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HOT NEW REVIEWS
CHRIS
CATENA'S ROCK CITY TRIBE 'TRUTH IN UNITY' (GROOVEYARD RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
CHRIS
CATENA is an Italian singer who has been in the music business for quite a
while now and his latest adventure is a project called CHRIS CATENA's ROCK CITY
TRIBE, on which he works together with Swedish guitarist JANNE STARK. There's a
long list of guest musicians on the album, such as guitarists Blues Saraceno,
Tracii Guns, Pat Travers, Stevie Salas, Dick Wagner, Doug Aldrich, Ron
‘Bumblefoot’ Thal, Kee Marcello, Rowan Robertson, Ozz Fox, Jimmy Crespo and
Freddie Salem, bassists Wyzard, Chuck Wright, Tony Franklin and Greg Chaisson,
while the drums are provided by Matt Starr, Brian Tichy and Troy Lucketta and
there's even room for guest singers like Paul Shortino, John Sloman and Bobby
Kimball. Quite impressive for sure and thankfully we get to hear high quality
music as well, because the album is filled with guitar riff driven groovy
melodic heavy rock with a slight bluesy touch. Songs like The trickster, The
seventh son and Get ready are very strong groovy melodic heavy rock songs
(WHITESNAKE meets VAN HALEN), while there is a slight change to more late 80s
sounding mainstream melodic rock (a la TYKETTO/BANGALORE CHOIR) on the
sensational My angel, which even reminds me a bit of classic 1990s FAIR
WARNING. Funnily enough the following uptempo Still a fool is even more going
for that melodic hard rock approach, and it is probably the strongest song on
the album, because it has a superb twin-guitar/chorus that reminds me of
classic THIN LIZZY! I also need to mention the wonderful closing track Ridin'
the freebird highway, which is a perfect semi/mid tempo melodic rocker in the
style of HURRICANE and ICON, with superb vocals and a great middle and ending
uptempo part. Anyway, this is a very strong record that is one to own if you
like classic traditional Hardrock/Melodic Heavy Rock with the focus on the
groovy guitar riffs and soaring solo's from the good old days of all the
mentioned bands. Go check out more info at: http://www.grooveyardrecords.com/chriscatenasrockcitytribetruthinunity.html
(Points: 8.6 out of 10)
HEVIUS
'MILLENAIRE' (ELLIE PROMOTION/SEASON OF MIST/FRANCE IMPORT)
Formed in 2001, the Parisian band HEVIUS
released their debut album Derriere la Lumiere back in 2006, but it took them
14 years to release the follow-up Millenaire. Their line-up consists of
Alexandre Ferrier/Drums, Julien Ferrier/Guitars, Vocals, Olivier
Louis-Servais/Guitars, Florian "Flo" Altairac/Keyboards and Ugo
Verzeletti/Bass, and their music is quite clear, because opener Millenaire sets
the record straight immediately, because this is a great catchy faster uptempo
Melodic Power Metal song in the best style of FREEDOM CALL, STRATOVARIUS,
HELLOWEEN, MANIGANCE and such, with a strong melodic chorus and happy sounding
twin-guitars. Thankfully the band continues this happy Power Metal throughout
the rest of their album, with thanks to their French lyrics the band sounds
quite a bit like MANIGANCE, only less proggy. Other highlights are Une autre
vie, de l'autre cote du miroir and Liberte (probably the best song on the
album, with it’s fantastic guitarwork). Although most of the songs are uptempo
and pure melodic (power) metal, there is also a moment of calmness to be heard
in the fantastic semi-ballad/midtempo Armee d’acier, which is a cross between
MOB RULES and MANIGANCE, and features a lovely melodic chorus. As the guys love
to speed things up, towards the end the song is changing into an uptempo tune
again, and also features like every other song on the album an excellent
guitarsolo. The band loves their twin-guitarwork and they do it quite perfectly
in classic MAIDEN/THIN LIZZY style. Recommended band to people who don’t mind
the French lyrics, which after all has its charm! Go check them out at: https://www.hevius.com
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
JAMES
KENNEDY 'MAKE ANGER GREAT AGAIN CD + NOISE DAMAGE BOOK' (KONIC RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
JAMES KENNEDY is a British
guitarist/singer/songwriter, who is part of the band KYSHERA, but he also
enjoys a solo adventure since 2002, and he was kind enough to send me his
latest solo album Make anger great again. James also included in the package
his book debut Noise damage, which he recently released quite successfully,
because it ended up quite high on the bestselling book charts of several online
book stores. He has released 7 albums so far, and he played all the instruments
by himself as well as doing all of the productions, which is quite an
achievement considering his 40% hearing loss due to childhood ear surgery. He
founded his own label KONIC RECORDS back in 2010, and likewise the albums have
all been released on this label ever since. Musically speaking his new album
Make anger great again is a very raw and aggressive album (especially
lyrically), but in a good rock and roll way. 11 songs are on the CD and opener
The power is a raw groovy heavy rocker with a funky touch as well, like RED HOT
CHILLI PEPPERS meets LIVING COLOR meets SYSTEM OF A DOWN, yet sounding a bit
late 1980s ish. Following Autopsy is a bit less aggressive and in your face
than the first song, because this is a modern sounding uptempo rocker in
typical British style, with a rather catchy melodic chorus, and actually it
could easily become a radiohit! James is very diverse musically speaking on his
CD, and he also shows he is a great singer, which can be heard very well on the
lovely midtempo melodic rocker Ghosts, which sounds like a cross between MUSE
and classic DEF LEPPARD.
Following Mind revolution is another change
in style, because this is faster aggressive uptempo punk influenced garage
rocker like IGGY POP out-of-control, yet with some thrashy metal gang-vocals as
well. Algorhythm throws in PRINCE influenced funkiness into a THE WHITE STRIPES
ish rockstyle. Outragers is another modern sounding catchy midtempo rocker,
which somehow sounds like a cross between MARILYN MANSON, ALICE COOPER and JACK
WHITE. Up next are We fight dirty (cool
80s influenced MOTLEY CRUE/SHOTGUN MESSIAH type of uptempo heavy Glam/Partyrocker,
with a screaming part a la MARILYN MANSON included as well), Solace in sickness
(a calmer and radio-ready modern semi melodic rockballad like ADAM
LAMBERT/DAUGHTRY at first sight, with superb vocalwork and a soaring shredding
guitarsolo, although you have to be aware of some extreme screaming a few times
during the song), Struggles (my favorite song on the album by far, a fantastic
groovy midtempo TALISMAN ish melodic rocker with a lovely 80s AORish chorus
like NOISEWORKS meets SKINTRADE) and Primal (quite experimental midtempo
rocker). Closing the album is Broken compass, a big fat groovy hardrocker with
an early 1990s kinda feeling, remember EXTREME, but then with some distorted
vocals here and there). This is an extremely diverse, but very enjoyable album,
which still feels like a pure raw rock and roll record from start to finish.
James’ book Noise damage is an interesting read and about the tough struggles
James went through in his music career. As mentioned on the website of his
publisher: “It’s the story of a half-deaf kid from a tiny, remote village in
South Wales who was hailed as a genius by the UK’s biggest radio station and
headhunted by major record labels, only for the music industry to collapse. It
crashed hard, taking with it an entire generation of talented artists who would
never now get their shot. CNN called it ‘music’s lost decade’. “ I think this
says it all and for almost every musician this is reality when getting into the
tough music business. James has been there all the way and along with his
latest album Make anger great again, it is a nice combination to really
understand the life of a rock musician. More info at: https://nl.jameskennedystuff.com
and http://eye-books.com/books/noise-damage
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
WARD
XVI 'METAMORPHOSIS' (METAL ROCKA RECORDS/CARGO RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
Out of the Northwest of England comes WARD
XVI and Metamorphosis is their 2nd album so far. It's a concept record about
Psychoberrie, a fictional serial killer locked up inside Whittingham Asylum and
her journey from sweet-natured infant to murderous, dead-eyed adult. The music
is Rock Opera orientated like we know it from the Dutch (AYREON, NOSTRADAMEUS,
JACK THE RIPPER, MERLIN, etc. etc.), but I have to say WARD XVI does a very
good job as well on their new record. The album is divided into 4 parts, and
each part contains separate songs, although all together they tell us the
concept story. The band is formed around Psychoberrie – Vocals/Keys and Lyrics,
Dr Von Stottenstein – Guitar and Wolfy Huntsman – Bass, while there are quite
some guest appearances, such as ‘Retrogression’: The Psychiatrist – Chris
Barton, ‘Verdict’: The Judge – Steve Walker, Drums -John Badger, Martin Crawley
– Keyboards & Accordion, Anabelle Iratni – Operatic Vocals and Russ Custard
– Guest Vocals: ‘Shadows’. After the intro of Retrogression, we get to hear the
sensational massive sounding midtempo bombastic melodic progressive rock piece
The cradle song, with superb female vocals by guest singer ANABELLE IRATNI, who
apprears on 1 more song later on the album. Other highlights on the album are
Broken toys, Imago and Shadows. Definitely a recommended album to fans of the
classic Rock Opera sound like we know it from countless Dutch releases... More
info at: http://www.wardxvi.com/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
THE
GREAT AFFAIRS 'EVERYBODY MOVES, NOBODY GETS HURT' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out of a suburb of Nashville, USA comes
the Classic Melodic Rockband THE GREAT AFFAIRS, and Everbody moves, nobody gets
hurt is their 5th album so far. The band is formed around vocalist/guitarist
DENNY SMITH, vocalist/drummer KENNY WRIGHT, guitarist PATRICK MILLER and
bassist MATT ANDERSEN. Their music is quite sensational actually, just doing
the classic American melodic rocksound basically, but in a very good way,
really resembling that old spirit of the early to mid 80s. Opener I'm alright
is classic early 80s American uptempo Melodic Hardrock with a catchy chorus and
reminding me of bands like KNOW ILLUSION, MONEY (First investment), STRANGER
and such. Following Believe in ghosts is midtempo and more modern orientated,
with even a slight country/heartland rock/americana touch. The catchy uptempo
Lyvia is loaded with hooks and is basically a superb melodic poprocker in the
classic 80s spirit of RICK SPRINGFIELD circa Working class dog. The melodic
rock choruses and hooks continue on the rest of the album, with as other
highlights Worn out souls, the southern rock influenced Three-leaf clover, the
classic 80s melodic rocker The ride and the uptempo melodic poprocker Satellite.
Check out this sensational Classic Rockband at: https://dennysmithmusic.com/
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
JOHN
CARPENTER'S LOST THEMES 3 'ALIVE AFTER DEATH' (SACRED BONES RECORDS/KONKURRENT)
This album feels like a step back in time
to my teenage years when I bought the JAN HAMMER Crockett's theme 45"
single and I watched Sci-Fi (STAR WARS) and Horror (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET)
movies as well as TV series such as KNIGHT RIDER, V, THE TWILIGHT ZONE and
TRANSFORMERS. It was the 1980s when the music in all those series and movies
was instrumental synth music based and nowadays it is refered to retro Synth
Wave. Back then we absolutely had no idea that one day this would actually be
considered a genre and would resurrect in the 2010s and 2020s. JOHN CARPENTER
is a legendary movie producer/director/composer, who made classic movies like
THE THING, HALLOWEEN, CHRISTINE, ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, etc., but he also
composed the music that was included. Through the years he also released albums
that were not the soundtrack or score to a certain movie, and Lost themes 3
Alive after death is his new 2021 release. We are diving into classic 1980s
inspired Synthwave and/or Sci-Fi/Horror movie music here from start to finish,
with 10 excellent instrumental songs that will also be of interest for fans of
the modern MAGIC SWORD for example. It's a combination of exciting synthesizers
and melodic soaring guitar solos, all done by JOHN CARPENTER and his son CODY
CARPENTER on synths and DANIEL DAVIES on guitar. Although no surprises and what
you get is really what you get that has been described in this review, it sure
shows that it is exciting to hear new music from such a legendary composer.
More info can be found at: https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/products/sbr265-john-carpenter-lost-themes-iii-alive-after-death
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
BELL
ORCHESTRE 'HOUSE MUSIC' (ERASED TAPES RECORDS/KONKURRENT)
Out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada comes the
six-piece experimental instrumental (some vocals are hearable a few times) band
BELL ORCHESTRE. They consists of Richard Reed Parry : upright
bass/keyboard/percussion, Sarah Neufeld : violin, Stefan Schneider :
drums/percussion, Pietro Amato : French horn/electronics, Kaveh Nabatian :
trumpet/melodica and Mike Feuerstack : lap steel guitar, and were formed in
2002. The band has released a few albums so far and are slightly connected to
major band ARCADE FIRE, especially since Petro is a part-time member of them.
Anyway, House music is their new album, and I have to say this epic journey is
quite experimental with sometimes memories of Krautrock (CAN, EINSTURZENDE
NEUBAUTEN, KRAFTWERK, TANGERINE DREAM), yet with a modern twist, taking some
dub-step, 80s DJ House music and avant-garde influences into their instrumental
electronic music. It's definitely something different than the usual stuff and
I have to say it's quite nice to be drawn into their somewhat lounge trip that
gets out-of-control here and there. Recommended to people with an open-mind!
More info at: https://bellorchestre.com/
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
LAEL NEALE
'ACQUAINTED WITH NIGHT' (SUB POP RECORDS/KONKURRENT)
Out of Los Angeles, California comes singer/songwriter
LAEL NEALE, and she released her debut back in 2015. Now she is back with a new
album titled Acquainted with night, a 1970s inspired singer/songwriter album
that reveals some JONI MITCHELL influences, yet with a modern touch as well. It
feels nostalgic and like a trip back to the 1970s, yet as mentioned her use of
the omnichord besides the guitar, this gives it a sorta modern and even church
music kinda touch. I am also sometimes thinking of TORI AMOS and even KATE
BUSH, and I have to say you really need to get used to Lael's voice when
hearing it the first time, but when you're connected after a couple of songs,
you're taking into her little psychedelic dreamy trip to different places
somewhere far from the covid year of 2020! I would say go check out her music
and discover if it will work for you! More info at: https://laelneale.bandcamp.com/releases
METALCRAFT
'FEEL THE FIRE'/CANNONBALL' (INDEPENDENT/CZECH REPUBLIC IMPORT)
The band METALCRAFT comes out of the Czech
Republic and they were kind enough to sent me the 2 albums they have released
in the past 5 years. The 4-tracks counting mini-CD Feel the fire was released
in 2015, while the album Cannonball marks their official full-length debut CD
in 2019. Musically speaking it's 80s influenced melodic hardrock/metal that
reminds me a lot of classic SCORPIONS, NOISEHUNTER, GRAVESTONE, RESTLESS,
ACCEPT and such German bands. The band is formed around bassist/lead singer
Junior, drummer Martin Linhart, guitarist Tom Corpse and lead singer Hanz
Fuhrmann. Although not very original, METALCRAFT are doing things at a high
level and for fans of aforementioned bands, this is a must-have release! The
mini-CD is basically in the same musicstyle as their following first
full-length album. 10 songs are on Cannonball and actually it's quite diverse
and very enjoyable to listen to. Opener Cannonball is pure SINNER, while
following All for one sounds like the perfect 80s Teutonic Metal invasion like
ACCEPT meets SCORPIONS. When the stars are falling down is a lovely typical
late 80s Hair Metal Power Ballad like WARRANT crossed with a great soaring
melodic guitarsolo a la GUNS'N'ROSES' Don't cry. Speeding up the tempo with the
fast uptempo melodic heavy metal song Live or die, this is as close to 1985
Teutonic Metal as you can get! The most cool thing about this band is they take
a bit of each and every 80s rock/metal genre into their music, because a song
like Two sides of the coin is almost pure Glam/Party Hardrock in the style of
POISON and MOTLEY CRUE. Fly to high is back to classic SCORPIONS' uptempo
melodic heavy rock, and actually also next song Touch of hell has similarities
to SCORPIONS, but then more Melodic Hardrock orientated, not far removed from
VICTORY either Teutonic Metal time again with the tough Digital killer, which
sounds like SINNER meets ACCEPT. I don't wanna live in paradise is a calmer
acoustic ballad and closing track She's like a loaded gun is a faster uptempo
NWOBHM ish song with some early 80s TWISTED SISTER influences. Without a doubt,
METALCRAFT is a highly recommended band to check out, especially if you like
80s Hardrock/Metal with those crunchy Teutonic/German Metal orientated
guitarwork. They have a new frontman since January 2020, Mr.Steely, so the
future will probably bring us new material with their new lead singer. More
info can be found at: www.metalcraft.cz
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
THE
SOUTHERN LOCOMOTIVE BAND 'SOMEWHERE IN TIME' (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out of western Georgia, USA comes a strong
3-piece band formed around guitaris/hammond organ player DANNY SOUTHERN,
drummer CURTIS HUMMER and bassist GREG CARTER. Somewhere in time is their debut
album and a really good one if you ask me, because they combine the best of
classic rock, blues rock and southern rock. 12 songs are on this excellent
debut album, which reveals many great rockers. Opener The time machine is a
very catchy pure American orientated uptempo Southern/Classic Rocker like a mix
between FOGHAT, ZZ TOP and THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND, including sensational
guitarwork. The slower relaxing bluesy Last dollar bill follows and basically
the mixture of slower, midtempo and uptempo rockers continue the rest of the
album, with as other highlights Walk away, the rolling stone, Won't be back no
more and Angel on my shoulder. Although they might not be doing something
totally different, if you like a good portion of Classic Rock, this THE
SOUTHERN LOCOMOTIVE BAND is a recommended band to check out at:
https://www.twofingermedia.co.uk/the-southern-locomotive-band-s-i-t
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
SEEING
RED 'KEEP THE FIRE BURNING VINYL RECORD' (SBE RECORDS/SCOTTISH IMPORT)
I am a sucker for anything rare from the
80s and early 90s, especially when it comes down to unreleased or 'hard to get'
music which is really good. Recently the amazing records of BUGZY and STEELFORCE
reached my little office and as you could experience yourself, this is where my
heart starts beating faster, because this is how it should be done, releasing
unreleased or rare music of an incredible high level on a decent format (CD/LP)
again or for the first time and still sounding as if it was recorded the other
day. SEEING RED is up next on the list of 'must-have rare AOR/Melodic Rock
material from the 80s/90s re-released on a physical CD or LP'. Just like the
earlier mentioned bands, also this one has a long history before it was finally
released on the vinyl record I received recently. Stories like this are
priceless and it is clear that a lot of time, patience and effort has also been
put into the finalization of this SEEING RED release.
The inside sleeve tells us the long story
how it came to this wonderful release, because it all started in the 1980s when
SEEING RED was formed by STEVE BROWN (guitars, keys, backing vocals), who
eventually found ANGIE TOWNSEND (vocals), TERRY O'SULLIVAN (drums), ALY BARR
(bass, backing vocals) and ROSS DALL PHILIP (bass) to record and perform with
him in the 80s and early 90s. The result was an official vinyl 7" single,
a tape and even a full-length album. The album was originally produced by IAN
BEVERIDGE (NIRVANA, FOO FIGHTERS) in 1992, but remastered by TERRY BROWN (SAGA,
RUSH) in 2016. Steve got in touch with Terry due to the fact that he organises
each year a RUSH tribute festival and Terry was a VIP guest speaker in 2016, so
the two met and talked about Steve's old band. Anyway, SEEING RED split up in
the mid 90s sadly, but in 2011 a reunion took place and there was talk of
recording a new album until singer Angie was diagnosed with terminal breast
cancer and tragically died in 2016. Steve wanted desperately to release an
official 'new' vinyl record with SEEING RED material as a tribute to Angie and
so Keep the fire burning made its way onto vinyl. The 2-LP set includes the
full album from 1992 and a few unreleased songs from sessions that originally
took place in Edinburgh, 1990 and Berkshire, 1991. The Scottish band did not
reach the fame and fortune they should have gotten, but hopefully at least in
the world of female fronted AOR/Melodic Rock, this release will become a
must-have! The beautiful new artwork by the legendary RODNEY MATTHEWS is of
course also making it look and shine proudly, and thankfully the included music
is of an incredible high level, which means that this is a jewel to own if you
like 80s/early 90s female fronted AOR/Melodic Rock.
(Points:
8.9 out of 10)
BUGZY 'PLAN
B/SHE'S THE ONE/CENTER OF ATTRACTION' (DIVEBOMB RECORDS/USA IMPORT)
I am a huge collector of rare 1980s
independent American AOR/Melodic Rock and when I heard the song Piece of the
puzzle from the band BUGZY once somewhere in time, it took me forever to hear
more songs of this sensational band. Somehow I got connected with the band’s
original drummer BOB KIMMEL recently and he was kind enough to send me 3 CDs
that have been released in 2017 and 2018 on DIVEBOMB RECORDS. I must have
missed these releases a couple of years ago, but thankfully it’s never too late
and so here is our review. The 3 CDs are filled with material BUGZY recorded in
the 1980s and 1990s, in total 53 songs can be found here! It’s an amazing
collection, with extensive liner notes as well in the CD booklets, which tells
us the complete story of the band. The origins of the founding members of BUGZY
from New Jersey go back to as far as 1977 and lasted until 1995 when after
countless close-calls to several major record label deals, the band had given
up their dreams. Thankfully, we can hear their wonderful music on these 3
albums Plan B, She’s the one and Center of attraction, which are all available
on silver-pressed official CDs.
The band consisted of drummer BOB KIMMEL,
the fantastic lead singer/guitarist BUGSY, guitarist CHRIS REYNOLDS,
keyboardplayer FRANKI GORGO and bassist JEFF SEYKOT, although the line-up
changed a few times during their 10-year time frame they existed (1985-1995),
but I believe that Bob, Franki and Bugsy were the absolute key members to
contribute to each and every song. I will not bother you to discuss each and
every song of BUGZY, but there are a lot of highlights I would definitely like
to point out here on each of the 3 CDs. 2017’s Plan B’s highlights among the 17
included tracks (recorded between 1989 and 1991) are Say a prayer (lovely
classic 80s uptempo AOR/Melodic Rock like HONEYMOON SUITE, HAYWIRE, BYSTANDER,
with superb soaring guitarwork, a catchy hookline and a killer chorus with big
vocals/harmonyvocals), Lies (superb catchy dut-dut keyboards driven uptempo AOR
in the classic AVIATOR, FM, AIRKRAFT direction), Piece of the puzzle (amazing
uptempo CLASSIC AOR at its very best!), The bigger the heart (pure HONEYMOON
SUITE/1st HAREM SCAREM ish catchy uptempo melodic rock), I can’t let go (an
absolute 80s uptempo AOR classic a la WHITE SISTER), Eyes of steel (another
piece of classic 80s AOR a la FM) and the superb AOR HEAVEN of Secrets.
Following Center of attraction (songs
recorded between 1987 and 1994) contains as best songs the midtempo AOR of
opener and titletrack Center of attraction, the lovely uptempo AOR/Poprocker
Hold on to me (BYSTANDER ish), the wonderful STAN BUSH type of AOR Power ballad
Lose no sleep (over you), the Pomprock/AOR song Make a wish (very close to the
1st BYSTANDER classic), the DAKOTA/SYNCH ish poppier All in one night , the
relaxing smooth 80s vibe (a la JEFF PARIS) of Forget it girl, Out from under
(superb uptempo mid 80s AOR rocker that sounds dangerously close to
NIGHTWORK!!!) Maria (RICK SPRINGFIELD meets MICHAEL MORALES ish catchy 80s
uptempo Poprock) and Father time (you guessed it, another big time AOR/Melodic
Rocker). This CD also contains a few covers, such as the A=440 song Shannon
(remember this band, which was pre-21 GUNS) and the classic early 80s Powerpop
tune What do all the people know (original from THE MONROES in 1982). Listening
to these CDs gives you the feeling that these are AOR classics from major
labels released in the classic 1980s, but BUGZY sadly never got that chance,
which is such a pity, because despite all the comparisons, in general the band
had an own identity and should have been much bigger!
Finally we have the 3rd BUGSY CD She’s the
one (18 songs in total, originally recorded between 1987 and 1993), which
continues the AOR/Melodic Rocksound of their previous album Plan B, yet perhaps
it digs a bit more into pure 80s AOR, with a slightly more lightweight style
here and there on the older songs, and it also shows the band's change in
direction in their final days. It is once again very sensational most of the
time, with as finest songs Easier said than done (pure HAYWIRE ish AOR/Poprock,
with brilliant catchy chorus), the hookladen uptempo AOR of Under the gun
(BYSTANDER meets URGENT ‘Cast the first stone meets LOVERBOY meets the 3rd
SUGARCREEK classic), Believe in love (you can’t get closer to pure 80s AOR than
this!), the midtempo SURVIVOR ish AOR dream of Open your eyes and Something
‘bout love (everything you love about classic 80s AOR!). Towards the end of
this CD, there are some changes in their sound, which happened in the early to
mid 1990s when they started writing material closer to the music climate of
that period (R.E.M. similarities are possible on a couple of songs) and we can
even find a cover of the PLAYER classic Baby come back.
It’s quite unbelievable that these guys
never got the chance, because they have some of the finest pure AOR songs in
their catalogue that definitely represented the 80s American/Canadian
mainstream rocksound. Fans of all the mentioned bands and more will absolutely
be blown away by the incredible high quality of the CDs! Eventually the band
quit around 1995, which was for me personally the year I started Strutter’zine
in order to help bands like BUGZY, so who knows what would have happened if
they had continued just a little longer. Anyway, the band’s drummer went on to
form RED, and their 2 CDs are reviewed elsewhere. The 3 BUGZY albums are all
available through: www.divebombrecords.com
and any AOR/Melodic Rock fan should get them a.s.a.p.
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
RED 'BROKEN
EARTH/NOTHING MEANS ANYTHING' (PERMANENT MUSIC/USA IMPORT)
Do not confuse this RED with the Christian
Hardrockband of the same name, because this New Jersey based RED features
drummer BOB KIMMEL, of whom we reviewed 3 amazing AOR albums he did with BUGZY
in the 1980s/1990s. During the following decades Bob was part of another great
band that never made it big unfortunately. RED consisted of Andy Schlee, lead
singer, guitars, bass, keyboards, harmonica & percussion, Patty Balbo,
guitar, vocals & percussion, Rich Kurtz, bass/vocals, Danny Eyer,
guitars/vocals and Bob Kimmel, drums/concussion, and their music took a
complete different turn compared to BUGZY, because their 2 albums are filled
with slow depressing 1990s down-tuned guitar driven Alternative Rock/Grunge
orientated, with similarities to ALICE IN CHAINS, NIRVANA and STONE TEMPLE
PILOTS, yet still with pleasant (almost late 1960s THE BEATLES meets KING’S X
meets early 90s TEENAGE FANCLUB meets JELLYFISH ish) College Rock/90s Powerpop
melodies that can best be heard during Spoiler, Drown, Was I wrong and Shark
song on their debut album Nothing means anything from 2002. The other album
(Broken earth from 2011) shows a clear different side of RED, because it also
contains influences from other genres (Americana, Poprock, Psychedelic Rock,
Prog, Pop…) and is overall radio friendlier and less rockier than their debut
album. The highlights on Broken earth are the altrocker My amnesia, Exit stage
left and I don’t do that anymore (both Americana pop rock like TOM PETTY meets
GEORGE HARRISON meets RYAN ADAMS), Idiots (Psychedelic Rocker a TEENAGE
FANCLUB), Ebb and flow, the pure late 60s psychedelic THE BEATLES meets TAME
IMPALE ish Too little too late (very interesting!), the proggy Magnetic North
(one of the best songs on the album, combination of NEAL MORSE/SPOCK’S BEARD’s
calmer prog with a light jazzy fusion touch of STEELY DAN), the terrific
classic progressive melodic rocker Blown away (a la ENCHANT) and the titletrack
Broken earth (a wonderful calmer proggy AOR/Pop ballad, somehow reminding me of
PETER GABRIEL mixed with BRYAN ADAMS when doing a THE BEATLES cover). In total
you get 28 songs on this double CD Broken earth, and 11 songs on the debut CD
Nothing means anything, so all together a lot to enjoy here! If you’re a
die-hard AOR/Melodic Rockfan you only need to go for the BUGZY, but if you’re
open-minded and also want to hear something different in a more modern setting
then you can explore RED’s altrock/grunge rock sounds on the RED debut album,
while the 2nd album (especially the superb CD 2) will offer you a very diverse
(progressive rock/THE BEATLES ish) band that contains all kinds of influences! There
is a new CD on the way in the near future, so RED is definitely still alive and
well! More info at: www.redsongs.com
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
THE
CYCLE PATHS 'IT'S A GREAT BUSINESS' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
Out of the Derbyshire/South Yorkshire area
in the UK comes THE CYCLE PATHS, a classic rock and roll band with influences
from Punk, Garage Rock, Blues, Soul, 60s Rock and Roll and a touch of early 80s
Powerpop. The band is formed around Stace Rose : Vocals and Guitar, Ian 'Eddie'
King : Bass, Andy Hardwick : Guitar and Roger Cresswell: Drums, and It's a
great business is their first full-length release I believe. 12 songs are
included and a lot of the songs are uptempo rockers, with a certain DR.
FEELGOOD/NINE BELOW ZERO kind of feel ,
some punky guitars, honest working-class lyrics and melodic choruses to
sing-a-long to, all done in a British Pub rock style that also reminds me here
and there of THE WHO crossed with a Punkpopband of the late 1970s (THE BOYS,
THE UNDERTONES). Highlights are What a way, Oh oh oh (cool uptempo early 80s
Powerpop), the punky Marital arts, the catchy Otherside of the road and Saturday
night (the best song on the album), but also the 1960s influenced I'm in
trouble should be mentioned with it's excellent harmonica solo and real raw
STONES ish sound. These guys are not making complicated music, which sometimes
is just what you need and therefore it's a rock album that has more to offer
than you might think at first sight. More info at: https://thecyclepaths2.bandcamp.com/album/its-a-great-business
(Points:
7.8 out of 10)
DEVIL'S
DICE 'WAR OF ATTRITION' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
The 2nd album War of attrition of the
British band DEVIL'S DICE was released in the beginning of the covid lockdown
in March 2020, but better late than never it now arrived at our office. DEVIL'S
DICE is coming out of the Birmingham area in the UK and they are playing
classic Melodic Heavy Metal with an 80s approach, yet sounding fresh and
up-to-date for today's world. 5 songs are on their latest album, and I have to
say it sounds quite impressive actually. The band is formed around Matt Gore -
Vocals, Dave Clark - Guitars, Chris Webb - Guitars, Ross Blommer - Drums and Adam
Newbery - Bass, and after a nice start with the titletrack, it gets sensational
during Confessor and especially during the lovely twin-guitar based Martyrs in
crime we are drifting into Melodic Metal heaven. The other 2 songs are the
catchy SAXON orientated Red light rage and the JUDAS PRIEST cover The
hellion/Electric eye. DEVIL'S DICE is definitely a must to hear if you're
interested in a classic NWOBHM sounding band in a new jacket. Check them out
at: https://devils-dice.bandcamp.com/album/war-of-attrition-ep
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
VINNY
PECULIAR 'VARIOUS ALBUMS' (SHADRACK & DUXBURY RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
I received 4 CDs of the British
singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist VINNY PECULIAR, who is aka ALAN WILKES.
Vinny has already released a lot of albums since 2001, of which the starting
point for me is The root mull affect from 2014, a compilation CD of material
released pre-2014. It features quite nice 1970s singer/songwriter/prog/pop,
DAVID BOWIE/TODD RUNDGREN come to mind a lot of times, with as best songs Jesus
stole my girlfriend, Playing on the pier (LOU REED similarities) and My
generation. There are also nice melodic uptempo British Indiepoprockers
included, such as the awesome Man about the house (a la THE SMITHS), a TOM
PETTY ish Americana pop tune (Confessions of a sperm donor) and lots more
diversity. The lyrics are humorous, almost stand-up comedian like, yet with a
pop/singer/songwriter approach.
Following CD Silver meadows from 2016
continues this style, although more serious than The root mull affect, starting
off with a piano-led song The institution, while the following Everyone has
something to say is a great midtempo TOM PETTY kinda melodic
Americana/Heartland Poprocker. Other highlights are the lovely midtempo 70s
progrock orientated This is what I can do now (DAVID BOWIE similarities), the
strong Hospital wing (another BOWIE influenced song), the midtempo pop/rock of
Silver meadows, the catchy uptempo 80s indie poprocker Wednesday club and
Self-help skills unit (can’t help it, another song BOWIE could have done).
Return of the native sounds even better
and seems to be his finest release up until 2018, because it has a more richer
and serious approach as well as a slightly rockier sound than his previous
albums, with great songs like The grove & the ditch, Blackpole, Return of
the native and A girl from Bromsgrove town. TOM PETTY meets LOU REED is
probably the best description, although Vinny has an own identity you will
recognize after a while. There is also a LEONARD COHEN ish singer/songwriter
piece entitled The singing schoolteacher, which makes it clear that Vinny is a
professional singer who seems to improve on each new album.
While you still can is his latest (2019)
album, and as already mentioned, he gets better and better with every new
release, and this one is probably his finest moment, with a lot of strong
songs. It starts very calm with the dark melancholic piano-led Vote for me, but
things get quite rocking on the following Pop music for ugly people, which is
definitely the rockiest song Vinny ever recorded. It’s a great uptempo rocker,
with a modern approach, and somehow also memories of TIN MACHINE and LOU REED
in his most rocking days. Other highlights are the midtempo groovy hard rocking
Culture vulture, the 80s synth/electropop of Ministry of fate and the midtempo
70s melancholic pop/rocksong Question time. Quite a diverse album actually and
Vinny sounds vocally at his best, while the material has a few radio-ready
songs. He really developed himself through the years and if you start checking
out his extensive discography, please start with this 2019 album. Check out all
info on Vinny at: https://vinnypeculiar.com
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
LONG
TALL J '2020' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
Multi-instrumentalist JAN LIEVAART is
based in Surrey, which is close to London, UK. He has his own project/band
called LONG TALL J, in which he plays everything by himself, with a few guest
singers on a couple of songs. We recently reviewed his previous album, and now
it's time for 2020. This album is a journey through the awkward year we all had
in 2020, which is done through 8 instrumental songs and 3 vocals featured
tracks. Jan is a great musician, who surely can play the guitar very well and
so we can once again enjoy his fabulous work on especially his tribute to JEFF
BECK, which is the song Jeff are you Beck? that has an amazing instrumental
guitar melody coming our way. Also quite interesting is the song Beat the
logic, which combines Irish Folk and Progrock, and also features Californian
violinplayer EMILY V. From the vocal featured material, I really have to
mention White lightning, which is a song that has the legendary STAN VERBRAAK
(HELLOISE, HIGHWAY CHILE) on lead vocals and it is a great uptempo classic
melodic hardrock/heavy rocker. It would be really great to see LONG TALL J
teaming up with Stan for a full-length album, because this song sounds very
promising! The music in general on this album is a mix of Progrock, Classic
Hardrock and a bit of Blues, with also some modern influences here and there,
so enough to enjoy and explore. Go check out more at: www.longtallj.com
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
ULTIMARATA
& FONTANA 'NATURASTUDIO' (RADICI MUSIC/XANGO MUSIC)
I don’t have much info on the Italian
singer/songwriter ULTIMARATA, but I read somewhere he is influenced by BOWIE,
POP and REED, however when listening to the new album Naturastudio he did with
FONTANA (piano/keys/guitars) and a few other musicians, he is clearly musically
speaking doing something else, with perhaps only a few traceable BOWIE
influences. No less than 19 tracks are included and they are all quite a
pleasure to listen to. Ultimarata has a strong clean voice and despite the
songs are sung in the Italian language, this is no problem at all, because this
gives it a real authentic feeling. For example, Scusami luna is a lovely
classic piece of melodic midtempo Italian Poprock/AOR like we know it from
DHAMM and ORO in the early/mid 90s, but you can also compare it to for example
RICHARD MARX's early rockier moments with Italian lyrics of course. Other
highlights are Il fabbro (some jazzy westcoast moments, even reminding me of
ZAPPACOSTA), the singer/songwriter pop piece Il tappo, the uptempo 70s influenced
progrocker Risplendi chet, the beautiful midtempo melodic aor/pop/westcoast of
Bambina and the midtempo epic progressive rocker La vera galera. There’s also
some influences from traditional Italian music, Latin-Jazz and more World
Music, although it is all quite streamlined for the radio, so it is really nice
to listen to from start to finish. Definitely a recommended diverse and very
melodic album that fits somewhere between melodic pop/rock/westcoast, progrock,
Italian traditional music, a touch of 90s altrock (Adulta lolita) and
singer/songwriter pop! You can check out more at: www.radicimusicrecords.it and https://www.reverbnation.com/ultimarata
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
KATIA
PESTI 'APNEA' (RADICI MUSIC/XANGO MUSIC)
Basically this is a beautiful instrumental
classical music piano album from piano player KATIA PESTI who is coming out of
Florence, Italy. She has released albums in the past, and this new album
contains a suite of six compositions for the piano. Done very well, Katia is a
gifted musician, who has an own identity on the piano, sometimes sounding quite
dark and haunting (Masse sonore acquatiche), while at other moments calmer and
more uplifting (Diavoli marini). I recommend you to hear for yourself at: https://katiapesti.bandcamp.com/album/apnea
SLOW
MOVING CLOUD 'STARFALL' (INDEPENDENT/XANGO MUSIC)
Out of Ireland comes the trio SLOW MOVING
CLOUDS, consisting of KEVIN MURPHY (cello, vocals, bass, marxophone), DANNY
DIAMOND (fiddle, vocals) and AKI (nyckelharpa, mbira), and their album is
titled Starfall. The music is a nice mixture of old and new, which makes it
sound modern and quite interesting. Under the city, Ash plant and especially
closing track Swansong/Starfall are beautiful haunting modern ambient like
popsongs with atmospheric lush vocals (CLANNAD style), which even recalls
memories of TAME IMPALE and JOHN GRANT. A greater portion on the album is
however instrumental and clearly Irish Celtic orientated with a classical music
twist in a way we also know it from the instrumental side of KATE BUSH, SINEAD
O’CONNOR and TORI AMOS. Quite a nice album actually and I wonder what a full
album with songs like the vocal featured songs would turn out! You can check
more at: www.slowmovingclouds.com
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
CHUCK
JOHNSON 'THE CINDER GROVE' (TAK: TIL/XANGO MUSIC)
The cinder grove is the new album of the
American composer/musician CHUCK JOHNSON, who is assisted by Sarah Davachi on
piano, Marielle V. Jakobsons on violin, Hilary Lewis on violin and viola and
Crystal Pascucci on cello. Chuck himself plays pedal steel guitar,
synthesizers, Yamaha electronic organ, treatments, and his instrumental music
is quite interesting, because it balances between avant-garde-classical music,
new age and prog/kraut of the TANGERINE DREAM kind. The 5 long calm instrumental
songs take you on an atmospheric dark journey and actually it feels like you’re
watching a movie, so this could well have been a soundtrack. There’s even some
PINK FLOYD ish sounds to be heard in a song like Red branch bell. I think this
album will appeal to a wide audience, and you can check it out at: https://www.blackeditionsgroup.com/product-page/chuck-johnson-the-cinder-grove-lp
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
THE
MALIBOOZ 'QE2' (THE PIER GROUP/RED STEEL MUSIC/UK IMPORT)
I am not really familiar with THE
MALIBOOZ, but I do know the legendary American vocalist/guitarist WALTER EGAN,
because he released a lot of records under his own name, and somewhere else you
can read a review of his new solo album Fascination. Anyway, together with
vocalist/guitarist/keyboardplayer JOHN ZAMBETTI, Walter founded THE MALIBOOZ
way back in the early 1960s and since then they have released every now and
then an album. 15 songs are on this new record Qe2, which is a very strong
record that will find it's way to fans of classic westcoast/aor/poprock/pop. Opener
Resist shows right away this is perfect Californian close-harmonyvocals driven
uptempo Westcoast-Poprock like CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG, which is a
wonderful start of a really great album. This high quality of Westcoast
perfection continues on the rest of the album, with songs that not only remind
of C,S,N & Y, but also I must think of VENICE, POCO, THE EAGLES and such,
with as other highlights Heaven, the darker Familiar eyes (a bit like BLUE
OYSTER CULT), the superb midtempo Westcoast-AOR rocker So amazing and the
beautiful ALAN PARSONS PROJECT ish Heal a broken heart. There is also a cover
of THE BEATLES classic We can work it out, and in the end I can only conclude
this is a surprising release that fits nicely between classic
close-harmonyvocal driven westcoast-pop of the late 1960s/early 1970s and the
more rockier westcoast-aor of the 1980s, yet also with a 1970s pop touch, so
basically a must-have for fans of especially VENICE! Check them out at: http://www.Malibooz.net
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
WALTER
EGAN 'FASCINATION' (RED STEEL MUSIC/UK IMPORT)
Besides a new album
with his band THE MALIBOOZ, singer/songwriter/guitarist WALTER EGAN is also
releasing a new solo album entitled Fascination. Walter is a legendary musician
with a long rich music history and despite I did not always follow his career
after his 1970s records, it is a great to see him still active and releasing
quite a strong new solo album now. Walter's new album is titled Fascination,
which musically speaking is clearly old-school melodic Westcoast pop/rock meets
Americana Singer/songwriter pop like THE TRAVELING WILBURYS meets TOM PETTY
meets ROY ORBISON meets NEIL YOUNG meets THE BEACH BOYS meets ELVIS COSTELLO.
This would be a perfect description of Walter's voice and music, and I am safe
to say that there aren't many bands or artists out there making such music
anymore. It is fun, feel-good music, with an old soul and a focus on song
melodies like it was done in the 1960s by countless acts around the world, but
also for a short while in the very early 1980s. 13 songs are on the album, and
most of them are uptempo rocking tunes. Woo to woe and A fool in love have the
Californian Westcoast breeze written all over the place, because these are
lovely catchy uptempo poprockers in traditional 1960s style, with the
influences from 1960s THE HOLLIES and THE BEACH BOYS. Lovers is a catchy early
80s uptempo melodic rocker a la MOON MARTIN, with a NEIL YOUNG touch as well,
and some great guitarwork. Yesterday, forever & today and Gestures are
fantastic catchy feel-good uptempo melodic rockers with that 80s approach again.
The material is quite diverse also, because when hearing a song like Treat me
nice, it's like you're listening to classic ELVIS being produced by ELO. There
aren't many weak songs to be found here, and in case you like any of the
aforementioned acts, then you will instantly fall in love with this album.
Check out everything on Walter at: http://www.walteregan.com
BRUNHILDE
‘TO CUT A LONG STORY SHORT’ (COUNT & COUNTESS/CMM/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of Germany comes
the female fronted rock/metal band BRUNHILDE, which is actually a duo formed
around vocalist Caro Loy and guitarist Kurt Bauereiß, who are assisted by
bassist Oliver Holzwarth (EX-BLIND GUARDIAN) and drummer Bastian Emig (VAN
CANTO) on their debut album To cut a long story short. Produced by Charlie
Bauerfeind (MOTORHEAD, BLIND GUARDIAN, HELLOWEEN…), the band is hyped a lot and
you can clearly hear the professionalism of their first album. Caro is a great
rock/metal shouter and with 14 songs in total, there is a lot to enjoy here.
The music is quite aggressive raw mostly fast uptempo melodic punk metal as I
would call it, like MOTORHEAD meets THE PLASMATICS, but there’s also a calmer
moment, such as can be heard during the lovely semi melodic rockballad All is
lost, which is close to classic DORO/WARLOCK. Also the piano-ballad It’s all
lies shows that Caro is a great singer, so hopefully she can show that
emotional side more often on a future album Most of the songs do have however a
catchy chorus to sing-a-long to, such as I’m crying, When you were born and
Digging ditches, but the PLASMATICS meets MOTORHEAD description nails it a lot
I think, although there are also clear influences from NINA HAGEN to be heard.
All mixed up you have BRUNHILDE and their strong debut album To cut a long
story short. More info on them at: https://www.brunhilde.de/
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
FACTORY
'AIMING HIGH' (SUMAREIDER RECORDS/UK IMPORT)
In the 1970s around Hastings, UK, there
was an active band called FACTORY, but sadly they never released anything,
although they did leave an impression back then in the area. Fast forward to 2020,
FACTORY has finally recorded the old 1970s songs in a proper studio and the
result is the fantastic album Aiming high, which is by the way the follow-up to
their previous official comeback album Back in the time machine from 2016. The
band's line up is the same as back in the 1970s, which is Andy Qunta on keys,
12 string guitar & vocals; Tony Qunta on guitar, violin and vocals; Lol
Cooksey on drums, and Steve Kinch on bass (replacing “Jaffa” Peckham, who left
in 1974, but can also be heard on this album). 12 songs are on their debut
album and opener Free'n'easy is a killer uptempo melodic rocker right from the
start, with a certain THE SWEET meets URIAH HEEP kinda feeling, so very 1970s
ish, yet sounding up-to-date with it's fresh approach and superb vocalwork.
Following Dreams of home and Born a dreamer are slightly calmer and even touch
the 70s AOR/Poprock direction. The following Pinky takes some time to develop
as it starts with an electric violin, but eventually turns out to be a superb
sensational melodic AOR/Pomprocker in the style of SHOOTING STAR, including
once again extremely crystal clear vocals. They also remind me a bit of CATS IN
SPACE, but FACTORY has a more laid-back singer (3 as it turns out!), who
doesn't stretch to a high octave level in each and every song. The violin is
heard in most songs by the way, but sometimes more prominent than in other
songs, because for example it takes an important part of the song Lamp post
lil, which is a somewhat quirky melodic pop/rocker in a style reminding of
classic 1970s 10CC/GODLEY& CREME/SPARKS. URIAH HEEP comes to mind big time
on the following song Mama called me, a lovely midtempo melodic classic
hardrock tune in the best 1970s style. I see the sun is another superb 70s
melodic rock/prog/pomprocker in the style of STYX, ROADMASTER and LUCIFER'S
FRIEND. Back to that huge URIAH HEEP sound on the lovely Want your love right
now, which is an epic journey through classic rock and 70s progrock heaven! Ice
age follows in a similar epic lengthy 1970s prog/classic rocking style, which
even reminds me of rare lost Pomprockacts from the past, such as RATHSKELLER,
HOBBIT, SPY, SPYS and TRILLION. This can especially be said of Razzle dazzle
man, which is the most Pomprock orientated song I have heard in ages, basically
close to classic STYX, TOUCH, STONEBOLT, ROADMASTER, TRILLION, etc. etc. Titletrack
Aiming high is up next and follows the same pure Pomprock bombastic
harmonyvocal/keyboardsound as the previous song, while Out with a bang closes
the album nicely in a sorta retro 1960s/1970s uptempo powerpop direction like
THE HOLLIES meets THE RASPBERRIES.
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
ACTUALLY
‘PREDATOR ROMANTIC’ (APOLLON RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
Now this is a somewhat confronting front
cover of the album, and despite I don’t mind at all watching a sexual pose from
a woman, usually I would not expect anything good musically speaking. In
contrary, ACTUALLY from Los Angeles is bringing us superb high quality
radio-ready Synthwave/Electropop with a Gothic and 80s touch (BERLIN meets
HUMAN LEAGUE meets SOFT CELL meets 80s MADONNA). I am surprised that ACTUALLY
has not reached superstardom yet, because songs like Male fantasy, Predator
romantic, First kiss and Baby love are quite sensational songs that have
everything included to become huge hits! The act is led by a model named ASHLEY
IVY HUIZENGA (Dutch origin I assume!) and despite her looks and content, which
is often linked with explicit sex, horror imageries and seduction and her music
is classified by herself as "Snuff Pop" and "Slut Wave",
the included 13 songs are really catchy synth driven 80s retro pop and here and
there a light gothic pop/rock direction (Vesuvius), which could easily be
played on the radio. It’s something completely different than the usual stuff
on APOLLON RECORDS, so it has nothing to do with prog, but on the other hand
this is a very infectious record you need to hear in case you like any of the mentioned
acts. More info at: https://actuallypredatorromantic.bandcamp.com/album/predator-romantic
(Points:
8.4 out of 10)
MATTERHORN
‘OUTSIDE’ (APOLLON RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
Here we have an interesting debut album of
the Norwegian band MATTERHORN. It’s titled Outside and the trio around Tommy
Sebastian Halseth- vocals, Edvin Matthieson – bass, acoustic guitar and Andreas
Stunes – drums, keyboards are assisted by guest musicians Øyvind Smidt –
violin, guitarists Petter Selliseth, Tor-Ole Byberg, Finn Olav Holthe, Jacob
Holm-Lupo, Marius Halleland, Christer Harøy, Rhys Marsh and Skjalg Raaen,
backing vocalists Ann-Lill, Gry Anita and Eskild and Solveig, while there is
also a horn section by Jørgen Dahl. The included music on their first album is
clearly Progressive Rock, yet with influences from other genres as well, which
all together makes them sound diverse and a pleasure to listen to the 8
included songs. The highlights are opener Outside, the lovely midtempo Aorta
(with great harmonyvocals a bit reminding of TEARS FOR FEARS) and Last page. As
the album progresses, it gets better and better, vocally it is not that strong,
but thankfully the music itself is of a very high level and will be really
interesting for any progfan out there! More info at: https://www.facebook.com/Matterhorn72Music/
(Points:
8.1 out of 10)
TAMMATOYS
‘CONFLICTS’ (APOLLON RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
The Norwegian band TAMMATOYS was formed
all the way back in 1999, but it took them until 2020 before a debut album was
released. The CD is titled Conflicts and I am quite impressed, because it is
filled with high quality melodic progressive rock in the style of PORCUPINE
TREE, PINK FLOYD, PENDRAGON and AIRBAG, with influences from symphonic rock and
neo-prog as well. The band’s line up consists of Kjetil Bergseth - Vocals,
acoustic guitars, keyboards, Øystein Utby – Bass, Ragnar Utby – Guitars, Simon
Dolmen Bergseth – Guitars, Bjørn David Dolmen – Guitars, and Martin Utby –
Drums, with as guest on the song I will follow, the guitarist Ørnulv Brun
Snortheim. A song like the epic Downfall is a prime example of sensational
melodic progrock in all its glory! For a debut, TAMMATOYS is moving into the
upper league of prog quite quickly, which is due to the fact that all the
ingredients are there (instrumentally, vocally, song wise and the production).
This is one of those albums you can listen to from start to finish over and
over again, because every time you discover something new, and that’s what
makes progrock one of the most important music genres around. Highly
recommended album to any progfan… more info at: https://tammatoys.bandcamp.com/album/conflicts
(Points:
8.8 out of 10)
LUEUR
VERTE 'CRYSTALICA' (APHASIA RECORDS/DARKHANBIT MUSIC/APOLLON RECORDS/NORWAY
IMPORT)
Originally released in 2013, but now
re-released on CD, the album Crystalica by the French act LUEUR VERTE is a
sensational pure classic Synthwave album. MICHAEL BRUN is a Synthwave music
producer from France, and he is also the founder and director of Aphasia
Records label, on which he released this album. The music on Crystalica is
featuring some of the finest pure Synthwave albums I have heard lately and due
to the fact I just recently really discovered the genre, there is still a lot
to learn, because there are a lot of musicians/producers making this kinda
music worldwide. Thanks to this superb sounding masssive synth driven retro 80s
journey of LUEUR VERTE, it seems like I keep on discovering new classics in
this modern genre, which takes of course their main influences from the 1980s. 5
songs are included in total and once you play it loud on your stereo, then you
really get into this great hypnotic adventure of nostalgica 1980s
(MASK/TRANSFORMERS/VINCE DICOLA memories for me personally), yet it all sounds
super fresh. MAGIC SWORD was last year my favorite Synthwave album, but this
one is sounding even bigger, and hopefully I will be hearing and reviewing many
more Synthwave releases in the future. Check out this act at: https://lueurverte.bandcamp.com/,
even if you're only into AOR, then you will be as surprised as I was...
(Points:
8.9 out of 10)
WUDEWUSE
‘NORTHERN GOTHIC’ (APOLLON RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
WUDEWUSE is a Norwegian band fronted by the
talented multi-instrumentalist SONDRE BERGERSEN MAELAND, who actually wrote all
of the music on this new album of WUDEWUSE while living in the forest and
working at a graveyard for 3 years! Interesting fact and when you listen to the
calm dark melancholic folk sounds of this mainly acoustic based campfire
Norwegian singer/songwriter pop/rock style (sung in the Norwegian language), it
is impossible to compare, because it has its own sound, which somehow is quite relaxed
to listen to. After a while it gets however a bit same-ish, and despite it's
not bad at all, I expected more of a band kinda feeling, which does not happen
at all and this is quite surprising, because WUDEWUSE further consists of Håkon
Oftung (hammond, mellotron, solina, bass), Daniel Bakken (guitar), Ole Rokseth (bass,
moog synthesizer) and Martin Nordrum Kneppen (drums, percussion), so you would
expect them to come up with some interesting twists in the music. Anyway, you
can check for yourself at: https://wudewuse.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
JOHN R.
KJELLSTROM 'JOHN R. KJELLSTROM' (APOLLON RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
On the APOLLON RECORDS label we can find
yet another Norwegian musician singing in the Norwegian language. He is quite an
interesting singer, with a dark melancholic sound like JOHNNY CASH or LEONARD
COHEN, but musically with a sorta rock influence as well, although dark folk
singer/songwriter americana/rock is the way to go most of the time on the 8
included songs. There are slow songs heard most of the time, with as finest
songs Hemlighet and Vintern Tar, but the best song is definitely the only
uptempo rocker (Se allt Du var). Its not a real happy album, because it does
sound quite depressing and for people who want to hear the Norwegian equivalent
of JOHNNY CASH or LEONARD COHEN, then look no further than JOHN R. KJELLSTROM
at: https://john-r-kjellstrom.bandcamp.com/album/john-r-kjellstr-m
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
JORUND
VALANDSMYR & MENIGHETEN 'HVITE DAGER, MORKE KVELDER' (APOLLON
RECORDS/NORWAY IMPORT)
The Norwegian language is not easy to
understand, and this particular CD has a full CD sung in that language! Anyway,
it has its charm for sure and Norwegian singer/songwriter JORUND VALANDSMYR and
his band MENIGHETEN offer a nice mixture of styles on their latest album Hvite
Dager, Mørke Kvelder, which has been released on APOLLON RECORDS. There is a
bit of catchy melodic poprock in early 80s style, some indie/pop influences and
loads more actually, but Jorund sounds at his best during the catchy rocking
choruses of the uptempo pieces Utbyttbar, Selvmedlidenintensivering and
Bluesomsorg, which are all early 80s kind of melodic poprockers. There is also
room for calm melancholic, but melodic pop songs with an old 70s soul (Du Vet)
and some folk/country as well, while a song like Stengt Opp I Et Hjørne is a pretty
good mix of semi prog/rock/classic rock with a pure 1970s sound, and perhaps
this is the best song on the album! Verksteder is an uptempo rocker with a
certain STATUS QUO/NORMAAL kinda boogie flirt, so this is a very diverse record
and actually a pretty good one in the end! More info at: https://www.facebook.com/jvalandsmyr
(Points:
8.2 out of 10)
OSIBISA
'THE BOYHOOD SESSIONS - 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION' (RED STEEL MUSIC/UK IMPORT)
OSIBASA is a legendary Ghanaian Afro Rockband formed all the way back in 1969. They feature members who are originally coming out of Africa and the Caribbean, but are settled in London. They have released a string of albums throughout the past 5 decades, with a few well-known albums in the 1970s and 1980s when their frontcovers had the ROGER DEAN (ASIA, YES) signature paintings. This new album The boyhood sessions celebrates their 50th-year anniversary and is a compilation of rare mixes, live songs and studio outtakes. It's a nice diverse sounding record that shows the real OSIBISA, but also modern remixes of OSIBISA songs, such as the rather catchy Hold on and 3 different versions of the band's biggest hit Sunshine day. OSIBASA has been a very important band to bring African music to the western world and this new CD is another nice addition to their catalogue and a possibility for people to learn about this legendary band. Available through: www.redsteelmusic.com
LAVINIA
BLACKWALL AND STILTON 'MUGGINGTON LANE END VINYL RECORD' (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
When listening to the first song Nothing
is wasted of the debut album of the Scottish
singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardplayer LAVINIA BLACKWALL, I am almost
speechless because of her beautiful angelic high pitched voice, which in
combination with the artwork/pictures/lay-out of her vinyl record and its
included music, it feels feel like we are back to the 1970s classic melodic
folk rock/canterbury sound of the British Isles, as it does remind a lot of
classic FAIRPORT CONVENTION and RENAISSANCE. However, perhaps also fans of
MOSTLY AUTUMN and KARNATAKA will be interested in checking this out, because
the music is a bit rockier than the
classic folkrock here and there, even touching melodic rock on a fantastic song
like Troublemakers. Anyway, I am glad Lavinia sent me her first album on vinyl,
because the nostalgica is now complete and it surely could have been a release
from 1973. On the other hand, it's really wonderful to have such a wonderful
gifted singer now active and I am safe to say that we can look forward to a
long and bright future ahead of us with this talented musician/singer, and
hopefully many more releases to come. Ivy ladder is a superb uptempo melodic
folk rocker again, with amazing vocal melodies in the style of classic style of
MIKE OLDFIELD with MAGGIE REILLY on vocals, while the soaring guitars make it
rock in classic 1970s style. The calmer songs All seems better and Hold on to
your love show once again the amazing high octave vocalwork of Lavinia, who
sounds like a cross between KATE BUSH, SANDY DENNY and MAGGIE REILLY, and then
I mean spot on, without any troubles, especially when you know the fact that
this debut album was recorded live in one take! Lavinia herself started her
career by the way in the band TREMBLING BELLS, with whom she released 7 albums,
but unfortunately I never heard anything from her up until now via this amazing
solo debut album. Along with the help of her band STILTON (guitarist MARCO REA,
bassist JIM MCGOLDRICK and drummer SEB JONSEN) as well as several guest
musicians, including a couple of former bandmates, she recorded this
sensational debut album. Back to the vinyl record and flipping over to Side-B,
with the remaining 5 songs, it starts with the uptempo 70s westcoast
psychedelic pop/rocker like KATE BUSH fronting FLEETWOOD MAC or JEFFERSON
AIRPLANE. After the calmer Keep warm, we get to hear a strong late 1960s
influenced piano driven uptempo psychedelic pop/rocker titled John's gone,
which reminds me somehow of SHOCKING BLUE mixed with a bit of THE BEATLES and
THE TURTLES. The way that she laughed is a soaring guitar driven folky
semi/midtempo rockballad, and a really good one actually. Album closer is the
epic When will all come to light/Muggington lane end/Arbor low, which starts as
a lovely happy and catchy uptempo melodic 1970s folkrocker like 70s HEART
crossed with KATE BUSH, while the middle part is an instrumental proggy part
and it finishes off in acapella style, all together perhaps this is the finest
song on the album. Concluded, this is a lovely record from an amazing
singer/songwriter and hopefully after covid, we will be able to hear Lavinia sing
live in front of us, because this girl deserves to become huge! Check her out
at: https://laviniablackwall.bandcamp.com/
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS 'CIRCLES END 18 DUTCH FOLK POP DREAMS VINYL RECORD' (MISTY LANE
RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
After the whole explosion of new Dutch
Beat, Garage Rock, Psychedelic Rock and Hardrockbands in The Netherlands
between 1966 and 1972, there was another movement visible as a sorta
counterpart to the rocksound of bands like GOLDEN EARRING, EARTH & FIRE,
SHOCKING BLUE, EKSEPTION, TEE-SET, Q65, SANDY COAST, etc. It was the period of
Flower Power acoustic guitar accompanied and beautiful sung folk melodies in a
style we nowadays call singer/songwriter pop. The influences came from mostly
American artists/acts like BOB DYLAN, LEONARD COHEN, MARIANNE FAITHFULL, SIMON
& GARFUNKEL and JONI MITCHELL. These 'heroes' told their stories via their
songs and used the guitar as only back-up instrument, troubadours they were
called back then. The ones singing in the Dutch language became massive in the
following decades (BOUDEWIJN DE GROOT, ARMAND, etc.), but in the beginning many
of these singer/songwriters sung in the English language and I am surprised
there were so many of them active in the early 1970s, because on this
compilation vinyl record titled CIRCLES END 18 DUTCH FOLK POP DREAMS on the
Italian label MISTY LANE RECORDS, we can hear 18 acts, of which I only know at
first sight AMSTERDAM. If we read the extensive and very detailed liner notes
however, there are some well-known names appearing here and there, such as the
American GREG KIHN, who was part of the Dutch based band ALLIGATOR for a short
while in the early 1970s, and also producer HANS VAN HEMERT (LUV), BOB
ZIMMERMAN, and many others are connected to the included acts here. I must
admit that MISTY LANE RECORDS did a real good job collecting these rare gems! LINDA
CHRISTINE for example has a beautiful voice and her song Feeling awful cold
today is an amazing piece of folky singer-songwriter that would make JONI
MITCHELL jealous! Another interesting act is the Rotterdam based band JUSTICE,
with their catchy melodic 60s Beatpop-ish uptempo tune You came to see me,
which strangely enough reminds me of the Rotterdam based THE MADD from the
2000s! Further highlights are coming from the acts DOUBLE YOU (their song Wild
flowers is a lovely piece of dreamy psychedelic folk/pop/rock that sounds
extremely international, which is not that rare if you learn that this band is actually
the same band as THE SHOES, but in the early 1970s they changed their name for
a number of years and recorded this forgotten gem), MYSTICAL BROTHERHOOD (a
lovely vocal driven psychedelic folkpopact), JUMBO (another band from
Rotterdam, with an exceptionally excellent lead singer on their beautiful
melodic THE BEATLES-ish song I want you) and THE MARIGOLD (a band from Delft
featuring KOR VAN VELZEN, the late father
of the Dutch megastar ROEL VAN VELZEN!). I can safely say that this is a highly
recommended Dutch folk/singer-songwriter compilation that should be heard by
millions of Dutch people, just to discover all those rare gems from 50 years
ago... More info and availability of the vinyl record is possible via www.mistylaneshop.com and www.mistylanemusic.com
(Points:
8.6 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS 'SILVER GIRLS AND INDIAN PIPES VINYL RECORD' (MISTY LANE RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
The Italian label MISTY LANE RECORDS is a
very interesting and fascinating label, because they release obscure old music
(mainly obscure Dutch beat/garage rock) onto vinyl. They do an excellent job,
because the sound of their vinyl records is crystal clear and they also look
for the real good obscure bands from mostly the 1960s when especially in Europe
and in particular The Netherlands there were countless bands active, all trying
to become the Dutch equivalent of THE BEATLES, ROLLING STONES, THE KINKS...
Eventually not many secured a major record label deal, but on the other hand in
the 1960s quite a lot bands did manage to release a 7" inch single on a
smaller label or independently, and as those releases are very collectable
nowadays, we have seen many compilation albums with those songs in the past.
MISTY LANE RECORDS stepped in to release a best of compilation vinyl record of
the rare music the brothers DONALD (guitar) and MARTIN VAN OS (drums) created
in the 1960s and 1970s with their bands THE PENNY WISE and AMSTERDAM. Joining
them back then were PETER VAN ASTEN (vocals) and ROBERT VERWEY (bass), although
on the first couple of recorded songs the singer from HET (JACQUES ZWART) can
be heard, but thankfully both can sing very well, so there's not really a big
difference vocally and musically speaking.
Starting with THE PENNY WISE, they are as
close as you can get in classic 1960s Dutch Beat Music, which you can hear on
the 6 included songs that were recorded back in 1967/1968. Jackie's S.S.S. for
example is a real fun uptempo beatpop/rocker that would make THE MADD go mad of
jealousy! I am very impressed by the wonderful THE KINKS ish Lily come near me,
which shows the strength of singer Peter, and as a song this sounds like a
classic 60s tune created in the UK, but it was really made in Holland! And how
about the wonderful THE BEATLES-ish Leave me alone and In the fields with me.
It's quite a surprise the band did not become as big as for example TEE-SET,
Q65 and GOLDEN EARRING, because they were in the same upper league of high
quality Beatpop/Garage Rock in The Netherlands back in the 1960s.
Anyway, a name change to the city where
they came from, AMSTERDAM, and the band also switched to a harder rocking sound
on the first single Blue steel 44, a rather cool strong Hardrocksong that was
recorded in 1970. Peter leaves the band eventually (for the second and last
time) and is replaced by MICHIEL VAN DIJK, who also leaves a few years later,
although also Michiel returns again on the final recordings of AMSTERDAM. With
AMSTERDAM, the brothers changed direction as already mentioned a little bit
towards psychedelic rock/hardrock at first (Blue steel 44), then changed the
sound to folky calmer close-harmonyvocal orientated westcoast pop/rock a la
CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG/THE BYRDS (Donay and No one really cares) and finished
with an almost early 1970s Glamrock style on a song like Marie Marie and even
late 1960s THE BEATLES influenced Progrock on the 1974 song Emily Jane.
A lot of effort and work has been put into
this vinyl release, including extensive liner notes, rare pictures of the
musicians and the full story on these 2 Dutch brothers and the other musicians
they played with in THE PENNY WISE and AMSTERDAM. I can only conclude this
piece of Dutch music history needs to be heard by all fans of music created in
The Netherlands, and as a Dutchman myself I am quite proud of this wonderful
official vinyl release! It's available through: www.mistylaneshop.com
and www.mistylanemusic.com
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
THE
KRYNG 'DON'T DIG THESE MODERN TYMES VINYL RECORD' (TEEN SOUND RECORDS/MISTY
LANE RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
There are so many bands out there, you sometimes miss one and in Holland there is still a huge scene, so somehow I must have overlooked THE KRYNG. This band from the town of Meppel has already released a couple of albums, of which Don't dig these modern tymes from 2018 is available on vinyl through the Italian label TEEN SOUNDS RECORDS. The band is formed around Mark Ten Hoor: Guitar & Vocals, Peter Kroes: Bass, Guitars and Arjan Spies: Drums, Guitars, Keys, and the included music is clearly 60s based, with all kinds of catchy powerpop hooks and classic beat generation choruses packed in a mostly uptempo beat/garagerock sound. The 12 songs are all very melodic, so it is an enjoyable listen from start to finish, which makes me wonder why the Dutch radio and TV is not praising this band as much as they have done for THE KIK/THE MADD. Anyway, hopefully they will gain some interest soon, because we can hear a lot of great songs on this album, such as We're the same, which is as fuzzy guitar orientated 60s Garage Rock as you can get, while other highlights are the 60s beat rockers Better than him, the lovely catchy Way-out day, Come & go (hello THE KINKS), the fantastic You got to come over (as if we're listening to the early THE BEATLES classic uptempo beat/powerpop again!) and the superb classic Getting rawer (early THE WHO mod/60s powerpop classic). In case you're keen on the 1960s with beat/garage rock in all it's authencity, yet with a slight touch of classic THE BYRDS as well, such as can especially be heard in a song like Way to paradise, then look no further than THE KRYNG! More info at: https://thekryng.bandcamp.com/album/dont-dig-these-modern-tymes-lp and the record is available via www.mistylaneshop.com and www.mistylanemusic.com
(Points:
8.3 out of 10)
BLACK
SNAKE MOAN 'PHANTASMAGORIA VINYL RECORD' (TEEN SOUND RECORDS/MISTY LANE
RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
It's quite hard to believe the Italian
band/project BLACK SNAKE MOAN is an one-man band, but MARCO CONTESTABILE really
did everything on his own here! The psychedelic blues injected desert rocksound
of the 2nd album Phantasmagoria is of an incredible high level! Marco has an
amazing strong voice and also plays guitar, bassdrum, hi-hat, tambourine and
keyboards, and he does it all extremely well. 9 songs are included in total,
and right from the start we are fasten our seatbelts to enjoy this wonderful
adventure that takes us straight through the fields of melodic psychedelic rock
and southern fried blues/desert rock, with vocals that do recall a bit of the
80s gothic rock/wave movement and then I am thinking of bands like SISTERS OF
MERCY, SOUTHERN DEATH CULT, GENE LOVES JEZEBEL and such. So basically BLACK
SNAKE MOAN is a melting pot of 80s dark gothic wave, melodic psychedelic rock,
southern fried vintage bluesy desert rock and a few weird guitar whaling sounds
like a mix between THE TWILIGHT ZONE, THE GRATEFUL DEAD and BLUE OYSTER CULT,
while we also must not forget to mention THE DOORS in the late 60s uptempo
psychedelic rocker Kaleido. One of the absolute highlights is the slow haunting
titletrack, which really grabs you right from the start. As mentioned the
somewhat bizarre guitar sounds make it also sound sometimes quite dark and
exciting, such as during Sweet lie, which even reveal some Middle Eastern
influences and that sorta 80s THE TWILIGHT ZONE theme vibe. The album closes by
the way with the superb Night of stone, which combines everything we have
mentioned before, so perhaps this might be the best song of the whole record.
It's great to hear such a fantastic singer, because Marco is a real character
with an own vibrato and combined with his dark melancholic but melodic rocking
sound he creates all by himself, this is one of those records that should gain
a lot of attention! Check it out for yourself at: https://blacksnakemoan-omb.bandcamp.com/album/phantasmagoria
and the record is available via www.mistylaneshop.com
and www.mistylanemusic.com
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
DAVID
JUDSON CLEMMONS 'TRIBE & THRONE VINYL RECORD' (VILLAGE SLUT RECORDS/GERMAN IMPORT)
Originally from the USA, the singer/songwriter/guitarist
DAVID JUDSON CLEMMONS is currently living in Germany. He started his music
career in the late 1980s as founder of the band MINISTERS OF ANGER, which was a
progressive thrash band that also featured future MACHINE HEAD drummer DAVE
MCCLAIN. Although they only managed to release a few demos, they became a cult
band, with one of their songs appearing on the famous METAL MASSACRE
compilation records. Following band MURDERCAR featured David and Dave along
with DETENTE guitarist Ross Robinson, but things got really exciting when David
played in the band DAMN THE MACHINE, which featured among others the legendary
guitarist CHRIS POLAND (MEGADETH)! This band had a modern complex jazzy
progmetal affair, which I happen to remember hearing on the Belgian radio back
then. They released a major label debut album, toured with DREAM THEATER, but
eventually the band quit and David went on to form 2 more bands (JUD and THE
FULLBLISS) in the following 10 years, with also several album releases.
However, around 2004 he made his solo-debut
and this paved the way for a solo career, which has now resulted in the 4th
album Tribe & throne. The included 6 songs are representing a modern
psychedelic progressive rocksound that sounds a bit like PORCUPINE TREE crossed
with TOOL and a bit of OPETH, although of course with an own identity thanks to
the vocalwork of David as well as his unique way of playing the guitar. Besides
David, the 2 other involved musicians are THOMAS GOTZ (drums/organ) and EARL
GREY (bass) and when playing this vinyl record loud and proud, it gives you
that exciting feeling you're listening to something original and refreshing. As
mentioned, it's progrock related, but sounding very modern and almost putting
you in a trance with it's slow haunting tempo, especially during the opener Our
love our war. My trust is one of my favorite tracks, a midtempo melodic
progressive rocker with some classic 80s well-thought prog metal influences and
a complex jazzy rhythm section, reminding me a bit of PSYCHOTIC WALTZ. Also the
superb Dark walk home takes you on an interesting journey that has a touch of
Doom Metal (a la BLACK SABBATH) as well, but then with a Psychedelic Progmetal
twist and a modern fresh approach, with beautiful haunting melodies sung by
David, while halfway the song it gets quite dark and melancholic like we know
it from for example the Norwegian band MOTORPSYCHO. Innovative and modern, yet
not forgetting about the Prog Metal melodies, that's what this is all about and
David is a master creator after being 30+ years in the music business.
Side-B opens with It of the dome, a slightly
more uptempo piece, although also here the Doom Metal influences are very
clear, and overall it sounds like one of the most original Metal songs of the
past few years! Servants continues the original sound with again lovely
melodies combined with Doom-Metal, Post-Rock and ProgMetal as if PORCUPINE
TREE, OPETH, PSYCHOTIC WALTZ and OZZY/BLACK SABBATH are blended together, so
yes this is quite a sensational song! The album finishes with The loyalty, a
lovely melodic prog metal piece with interesting drums that sound a bit
tribal/world music-ish and the post-rock guitar gives it a modern touch, while
the chorus is very melodic and of an incredible high level. Basically this is a
must-have release that is overall a Progmetal related release, but goes much
further than that and is secretly one of Metal's finest releases in the past
few years!
You can check out more info as well as
listen to the music on David's bandcamp site at: https://davidjudsonclemmons.bandcamp.com/album/tribe-throne
and his own website at: http://www.djclemmons.com/news
(Points:
8.7 out of 10)
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