingled guitar. The band
actually has an own sound that combines the best of all
rockstyles, although most of the songs are pretty catchy,
but sometimes also quite modern (“Glitter” and
“Parachute”). Besides the first 2 tracks, other
highlights are “Time after time” (cool cover of
CYNDI LAUPER tune), “Track 13” (probably the
best song, a very strong 8 minutes counting midtempo
Progressive Melodic Rocker like ENCHANT/ VANDENPLAS, yet
I am confused about the songtitle which could be
“Waiting” instead of “Give it
away”?), “Cut the wire”, “Hate my
radio” and “In-between” (catchy uptempo
melodic poprocker). This band may sound too modern for
the Prog and Melodic Rockfans, but if you can appreciate
SPOCK’S BEARD or even KING’S X and
‘Rubber’ era HAREM SCAREM, then this is a
quality CD for you!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
THE
TANGENT
‘THE MUSIC THAT DIED ALONE’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
THE TANGENT is a new project featuring such well-known
Swedish musicians like ROINE STOLT and JONAS REINGOLD.
However, this project is very different than what we
usually hear from these guys, as THE TANGENT is focused
on playing semi-instrumental Jazz/Fusion, so this has
absolutely nothing to do with Progrock. For what it is,
they have done a good job, but the regular fans might not
really be interested in this, unless THE FLOWER
KINGS’ last album was up your alley and you’re
in for something even more Experimental and Jazzy, then
you will like this a lot, but for the standard Progfans
this is not interesting.
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
TOMAS
BODIN
‘SONIC BOULEVARD’ (INSIDE OUT MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
I received about 6 new INSIDE OUT releases, without any
additional info unfortunately, but I believe TOMAS BODIN
is a member of THE FLOWER KINGS, and ‘Sonic
boulevard’ is his latest solo-CD. The instrumental
album is a mix of Jazz/Fusion and light Progressive Rock.
Sometimes it gets very calm, and actually it has not much
to do with progressive rock, so only recommended to the
open-minded fan!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
STEVE
HOWE’S REMEDY ‘ELEMENTS’ (INSIDE OUT
MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
The
famous YES guitarist STEVE HOWE has a new CD out, and
although the first couple of tracks are interesting
semi-instrumental progrockers, most of the CD is a very
bizarre mix of 60s and 70s Jazz, Pop, R&B and Fusion,
not really interesting for the Prog/Rock/Metal fans.
Interesting detail is the help Steve got from family
members Virgil (keys) and Dylan (drums), probably his
sons. Anyway, only interesting for the ultimate YES
collector!
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
CALIFORNIA
GUITAR TRIO ‘THE FIRST DECADE’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
It’s nice to see a band like CALIFORNIA GUITAR TRIO
making some success here in Europe, but a full CD with
only acoustic instrumentals is a bit too much I think.
However, there is a market for the band and they do it
very well, just listen to their new CD ‘The first
decade’ which is filled with 18 short instrumentals,
played on 3 acoustic guitars. It’s amazing how much
these guys can reach with just their 3 unplugged acoustic
guitars, but it’s only interesting if you’re
familiar with the band, because it has nothing to do with
Prog, Rock or Hardrock/Metal.
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
NEAL
MORSE ‘TESTIMONY’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
After his departure from SPOCK’S BEARD, that band
released a very average CD, but happily NEAL MORSE is
setting the record straight here with his solo-CD
‘Testimony’, a very good Progressive Rockalbum.
The CD is divided in 5 parts and takes up to 123 minutes
!!! Incredibly Neal has released a 2-hour set double-CD
within a year after him leaving his former band
SPOCK’S BEARD. And this is definitely a high quality
pure Progrock release, so all fans of early SPOCK’S
BEARD can easily buy this record. Anyway, the 5 parts are
divided into 29 tracks, of which some are instrumental,
but all together the CD is telling us a story, but
therefore you will have to read the liner notes when you
buy the CD. Highlights include “California
nights” (a bit like ENCHANT), “Colder in the
sun”, “Wasted life” (ballad), “Break
of day”, “Long story”, “Ready to
try”, “Moving in my heart”, “Oh Lord
my God” and “Power in the air”. This is a
great album, and apart from the Christian lyrics,
it’s pure Progressive Rockalbum and so much better
than the last SPOCK’S BEARD!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
DELP
AND GOUDREAU ‘DELP AND GOUDREAU’
(INDEPENDENT)
BOSTON lead singer BRAD DELP and former BOSTON
guitarist/bassist/keyboardplayer BARRY GOUDREAU joined
hands together and recorded this CD. The album is not too
far removed from the last BOSTON record, so don’t
expect a full blown classy melodic rockalbum here like
the old BOSTON record, but more a moody record with the
occasional melodic rock riff here and there, although I
need to add here that the CD has more Rockmaterial than
the last BOSTON record which is a good thing. The album
starts fine with the semi-ballad “What you leave
behind”, which could turn out to a big hit if it has
the right promotion. The following 2 songs are a bit
disappointing, as both “Hands of time” and
“Let it roll” are poppy Southern influenced
songs that have more in common with either ALLMAN
BROTHERS or BLUE OYSTER CULT than classy BOSTON.
However,
“Out of my hands” is the first definite melodic
rocker here, a lovely pure early BOSTON track with a
catchy chorus and a strong melodic rockbeat. The
instrumental “Keep on runnin’” takes us
back to the 1970s with it’s bluesy rockfeel, not
unlike very early 38 SPECIAL meets BAD COMPANY. Then
comes the ballad “Everyday”, a good tune with a
definite melodic rock touch, somehow the vocals remind me
here of PAUL MCCARTNEY. The CD continues with the calm
70s tingled Pop/Country tune “I need your
love”. The Bluesy/Southern “The rhythm
won’t stop” and is unfortunately an average
effort. Things get rockier on the groovy uptempo rocker
“Reconciliation”, a song with a strong catchy
chorus, again reminding me of 38 SPECIAL.
Final
track of the CD is “My one true love”, a calmer
acoustic ballad. Concluded, the CD has it’s ups and
downs, but it should be enough for the BOSTON fans to
purchase a copy, as it beats the new BOSTON record,
although it never reaches the high level of the early
BOSTON records, ORION (still one of my favourite records,
AOR at its very best!), RTZ or BARRY GOUDREAU’s
classic debut, which were the best efforts these two
singers made in the past. More info at: http://www.barrygoudreau.com and e-mail at: david@barrygoudreau.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 RING OF FIRE ‘LIVE IN TOKYO
2002’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
The supergroup RING OF FIRE, featuring among others
vocalist MARK BOALS (Malmsteen), keyboardplayer VITALIJ
KUPRIJ (Artension) and guitarist TONY MACALPINE, have
released a 2-CD live CD (and later to be released DVD)
titled ‘Live in Tokyo 2002’. Recorded last year
in Japan, this CD proves that RING OF FIRE is a
supertight superband with only skilled musicians and the
wonderful vocal talents of MARK BOALS. The almost 2 hours
spanning double Live CD is a complete must for anyone
into high class Classic Hardrock and Neo-Classical
(Power) Metal. The band somehow succeeded to create an
own sound which combines elements of bands like RAINBOW,
DIO, BLACK SABBATH, IRON MAIDEN, AXEL RUDI PELL,
HELLOWEEN, MALMSTEEN and some Progressive Metal
influences (DREAM THEATER and SYMPHONY X), making this a
true winner band for anyone into ‘True’
Hardrock and Metal!
The
live-set of RING OF FIRE is of a very high level, with
such excellent fast uptempo Melodic Power Metal tunes
like “Ring of fire”, “Circle of
time”, “City of the dead”, “Face the
fire” and “The oracle”, but also strong
epic midtempo songs like “Keeper of the flame”
and “Death row”. The additional new studio
bonustrack “Leviathan” shows that the band is
able to create new soon-to-be-classic Melodic Metal
pieces, as this is a fantastic song with lovely
keyboardwork and better than anything from the last
couple of MALMSTEEN records! The live-recordings also
include guitar, bass, keyboard and drumsolos by the
various bandmembers, so all together this is a perfect
Live Japan record by a band that is only 3 years old now,
but is set to become a long-term band in the future. The
DVD version of this live CD should be out in a few weeks
from now, so then we will have a visual aspect when
hearing the fantastic sounds of RING OF FIRE.
FATHOM
‘DEMO’
(DEMO)
FATHOM is a Canadian band who sent me a 5-track demo CDR.
The band is playing modern day Progressive Metal with
strong rough riffs and some aggressive vocal work. The
first song “Parasite” gets a little too modern
sometimes, but following tracks “Treason” and
“No more” are much better, as these are big
groovy midtempo Progressive Metal songs with both a good
chorus as well. The band reminds me of... actually I
don’t know as they sound modern and progressive at
the same time, maybe a mix between NEVERMORE and TOOL,
with a heavy groovy guitarsound and some raw vocals.
Anyway, it all sounds very North-American to me,
Progressive Metal it is definitely. The 2 bonustracks
here are “Last goodbye” and “Violent
me” which basically sum up the sound as described
earlier in this review, so we have here an original
Progressive Metal band, not a DREAM THEATER clone, but a
band that is able to create some new ideas in this
ever-growing genre. More info at: http://www.fathomrocks.com and e-mail them at: fathom85@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
FIRE
TRAILS
‘VANADIUM TRIBUTE’
(UNDERGROUND SYMPHONY RECORDS/BERTUS)
VANADIUM was one of the first Hardrock/Metalbands from
Italy, but compared to the high quality bands from
nowadays (LABYRINTH, RHAPSODY), VANADIUM was nothing more
than just a nice band that played along the lines of UFO
and URIAH HEEP. This tribute is done very well, but the
vocals are a bit average, and the songs are just nice,
but you can clearly hear that this was just plain early
80s Hardrock that sounded like a mix between URIAH HEEP
and MOTORHEAD, with some UFO similarities here and there.
Most of the songs are faster uptempo heavy rockers, with
occasionally a good semi-melodic rockballad
(“Goin’ on” and “Don’t be
looking back”). The Italians will probably dig this
a lot, but I rather go for all those other new Italian
bands that play a much better sort of Hardrock/Metal than
VANADIUM, which was after all just a standard band who
were at the right place at the right time for being
called the first Italian Hardrock/Metalband!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 DREAMTALE ‘OCEAN’S
HEART’
(SPINEFARM RECORDS)
Exactly 60 minutes long is the 2nd CD of the Finish Power
Metal band DREAMTALE. Musically not much has changed
since their debut ‘Beyond reality’, so again we
can hear high quality Melodic Power Metal in the style of
STRATOVARIUS, RHAPSODY, LABYRINTH, SONATA ARCTICA... The
CD was once again mastered at the famous Finnvox studios
by Mika Jussila (who does every new Power Metal record
nowadays!). The Japanese are extremely keen on Power
Metal and the debut of DREAMTALE sold quite well, so this
new album will easily find it’s way over there, and
I also think European Power Metal fans can easily
purchase a cope of this CD, which will be released on the
22nd of September by SPINEFARM RECORDS. Most of the
included 11 tracks (not counting the intro and outro
here) are faster uptempo Melodic Power Metal tracks, with
as highlights “Angel eyes”, “Fool’s
gold” (excellent, pure STRATOVARIUS, with catchy
chorus and nice keyboard/ guitarsolo), “Garden of
eternity” (your typical HELLOWEENish song),
“Tears” (catchy uptempo melodic rocker with
female guest singer Sanna Natunen) and “Rising
wind”. SPINEFARM RECORDS has released quite a lot of
sensational Power Metal albums with TWILIGHTNING and this
DREAMTALE as their best releases so far. More info on
DREAMTALE at: http://www.dreamtale.net
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 TAROT ‘SUFFER OUR
PLEASURES’
(SPINEFARM RECORDS)
Although the legendary metalband TAROT is very popular in
Finland, in the rest of Europe they aren’t that
well-known, but maybe the new album ‘Suffer our
pleasures’ will set the record straight for the rest
of the world who are not familiar with TAROT. The band
started in the mid 1980s and up until 1998 they managed
to release 6 albums, and although it seemed the band
quite in 1998 with their 6th CD ‘For the glory of
nothing’, this year marks the return of TAROT with
the new album ‘Suffer our pleasures’. Recently
guitarist Zachary Hietala joined NIGHTWISH, and it was
their company who took an interested in a new TAROT
album, and the result can now be found on ‘Suffer
our pleasures’, which will be released late
September by SPINEFARM RECORDS. The music on ‘Suffer
our pleasures’ is Classic Metal with influences from
the 70s, 80s and 90s, with a strong updated sound. Opener
“I rule” is not one of the best tracks, because
it has a simple bit modern chorus, but from track2 on it
gets much better, as “Pyre of Gods” is a great
strong uptempo Melodic Metal song. The band has a raw
lead singer, but somehow it works well for the pure Heavy
Metal of TAROT. Just listen to a song like “Rider of
the last day”, a strong DIO type of midtempo epic
Melodic Metal tune. In fact, comparisons to DIO and BLACK
SABBATH are quite easy to make, so finally we have a
Finish band not playing tra-la-la Power Metal which is at
any given time quite interesting. Other highlights are
“Undead son’, “From the void” and
“Of time and dust”, but the last 3 songs are
somehow a bit weaker Metal songs and more reminding me of
ARMORED SAINT and NEVERMORE. Concluded, this CD is a must
if you want to hear purest Heavy Metal, like a mix
between DIO and MANOWAR. More info at: http://www.wingsofdarkness.net
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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