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HOT NEW REVIEWS
VIRTUAL
TIME 'PICTURES VINYL RECORD' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
Straight from the underground comes the
Italian band VIRTUAL TIME, whom were formed back in 2012 and they released
their debut Long distance in 2016. Although I read they released 4 more albums,
Pictures seems like the real follow-up and while listening to the first couple
of songs I am quite surprised, because the included music is of a very high
level. The band is playing Classic Rock and they do it very well actually. The
songs are mostly slow to midtempo with a focus on melodies, both vocally and
during the guitar riffs that seem to come straight out of the 1970s. Their
line-up consists of Luca Gazzola: lead guitar, Marco Pivato: bass guitar, Alessandro
Meneghini: drums and Filippo Lorenzo Mocellin: lead vocal, harmonics, acoustic
guitar. 11 songs are included and songs like Charmed, Just you, Heaven is
asking... and Beyond the sun (quite lovely!) are very nice melodic slightly
groovy classic rock tunes with good vocalwork and strong guitarwork, packed in
rather nice tunes that reveal influences from 1970s DAVID BOWIE, THE DOORS, LED
ZEPPELIN (High class woman), a lot of THE BLACK KEYS (I see the moonlight), but
somehow also it has a bit of 1990s US College Rock/Powerpop kind in the style
of the THE POSIES, THE JAYHAWKS, etc. (Charmed and Nowhere land). The result is
quite a nice affair filled with good clean groovy Classic Rock most of the time
featuring strong vocals and for an Italian band overall sounding very impressive
and definitely recommended to fans of DE WOLFF, THE BLACK KEYS, RIVAL SONS and
such! Check them out for yourself at: https://www.virtualtimemusic.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
UNDERDOGS
'UNDERDOGS VINYL RECORD' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
It wasn't very easy to find information on the Italian band UNDERDOGS, but I did find out they released this same titled album in 2014, of which I have now received a vinyl record. The band is formed around Simone "Sabbath" Vian - Bass and Vox, Michele "Jimmy" Fontanarosa - Guitar and Alberto "Trevi" Trevisan - Drums, and they have been active 2004 and released a couple more records. This album contains a nice mixture of Classic Rock, Stoner Rock and some classic 70s BLACK SABBATH ish Hardrock/Doom. The overall sound is quite underground ish and this is one of those records you put on and can easily listen to from start to finish, because the delivered music is of a reasonable high level. In fact, I am safe to say fans of SABBATH, KYUSS, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and such bands will definitely like this album a lot, especially during a strong uptempo rocker like Locked doors. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/underdogstown
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
ANANDA
MIDA 'CATHODNATIUS' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
A very surprising sound we can hear on the
2nd album of the Italian band ANANDA MIDA, because opener The pilot brings me
back to the late 1970s midtempo Classic Pomprocksound of bands like ROADMASTER
and TRILLION, yet a bit rockier and proggier perhaps. Strong lead vocals and
harmonyvocals combined with catchy choruses and biting guitarwork is making
this band a very interesting band. They were formed back in 2015 and their
current line-up consists of Davide Bressan: bass, acoustic guitar, Conny Ochs:
vocals, Max Ear: drums, Matteo Pablo Scolaro: guitars, percussions and Alessandro
Tedesco: guitars, percussions. The vocalwork is quite excellent, sounding very
English/American, instrumentally all is in shape as well and the 5 included
songs are quite sensational. After the lovely opening tune, next song
Blankstare is faster and uptempo, but perhaps a little quirkier, yet still with
that late 1970s/early 1980s Pomprock influence, although this time with a
slight tougher almost punkier approach like also MPG did on their classic same
titled album (the song Working overtime for example is quite identical). Pupo
cupo goes more into a Progressive meets Psychedelic Rock direction, with even
some KING CRIMSON and U.K. similarities. Out of the blue follows and is a
calmer short acoustic piece that brings memories of JOHN WETTON. Closing track
is the slow 22 minutes counting Doom and the medicine man (Part 1 - 4) that has
a playing time of 22 minutes and is basically a dream for the fans of pure 70s
Doom and also of interest for the Progrock and Classic Rockfans as it has an
incredible lengthy guitarsolo! This ANANDA MIDA is a highly recommended band to
check out, with it's almost authentic 1970s sound and overall this album sounds
like it is a classic from 45 years ago! More info at: https://anandamidaband.bandcamp.com/
(Points: 8.7 out of 10)
VIC DU MONTE'S
PERSONA NON GRATA 'BARONS & BANKERS' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
VIC DU MONTE is an
American musician living in Berlin, although his band PERSONA NON GRATA is
setlled in L.A.. It features former members of bands like QUEENS OF THE STONE
AGE, AIRBUS and KYUSS and there have already been a few album releases the past
20 years, including this Barons & bankers from 2010. Opener Cockblocker is
an uptempo Punky rocker a la BILLY IDOL, GENERATION X and so is following track
Raising to the ground. Basically the whole album goes into this direction,
which is Punky Rock and Roll meets Garage Rock and BILLY IDOL is definitely the
best comparison. Good record and done quite well, with an authentic Garage Rock
and Rollsound that will also appeal to ROLLING STONES, SMALL FACES and even GO
BACK TO THE ZOO (Running to the moon) fans, although fans of BILLY IDOL and co
will absolutely love this the most. More info at: https://www.godownrecords.com/vic-dumont-persona-non-grata
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
DOME LA
MUERTE AND THE DIGGERS 'SUPERSADOBABI' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
Out of the Italian city of Pisa comes DOME
LA MUERTE & THE DIGGERS, whom were formed in 2007 and their last album was
this Supersadobabi. The band is formed around bandleader DOME LA MUERTE, the
guitarist/singer/songwriter/producer, while the rest of the line-up consists of
Bassist Marco "The Grandfather" Serani, Drummer Giampiero
"Jp" Palazzino and Guitarist Iride "Iri" Volpi. Together
this foursome brings no-nonsense Classic Sleazy Hardrock from start to finish. If
bands like HANOI ROCKS, LA GUNS, JUNKYARD, GUNS'N'ROSES and such are up your
alley, then you will love songs like Nice family, Woman in trouble and Screamin'
at the wind. Check them out at: https://www.godownrecords.com/product-page/dome-la-muerte-and-the-diggers-supersadobabi-1
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
VOLTAGE
'IT'S ABOUT TIME' (INDEPENDENT/P.I.M.P.)
The Southern Rockstyle
never brought many Dutch bands in the past, but when I caught the Helmond based
band VOLTAGE last year by coincidence when they performed at a local free
outdoor parc festival just around the corner of my house, I was hearing a real
good pure original Southern Rockband! I really enjoyed their stunning
performance and found out later they had already released an album, but with
their new album It's about time, they take it one step further and reach for
the level of a band like BLACKBERRY SMOKE, RIVAL SONS or BLACKSTONE CHERRY.
Formed in 2011, VOLTAGE consists of Dave Vermeulen - Lead Vocals/ Guitar, Ruard
Sanders - Lead Guitar, Kai Liebrand - Bass/ Backing vocals and Bart Candel -
Drums, and It's about time features 11 very impressive songs.
After the calmer
Southern Rock ish semi ballad The last time as opening song, they switch to a
catchy uptempo melodic rocking crowd pleasing anthem for everyone to sing-along
to during the excellent One more high to survive the low, of which BON JOVI
would be jealous due to it's incredible strong chorus. A good thing is comin'
is back to the Southern Rocksound of LYNYRD SKYNYRD and once again done very
well for sure. The titletrack It's about time follows and this is a sensational
midtempo Melodic Southern Rocker with a superstrong chorus. Then comes the
radiosingle Wild and blue, a calmer ballad ish song which has already been a
huge hit over here as it was played a lot by national radio during the corona
times. The mill blues is one of the rawest songs on offer, as this is a real
stompin' original midtempo bluesy Southern Rocker with a catchy beat that
reminds me of ZZ TOP meets SEASICK STEVE. Uptempo rocker Born for runnin'
without you follows in a similar ZZ TOP ish style. She's gone like the wind
slows things down a bit, because this is a lovely midtempo acoustic driven
melancholic TOM PETTY ish Americana/Heartland ish melodic pop/rocker. I'm still
waving goodbye follows in a sorta similar style, although perhaps a bit rockier
and reminding me of E.L.O. somehow during the chorus, which also has some BRYAN
ADAMS similarities! The house is on fire is a very nice uptempo rocker, quite
straight-ahead with an AC/DC beat, while closing track The victim is closing
the album nicely in Southern Rockstyle.
VOLTAGE has released a
really great new album with an international sound and due to the fact that not
many other bands are making this kind of rock, I really think they have a big
chance to breakthrough. They do have some Classic Rock/Melodic Rock influences
as well, so it is not all about Southern Rock, but who cares if it is all done
very well. Anyway, here in Holland they are already becoming quite popular despite
the missing live gigs and let's just hope in the future they will be able to
perform again and show their skills on stage. For now, check them out at: https://www.voltage-rocks.com/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
LESOIR
'MOSAIC' (GLASSVILLE RECORDS/P.I.M.P.)
Mosaic is the 5th
album of the Dutch band LESOIR, whom were formed back in 2010, and it seems
like that with this new album they are going for the real breakthrough. The
album was produced by John Cornfield and Paul Reeve (MUSE, SUPERGRASS,
OASIS...) and you can clearly hear that, because the sound is huge! The band's
line-up conists of Eleën Bartholomeus: guitar, vocals, Ingo Dassen: guitar, Ingo
Jetten: bass, Bob van Heumen: drums and Maartje Meessen: vocals, flute, piano/ The
music is not that far removed from THE GATHERING, yet perhaps a bit more moving
into Progressive Rock and also more melodic and song based than those Dutch
heroes. It is a coincidence that at the same time also the new album of another
Dutch band called GOLDEN CAVES is released, because the music on both albums is
quite similar actually. LESOIR's music is at a very high level and from start
to finish it is an enjoyable adventure through their own kinda Prog/Female
Fronted Gothic Heavy Rockstyle, with as highlights among the 9 included songs,
the Progressive Rocker Is this it?,
the catchy and very melodic radio-ready Somebody like you (excellent chorus and
perfect soaring guitarsolo), Dystopia (stunning PINK FLOYDish calmer
instrumental Progrocker) and The geese (big bombastic Symphonic Melodic Rocker
like a heavier 2000s KAYAK meets WITHIN TEMPTATION/DELAIN, with beautiful
haunting vocals of Maartje). Check out this great Dutch band at: https://linktr.ee/lesoirmusic
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
THE
THIRD GRADE 'OF FIRE AND ASHES PART 2' (ART GATES RECORDS/SPAIN IMPORT)
Out of the beautiful sunny city of
Valencia comes THE THIRD GRACE, a band with a melodic Prog/Powermetal sound and
a combination of female and male vocals. They already released a full-length CD
in 2016 and an EP which was part 1 of their new allbum Of fire and ashes. The
band consists of Jose Masiá (main vocals, guitar and piano), Javier Masiá
(bass, backing vocals), Ivan Tacchella (drums) and María Cobos (vocals). Their
sound is quite bombastic and symphonic based around impressive instrumental
prog/power metal guitar riffs and vocal melodies. I have to say that the vocals
are not reaching the level of let's say AFTER FOREVER and EPICA, so you have to
keep that in mind, but the music is quite nice to listen to, especially since
the band is instrumental doing things at a high level. You can hear it for
yourself at: https://thethirdgrade.bandcamp.com/album/of-fire-and-ashes-pt-2
(Points:
7.4 out of 10)
... AND
SILENCE REMAINS '... AND SILENCE REMAINS' (RISING RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Out of Australia comes
... AND SILENCE REMAINS, a one-man's project formed around TIMO WIMMER, who did
everything on his own on the first CD. The included music is European/German
based Teutonic melodic Power Metal in the style of GRAVE DIGGER, RUNNING WILD,
VETO, NOISEHUNTER, RESTLESS and such. The only thing that I would recommend
Timo to do next time is to find a good singer, because now his voice is the
weakest link I'm afraid, although in the 1980s a lot of German bands featured a
similar voice. In fact, if you hear a song like Raising the dead, this is pure
German Teutonic Metal heaven for fans of RUNNING WILD/GRAVE DIGGER, including a
German accent, althougn Timo nicely settled in sunner Australia. If we look at
the rest, all sounds very impressive, with superb guitarwork and some really
great tunes, so if only Timo could find a real strong Metal singer, we might be
dealing here with a sensational Aussie Melodic Power Metal band! Now you have
to accept that the vocals are not the strongest point in the music of ... AND
SILENCE REMAINS, but as mentioned that is the same when I listen to the afforementioned
bands and they get away with it, so why not Timo and his interesting project.
Check it out for yourself at: http://www.andsilenceremains.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
BRYAN
DEISTER 'THE DYING SAVIOR' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out of Mesa, Arizona,
USA comes multi-instrumentalist BRYAN DEISTER, who sent me his double CD The
Dying savior. Musically speaking it is a sorta Gothic/Doom Rock/Metal adventure
which is quite lengthy and although instrumental it does sound quite nice, I am
afraid Bryan is not really a lead singer and he really needs to look for a
singer next time. Judge for yourself at: https://soundcloud.com/bryan-deister
(Points:
5.0 out of 10)
GABRIELE
SARO 'BEXTASY' (INDEPENDENT/ITALY IMPORT)
Now this is quite a
rare demo, because out fo Italy I received a CDR with just 1 song and no
information of whatsoever, but this song is a strong soulfu/bluesy uptempo
melodic hardrocksong with impressive female vocals. Not sure if I ever get to
hear and review more, but for now check it out for yourself at: https://gabrielesaro.bandcamp.com/track/bextasy
(Points:
7.9 out of 10)
KAITLYN
AURELIA SMITH 'THE MOSIAC OF TRANSFORMATION' (GHOSTLY INTERNATIONAL/KONKURRENT)
I had to listen to
this album a few times before getting it, because KAITLYN AURELIA SMITH is a
Synth whisperer and her music is really atmospheric and feels like one big Yoga
trip. Actually it's almolst impossible to describe her music, because it is
quite experimental. Perhaps a bit like CLANNAD or SINEAD O'CONNOR, but then
differently and with a bog focus on modern electronic sounds. It's quite calm
and relaxed, but at times also sounding quite frightening and dark actually.
Kaithlyn comes from the Orcas Islands which is somewhere between Vancouver and
Seattle and has been making music for quite some time, with several DJ's and
always focusing on a natural Yoga ish approach that under certain circumstances
will definitely work. For now, it's something you have to hear for yourself to
find out if this is an interesting album for you. More at: https://kaitlynaureliasmith.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
INVENTIONS
'CONTINUOUS PORTRAIT' (TEMPORARY RESIDENCE/KONKURRENT)
Now this is really a
bizarre album that musically is hard to describe but atmospheric instrumental
New Age might do the trick here, although INVENTIONS from Portland, Oregon
might want to be described differently I guess. The band is formed around Matthew
Robert Cooper (Eluvium) and Mark T. Smith (Explosions in the Sky) and their new
album as INVENTIONS is a trip through their minds, with all kinds of strange
noises that more feel like the background music for a Sci-Fi movie actually.
Done quite well, it's best to hear it for yourself at: https://inventions.bandcamp.com/album/continuous-portrait
(Points:
7.8 out of 10)
SUPERCHUCKER
'WIDESPREAD PANIC' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
The Toronto, Canada
based band SUPERCHUCKER consists of members whom also play (ed) in other Canadian
bands, including the legendary Metal band PILEDRIVER. The line-up is as
follows; Dave Barrett (lead vocals), Steve Macpherson (bass, vocals), Shawn
Pegg (guitars, vocals), Robert Hassey (drums, vocals) and Stavros
Theodorakopoulos (guitars, vocals) and Widespread panic is SUPERCHUCKER's debut
album. 10 songs are included and basically it is a trip down memory lane to
1985! Opener Widespread panic is fast classic mid 1980s Heavy Metal, borderline
Speed Metal (like RAVEN meets early METALLICA), with some great guitarwork, but
during the following track Cartoon nation the guitarsound is really sounding phenomenal
and pure classic 1980s Melodic Metal. This song is more Melodic Heavy Rock and
sounds a bit like a cross between LIZZY BORDEN and TWISTED SISTER. DIO must
have been a big influence on the following song Liar, a typical 80s midtempo
headbanging Heavy Metal song that also has some similarities to ACCEPT. The
album continues this pure 80s Heavy Metal sound like a mix between the
aforementioned bands and if you're a fan of any of them, you will absolutely
love this album as well. Make sure to check out such great gems like Forgotten,
the TWISTED SISTER ish anthem We like to rock and the epic Another day with
lovely SCORPIONS ish guitarwork. We have actually seen many new young Canadian
bands playing this kind of 80s Metal the past 10 years and SUPERCHUCKER clearly
fits in there, although it's members have already been in the music scene for
quite some time now, but with Widespread panic they release a great debut album.
More info at: https://superchucker.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
RED
CAIN 'KINDRED ACT: 1' (INDEPENDENT/JON ASHER MEDIA/CANADA IMPORT)
Formed in 2016, the
Canadian (with Russian roots) band RED CAIN have quickly built a reputation in
Calgary with their Melodic Metalsound. The band is formed around Vocals -
Evgeniy Zayarny, Guitars - Carlos Cruz, Guitars - Noah Bockmuehl and Drums -
Taylor Gibson and Kindred Act 1 is their debut album and I have to say, a very
impressive one of an incredible high level. 7 songs are included and the album
opens with a massive Progressive Metal meets Power Metal song in the style of
ICED EARTH, SAVATAGE, PSYCHOTIC WALTZ and such. A powerful massive song that
has a major label sound and is of a very high level, both vocally and musically
speaking. Next song is the sensational Midnight sarabande, an uptempo
Neo-Classical Prog/Power Metal masterpiece that sounds like the perfect cross
between SYMPHONY X and PAGAN'S MIND, including a truly amazing melodic and
memorable chorus. From the other songs I would like to point out Blood &
Gold (a calmer modern poppy tune) as a remarkable tune, but also that songs
like Juliet and All is violence reveal some very modern agressive Metal
influences that are close to Technical Thrash Metal, so showing a different
side of RED CAIN. Closing track Wing of the crow even introduce female vocals
and is songwise a sensational bombastic Symphonic Melodic Power Metal tune that
reveal NIGHTWISH influences during especially the lovely haunting melodic
chorus. RED CAIN is definitely a band not to miss if you're a fan of the
mentioned bands, but also if you want to hear diversity and perhaps the best
comparison is probably ICED EARTH. Check them out at: https://redcain.bandcamp.com/album/kindred-act-i
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
BENEVOLENT
LIKE QUIETUS 'KILL THE BLISS' (INDEPENDENT/JON ASHER MEDIA/CANADA IMPORT)
Out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada comes the
Gothic band BENEVOLENT LIKE QUIETUS, whom are combining Melodic Metal with
Gothic Rock, and overall they sound very European actually, Scandinavian to be
precise! 11 songs are included and they remind me a bit of MOONSPELL, HIM, THE
69 EYES, SISTERS OF MERCY... They were formed in 2015 and their line-up
consists of Drums: Ryan Spencer, Vocals: Daniel Louden, Lead/Rhythm Guitar: Ty
Frederick, Lead/Rhythm Guitar: Matt Springer and Bass: Killian Murphy. Most of
the songs are uptempo, very melodic and following the same direction, which is
the melancholic Scandi Gothic Metalsound. They are doing a great job here for
sure, because if you like one, you will love them all. One of the remarkable
songs is the TEARS FOR FEARS cover Mad world, which was done very nicely and
after 46 minutes you will still not believe that this is a band from Canada.
Check them out at: https://www.blqband.com/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
LINK
PROTRUDI & THE JAYMEN 'THE BEST OF' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
LINK PROTRUDI is actually a different name
of singer/guitarist Rudy Protrudi, who is known as the frontman of the
legendary band THE FUZZTONES. That band is one of the most important Garage
Rockbands of the 1980s, which started a revival of this genre. This side
project LINK PROTRUDI & THE JAYMEN brings him together with Michael Jay |
bass and "Mad" Mike Czekaj | drums playing music that could best be
described as a mix of Surf Rock and Early Rock and Roll, somewhere between LINK
WRAY, THE RAMONES and THE SHADOWS, rocking and rolling during 26 tracks that
are included on this best of CD, which is a mix of songs taken from the 4
albums they released between the mid 1980s and mid 2000s as well as 3
unreleased live tracks. Still going strong, this best of CD shows that they
were quite a great band with fun loving uptempo rock and roll songs the way
they were meant to be created, simple, short but effective. Check for yourself
at: https://www.godownrecords.com/link-protrudi-and-the-jaymen
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
MAD
DOGS 'ASS SHAKIN' DIRTY ROLLERS' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
11 years ago in 2009
the Italian band MAD DOGS was formed and their debut album was released in 2015.
This first album was in the Italian language, but the follow Ass shakin' dirty
rollers was sung in the English language. The result is a nice sleazy garage
rock and roll album that sounds dirty, mean and raw, with still strong melodies
and mostly uptempo rockers. The band's line-up consists of Mark Cipolletti
(guitar and vocals), Luca Zenobi (guitar), Simone Mosciatti (bass) and Giacomo
Zepponi (drums), and their music is basically no-nonsense classic rock and roll
in the style of DEAD BOYS, ROSE TATTOO, LA GUNS, GIRL and such, with a slight
Punky attitude. Highlights among the 12 included tracks are Make it tonight,
It's not over,Troubles and The right way. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/maddogsrnr
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
FRETLAND
'FRETLAND' (TONE TREE MUSIC/USA IMPORT)
Formed in 2016, the
Snohomish, Washington based band FRETLAND delivers a sensational independently
released debut album. It's all brand-new, sounding very fresh and could well be
the start of something huge in the future! They are formed around the amazing
singer HILARY GRACE FRETLAND, who has got a killer voice with an incredible
range and combined with a great band backing her up, FRETLAND has released one
of the finest Americana/Folk/Pop albums of 2020! The first FRETLAND album was
produced by engineer Nich Wilbur (ANGEL OLSEN) and producer Trevor Spencer
(FATHER JOHN MISTY, FLEET FOXES...). They start a little less Americana/Folk
though, because opener Long haul is a very strong radio-ready slightly quality pop
orientated piece that could easily be a huge hit as it has a sound that fits
somewhere between LANA DEL REY and ADELE. The incredible high level is
continued on the following track, although musically speaking this song is more
interesting, because Friendly fire is a beautiful melodic Americana pop/rocker.
Actually none of the 11 included songs show any sign of weakness, because the
superb musicianship of FRETLAND goes on and on with nothing but highlights. Have
another beer for example is basically perfection when it comes down to cross
Country, Americana/Folk and Melodic Pop/Rock like mixing the beauty of THE WEBB
SISTERS, FLEET FOXES, YELLOW GRASS and FIRST AID KIT. Flirting with pop
melodies is done all throughout the album, such as during the 'rockish' ballad
Garden that once again could be an enormous hit worldwide. There's also time to
settle down and introduce an acoustic song like the absolutely stunning Must've
been wild and uptempo folkrock can be heard on I still care, which has a very
rootsy rocking end. The diversity within the Americana/Popsound of the band is
very impressive, but especially the vocalwork and excellent musicianship are
making this debut album of FRETLAND a must to check out! It would not surprise
me if they will be famous one day and sell out European tours, but for now they
will have to start from scratch, so first thing you can do is check them out of
course! More info at: https://www.fretlandtheband.com/
and https://fretlandtheband.bandcamp.com/album/fretland
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
THE
ANCESTRY PROGRAM 'TOMORROW' (FREIBAD SCHALLPLATTEN/GERMANY IMPORT)
Out of Munich, Germany
comes the interesting band THE ANCESTRY PROGRAM, whom are creating a somewhat
'new' sound. Consisting of Andy Lind / drums, Thomas Burlefinger / keyboards, Mani
Gruber (BOYSVOICE, FRONTLINE, ROTTEN ROSE and countless others) / guitars and Ben
Knabe / voices, THE ANCESTRY PROGRAM are doing things quite out of the ordinary
actually. There are moments when it's like you're listening to a really great
Neo-Progband, but then you are suddenly completely surprised by a big Extreme Metal
influence. If we go through the 11 songs that are included, we can discuss what
happens on this debut album of THE ANCESTRY PROGRAM. After the short intro
Silver intro, we head into Silver laughter, which combines perfect high class
Neo-Prog with complex Prog Metal. The vocals are quite good and pure Neo-Prog,
with a sorta English kinda tone and this can be heard very clearly in the
quirky Pun intended, especially during the start, but the chorus is surprisingly
extreme Metal, with screams and such. Thankfully, the band sets the sound back
to high class Progressive Rock during the lovely Another way to fly that
combines nice Neo-Prog vocals/melodies with pure complex Progrock guitar riffs.
And also the 10 minutes counting Easy for us is a lovely pure Neo-Prog tune that
recalls memories of EVERON and features a very strong chorus, with however (happily)
2 very short Extreme Metal singing parts. The titletrack Tomorrow and More to
this are the finest songs on the album, as these are really great Progrock
perfection songs. It's quite a lengthy album in the end, but that's not an
issue at all, since this is high quality music from start to finish. The only
thing I really hope that next time they will completely drop the Extreme Metal
singing parts. Check them out for yourself at: https://theancestryprogram.bandcamp.com
and https://theancestryprogram.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
PAPA
SATCH 'SOULFUL INTENT/FAULT LINES' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Recently we reviewed
an album of the New York based PAPA SATCH, which is an act formed around
singer/ songwriter Bob Sachnoff (PAPA SATCH) and multi-instrumentalist/lead
singer STEVE RONSEN. Thankfully they sent 2 more albums they released, because
they are up until now an undiscovered band in the AOR/Poprockscene. Soulful
intent from 2017 and Fault lines from 2018 are the 2 other albums and both are
an excellent collection of awesome pure 80s catchy AOR/Melodic Poprocksongs in
classic BRYAN ADAMS, RICHARD MARX, RICK SPRINGFIELD, EDDIE MONEY (When I was a
kid), BILLY SATELLITE and JIMMY DAVIS style. It's really enjoyable to finally
hear an independent US act making this kinda music again instead of the
countless Scandinavian bands or FRONTIERS signed bands. Anyway, the 2
full-length albums are filled with superb vocalwork and catchy hookladen songs
that are really sounding like the good old American 80s AOR days we all miss so
much. Highlights on these 2 albums are the midtempo AOR songs Think about it,
This land, Believe and Where I'm going (a la JOHN WAITE and VAN STEPHENSON) and
uptempo AOR/Poprockers There you go, Maryanne, Bottom of the ocean (RICK
SPRINGFIELD style), Stand at night, A better life and I'll call (even a bit
PREVIEW!). Definitely a big recommendation to fans of classic 80s AOR/Poprock
the American way! More info at: https://www.reverbnation.com/papasatch
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
OJM
'HEAVY VINYL RELEASE' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
Originally released in
2002, the Italian band OJM's debut album Heavy was re-issued on VINYL by GO
DOWN RECORDS 12 years later. The included music had a sorta 1990s sound, which
was quite dark, slow and doomy Stoner Rock with early 1970s Psychedelic Rock
influences. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE and KYUSS must have been the major
infuences of their sound (especially during the best song As I know on Side-B)
and what they presented on Heavy was indeed quite heavy and based around slow
massive sounding guitar riffs from the old Doom/SABBATH/CANDLEMASS school yet
with a modern fuzzy Stoner Rock approach. Vocally it was not that strong, but
in combination with the production of PAUL CHAIN (from the legendary Italiian band
DEATH SS) this has been covered up quite well and OJM delivers 10 quality
Stoner Doom Rock/Metal songs that will please the fans of the genre. You can
check for yourself at: https://ojmmusic.bandcamp.com/album/heavy
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
VERACRASH
'MY BROTHER THE GODHEAD VINYL RELEASE' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
It's a pity the Milan,
Italy based band VERACRASH is not active anymore, because this 2012 VINYL
release of their 2nd album My brother the Godhead is a very strong massive
sounding Melodic Doom Metal affair with superstrong vocalwork. This is like
BLACK SABBATH and CANDLEMASS into the modern day century and not a single
moment you would guess this is an album from 2012, because it still sounds very
fresh and up-to-date 8 years later. Kali Maa is uptempo headbanging perfection
and of course a lot of the included songs also have that slow typical Doom
Metal sound, but when they go uptempo (also during A blowjob from Yaldabaoth),
they go for an incredible heavy sound! Produced in Sweden by Niklas Kallgren
from TRUCKFIGHTERS, this album is one of the finest pieces of Italian Doom
Metal released in the past 20 years and it's a shame it never got that much
attention, so therefore here is a newly written look at this legendary
underground album. The songs sound very impressive from start to finish and
VERACRASH is definitely highly recommended to the fans of mentioned bands.
Check them out at: https://veracrash.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
TUNDRA
'CORO' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
Straight out of the underground comes
TUNDRA, a band from Venice, Italy whom delivered a sensational debut album
titled Coro back in 2014. Two of the members played in a band called d
MOUNTAINS and the strange thing is that after this release, we never heard
anything of TUNDRA anymore, which is really a pity, because Coro is a very
impressive and rather interesting album. The included music is instrumental and
a mix of Stoner, Psychedelic and Progressive Rock, yet played by 2 basses and a
drummer, but sounding like a full band, including the guitar! You don't miss
the guitar at all, so TUNDRA has definitely something quite unique! The band
consists of Marco Bortoletto - Drums, Alessandro Toffanello - Bass and Federico
Favaron - Bass, and the 10 songs on Coro are really showing an incredible high
level of instrumental Stoner Psych/Progressive Rock in classic 1970s style. I
have never seen or heard a band with only a drummer and 2 bassists, so for that
reason alone you need to hear this! Check it out for yourself at: https://tundra3.bandcamp.com/album/coro
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
MONGOOSE
JAHBULONG 'GDR/SPLIT 1: 33 RPM VINYL RELEASE' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
It seems like Italy is the leading country
to look for bands/labels in the Stoner/Doom Metal direction, because we have
HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS, BALCK WIDOW RECORDS and GO DOWN RECORDS. This last
mentioned label is an independent Italian record label founded by Leonardo Cola
and OJM’s drummer Max Ear. They were kind enough to sent me a part of their
back catalogue, which consists of mainly sounds from underground music such as psych
rock, stoner, doom, desert rock, '60s, hard rock, ‘70s and anything mixed or
in-between. The releases are done on VINYL and/or CD and you can definitely
hear that this label is founded by music fans. Most of the bands are Italian
and this GDR/Split 1 VINYL Record contains on each side a different band.
Side-A features songs by the Italian band MONGOOSE and these are really great
Stoner/Doom orientated, with string vocalwork and a really raw big guitar
dominate sound a la BARONESS and also a hommage to the classic 1970s sounds of
bands like BLUE CHEER, BLACK SABBATH and especially MC5. The tree-piece band
consists of Daniel Giardina | guitar, vocals, Stefano Castioni | bass and Serena
Zocca | drums and they absolutely deliver something of interest here, with
as highlights the slowtempo The fall and the lovely uptempo Final exodus.
Hopefully much more on this band in the near future, because they are one of
the better Italian bands at the moment in the Stoner/Doom Rock/Metal direction.
On Side-B another band from Italy is showing their skills through 3 lengthy
tracks. They are called JAHBULONG and formed around Pierpaolo Modena -
Vocal/Guitar, Nicolò Bonato - Drums and Martino Tomelini - Bass. Their sound is
somewhat similar to that of the other band, although perhaps a little darker,
slower and vocally also quite different. JAHBULONG is grittier and rawer,
especially in the guitar department, really going for that pure superslow Doom
Metal sound like we heard it from a band like REVEREND BIZARRE. They are doing
it very well and should be eaten alive by the fans of this genre that has not
come out of the underground ever since OZZY and BLACK SABBATH parted ways in
the 1970s! I was at one point really thinking if the vinyl record I was playing
should really be played at 33 RPM speed, because a song like Green walls is one
of the slowest Doom Metal songs I have heard in centuries! Anyway, I can highly
recommend this split record that features 2 really interesting Italian band! More
info at: https://godownrecords.bandcamp.com/album/split-series-1
and https://www.godownrecords.com/mongoose
and https://jahbulong.bandcamp.com/releases
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
SUPERTEMPO
'29 VINYL RELEASE' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
Out of Venice, Italy comes SUPERTEMPO, a
threesome band formed around Federico Mellinato: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Stefano
Michieletto: Bass, Vocals, Guitar and Marco Fabris: Drums back in 2010. They
released 2 albums ion GO DOWN RECORDS, of which their latest 29 already dates
back to 2014. The included music is mostly uptempo catchy punky powerpop with
an alternative rock influence in the vocal and guitar department. They do
remind a bit of 80s R.E.M. (It's the end of the world style) and also 90s US
College Rock. SUPERTEMPO is quite a good band with a handfull of rather catchy
tunes, although a bit more diversity would be nice, because almost all of the
14 included tracks are uptempo rockers. Not bad at all, but some more variation
in tempo would be nice, because when they do that, we get to hear a pretty good
melodic powerpop affair (You're always late). You wouldn't think this is an
Italian band, as they sound very American and are highly recommended to fans of
bands like THE JAYHAWKS, R.E.M., TEENAGE FANCLUB, WILCO, THE REPLACEMENTS...
More info at: https://supertempo.bandcamp.com/album/29
(Points:
7.8 out of 10)
ALICE
TAMBOURINE LOVER 'DOWN BELOW VINYL RELEASE' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
In contrast to most
releases on the Italian label GO DOWN RECORDS, the VINYL Record of ALICE
TAMBOURINE LOVER is a calmer almost Americana kinda record and a really good
one actually. This duo is coming out of Bologna, Italy and consists of Alice
Albertazzi (voice / guitar / tambourine) and Gianfranco Romanelli (dobro
resonator guitars). The two musicians started back in 2011 and Down below is
their 4th album so far. The music is quite calm and relaxed, but also a bit
dark and melancholic, although the lovely female vocals make it sound very
melodic. There aren't any drums and the guitar stays in the
rootsy/Americana/Folk field, while the vocals sometimes go in a sorta
Psychedelic Rock direction. I think this combination makes it an interesting
album, but also a very laid-back one that you play on a sunny summer ish sunday
afternoon. Done very well and all 8 included tracks have the same kinda feeling
as described and you can hear that for yourself at: https://alicetambourinelover.bandcamp.com/album/down-below
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
GLINCOLTI
'TERZO OCCHIO - AD OCCHI APERTI VINYL RELEASE' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
Now this is an
interesting release from the Italian band GLINCOLTI, whom are making a
sensational mix of classic 1970s Progressive Rock and Complex Jazz/Fusion and
their Vinyl release Terzo occhio contains on the A-side 4 tracks from their album
'Ad Occhi Aperti', recorded live in 2017, while on Side are 3 previously
unissued tracks from the 'Ad Occhi Aperti' sessions, with as special guests
Sara B. (Messa), Jason Nealy (ex-Mad Fellaz, Sonic Wolves) and Andrea F. The
band's line-up features Roberts Colbertaldo (drums), Andrea Zardo (bass),
Alberto Piccolo (guitar) and Alex Donanzan (guitar) and together they create
some really beautiful music. The result on this LP is a fantastic journey through
the instrumental fields of Progressive Rock and with Jazzy parts here and there
as well. It reminds me clearly of the classic 1970s and then you must think of
bands like GENTLE GIANT, FLAVIUM and especially SOFT MACHINE, yet a bit more
leaning towards pure Prog when going real proggy and rocky such as during the
superb Il medico, which features absolutely phenomenal guitarwork. Side-B
features on 1 song female vocals that make it sound completely different than
the rest and although it took some time to get used to it, the song itself is a
pretty strong Melodic Progrocker with Soulful vocals. This band should be huge
in the progrockworld, but I don't think they are that well-known yet. Hopefully
they will be re-discovered via this review! More info can be found at: https://www.godownrecords.com/product-page/glincolti-terzo-occhio-ad-occhi-aperti-LPx
and http://www.glincolti.com/splash.php
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
THE
ROOZALEPRES 'THE ROOZALEPRES' (GO DOWN RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
Good music does not
always have to sound difficult and complex, because sometimes when going for a
simpler sound you can also reach your goal and appeal to people. Take for
instance the Italian band THE ROOZALEPRES whom are delivering short but sweet
and sharp fast uptempo Punky Rock and Roll in the style of TURBONEGRO, HARDCORE
SUPERSTAR, PETER PAN SPEEDROCK, THE RAMONES, DANKO JONES, NASHVILLE PUSSY...
Nothing new perhaps, but done very well and off we go through their 12 counting
tracks on their debut album, we can hear a lot of fun and enthousiastic songs
from a pretty good band, which has a lot of potential to become more known in
the future. More info at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/roozalepres
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
TINY
BIT OF GIANT'S BLOOD 'GIGANTOSAUR VINYL RELEASE' (JUMBO RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Now this is a very interesting mixture,
because I hear a lot of influences in TINY BIT OF GIANT'S BLOOD's music.
Overall it's pure Classic Glam Rock with massive harmony vocals driven choruses
out of the classic THE SWEET/CITY BOY/QUEEN box, yet it sounds modern as well,
with influences from modern rock bands (especially THE DARKNESS) and here and
there some Punk Rock as well. The band comes out of Chicago and is formed
around vocalist Tony Rogers, guitarist John Scholvin, bassist Jackie Schimmel
and drummer Larry Beers. Their debut album is titled "Gigantosaur"
and it has just been released. When checking their website, the band pictures
and song titles, it is clear that we are dealing here with a band that is
trying to combine the big bombastic 70s rock with humorous lyrics and a lot of
rock star stage presence, ending up sounding and looking quite close to classic
THE TUBES in their 1970s period, although CHEAP TRICK is also a band to
mention, but there's so much more here. A song like "Girl Over Here"
is a close-call to THE DARKNESS's modern glam rock, while the uptempo "To
Be Is Beautiful" has some cool synths, galloping guitar work and a lovely
catchy melodic chorus, sounding like a cross between 70's URIAH HEEP and 70's
QUEEN. "Five Foot Heels" is another great uptempo rocker that sounds
like the perfect baby of classic QUEEN and THE SWEET. "Little People"
starts as a QUEEN piano-ballad with DAVID BOWIE-ish vocals, but halfway
transforms into an uptempo rocker like THE WHO. The band is also not shy from classic
late 1970s punk rock, because that can be heard in the song "Mick Jagger
Carries My Boots," which sounds like THE RAMONES meets GENERATION X.
Side-A (of the vinyl record they kindly sent to me for review) closes with the
bombastic ballad sorta-rocker "All Hail The Opening Band," which has
a great chorus and guitar solo and sounds not far from the 1980s power ballad,
although once again QUEEN influences are crystal clear too.
Side-B opens with "Faux Tuff," a
great uptempo 1970s rocker that has a guitar riff which is 100% identical to
TOTO's classic tune "Angela," although the song itself is something
THE TUBES could definitely have created many years ago. "If You Want
Blood" is the surprise of the album, because this is an AC/DC cover and
it's done quite differently, starting quite calm with synths, but ends up being
a rocker as well, just like the original classic tune. "Signoria
Dysphoria" takes another change in style, because this is a sorta Latin
pop tune with traditional Spanish guitar, quite nice, although the rockers
might skip here. On the other hand, this shows their love for QUEEN as well,
because that band of course did such tricks as well. It's like TINY BIT OF
GIANT'S BLOOD has listened very well to all those classic 70s rock bands,
because ROLLING STONES influences pass by during the uptempo rocker "There
Is Always More," which then again also reveals MOTT THE HOOPLE/SMALL FACES
influences, although halfway they switch it to a slightly faster punky tempo,
but also slow it down again to keep it QUEEN- influenced. It's all there and
very cool to hear. I think if they are able to do this live at a professional
level, they could become the next big thing. Who knows if that will happen...
In the end they are a highly recommended
band to people who want their glam rock to sound a bit extroverted and
theatrical like in the good old classic 1970s, kinda like QUEEN meets THE SWEET
and a bit of THE DARKNESS. More info at: https://www.tinybitofgiantsblood.com/
(Points: 8.1 out of 10)
WILLE
AND THE BANDITS 'PATHS' (OMN LABEL/FAT TOAD RECORDS/PROPER RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
The band WILLE AND THE BANDITS comes out
of Cornwall and they were kind enough to sent me their 5th album Paths which
was released sometime ago. Formed in 2010 around Wille Edwards - Guitars, Lead
Vocals, Harry Mackaill - Bass, Backing Vocals, Matthew Gallagher - Organ,
Guitar, Vocals and percussion and Finn McAuley - Drums and percussion, they are
slowly building a reputation and let's hope when corona is gone, touring will
be possible again. Paths consists of 11 impressive songs that combine American
Melodic Rock melodies with Bluesy Rocking soaring guitar solos and superb
vocalwork. Opener One way starts very strong, because this is an uptempo rocker
with a really catchy memorable 80s ish chorus ala VAN HALEN with SAMMY HAGAR.
In fact, their lead singer WILLE EDWARDS is not only a gifted guitarplayer who
can shred quite sensational, he also has a fantastic raw voice that reminds of
a cross between SAMMY HAGAR and the ZZ TOP singer. Next track Make love is
bluesier and more akin to classic groovy Classic Rock of the CREAM/ZEPPELIN/ZZ
TOP kind. Victim of the night follows in a more breezy very strong laid-back
ish soulful melodic rock direction with once again the SAMMY HAGAR
similarities. MONTROSE also comes to mind more than a few times, but then
perhaps a bit more bluesier like a JOE BONAMASSA or KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD. In a
more semi-ballad direction is the bluesy melodic rocker Four million days where
Wille once again shows what an incredible gifted singer and guitarist he is! I
am really surprised this band has not yet had their big breakthrough, because
they are of an incredible high level and probably belong with KINGSBOROUGH and ROBERT
JON & THE WRECK to the best of the new generation of American orientated
Bluesy Melodic Rock that has not reached the big audience yet. Here and there
the band also goes for a slightly more experimental direction, such as the
funky Keep it on the down-low that has more in common with RED HOT CHILLI
PEPPERS doing their own version of Play that funky music. On the other hand,
even SAMMY HAGAR did such songs on his solo albums and the band rocks big time
during Find my way, so the diversity on this album should be praised! All
together I am safe to say that WILLE AND THE BANDITS is a highly recommended
band to check out and hopefully in the future they will reach more people,
because they have a lot of potential, especially of course their bandleader
WILLE EDWARDS! More at: https://www.willeandthebandits.com/
(Points: 8.7 out of 10)
MOONLIGHT
BENJAMIN 'SIMIDO' (MA CASE/TAKAM/XANGO MUSIC)
I was very surprised
when I heard MOONLIGHT BENJAMIN on the last SONGLINES CD, because I had not
heard of her before, but this Haiti-born singer and her Parisan band have
already released 2 albums in the past, which I sadly haven't heard yet. They
bring a sensational sound that combines Western bluesy roots/classic rock with
African style vocals of Moonlight. The music really rocks in a way we know it
from THE BLACK KEYS of THE WHITE STRIPES if we need to mention a reference, but
then with a Soulful African way of singing. Their new album Simido should
easily give them the breakthrough they absolutely deserve and hopefully also
the rockworld will discover this Haitian/French sensation. 10 songs are
included and the rock, soul, blues, americana, African/Carribean rhythms,
desert rock and roots influences are melted perfectly here. Moonlight's vocals
are one of a kind and really impressive, but also her band (Matthis Pascaud on
guitar/synthesisers; Matthieu Vial-Collet on guitar; Quentin Rochas on bass and
Bertrand Noël on drums) sound very tight. Opener Nap chape starts right away with
that raw groovy bluesy rocksound I was refering to, but especially following
tracks Ki nouvel and Salwe are fantastic sensational rockers with beautiful
catchy melodies and explosive classic rock ish guitarwork (a la CREAM/ZEPPELIN).
I'll bet live on stage this will be a great adventure to experience and let's
hope this will be possible one day everything's back to normal. As we work our
way through the 10 songs, it is remarkable that the incredible high level is
kept from the start to the end, because besides the first 3 songs there are
many more highlights and they all rock out big time, such as Pale pawol, Tchoule
and Belekou. Although considered as World Music, I am safe to say that also the
fans of Classic Rock (CREAM/LED ZEPPELIN) and/or modern retro Bluesy Rock (THE
BLACK KEYS/JOE BONAMASSA) and such will definitely like this album a lot. This
might secretly be one of the finest album releases of 2020, so you absolutely
must not miss it! More info at: https://moonlightbenjamin.bandcamp.com/album/simido
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
MY
ARRIVAL 'SATUR9 & INDIGO' (INDEPENDENT/MEY PRODUCTIONS)
Progressive Rock is
one of the finest music genres around and each year we are surprised with many
great new albums. 2020 has already brought some strong progalbums, but we are
waiting for that big one, which we can call the album of 2020 (perhaps the new
HAKEN)! Well, MY ARRIVAL from my own country is definitely a contender, because
this new band has delivered a wonderful melodic progressive album, although it
is actually a bit calmer and song orientated than most of the other more
complex albums in the progscene. On the other hand, it's also not really
Neo-prog, as therefore it sounds too relaxed, poppy and modern. They call it
themselves Art-rock and Post-rock combined, but I would probably describe it as
a melodic modern sounding song orientated progressive pop/rock album. Imagine a
mix between the old ALAN PARSONS PROJECT style, PINK FLOYD, RPWL, a lot of DIRE
STRAITS and the new MARILLION, with a real focus on pop melodies and leaving
out any complex instrumental improvisations. You might as well call it
intelligent popmusic that just happens to give us memorable vocal lines and
catchy choruses in a way that brings a band like COLDPLAY fame and fortune. MY
ARRIVAL might be called a new band as already mentioned before, but they are
actually a side-project of the SYLVIUM members BEN VAN GASTEL, FRED BOKS and
RICHARD DE GEEST. We reviewed some of their albums in the past, but apart from
the fact they all play in that legendary Neo-Progband, MY ARRIVAL is different
and less proggy. The debut album Satur9 & Indigo is actually a concept
album, although you can easily listen to any of the songs seperately without
the need to listen to the whole album as to understand the concept behind it.
Most of the songs follow the same relaxing laid-back sound and especially Gone,
Pale white dot, Full dark no stars and Strange machine are quite memorable. The
titletrack is basically pure PINK FLOYD at it's very best, including a DAVID
GILMOUR ish soaring guitarsolo and like in any song also this one has beautiful
relaxing pop melodies. There are a few times the tempo is a bit more uptempo,
such as during Come undone and Null echo, which reminds me a lot of LONELY
ROBOT, KINO and SOUND OF CONTACT, so these are closer to the modern day melodic
Neo-progrock, but most of the time MY ARRIVAL's debut album is highly
recommended to fans of RPWL, DIRE STRAITS, STEVEN WILSON, PINK FLOYD, ALAN
PARSONS PROJECT and such calmer pop based prog. More info at: https://myarrival.bandcamp.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
AATACHE
'DEMO CDR' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
From out of nowhere
comes this interesting release. Well, actually it is from Miami Springs,
Florida and it's like in the old days when I also received packages with
absolutely zero info and just a blank Tape or CDR. There's no info included or
any tracklisting, so when surfing the web I was hoping to find more info, but I
am afraid I cannot find anything on the band AATACHE. A pity, because it is
quite good, sometimes very proggy such as during 4 and the lovely 7 (pure
Neo-Prog) and at other times quiet calmer 70s pop orientated like in 5. There's
also catchy strong melodic Progressive Poprock like the awesome 6, which is
very close to classic CUTTING CREW. At times there's also a bit of STING
similarities included and well overall it's a nice melodic mixture of mentioned
acts and genres all together. This is all I can mention, because I don't know
anything more on them! It makes it still quite exciting to learn more about
them, so who knows soon that will be possible. You can email them at: monopolydor@gmail.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THE
HAWK EYES 'EVER FOR AFTER' (MISRA RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
Straight out of
Pittsburgh comes the sensational band THE HAWK EYES, whom take the classic 80s
Melodic Rocksound right back to 2020. They were formed back in 2013 and Ever
for after is their 2nd album. I am quite surprised I haven't read anything more
about them yet, becaiuse when listening to this new album and especially the
first 2 songs, Now or never and Wanted man, we get to hear quite superb high quality
uptempo Melodic Hardrock. They sound like a heavier and modern version of
classic LOVERBOY, with the same kinda catchy hooks and melodic choruses and
also a strong lead singer. Don't let this comparison put you off, because THE
HAWK EYES sound like it's 2020, so nothing dated at all and much rockier, but
they are clearly bringing back the classic melodies into rock and roll here. The
band's groovy big time retro Hardrock ish material should also be mentioned
here, because a song like John O is closer to bands like BLACK STONE CHERRY and
RIVAL SONS and Stone's throw away even ticks the GOTTHARD Melodic Hardrock box!
Basically it's a mix of all kinds of rock and roll from the past 50 years and
THE HAWKS EYES are doing this at a very high level. Highly recommended to check
out as soon as possible please at: https://hawkeyesband.com/
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
MANUEL
FERNANDEZ 'CAMINARE' (KASBA MUSIC/XANGO MUSIC)
Now for something completely different,
because out of Spain comes MANUEL FERNANDEZ and he brings on his new album
Caminare perfectly swinging Spanish Latin/Salsa/Jazz like a calmer GIPSY KINGS.
Right when you hear the opening song Fecha de Caducidad, it is clear we get to
hear this kind of music at a very high level and a song like this could easily
become a huge radiohit this summer. Although most of the CD continues in this
style, there are also calmer moments such as during the
Middle-Eastern/Andalusian influenced Sigue Caminando. When hearing this kind of
music you feel the warm sunny breeze from the south of Europe or even South
America and that's where Manuel will also get a lot of attention from. On the
other hand, I really think when people in the Northern parts of Europe will
hear this album, they will have a big smile on their face, because this kind of
music makes you happy, especially when it is done very well, which is the case
here. One of the more interesting songs besides the first song is the rockier No
Quiero Volver a Tenerte. If you want to hear something else musically speaking,
then why not try this album of Manuel! More info on Manuel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjV7SQ_QLMo
(Points:
7.7 out of 10)
BA
BALANCE 'AROUND THE CROCODILE POND' (ONE WORLD RECORDS/XANGO MUSIC)
BA BALANCE is a really
great and interesting mixture of Western Bluesrock riffs and African rhythms.
Recorded in Malmo, Sweden, BA BALANCE is a duo consisting of Danish guitarist
Preben Carlsen and Gambian percussion player Sal Dibba. Together they
create a fascinating sound that will appeal to fans of both World Music and
Classic Retro Blues Rock. It's instrumental and very groovy, while the fact
that only guitars and percussion are used and it still has a full swinging
rocking sound, this makes it very impressive. There are also different vibes to
be heard throughout the album, because JIMI HENDRIX ish material is included,
but also for example a sorta Latin sounding song Pretty one. You can really
feel the enormous joy and excitement of these 2 talented musicians when they
recorded the 10 songs of Around the crocodile pond. Definitely recommended to
check out at: https://www.oneworldsmusic.com/ba-babalance
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
ELECTRIC
VOCUHILA 'PALACES' (CAPSUL RECORDS/VEEVCOM/FRANCE IMPORT)
Out of Tours, France comes ELECTRIC
VOCUHILA, which was originally started as a sax/drums duo in Berlin, Germany
back in 2009, but developed into a full band consisting of Maxime Bobo, alto
sax and claviers, keyboards & composition, Boris Rosenfeld, guitar, François
Rosenfeld, bass & guitar and Etienne Ziemniak, drums. Through the years
they released quite a lot of albums and also played and performed all over,
resulting in the fact that eventually they settled themselves elsewhere in
Europe. The included music is instrumental and quite diverse, because a lot of
influences are melted together, making this a very interesting band. There's
quite some Jazz and African music influences, but what comes around a lot of times
is a really cool old style claviers sound, such as can be heard during the
songs Toronto and Micky. All together a really nice isntrumental journey
through various sounds and melted it sounds really cheerful and fun. There's
even some carribean kinda rhythms to be heard (Paraky), so enough diversity to
keep you entertained from start to finish. Check it out for yourself at: https://electricvocuhila.bandcamp.com
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
MELODIE
GIMARD 'NUMEN' (ONE WORLD RECORDS/XANGO MUSIC)
MELODIE GIMARD comes
out of France, but is living and working in Barcelona. She is a gifted pianist,
composer and arranger who mainly plays Classical Music on the piano, but
combines it with Jazz rhythms and Flamenco vocals. Her latest album clearly
shows this mixture and features 4 different Flamenco guest singers and a string
of additional musicians on Trumpet, Contrabass, Drums, Percussion, Bass, etc.
10 songs are included on Numen and it is a very relaxing affair that you can
easily put on as background music. Melodie plays the piano just perfectly,
ranging from calmer parts to darker heavier sounding moments. She combines it
as already mentiond with the jazzy arrangements and flamenco type of vocals,
which makes it quite an unique adventure. This album takes you into Melodie's
journey through 3 different worlds (Classical Music, Jazz and Flamenco) and in
the end, it works really well and should be heard by as many people as
possible.. Hear for yourself at: https://www.oneworldsmusic.com/melodie-gimard
and https://melodiegimardmusic.bandcamp.com/releases
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
SAMBUCA
'LUZ' (PRODASTAR/VEEVCOM/FRANCE IMPORT)
Out of Italy comes
SAMBUCA, which is a duo consisting of guitarist ROBERTO STIMOLI and vocalist
IRENE AMATA. Although they are from Italy, the music they are making is
Brazilian music, but they are also very active on the Parisian jazz/world music
scene. This combination can also be heard in their music and it makes them a
very interesting act and quite unique actually. While listening to the 10 songs
on their debut album Luz, I find myself truly connected with their sound, which
is a mixture of calmer Flamenco Guitar meets WES MONTGOMERY/GEORGE BENSON ish
Jazz guitar playing and of course the relaxing beautiful melodic Portuguese
language vocals. The songs are a mixture of world-famous songs that are covered
and lesser known songs by Brazilian composers. The album goes by very quickly,
because it is such a relaxing melodic laid-back affair and I am quite
interesting to know how this will go down live on stage. That might take a
while due to corona, but happily this CD will already give you a lot of
pleasure and excitement for now. More info at: https://www.sambuca.online
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
GWENDOLINE
ABSALON 'VANGASAY' (TING BANGVEEVCOM/FRANCE IMPORT)
The incredible
talented singer/songwriter GWENDOLINE ABSALON comes out of the beautiful
tropical Island of La Reunion, which is French and quite close to Madagascar,
Africa. Vangasay is Gwendoline's 2nd album and without a doubt, this could be
her big breakthrough, because some of the songs are very strong and
radio-ready, such as the fantastic Modernite. 12 songs are included and along
with 6 other musicians (Pianist Hervé Celcal, Guitarist Rija Randrianiviosoa,
Drummer Fabrice Thompson, Percussion drummer Vincent Phileas, guitarist Fabrice
Legros and caroline Faber on backing vocals, triangle) and producer TING BANG,
she recorded a wonderful album that sounds like the perfect mix between World
Music/African Music and Western Singer/Songwriter Pop Melodies in a way STING
or even SADE also did for a while, such as can be heard very clearly in the
titlesong. Of course it's Gwendoline's vocals that make this sound different
than anything else out there, because she has an unique voice that has likewise
African influences, while her music is very smooth and will also appeal to a
wide audience out there. For example listen to the beautiful piano-led ballad
Ti fi la, which should be played on all radio stations out there! She could
easily score a summer hit with one or more of her songs, as it all sounds very
friendly and positive, which is something we definitely need in these corona
times. Check for yourself at: https://gwendolineabsalon.com/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ARIANA
VAFADARI 'ANAHITA' (QUART DE LUNE/VEEVCOM/FRANCE IMPORT)
The album Anahita from
the Franco-Iranian soprano singer ARIANA VAFADARI is something unique and one
you really need to hear, because what we get to hear is absolutely beautiful.
Ariana is a soprano singer, so she sings in the 'Opera' style, like we know it
from for example TARJA (ex-NIGHTWISH), but Ariana's music is very calm and a
combination of Flamenco, Moroccan Music, Jazz and Western Classical music. She
goes up quite high here and there, such as during Larbre, but also holds back
and then it sounds really fragile, like in the opener La reve d'anahita, a
beautiful piece. Somehow I am also thinking of CLANNAD and ENYA here and there,
as it has the same sorta dark melancholic approach, but of course differently
due to the soprano vocals. Ariana is singing in a lot of different languages,
such as Persan, French, avestic, ancien, Italian... and the musicians playing
on this album are Piano player JULIEN CARTON, Ud player DRISS EL MALDOUMI,
double Bass player LEILA SOLDEVILA and Percussion player HABIB MEFTAH BOUSHERI.
10 songs are included and it might not have anything to do with pop/rock music,
I challenge you to check out this beautiful album that should definitely be
heard by a lot of people due to the incredible high level of musicianship
displayed on the album. More info at: https://www.arianavafadari.com/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
LES
FILS CANOUCHE 'TRANSHUMANCE' (VLAD PRODUCTIONS/VEEVCOM/FRANCE IMPORT)
Transhumance is the
new EP of the French band LES FILS CANOUCHE, whom are playing a mix of World
Music, Gypsy Music and Jazz. They are doing this at a very high level and with
over 700 concerts per year all throughout Europe and already 4 albums released
in the past, this is definitely a band that knows how to play quality music.
The only pity is the short playing length, but that's because it is an EP of
course. The band's line up consists of XAVIER MARGOGNE (guitar), SAMUEL THEZE
(clarinet), MAXIME PERRIN (accordion) and STEPHANE COZIK (double bass) and
MININO GARRAY (percussion) and HUSSAM ALIWAT (oud) guesting. Together they
create a cheerful vibrant Jazz/World Music/Gypsy sound that live will probably
be very exciting to watch. For now check them out at: http://www.lesfilscanouche.com/
(Points:
7.9 out of 10)
AIRBAG
'A DAY AT THE BEACH' (DARK ESSENCE RECORDS/KARISMA RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
Out of Oslo, Norway
comes the band AIRBAG, whom were formed back in the mid 2000s. We already
reviewed one of their previous albums, but since the band's last album
Disconnected and this new one A day at the beach 4 years have passed and a lot
of things can change in such a longer period of time. The line-up of AIRBAG in
2020 is now a threesome, including HENRIK BERGAN FOSSUM (Drums), ASLE TOSTRUP
(Vocals, keys and programming) and the mastermind BJORN RIIS (Guitars, Bass and
Keys). Bjorn released a couple of solo-albums in the period AIRBAG was less
active (3 in total!), but this still gave enough energy and positive vibes to
create a sensational new album as AIRBAG.
Overall AIRBAG is the
ultimate Progband, because they are still able to surprise after all these
years and come up with a lot of diversity in their songs. Therefore they should
easily be able to reach the fans of such modern sounding progbands like
RIVERSIDE, ANATHEMA, PINNEAPLE THIEF, MARILLION and such, besides the classic
PINK FLOYD and ALAN PARSONS PROJECT fans. What they are doing on A day at the
beach is of an incredible high level, basically creating the perfect balance
between exciting instrumental passages, beautiful melodies and still not
forgetting the rock elements. 6 songs can be found on the new album, including
a couple quite lengthy ones, but they do offer enough melodies, instrumental
parts and rockier moments to keep everyone pleased all the way through this new
AIRBAG adventure.
Opener Machines and
men starts very calm and relaxed in a PINK FLOYD ish prog direction, but
changes into an almost 1980s type of Synthpop tune after a few minutes and when
the chorus comes around we are rolling into an uptempo melodic rocking mood, including
a lovely soaring guitarsolo also coming through towards the end of the song. After
this lovely opener we get to hear part 1 of the titeltrack, a short calmer prog
tune, which is later on the album followed by the instrumental part 2. In
between we have Into the unknown (beautiful calmer PINK FLOYD/MARILLION ish
Prog, with excellent exciting instrumental passages that remind of DAVID
GILMOUR in a lot of ways) and Sunsets (finest song on the album, a lovely
midtempo Melodic Progrocker with a really catchy chorus, reminding a bit of
classic ARENA or PALLAS, so Neo-Progish). Closing track Megalomaniac is an epic
10 minutes counting prog classic in the style of good old PINK FLOYD/DAVID
GILMOUR and a touch of PETER GABRIEL era GENESIS, yet with a cool rocking part
halfway. I guess you'll get the picture here, because you don't want to miss
this sensational release, which is a must-have for all the proggies out there!
More at: https://www.airbagsound.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
ARABS
IN ASPIC 'MADNESS AND MAGIC' (DARK ESSENCE RECORDS/KARISMA RECORDS/NORWAY
IMPORT)
It's a pity I lost
contact for a while with the Norwegian Progrocklabel KARISMA RECORDS, because
they clearly are a high quality label and besides the new AIRBAG, they released
in June 2020 another sensational album. This is the new record of the Norwegian
band ARABS IN ASPIC, which is a lovely 1970s orientated piece of classic rock
and prog history with all the elements from that era, such as mellotrons, rhodes,
70s synths, harmonyvocals, soaring guitar solos, a funky bass, acoustic and
loud guitars, a melodic chorus or hook, a flute... it's all present on the 8th
album of ARABS IN ASPIC. Their line-up consists of Jostein Smeby / guitars,
vocals, Stig Jørgensen / organs, vocals, Erik Paulsen / bass, vocals, Eskil
Nyhus / drums, cymbals and Alessandro G. Elide / percussion, gongs. 6 songs can
be found on the album and right from the start you can feel there's something
sensational happening here. Opener I vow to thee, my screen is a superb classic
prog/rock kinda song that has elements of URIAH HEEP, LUCIFER'S FRIEND, 70s
GENESIS, ASHBURY and such in both the vocal and instrumental parts. The band's
songs are lengthy just like any other progband out there, but they also feature
amazing beautiful melodies in the pure 1970s style of harmonyvocals. This can
be heard very clearly during the next track Lullaby for modern kids follows,
which is split in 2 parts and features those amazing harmonyvocals besides a
somewhat funky bass and groovy guitar line, this song has similarities to
KANSAS and even a bit CAMEL. The other 3 songs follow the same path as the
earlier mentioned songs, which is that classic 1970s rock/prog sound, without
ever getting uptempo, as the material of ARABS IN ASPIC is quite epic, calmer,
with many acoustic guitars/harmonyvocals and goes mostly in a somewhat midtempo
groovy direction. Without a doubt, they are doing a splendid job here and
anyone into classic HEEP, KANSAS, B.O.C. and even BLACK SABBATH influences
during closing track Heaven in your eye, they will absolutely love this record. Check out this wonderful band
in case you're not familiar with them yet. More info at: https://arabs.bandcamp.com/album/madness-and-magic
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
SHAMAN
ELEPHANT 'WIDE AWAKE BUT STILL ASLEEP' (DARK ESSENCE RECORDS/KARISMA
RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
There must be
something in the water, because the Norwegian city of Bergen offers so many
bands that I honestly think every citizen is playing an instrument. Anyway,
they are also home to this exciting band SHAMAN ELEPHANT, a band that grabs
back to the psychedelic/progressive rocksound of the 1970s without sounding
dated, as they also add some slight modern retro hardrock influences into their
rocking sound, but also prog complexities and even a bit of screaming/90s
Noiserock a la SONIC YOUTH. HAWKWIND comes to mind quite clearly here and
there, especially when you listen to opener and titletrack Wide awake but still
asleep that also reveal the modern Noise rock influences, but there's more to
discover on the 2nd album of SHAMAN ELEPHANT. For example the progressive rock
instrumental H.M.S. Death, rattle and roll or how about the song Steely dan,
which is likewise a tribute to the legendary band of the same name. Strangely,
Ease of mind sounds closer to STEELY DAN than the song which is supposed to be
a tribute, although this song also has some similarities to LITTLE FEAT
somehow. The epic Traveller is then again almost an uptempo melodic progrocker
like RUSH meets B.O.C. meets MAX WEBSTER! Diversity is definitely present on
this album! All together, it's quite an unique experience the new album of the
band SHAMAN ELEPHANT, whom are going a bit further than being just another progband,
as you never know what to expect on the following track, which makes them of
course quite interesting. They are more an experimental 1970s meets 1990s
rockband with some prog elements here and there, but it's best to hear for
yourself at: https://shamanelephant.bandcamp.com/album/wide-awake-but-still-asleep
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
TIEBREAKER
'DEATH TUNES' (KARISMA RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
And yet another band
from Bergen, Norway! They are called TIEBREAKER and are playing Classic 70s
Hard/Heavy Rock that fits somewhere between THIN LIZZY and AEROSMITH, with yet
a rawer edge in a sorta MOTORHEAD ish direction. Mix those bands with a touch
of bluesy rock and the sound of a new Classic Rockband like RIVAL SONS and
you're close to TIEBREAKER. They are doing it at a very high level actually and
at one point you wonder if they are not really coming out of the UK or USA
instead of Norway! Death tunes is their 2nd album and I have to say that after
a bunch of exciting but very raw edgier groovy set of hardrocking tunes, it was
nice to see the band develop an own style during the 2nd part of the album,
which also shows the band doing things a bit more melodic (The deep, Building
up to die and Float away) than in the beginning. The absolute highlight however
is the killer epic closing track Heavy lifting, where the band's lead singer
THOMAS ESPELAND KARLSEN shows what an incredible singer he is. The song itself
is a lovely bluesy soulful melodic rock ish ballad that sounds completely
different than the rest of the album. I am really interested to see where this
band is going into the future, because if they continue the style of this last
mentioned song and mix it with the variety of their classic rock of the
aforementioned 3 songs, then we could welcome another sensational Classic
Rockact! On the other hand, they are now also quite impressive and recommended
to check out at: https://tiebreaker.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
DOBBELT
GJENGER 'LIMBO HEAD' (KARISMA RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
Now this is a somewhat
bizarre and rare album, because it jumps from different music genres quite
quickly. For example the first couple of songs seem to be going into a groovy
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS kinda direction with just a bit of progrock influences
(ZAPPA), while a song like Like monroe is suddenly very melodic and almost pure
prog rocking and Locking my doors is also melodic, but poppier and acoustically
driven. Swing then again jumps into a quirky almost aggressive punkier modern
heavy rock direction. As you will notice, this is not just a progrockband, but
a very diverse band that stretches their sound quite far. DOBBELT GJENGER is
coming out of Bergen, Norway and their 2nd album Limbohead was released in
2018. The band's musicians can definitely play their instruments very well and
vocally it is really good, but somehow I miss a bit of a connection with their
sound. It's not bad at all, because songs like Radio and Mangrove are quite
interesting. You can hear in such tunes QUEEN ish harmonyvocals, but also
somehow it reminds me 90s groovy Hardrock acts like HUMANIMAL, SAIGON KICK,
mid-late 90s HAREM SCAREM, and the mid-late 90s TALISMAN albums crossed with
the groovy/funk of RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS. Concluded, a real melting pot with a
strong 1990s sound somehow, but definitely interesting. More info at: https://dobbeltgjenger.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
INNER
ODYSSEY 'THE VOID' (INDEPENDENT/CANADA IMPORT)
This is why I love
doing my job as a reviewer so much! Everytime I hear a sensational new
progressive rock/progmetal album I feel the need to write long essays about it,
because I want everybody to learn about the album. In this case it is the album
The void from the Quebec, Canada based band INNER ODYSSEY. They were formed
back in 2007 by guitarist VINCENT LEBOEUF GADREAU and already released 2 albums
before their new one The void. Musically speaking they are fitting somewhere
between the calmer song orientated Neo-Progressive Rocksound of ENCHANT and
RUSH and the heavier somewhat more complex keyboard vs guitar driven instrumental
Neo-Classical Progressive Metal of (light) DREAM THEATER and PAGAN'S MIND,
which can be heard very well during the first 2 songs Overhanging and The
reckoning. However, the band is also bringing modern progressive pop/rock
influences into their sound, which can be heard in the calmer titletrack Into
the void that sounds like PORCUPINE TREE doing a TEARS FOR FEARS kinda song in
the beginning, but when the song gets rockier after a few minutes, it is almost
a pure Melodic Rocking semi-ballad with excellent twin-guitarwork and as to
finish it off, we can hear a cool keyboardsolo in pure Sympho/Prog heaven
style. This song is an absolute killer tune and probably one of the highlights
here! 9 songs are in total included on the album, which has a playing time of
48 minutes. Besides the aforementioned guitarist and founder of the band
Vincent, the band's line up further consists of the excellent singer Étienne
Doyon (lead vocals, piano, keys), Mathieu Cossette (keys), Alex Rancourt (bass)
and Cédric Lepage (drums). A big surprise between the other songs is the
beautiful AOR ish ballad Don't walk away that has stunning melodies and reminds
me a bit of MYSTERY, that other Progressive AOR/Melodic Rock band from Quebec,
Canada. Also worth mentioning is the SAGA ish uptempo Symphonic Melodic Rocker
Endgame and the instrumental Nemesis, which is the dream for every fan of
Neo-Classical Progmetal. Concluded, this is one of those picture-perfect
Progrockalbum that you simply must own and even the AOR fans might find something
of interest here. More info available at: http://www.innerodyssey.com
and https://innerodyssey.bandcamp.com/album/the-void
(Points:
8.9 out of 10)
BREATHLESS
'VARIOUS ALBUMS' (TENOR VOSSA RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
Not to be confused
with the legendary AOR/Poprockband of the same name that was active in the USA
during the late 70s/early 80s. Actually I was even unfamiliar with the British
BREATHLESS before I received 3 of their albums which have been re-issued onto
CD by TENOR VOSSA RECORDS. The band was formed in 1983 by Dominic Appleton
(vocals, keyboards), Gary Mundy (guitar), Ari Neufeld (bass) and Tristram
Latimer Sayer (drums). Dominic is clearly the most important person here,
because his voice makes BREATHLESS standout between the rest. It is quite
interesting to see the band slightly changing their sound through the years,
because the albums I received are from 1986 (The glass bead game), 1999 (Blue
moon) and 2012 (Green to blue), so there's 13 years between the original
recordings of the albums. They released more records by the way, but these 3
come in beautiful packaging, with bonustracks included as well, which makes
them interesting for the fans. Anyway, in the 1980s the band had a sorta Gothic
meets New Wave ish rocking sound, while the 1990s saw them changing a bit more
towards a heavier Altrock ish sound, but also going for a very dark
experimental slow sound. However, it's their Green to blue album from 2012 that
really grabbed me, because this Post-Progressive Rock with haunting melodies,
done in a very slow dark melancholic sound that does have some similarities to
PORCUPINE TREE and STEVEN WILSON and even OPETH. However, when you hear the
beauitful melodies of Next time you feel, a stunning tune, it is clear that
BREATHLESS has an own face that will appeal to fans of various genres, kinda
like a mix between Indie, Gothic, Dreampop, Post-Rock, New Wave, Doom and
Progrock. Throw it all together and you have the BREATHLESS sound! I spent
quite a few hours listening to these albums and I am really surprised that this
band never broke through unlike so many other bands that followed the same
sorta path. Dominic's voice is surely one you can listen to for a long time
because it is quite unique and very pleasant to listen to. Don't expect any
happy or uptempo tunes, as BREATHLESS take things very slow and melancholic on
each and every release. Perhaps their 1980s releases were a bit more uptempo
and friendlier, but as the years progressed the album definitely released their
finest work in 2012 with the aforementioned Green to blue. I am safe to say
that album should be in the hands of at least every Progrockfan out there,
because it can easily compete with acts like RIVERSIDE, OPETH, STEVEN WILSON,
PORCUPINE TREE, BLACKFIELD and yes even PINK FLOYD (!), etc. as this is modern
prog the way it is still played and that is also something to mention here.
BREATHLESS' albums are timeless and never sound dated and doesn't that make you
a legendary band! I recommend you to check them out a.s.a.p.! A follow-up to
this sensational album should be out sometime in 2021. More info at: http://tenorvossa.co.uk/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
LOVE
AND WAR 'EDGE OF THE WORLD' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
All the way from
Houston, Texas comes this awesome classic 80s (US) Melodic Metal/Hardrock
sounding band called LOVE AND WAR, which was formed back in 2000 by guitarist/songwriter
John Adams and vocalist Jeff Vandenberghe. The duo has been making music
together since 1982, so now almost 40 years later they are still together and
their band LOVE AND WAR is completed by bassist Ray Soliz and drummer Donnie
Bragg. They did release an album before
Edge of the world, but this went unnoticed I am afraid. Anyway, their new
record will reach more people I think, because it is a pretty good solid
release that contains quality Metal. 9 songs are included and basically every
song reminds me of some 80s Classic Metalband. For instance opener We all fall
down is the kind of uptempo guitar shredding Melodic Metal like FIFTH ANGEL and
HEIR APPARANT did back in the day, while following track Start believin' is a
mix of ACCEPT and JUDAS PRIEST in their classic 80s period, with just a little
bit of SKID ROW added for fun. Also next track Mercenary man continues that
cool 80s Metal guitar sound and has once again clear similarities to JUDAS
PREST and also should appeal to fans of PRIMAL FEAR. The ttletrack Edge of the
world has some lovely classy guitar riffs, a very strong chorus and once again
it nails the 1985 melodic metal sound just perfectly! From the other songs I
would like to point out the midtempo Final destination and closing track Southside
Johnny (a pure late 1980s groovy semi Hair Metal tune that sounds like the
perfect cross between late 80s Y & T and late 80s SKID ROW). Definitely a
big recommendation if you remember the days when guitar shredding, fists in the
air, gang vocal choruses and high pitched metal screams were the most important
ingredients of the true metalsound! More info at: https://www.love-and-war.com/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
DAXX
& ROXANE 'DAXX & ROXANE' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
And here we have a sensational band from
Montreux, Switzerland called DAXX & ROXANE, whom are based in London, UK.
They were formed back in 2009, released their debut in 2017 and are now shakin'
the rockworld with their excellent new album, which seems to be self titled.
Their line-up consists of Simon Golaz - Rythm Guitar, Cédric Pfister - Vocals /
Bass, Luca Senaldi - Drums and Cal Wymann - Lead Guitar, and together they play
a very strong high class mixture of 1970s Classic Rock and 1980s Kick-Ass
Hardrock/Hair Metal, with influences from all the legendary bands, such as LED
ZEPPELIN, MOTLEY CRUE, AC/DC, DEEP PURPLE and countless more. They know how to
play their tunes, with some serious guitarwork and vocally, Cedric has a
fantastic voice and he could well be the next Rock God with such a throat! 11
songs are included in total, starting with the kick-ass uptempo Classic Rocker
Fast lane, which is followed by the groovy Strange woman and then back to
straight-forward kick-ass uptempo Classic Hardrock again with the fantastic
catchy Without you that also has a very slight 80s Hair Metal/Glamrock touch. After
another uptempo crackin' classic rocker (Broken), the band slows things down
with calmer instrumental Dawn and the lovely semi melodic rockballad Heal that
feels like a late 80s intelligent Power Poser Ballad, but then done like TESLA,
LILLIAN AXE and AEROSMITH melted together and yes it includes a guitar solo of
course. Give it time is a midtempo rocker that is a strong mixture of VAN HALEN
and TESLA. Someone I love follows and is another kick-ass uptempo Poser Metal
tune in the good old late 1980s MOTLEY CRUE/POISON style, including a deadly
catchy chorus to sing-a-long to for days and days. Get to it has some classic
THIN LIZZY ish guitars mixed with AC/DC straight-ahead Classic Hardrock,
although the 80s chorus reveals their love for VAN HALEN as well. Back door man
is groovier and harkens back to the 1970s with a lot of LED ZEPPELIN influences
and closing track Sugar rush is a clear AC/DC influenced straight-ahead
Hardrocking tune. It's a bandname you will not forget very quickly and also
musically speaking DAXX & ROXANE should find it's way to all the fans of
both Classic Rock and Hair Metal, because they mix both rockstyles just
perfectly! Check them out at: https://www.daxxroxane.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
NDV
'INVISIBLE' (ENGLISH ELECTRIC RECORDINGS/RSK ENTERTAINMENT/SWEETWATER
STUDIOS/REDS AND PR/UK IMPORT)
NDV stands for NICK
D'VIRGILIO, a Californian drummer, singer, piano/keyboard and guitarplayer who
is best known for being in one of the greatest progbands of all times, SPOCK'S
BEARD. I was lucky enough to catch one of the live performances of this band
and until this day I have to say it was one of the finest I ever witnessed!
Fast forward, because Nick eventually left the band for a while during the
2010s, did some other projects and also played in several other bands (MYSTERY,
TEARS FOR FEARS, BIG BIG TRAIN...), but returned to SPOCK'S BEARD thankfully.
However, he continues to do other music related adventures as well, such as
this new solo-album Invisible he released under the moniker NDV. He gathered a
very impressive list of guest musicians for this album, such as CARL VERHEYEN
(SUPERTRAMP), JONAS REINGOLD (THE FLOWER KINGS), JORDAN RUDESS (DREAM THEATER),
PAUL GILBERT (MR. BIG), TONY LEVIN (KING CRIMSON), JEM GODFREY (FROST*), RICK
NIELSEN (CHEAP TRICK) and even recorded the album with a full orchestra at the
famous Abbey Road Studios in London, UK. Invisible is a very diverse album that
is not only focusing on Progrock, because there are also multiple other music
styles to be heard. It's quite a lengthy album, with in total 14 songs included.
After the intro, we get to hear a beautiful calm ballad ish song, which is the
titletrack. Turn your life around brings the rock forward and is a lovely
Progressive Rocker in the classic SPOCK'S BEARD style, with nice breaks and a
lovely melodic chorus. A change in style follows in I'm gone, a funky tune that
has 70s and 80s influences, kinda like PRINCE a bit. After the quite original
cover of the American traditional Money (That's what I want) and the smooth
jazzy Waiting for no one, it's full Progrock during the fantastic Snake oil
salesman. Also next track Where's the passion has some nice bombastic Progrock
KANSAS ish similarities. It is for me personally crystal clear that when Nick
goes for that classic proggy sound, he sounds at his best, but let's not forget
to mention his amazing drum skills all throughout the album. That is what he is
best known for of course, although he can also sing very well and this album
Invisible is definitely song based and not based around his drumming. However,
some of his drumming talents can best be heard during the heaviest song on the
album, the Progmetal piece Mercy. Overcome is a nice theatrical bombastic
proggy piece, while In my bones is a rather complex mixture of jazz, fusion
rock and progrock. The final 3 songs of this epic adventure of Nick's new album
are a progdream; Wrong place, wrong time (excellent Progressive Rocker), Not my
time to say goodbye (lovely midtempo melodic AOR/Pomprock ish tune a la KANSAS
again) and I know the way (very strong uptempo melodic progrock). Concluded,
Nick has released a very diverse album, which still however has a lot of
material that will please the fans of SPOCK'S BEARD, yet this is more song
based and not so much on instrumental complex passages. It shows however the incredible
talent of multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter NICK D'VIRGILIO, who together
with a lot of well-known guest musicians has recorded a highly recommended
album! More info at: https://www.nickdvirgilio.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
SKAM
'THE AMAZING MEMOIRS OF GEOFFREY GODDARD' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
Out of Leicester, UK comes the interesting
band SKAM, whom released this 3rd album The amazing memoirs of Geoffrey Goddard
back in 2017. Somehow we missed this album, which is a pity, because it is a
very impressive album, but as the band was kind enough to sent it, here's the
review. The story of a pilot is fictional and told throughout each and every of
the 12 included tracks and also explained in the massive booklet that comes
with the CD. SKAM consists of Steve Hill - Guitars - Lead Vocals, Matt Gilmore-
Bass - Backing Vocals and Neal Hill - Drums - Backing Vocals. The music of SKAM
is classic melodic hardrock based and they are doing things at a very high
level. Opener Between the eyes is a very strong high class midtempo melodic
rocker and so is the uptempo melodic rocker Iron cross. It gets a bit groovier
on the next couple of tracks, with some SKID ROW meets TYKETTO meets SKINTRADE
meets HAREM SCAREM (especially the catchy Take it or leave it) ish Melodic
Hardrock tunes, but the quality remains very high. In fact, this is a highly
recommended Melodic Hardrockalbum in the style of the afformentioned bands,
including top-notch musicianship, excellent vocals, a massive production/sound
and some killer tunes with memorable melodic choruses. They also have some
modern (melodic) heavy rock influences of the VOLBEAT, FOO FIGHTERS, ALTER
BRIDGE, SHINEDOWN kind in songs like Peace of mind, Two worlds and Believe, so
from start to finish there is a lot to enjoy here, combining the best of
classic and modern Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock. Reommended band for sure! More info
at: https://www.skamuk.com/
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
EPIC
TANTRUM 'ABANDONED/IN THE STRANGER'S ROOM' (ET PRODUCTIONS/CHIPSTER PR/USA
IMPORT)
Not a single, but an
impressive double album is marking the debut of the Syracuse, New York based
band EPIC TANTRUM. Without a doubt, it is a lovely impressive debut that is
recommended to all the Progrockfans out there. The band consists of 4 members,
whose names are shortened to their first name, so it's Peter on guitar, vocals,
Paul on guuitar, vocals and keys, Greg on bass and vocals and Z on drums. The
albums they created is musically speaking quite superb actually, because right
from the start we are hearing Progressive Rock of the highest level. Although
influenced by legendary established (prog) rockbands such as RUSH, STEELY DAN,
PORCUPINE TREE, MARILLION, GENESIS, KING CRIMSON and such, EPIC TANTRUM somehow
has an own kinda prog style that should appeal to loads of people. A few of the
featured songs feature very good guest vocals by MATTHIESON BYER and SARAH
PARKER ADA, but it seems like the vocals are also shared among the bandmembers,
which means we are hearing a diversity in the singing department. Instrumental
this is intelligent progrock, with quite some impressive improvisations. If we
have a look at the highlights of their Abandoned album I need to mention opener
Don't bother (superb high quality Melodic Progrocker with great female guest
vocals), Outside the whire, Letting go and the titletrack Abandoned, all being
very good melodic progrockers. The 2nd CD is In the stranger's room, which was
recorded live and features songs from the Abandoned album, but also demos and
unreleased songs that didn't make the Abandoned CD. Check for yourself all on
this band at: https://epictantrum.com/
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
DAVID
KUHN 'STRONG ALONE, UNSTOPPABLE TOGETHER' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Rather quickly another
new album of DAVID KUHN arrives and I must say that this new record Strong
alone, unstoppable together is a very enjoyable smooth classic
aor/westcoast/pop affair in the late 1970s/early 1980s style, sometimes
reminding of STEELY DAN, but perhaps a bit more polished in the style of BILLY
JOEL and even 80s JOE ANDERSON (YES) due to the light mid 1980s Symphonic Pop
influences in songs like Don't give up and The day will come. 5 songs are
included and David's vocals are quite excellent and so are all of the songs,
especially the uptempo Force of nature that has some slight STING influences.
Although it is all a matter of time and money, I am safe to say that David will
one day release a sensational full-length release and hopefully this will be
done on classic Vinyl, because he definitely derserves it. For now, check out more
info at: https://davidkuhnsongs.com
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
SHAYNE
MALONE 'THE CROSSROAD' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
As soon as the opener
Hello kicks in, multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter DANNY MALONE from New
Zealand shows that he is making classic 1980s Melodic Hair Metal at it's very
best. It's like we stepped in a timemachine and went back to the year 1985 when
DEF LEPPARD ruled the American "hair" waves. 10 songs are on his
latest album The crossroad, which basically is prime-time catchy 80s driven
hookladen melodic chorus driven Melodic Rock like a perfect cross between RICK
MATTHEWS, DEF LEPPARD, BON JOVI, AUTOGRAPH/STEVE PLUNKETT, SIC VIKKI and JOHNNY
LIMA. Shayne is a very gifted musician, who does everything on his own, so that's
all the instruments, vocals, writing, recording, producing, etc. and I have to
say the result is very impressive to say the least! This is the classic 80s US
Melodic Rocksound at it's very best, with many highlights, such as the uptempo
rockers Stop breaking my heart, Good time and It's gonna be alright, the
midtempo The time has come and the semi-ballad Victim of the night, which even
reminds me a bit of the legendary Danish band FATE, although the absolute
highlight is the superb closing track The crossroad that has a few tempo
changes and is quite a lovely epic melodic rock journey. I am safe to say that
if any of the mentioned bands is up your alley, you can blindly get yourself a
copy of this album. More info at: https://shaynemalone.com/
and https://shaynemalone.bandcamp.com/album/the-crossroad
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
MAGENTA
'MASTERS OF ILLUSION' (TIGERMOTH RECORDS/NINETEEN 73 PROMOTION/UK IMPORT)
Back in 2017 the Welsh
band MAGENTA released their previous album We are legend, which was received
very well and now they return with another strong album titled Masters of
illusion. They were formed 20 years ago and have released quite a lot albums so
far and always continued to deliver high quality Melodic Progressive Rock with
influences from the 1970s sounds of bands like YES, RENAISSANCE, GENESIS, MIKE
OLDFIELD and such. The 6 songs on their new album are based around the private
lives of characters from classic Horror movies, while the music is the
progrocksound we know it from MAGENTA, which is calmer and very melodic with a
strong focus on beautiful melodies that are sung by CHRISTINA BOOTH, who is
joined by co-founder ROBERT REED on keys, mandolin, guitars and backing vocals,
while the band in 2020 consists further of guitarist CHRIS FRY, bassist DAN
NELSON and drummer JIFFY GRIFFITHS. The CD release comes with a DVD as
additional disc, with videos and interviews to watch. Although only 6 songs are
included, they are quite lengthy and each one takes you into the MAGENTA
adventure that never seems to stop luckily. It's hard to pick favorite songs,
because they are all reflecting that lovely MAGENTA Melodic Progrocksound,
right from the start with Bela until the very end with the titletrack Masters of
illusion. In those 20 years of existence, MAGENTA has clearly proven to be one
of the great new bands in the Progrockscene and here's to the next 20 years for
sure. Masters of illusion is a highly recommended album and a very nice 20-year
anniversary surprise. More info at: http://tigermothhosting.co.uk/magenta2017/index.html
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
THE
REPLY 'THE COMPLETE COLLECTION VINYL LP' (INDEPENDENT/RUDE RHINO/XO PUBLICITY/USA
IMPORT)
Punkpop, Powerpop, Modpop
or just poppy bouncy Ska-poprock..., no matter what you call the music of the
Washington, D.C. based band THE REPLY, their music is or should I say was very
catchy poppy and still rocked quite well, sounding like a perfect cross between
1960s THE HOLLIES and 1980s THE JAM, with also a bit of MADNESS fun. THE REPLY
was active between 1983 and 1989, released 2 VINYL EPs in 1987 and 1988 and
recorded several demos in 1988 and 1989. I received a very interesting double
Vinyl LP with all these recordings and likewise the album is therefore titled
The complete collection, because it contains all the songs they recorded in
their short career. Back in the 1980s in Washington there was a very active experimental
Punk/Hardcore scene and on the national US radio it was all about Hair Metal
and AOR, so THE REPLY basically ignored everything and created a sound that
went back to the late 1970s and early 1980s British ModPoprocksound with even a
cool New Wave ish keyboard included. The songs are razor sharp, very catchy, uptempo,
super melodic and feature a great singer on vocals. Their line-up consisted of bassist-singer
Gary Roth, guitarist Ted Riederer, drummer John Lyons, and keyboardist Mark
Thorp, and at times the band's sound fitted somewhere between THE JAM, THE
BOYS, THE BEAT, THE RAMONES and a touch of ELVIS COSTELLO and JOE JACKSON, but
with such bubblegum choruses one can even hear some similarities to the classic
Working class dog of Powerpop hero RICK SPRINGFIELD (Razor sharp sounds like
Rick doing a THE RAMONES cover!). In total 17 songs are included, split over 2
vinyl records, and I have to say it is a very enjoyable piece of music. The
sound/production quality is very good and the guys really sounded very tight,
so when hearing such great songs like Nothing more, Mirror image or Wake up, it
is quite unbelievable that THE REPLY never became a household name, because
their music was as good as any of the mentioned bands. Somehow their later
tunes from the demos era of the late 1980s, which now found their way for the
first time to vinyl, these songs are very melodic and feature some tasty keys,
80s ish guitar riffs and a big budget production, in a way that songs like
Billy, Apology and Sneak preview even remind me of underground mid/late 80s AOR
bands like CRYSTAL, MERE MORTALS, PASSENGER, RATHSKELLER... while on the other
hand a song like Dead to rights is a very interesting cross between AOR, Reggae
and Pop with critical lyrics, not unlike KING'S X perhaps, although here and
there also JELLYFISH similarities pop up. As you can clearly read, the band
sorta developed themselves throughout those 6 years and thankfully now there is
this wonderful shiny looking 2-LP set of them available.
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
BEACH
VIPER 'ALIVE AND FREE' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Now here we have another sensational
Classic 1980s US Melodic Hardrock/Hair Metal affair. This time in the shape of
BEACH VIPER from Phoenix, Arizona, USA, who deliver this classic genre at it's
very best during the 5 included songs on their album Alive and free. The band
consists of Steve "Traik" Traikovich - Vocals, Robert Evan Trop -
Guitar, Karl Sproule - Bass and Geoffrey "Kill" McCormick - Drums,
and opener I shall return is like we're back-to-back classic DOKKEN circa
Breaking the chains. This is prime-time classic 80s US Melodic hard/heavy
rock/metal for you all to sing-a-long to. There's also clear VAN HALEN
similarities to be heard (Climbing to the top is dangerously close to classic
DAVID LEE ROTH era VAN HALEN) and even Y&T comes around (Beach stomp
boogie), so expect a mixture of typical 80s classic US Melodic Hardrock with a
touch of Hair Metal, all done at a very high level. Besides the earlier
mentioned sensational opener I shall return, another highlight is the lovely
closing semi melodic rockballad West coast. Check it out for yourself if you're
a fan of pure 80s Melodic Hardrock/Hair Metal at: http://www.beachviper.com/
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
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