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HOT NEW REVIEWS
THE HITMAN BLUES
BAND ‘CALLING LONG DISTANCE’ (NERUS RECORDS/FRANK ROSZAK PROMOTIONS)
Out of New York comes THE HITMAN BLUES BAND, and
Calling Long Distance is their 7th album so far. The band is
formed around Russell “Hitman” Alexander (Guitars, lead & backup vocals),
and in addition we can find Mike Katzman -Keyboards, Mike Porter – Bass, Backup
Vocals, Bob Stander – Bass on “Calling Long Distance” and “Edge Of The Bed”,
Guy LaFountaine – Drums, John Kelly – Alto Sax, Tom Mineo – Tenor Sax, Eric
Altarac – Trumpet and Al Alpert – Trombone. Together they create a very
adventurous uptempo orientated blues rock sound that is also open for other
music influences, such as can be heard very clearly during the instrumental
Blood Alley. 12 songs are included, of which a few are covers, but the majority
was written by Rusell himself. He has got a great raw bluesy tone in his voice,
and as mentioned the music is very diverse, although overall it should be
filled under heavy blues rock. These guys are really good and let’s hope they
once cross the north sea to come over and play over here in Europe. Meanwhile
check them out at: https://hitmanbluesband.com/
(Points: 8.1 out
of 10)
STEVE BASKIN AND
THE FOURTEENS ‘LOVE IS HARD VINYL EDITION’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out of Atlanta, USA comes the talented
singer/songwriter/guitarist STEVE BASKIN, who already released 4 albums in the
past. His 5th album is titled Love Is Hard, which he recorded
with his band THE FOURTEENS. This band consists of guitarist ROGER BRAINARD,
vocalist MARY GILL, drummer GEOFF GILL, bassist MARK SOBUS and pedal steel
guitarist MARK VAN ALLEN. Steve was kind enough to sent me a beautiful shiny
vinyl edition of his new album, and I must admit that it sounds huge and very
authentic on vinyl. The inner sleeve reveals all the information you need to
have, including the lyrics of the 10 included songs. The sound/production is
quite excellent and the music is really good, and after repeated listens also
enjoyable to revisit multiple times, because there is a lot of diversity to be
heard all throughout the record.
Opener Love Is Hard is a sensational uptempo classic
pop/rock sounding tune that combines a lot of elements, including southern
soul, bluesy guitar riffs, Memphis horns and a superb catchy Westcoast/AOR
chorus (like TOTO meets STEELY DAN). Following track We Thought We Were Grown
is a calmer laid-back soulful light country-folkish ballad like JJ GREY &
MOFRO, LEON BRIDGES, JOHN NEMETH and THE TESKEY BROTHERS, while The One Perfect
is an uptempo country rock/Americana influenced tune that recalls the days of
bands like POCO and THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND. I Believe In You is a beautiful
calmer retro soul ballad the old school way, and I mean this is really of an
incredible high level, kinda what BRUNO MARS is known for doing with ANDERSON
PAAK as SILK SONIC. The diversity of the record is really remarkable, because
closing track Pleasant Valley Sunday is suddenly a late 1960s influenced
uptempo psychedelic garage melodic pop/rock song like THE BYRDS and THE BAND.
Side-A of this new vinyl record of Steve is pretty much a very impressive
diverse piece of plastic that deserves to be heard by any fan of real music.
Side-B opens with Do What You Wanna Do, which is a
groovy bluesy soul tune that somehow also has some similarities to DEWOLFF.
Next song Devoted To You is a nice soulful rocker like LITTLE FEAT meets HALL
& OATES, while Girl From Indiana is a lovely Westcoast flavored song in the
classic STEELY DAN style. Give A Damn About Today is a great catchy summer
friendly pop/rock anthem that has some similarities to VENICE, and it also
features a beautiful soaring guitarsolo. Closing track And You Want War is a
nice uptempo southern friendly bluesy rocker with cool Memphis Soul Horns and a
touch of 70s CHICAGO!
Concluded, this is a highly recommended vinyl album
that offers a lot of excellent music that is very diverse and should appeal to
a lot of music fans out there. More info can be found at: https://www.stevebaskin.com/
(Points: 8.5 out
of 10)
GENTLE BEAST
‘VAMPIRE WITH REPTILIAN SUPER SOLDIER VINYL EDITION’ (SIXTEENTIMES MUSIC/SWISS
IMPORT)
Out of the beautiful Swiss city of Basel comes the
hard hitting Stoner Heavy Rockband GENTLE BEAST, and Vampire With Reptilian
Super Soldier is their 2nd album since their formation back in
2017. In 2023 they released their debut and now in 2025 it’s time for the
follow-up, which is also released on vinyl, and as usual the kinda music this
band is playing sounds at best on vinyl! GENTLE BEAST is playing classic stoner
rock with influenced of doom metal and modern heavy rock, not far removed from
bands like KYUSS, FU MANCHU and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE. The band consists of
vocalist Timo Dinter, bassist Tobias Rickli, guitarists Manu Ciofalo and Janek
Huschke, and drummer Alex Streit, and together they create a heavy psychedelic
stoner rock/doom sound that will definitely appeal to the fans of
aforementioned bands. Timo has a huge raw voice that fits perfectly this kind
of music, while the (twin) guitarwork of Manu and Janek rocks big time, and
does also have some BLACK SABBATH kinda guitar riffs going on here and there,
especially during the highlights of side-A, which can be found towards the end
with the sensational Mammoth Roams and Witch of The Mountain. Side-B likewise
continues the hard-hitting stoner rock/doom metal sound of side-A with as
highlights Endless and Revenge Of The Buffalo (best song of the whole album!).
Without a doubt, this band is doing the stoner rock/doom metal style exactly
the way it needs to sound, because they combine massive heavy sounding
downtunes guitar riffs with psychedelic melodies and rough, slightly aggressive
(Thrash-Metal ish) lead vocals, ending up with a record that needs to be in the
hands of fans of aforementioned bands. More info on this highly recommended
Swiss band can be found at: https://www.gentlebeastband.com/
(Points: 8.2 out
of 10)
MIDNIGHT DEADBEATS
‘DANCE TIL’ YOU DIE VINYL EDITION’ (SIXTEENTIMES MUSIC/SWISS IMPORT)
Out of Basel, Switzerland comes MIDNIGHT DEADBEATS,
and Dance Til You die is their 2nd album so far of this trio
that consists of Guitarist/Vocalist Mono Mojo, drummer Jukka Altermatt and
bassist Harald Binder. 9 songs are included on the vinyl edition of their new
album, and musically speaking it is a classic rock and roll driven music that
reminds me a bit of TURBONEGRO, THE HELLACOPTERS and HARDCORE SUPERSTAR, FOO
FIGHTERS so basically this is rather cool raw dirty mean sleazy rock and roll
the way it needs to be played. Loud and proud, with still catchy melodies, but
always with a nasty uptempo hard-hitting bass/guitar driven rocksound that can
be heard right from the start during the strong Come On. There’s no looking
back, because the band continues this hard rock and roll sound during the rest
of this recommended album, with as other highlights Garbage Guy (a stoner rock
influenced tune that even recalls OZZY fronted BLACK SABBATH during their
heydays of the 1970s), Mad and Dance. There are some Punk/Hardcore influences
as well to be heard, so enough to discover on this album. Without a doubt, this
kinda music sounds at best on a shiny vinyl; edition, and therefore go grab
yourself a copy if any of the aforementioned bands is right up your alley, because
MIDNIGHT DEADBEATS do their thing very well! Check them out at: https://midnightdeadbeats.bandcamp.com/ and https://sixteentimes.bandcamp.com/album/dance-til-you-die-2
(Points: 8.3 out
of 10)
THE MERCURY RIOTS
‘IN SOLSTICE’ (FOXTROT RECORDS/SAOL/CMM MARKETING/GERMAN IMPORT)
This is Rock and Roll the way it was meant to sound!
THE MERCURY RIOTS are coming out of L.A., and their Classic Hardrock is
bringing us back to the late 1980s when bands like BADLANDS, LITTLE CEASAR, THE
RIVERDOGS, BEAU NASTY, TESLA, KINGDOM COME, BLACKEYED SUSAN, JESSE STRANGE,
HERICANE ALICE, COLD SWEAT, SPREAD EAGLE, ASPHALT BALLET, SAINTS & SINNERS,
TORA TORA, SHARK ISLAND, BANGALORE CHOIR, CHILD’S PLAY, SALTY DOG, TATTOO
RODEO, BATON ROUGE, DIRTY BLONDE, GYPSY ROSE, SEA HAGS, and countless others
were part of a new generation of bands being signed to major labels in the USA.
In Solstice is their debut album, and if it was 1990, then they would have
probably released it on a major label. The excellent sounding album was
produced by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, METALLICA, AEROSMITH…) and mastered by Ryan
Smith (THE BLACK KEYS, THE NATIONAL, GRETA VAN FLEET), and the band consists of
the fantastic singer Justin Walker, Felipe Rodrigo (guitars), Fede Delfino
(bass) and Jonny Udell (drums), and opener Make It is delivering the goods
right from the start as this is a rather cool straight-ahead uptempo classic
hardrock tune like KROKUS, AC/DC and THE DEAD DAISIES, and it continues this
way with 9 more hardrocking tunes that combine influences of Classic Rockbands
such as AEROSMITH, AC/DC, BRITNY FOX and KROKUS, with a bluesy southern rock
touch (THE BLACK CROWES, BUCKCHERRY, DIRTY HONEY, THE COMMONERS and such), with
as further highlights the groovy Be Yours, the midtempo melodic stadium arena
rocker Sweet Melody (GOTTHARD meets VICTORY), Light It Up, the uptempo
KROKUS/GOTTHARD ish 99 Degrees and the catchy midtempo slightly bluesy southern
hardrocker Save Me A Drink (sounding a bit like ROBERT JON & THE WRECK,
BLACKBERRY SMOKE and such newcomer bands). The final song on the album is
called Nobody Knows, which starts calm and collected, but develops itself into
quite a masterpiece of classic rock energy with a certain LED ZEPPELIN vibe!
Concluded, THE MERCURY RIOTS is a must-have to check out if you long back to the
days when real classic hardrock was played and delivered! I think when seeing
the bandnames mentioned in the review, you will more or less understand what
this THE MERCURY RIOTS is all about! More info can be found at: https://www.themercuryriots.com/
(Points: 8.7 out
of 10)
TALIA HOIT
‘OCEANS’ (SAOL/CMM MARKETING/GERMAN IMPORT)
The American singer TALIA HOIT’s new album Oceans is a
typical European female fronted symphonic metal album that should please all
the fans of NIGHTWISH, EPICA, VISIONS OF ATLANTIS, WITHIN TEMPTATION and the
countless other bands in this genre that started about 30 years ago in The
Netherlands. The lineup on the CD features Mat Plekhanov on guitar (DRAGONY),
Roland Navratil on drums (ATROCITY, LEAVES' EYES, EDENBRIDGE), and Max Stoner
on bass and rhythm guitar, while all tracks are produced by Frank Pitters
(VISIONS OF ATLANTIS, DEEP SUN, EDENBRIDGE) and Talia herself. The music might
not be really original, because it is bombastic and clearly close to the
aforementioned acts, but thankfully the performance is rather good and
especially from the fantastic Stolen onwards, it gets better and better, with a
real NIGHTWISHish classic in the shape of the faster Vastdeep. I had to get
used to Talia’s vocals, which are not in the Tarja/Floor Jansen league, but if
you like for example DELAIN, then you will certainly love this record. No weak
songs, and the production is top-notch, so fans of the genre will definitely
like this release! More info at: https://www.taliahoit.com/
(Points: 8.0 out
of 10)
LORDS OF THE
TRIDENT ‘V.G.E.P.’ (INDEPENDENT/CMM MARKETING/GERMAN IMPORT)
Founded all the way back in 2008, this Madison,
Wisconsin, USA based band was reviewed by yours truly many years ago, and
meanwhile they have released numerous new albums and EP’s. The new EP is titled
V.G.E.P., and consists of 5 tracks. The band’s current line-up features Fang
VonWrathenstein - Lead Vocals, Baron Taurean Helleshaar - Lead Guitar, Asian
Metal - Lead Guitar, Pontifex Mortis - Lead Bass and Master "Herc"
Hercule Schlagzeuger - Lead Drums, and 16 years after their formation they are
still playing classic traditional melodic metal in the IRON MAIDEN style.
Vocally and also musically speaking they are also very close to DREAM EVIL, and
I have to admit that after hearing the superb opener To Kill A God, I can hear
that this is True Melodic (Power) Metal of a clear Champions League level! Play
this song loud among a Metal crowd and they will go absolutely crazy! Sadly
only 5 tracks are included, because from start to finish this EP is a guarantee
for entertainment of pure melodic metal at it’s very best (especially the
superb Jet Set City and the cool cover of the STEVE WINWOOD classic Valerie).
Everything sounds picture perfect here, both instrumentally and vocally, while
the production is also top-notch! Fans of IRON MAIDEN, HAMMERFALL, IRON MAIDEN,
NOCTURNAL RITES, MYSTIC PROPHECY, FIFTH ANGEL, LEATHERWOLF and such will
absolutely love this EP CD of LORD OF THE TRIDENT! More info at: https://lordsofthetrident.com/
(Points: 8.9 out
of 10)
STRANGER VISION
‘FAUST ACT 1 PRELUDE TO DARKNESS’ (WASTELAND RECORDS/CMM MARKETING/GERMAN
IMPORT)
Founded in 2019, the Italian band STRANGER VISION
releases a strong impressive concept album entitled Faust Act 1. They managed
to have JAMES LABRIE of DREAM THEATER singing guest vocals on one of the songs,
but overall the band’s own lead singer does all the vocals. The line-up of the
band consists of Ivan Amadi – Vocals, Riccardo Toni – Guitars, Keyboards,
Orchestration, Daniele Morini – Bass and Alessio Monacelli – Drums. Their music
is obviously influenced by DREAM THEATER, while other similarities are bands
like SYMPHONY X, DGM and SAVATAGE, so basically it is bombastic neo-classical
influenced melodic progressive metal. The production is very good and overall
this is a nice progmetal album. They are not near the champions league, because
their songs are not strong enough, but fans of the aforementioned bands will
definitely like this album! More info at: https://strangervisionband.bandcamp.com/album/faust-act-i-prelude-to-darkness
(Points: 7.8 out
of 10)
RANDOM ’40 HEAVY
ROLL’ (INDEPENDENT/SAOL/CMM MARKETING/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
comes the legendary hardrock/metal band RANDOM. They turned 40 in 2023 and
therefore released a new album in 2024. The band started out as a typical
Teutonic/Germany 80s Metal band like RUNNING WILD, AXXIS, ACCEPT and such, but
especially in recent years their music has become softer and 40 Heavyroll is a
much calmer classic rock/melodic rock orientated album with no less than 17
songs! A song like Sometimes is basically pure melodic rock for example. It’s not
bad at all, so this is a nice celebration CD of a band that still goes strong
with new material. More info can be found at: https://www.crowdrock.net/kuenstler.html
(Points: 7.3 out
of 10)
SLEEPERSOUND ‘MY
OWN DEAD LOVE VINYL EDITION’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
Out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA comes the band
SLEEPERSOUND, and they are formed around Dave D'Antonio, Mike Campise, Kenny
Buesing and Dan Niedziejko. My Own Dead Love is their latest album release, in
fact a 2025 release I received on vinyl from them. 9 songs are included, and
after a calm singer/songwriter acoustic opener called Let’s Play Wolves, Tread
Down follows, and this is a lovely uptempo melodic modern sounding tune that
combines elements of indie, dreampop and Americana pop/rock, reminding a bit of
a mix between BEAR’S DEN, L.A. EDWARDS, FLEET FOXES and THE WAR ON DRUGS. This
song feels very natural and pleasant to the ears for sure, with a certain radio
hit potency. Certain Beasts is up next, and this is a mixture of shoegaze,
indie pop and dreampop balladry, with a slow midtempo 90s kinda alternative
rock vibe. Side-A of the vinyl album closes nicely with Ni Siquera Tu, a nice
dark post-rock adventure that is based around a simple calm repetitive
progrocking melody with once again beautiful dreampop vocals.
Side-B opens with Embers, a lovely midtempo melodic
pop/rocker with strong vocals and a biting beat that grabs you quite well.
Following Falling Dream is introducing some synthwave sounds, which makes it a
very cool song actually, as it melts dreampop with a sorta
post-prog/krautrocking vibe as if we’re back in the mid psychedelic 1970s
again. Soma is actually quite a superb instrumental post-progrocking piece a la
MOTORPSYCHO, while The Flesh is a short calmer song, and closing track Living
Ancestor is a nice dreampop shoegaze mashup with a psychedelic touch.
Concluded, SLEEPERSOUND has released a very
interesting original record that musically speaking explores different areas,
and this is one of those albums you listen to over and over again, as you will
discover a lot of new things every time. This makes it a highly recommended
album to especially fans of shoegaze, post-progrock, indie and such. More info
can be found at: https://sleepersound.bandcamp.com/album/my-own-dead-love
(Points: 8.2 out
of 10)
HERIN ‘HIDING IN
PLAIN SIGHT’ (THE LASER’S EDGE/USA IMPORT)
HERIN is the project of Canadian songwriter/guitarist
CHRIS HERIN, who is best known as the bandleader of the progressive rockband
TILES. The new album Hiding In Plain Sight is a very dark progressive rock
concept album that is lyrically about the 10-year fight of his father with the
Alzheimer disease. It is an inspirational and impressive sounding album that
has a lot of guests, such as ALEX LIFESON of RUSH, PETER FRAMPTON, MICHAEL
SADLER of SAGA, MARTIN BARRE, JOHN O’HARA, and DOANE PERRY (JETHRO TULL), KIM
MITCHELL (MAX WEBSTER), CODY BOWLES and KEVIN COMEAU (CROWN LANDS), JEFF
KOLLMAN and SHANE GAALAAS (COSMOSQUAD), TIM BOWNESS (NO-MAN), COLIN EDWIN
(PORCUPINE TREE), RANDY McSTINE (PORCUPINE TREE), KEVIN CHOWN (TARJA TURINEN),
MATTHEW PARMENTER (DISCIPLINE), and many others. The legendary TERRY BROWN
produced the album together with Chris, and from start to finish, this is a
fantastic progressive rock adventure that melts all the influences of the
participating musicians. It’s like a mix between SAGA, RUSH, JETHRO TULLL, 70s
DAVID BOWIE (especially during a song like The Darkest Hour) and TILES, so a
real conceptional 70s progressive rock adventure you need to check out if
you’re a fan of such music. The songs are not stretched into long instrumental
passages, because it is focused on shorter song based tunes, so the melodies
are very important, while the use of different vocalists and arrangements gives
the music a diverse approach with every song. 11 songs are included, and
without a doubt, there are no weak moments to be found here. Absolute
highlights are opener Warning Signs (featuring MICHAEL SADLER), the AORish The
Heart Of You (featuring the legendary PETER FRAMPTON), Secret Adversary (with
the amazing KIM MITCHELL on guitar), the fantastic Westcoast-AORish Wilderness
Years (a la MICHAEL THOMPSON BAND) and the beautiful progrocker A Wrinkle In
Time. This is definitely an album you need to check out if you’re a fan of any
of the aforementioned guests, and despite it’s at first sight a progrockalbum,
I can honestly say that it offers much more actually, especially towards the
end (check out the jazzy closing track White Dandelions for example)! More info
at: https://lasersedge.bandcamp.com/album/hiding-in-plain-sight
(Points: 8.7 out
of 10)
PHIL VINCENT
‘MASTER OF DECEPTION’ (ROCK COMPANY)
We’re approaching the 30-year mark of the first couple
of PHIL VINCENT releases I reviewed back in the mid-1990s. This incredible
talented singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist from Rhode Island always
impresses me with each release, because he keeps on delivering high quality
melodic rockalbums. Also his new solo album Master Of Deception keeps the flag
on a high level, with 9 strong new songs, of which the highlights are opener
Evil Wants, Grifter, the very catchy Path Of Destruction and the AORish Can You
feel It?. Imagine DOKKEN and SCORPIONS doing a more modern approach to their
classic 80s melodic hardrocksound, then you’re quite close to the direction of
the new PHIL VINCENT solo CD. Phil is doing everything on his own here, except
for additional lead guitarwork, which is provided by VINCE O’REGAN and the CD
was mastered by JACOB HANSEN. Concluded, this is another great addition to the
growing catalogue of Phil! More info can be found at: www.philvincent.com
(Points: 8.4 out
of 10)
BOGUSLAW
BALCERAK’S CRYLORD ‘ENDLESS LIFE’ (ROCK COMPANY)
Whenever I see the name of the legendary Swedish
singer GORAN EDMAN, it brings back memories of the glorious 1990s, when he sang
on so many albums, which started already back in the 1980s, but thanks to
singing on 2 early 90s records of YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, Goran was asked for many
other projects and bands throughout the past 30+ years. His finest moment was
singing the classic AOR tune Back On The Streets on the first JOHN NORUM album.
His amazing high pitched vocal skills were astonishing, and even now in 2025 he
still sounds really great, which can be heard on the album Endless Life by the
guitarist/keyboardplayer/bassist/composer BOGUSLAW BALCERAK. Goran sings on
this album, and musically speaking this is classic 90s neo-classical European
melodic metal for the Japanese market at it’s best! It’s like a nostalgic trip
without sounding dated at all, and the performance is rather excellent, both
vocally and the 12 songs themselves, of which the absolute highlights are Train
To Nowehere, King Of The Hill, Hard Enough and Feel For Love. If you remember
the classic days of ROYAL HUNT, RING OF FIRE, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN and such, then
you will absolutely love this excellent release! More info at: https://boguslawbalcerakscrylord.bandcamp.com/album/endless-life
(Points: 8.6 out
of 10)
TRAGIK ‘REALM
ANGELIC’ (ROCK COMPANY)
PHIL VINCENT is one of the hardest working
multi-instrumentalists in the melodic rockscene, because besides his solo
career, which he started back in the 1990s, he also started several bands
throughout the years. TRAGIK is one of them, and in the line-up of this band we
can find drummer Dirk Phillips, guitarist Damian D’Ercole and guitarist Vince
O’Regan, although Phil also plays all instruments and sings/writes all of the
included songs here, which means that this is actually another solo project of
Phil! This guy is doing great things, and the slight difference with his solo
efforts is that perhaps TRAGIK is a little more heavier and modern, although it
still is pure 80s influenced melodic hardrock. The highlights on this CD are
Something’ Goin’ On, the wonderful classic DOKKEN ish Sorry To See You Go and
False Idol. Another nice addition to the immense PHIL VINCENT collection! More
info at: https://philvincent.bandcamp.com/album/realm-angelic
(Points: 8.2 out
of 10)
D’ERCOLE ‘NEAR
DEATH EXPERIENCE’ (ROCK COMPANY)
D’ERCOLE is the next band of PHIL VINCENT he formed
years ago, and just like his other side-projects, also on the new album of this
project-band he plays, sings and writes almost everything, yet with the help of
guitarist DAMIAN D’ERCOLE and drummer B.F. D’ERCOLE, the music is the heaviest
he does, although it still is Melodic Hardrock. I feel that due to the help of
the 2 other musicians, it all sounds a bit more as a band compared to his other
acts, and right from the start we can hear that this is Phil’s best album in
recent years. Lone Survivor is a strong uptempo melodic hardrock tune with a
lovely guitarsolo, a catchy hook and a memorable melodic chorus to sing-a-long
to. Of course the 80s Melodic Hardrock influences of DOKKEN, SCORPIONS and the
first FIREHOUSE are obvious, because that it what the music of D’ERCOLE is
mostly heading into direction wise, but if it’s done at the high level like on
this CD, it is very enjoyable to listen to. Other highlights include Can’t Hide
The Truth, Turn Back Now and the epic Holy Ground (the longest song, 9
minutes). Concluded, this is out of the last 3 new releases of Phil, probably
the best one, so go check out more info at: https://philvincent.bandcamp.com/album/near-death-experience
(Points: 8.5 out
of 10)
FOREST FIELD
‘MYSTERY & MAYHEM’ (ROCK COMPANY)
FOREST FIELD is the 4th (!) band/project on which we
can hear American multi-instrumentalist PHIL VINCENT. This project’s new
release Mystery & Mayhem offers a somewhat different style than the other
bands/projects Phil is involved with, because FOREST FIELD is melodic
progressive rock/metal orientated. FOREST FIELD is actually the band/project of
PETER COX, who is the label owner of ROCK COMPANY, the recordlabel on which
this album released. Peter plays all instruments and wrote all the songs on the
album, while Phil sings. The songs are not that complex and are melodic rock
based, especially during the choruses, while instrumental it is definitely
following a progressive rock path. Especially the guitarwork of Peter is very
good, but he also delivers some nice keyboardwork here and there, so this is
definitely something different than the other releases of Phil. Songs like
Close Your Eyes and the 14 minutes counting Human Jigsaw are very interesting
songs to check out. Job well done in delivering a nice mixture of progrock and
melodic rock. More info at: https://forestfield.bandcamp.com/album/mystery-mayhem
(Points: 8.3 out
of 10)
STARSCREAM
‘SHATTER THE SKY’ (ROCK COMPANY)
STARSCREAM is a young new Dutch Hardrockband with an
old school sound. The vocals are not superstrong yet, but these youngsters are
instrumentally already performing at a very high level. Their sound is melodic
hard/heavy rock/metal in the old fashioned 80s style, but with a prog metal/US
metal touch here and there. There are DIO influences for sure and 6 songs can
be found on their debut EP Shatter The Sky. The band consists of Tim van den
Eijnden: Lead vocal & guitar, Cyriel Stevens: Backing vocals & drums
and Ruben Heijnsbroek: Bass, and when listening to songs like Shatter The Sky,
Time and Hold Your Tongue it is clear that this band has a bright future ahead
of them! More info at: https://www.starscream.nl/
(Points: 7.4 out
of 10)
MIKE WALSH &
FIVE TO LIFE ‘FACE THE MUSIC’ (ROCK COMPANY)
The legendary guitarist/keyboardplayer MIKE WALSH is
known for his classic AOR/Melodic Rockalbums with DEPARTURE and MESSAGE many
moons ago, and now he returns with a great new release under the moniker MIKE
WALSH & FIVE TO LIFE and an album release titled Face The Music. His band
consists of DOUG HENTHOM (vocals), STEVE POZZELANTI (drums) and ED AVILA
(bass), and the included music is a mix of classic rock, melodic rock and a
slight bluesy rock touch. All together this is a nice adventure from start to
finish, with some great tunes here and there, such as Face The Music, the
SURVIVORish Right And Wrong, Find My Way and the lovely instrumental melodic
rocker Joyride. Doug’s vocalwork is a little raw, while Mike is a fantastic
professional guitarplayer, so along with a steady rhythm section and a relaxing
vibe all throughout the album, there is enough to enjoy here. More info
at: https://rockcompany.nl/shop/mike-walsh-five-to-life-face-the-music
(Points: 8.3 out
of 10)
REMI GEFFROY
‘CARREFOUR DES ANGES’ (CVE PROD/MODULOR MUSIC/VEEV.COM/FRANCE IMPORT)
Out of Toulouse, France comes the talented
composer/accordion player REMI GEFFROY, who has been in the music business
since the early 2010s. His music is a mix of jazz, classical music, French
Chanson, pop, rock and world music, with a focus on strong bombastic
compositions that should easily find its’s way to a lot of people, because it
sounds quite impressive and memorable. Right from the start with the catchy
Samsara and the French Chanson alike Rosa Alba (SUPERB!), his new album
Carrefour Des Anges feels very good and natural, with it’s lovely melodic
instrumental sound. Besides Rémi on the accordion, other musicians whom are
playing on the album are Estelle Besingrand (Cello), Mélanie Brelaud (Violin),
Julien Casanovas (Violin), Alix Habert (Alto Violin), Julien Lameiras (Drums)
and Antoine Petit (Guitar). There are no single weak moments to be found here
and it’s a lovely French adventure in which we can find a lot of beautiful
melodies as created by Rémi on the accordion. The diversity is also remarkable,
because when listening to an uptempo folk rocker like Laboratorium, things get
very upbeat and almost sounding like a classic Irish traditional, so a very
cheerful direction, while at other times the music has a certain melancholic
dramatic turn, but it’s always memorable and very melodic. Check out more info
at: https://www.remigeffroy.com
(Points: 8.4 out
of 10)
XANTHOULA
DAKOVANOU ‘RIZITUALS’ (MOUSA/UVM/VEEV.COM/FRANCE IMPORT)
Out of the beautiful Greek island of Crete comes
XANTHOULA DAKOVANOU. Her new album Rizituals is named after an extatic female
musical ritual inspired from the Rizitika songs of western Crete. Rizitikο is
an ancient Cretan vocal tradition, a musical treasure basically unknown in
Europe and the world. On this album she creates new musical rituals inspired by
this tradition, and I must admit that the music sounds different than anything
else I’ve ever heard. Especially when the harmonyvocals are upfront, along with
the ancient instruments that are used, such as a Cretan flute, santur, Cretan
bagpipes and such, then you have the feeling you’re somewhere in a different
world. Having actually been in the hills of Crete myself, I can indeed imagine
that this unknown ritual kinda music is played over there quite often. Just
listen to a beautiful song like Pervoli, then you will understand what the
meaning of this beautiful album is. Xanthoula is helped by musicians such as
Eugenia Toli Damavoliti : voice, Dimitris Sideris : lute, e-bow, arrangements,
Sofia Efkleidou : cello, voice, Giorgos Zacharioudakis : flutes and Solis Barki
: percussions. More info on this World Music CD can be found at: https://xanthoula-dakovanou.com/
(Points: 8.0 out
of 10)
NINON VALDER ‘EN
MI CORAZON’ (FLYING PENGUINS/INOUIE DISTRIBUTION/VEEV.COM/FRANCE IMPORT)
Out of a town called Albi in the South-West of France comes the talented
singer/songwriter/musician NINON VALDER. She has a beautiful laid-back
jazz/world music orientated sound on her new album En Mi Corazon. She plays
bandoneon and flutes, and is helped on the CD by guest musicians such as
Sebastián Cordero: guitar, Kevin Seddiki: guitar, Carine Bonnefoy: piano, Raúl
Barboza: accordion, and Rémi Bourcereau: sound engineering and mixing. 12 songs
are included in total, and the music goes into various directions, which is
mainly thanks to Ninon’s instruments, which are the flute and the bandoneon.
Gypsy Music/Tango and Flute Music are obviously music styles that should be
appreciated if you want to check out Nino’s work, but overall En Mi Corazon
feels very natural, and fans of slightly experimental calmer semi-instrumental
jazzy world music with here and there similarities to an acoustic tingled AL DI
MEOLA should check out this album. More info at: https://bfan.link/en-mi-
(Points: 7.7 out
of 10)
PULCIPERLA
‘TATEKIETO’ (PRADO RECORDS/CIE PUCINELLA/THE PUSHER/VEEV.COM/FRANCE IMPORT)
PULCIPERLA is a combination of Columbian percussion
players/female singers LA PERLA and Toulouse, France based jazzy funk band
PULCINELLA. LA PERLA consists of Diana Sanmiguel (Vocals, Maracas, Guacharaca),
Giovanna Mogollón (Vocals, Tambor Alegre) and Karen Forero (Vocals, Gaïta,
Tambora), while PULCINELLA consists of Ferdinand Doumerc (Sax, Flutes,
Keyboards), Jean-Marc Serpin (Double Bass), Bastien Andrieu (Keyboards) and
Pierre Pollet (Drums). Together they joined forces and came up with PULCIPERLA’s
album Tatekieto. The music is groovy, jazzy, funky and feels like one long
creative explosion of southern American carnival trip crossed with New Orleans
jazzy brass funk, so a real busy affair that could easily be placed on the
North Sea Jazz festival line-up. Without a doubt, this is a fun joyful record
that is highly recommended to fans of especially South American music with a
70s psychedelic vibe here and there! More info can be found at: https://pradorecords.bandcamp.com/album/tatekieto
(Points: 7.8 out
of 10)
CHARNEUX LELEUX
PUMA ‘CINQUIEME SAISON’ (HOMERECORDS.BE/L’AUTRE DISTRIBUTION/VEEV.COM/FRANCE IMPORT)
CHARNEAUX LELEUX PUMA is a Belgian trio consisting of
Aurélie Charneux/compositions, clarinets, Simon Leleux/percussion and Nicolas
Puma/double bass, with as guests on their new album Cinquième saison Quatuor
Prisma, Allison Trésor (first violin), Julien Gillain (second violin), Maxime
Devynck (viola) and Eugénie Defraigne (cello). Musically speaking they play an
adventurous instrumental jazzy world music style that crosses borders for sure
and feels like a trip to a country somewhere far and away. These are gifted
musicians that challenge themselves by taking different directions on each and
every song that is included, yet they create a certain kinda vibe that gives it
a natural sound as if you’re somewhere either in a tropical wood or in a foggy
mountain area, so it could be anywhere. Concluded, this album is well worth
exploring for sure. More info can be found at: https://veevcom.com/en/charneux-leleux-puma-trio-present-cinquieme-saison/ and https://www.aureliecharneux.com/contact
(Points: 8.0 out
of 10)
THE PEARSON
MEMMOTT CONSPIRACY ‘APOCRYPHA’ SPURIOUS RECORDS/FRANCE IMPORT)
Out of the UK comes THE PEARSON MEMMOTT CONSPIRACY,
and Apocrypha is their 3rd album so far. Without a doubt, this
is a highly recommended album to the fans of modern melodic progressive rock
with a focus on strong crystal clear melodies and the occasional instrumental
breaks during the longer songs. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Pod
Pearson and Rich Memmott and drummer Dean Cousins. 9 songs are included, and it
all starts with the progrock tunes Driving The Dragon Lady and Communicate!
Talk Is Cheap is a somewhat poppier radio orientated uptempo melodic rocker in
a style that SAGA, RUSH and ENCHANT also did in the 1990s, so with a catchy
hook and memorable chorus. A song like the slow The Other Sea does have a sorta
TEARS FOR FEARS kinda approach, and like already mentioned, most of the songs
have a catchy melodic touch that should appeal to a lot of people. Although on
the other hand the band goes progressive rock all the way during the fantastic
epic instrumental Zirn Left Ungarded. The vocals are strong and instrumentally
speaking this is high quality progressive rock. Another highlight is the
melodic symphonic rocker Hyperion Undone that reminds me a bit of ASIA meets
SPOCK’S BEARD. All together the new album of the trio is definitely recommended
to check out by any music fan out there! More info at: https://thepearsonmemmottconspiracy.bandcamp.com/album/apocrypha
(Points: 8.4 out
of 10)
GHOSTSMOKER
‘INERTIA CULT’ (ART AS CARTHASIS/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMANY IMPORT)
Out of Melbourne, Australia comes the band
GHOSTSMOKER, and they deliver a very heavy dose of Sludge Doom Metal on their
debut album Inertia Cult. Especially in certain parts of Europe this music
style is extremely popular, and you don’t hear many Aussie bands delivering it
at such a high level. It’s dark and heavy, while vocally it is in the extreme
vocal direction, so a mix of growling (death metal) and light screaming (black
metal), although the songs are slower in a doom metal style. The band consists
of Ben Astbury – guitar, Nathan Brunning - lyrics and vocals, Brayden Becher –
drums and Rhys Brennan – bass, and I can imagine if you like the extreme vocal
driven side of metal, then you are definitely going to love this album. More
info at: https://ghostsmokerau.bandcamp.com/album/inertia-cult-2
(Points: 8.0 out
of 10)
SOUNDS OF NEW SOMA
‘THE STORY OF SAM BUCKETT’ (TONZONEN RECORDS/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMANY
IMPORT)
The Story Of Sam Buckett is already the 13th studio
album of the duo SOUNDS OF NEW SOMA, which consists of Alexander Djelassi
(guitar, synthesizer, effects, vocals) and Dirk Raupach (vocals, synths,
effects). Together they create an interesting mix of different genres, such as
krautrock, jazz, synthwave and progressive post-rock. The resulting new album
is a fascinating journey through the minds of these 2 genius musicians from
Krefeld, Germany. They started their adventure more than 10 years ago, and they
never looked back. 12 songs are included, and there are some really beautiful
mostly instrumental songs included here, such as the amazing Nahpunk. This is
one of those albums you need to listen to over and over again to discover every
time new melodic sounds as created by the 2 multi-instrumentalists. They get
help by Armin Schopper on drums, Andreas Lessenich on a lovely sax solo on one
of the songs and Arndt Fiebig – vocals on the new album, but all the other
instruments are played by Alexander and Dirk. Towards the end the synth driven
krautrock/80s synthwave influences are upfront, which makes this a very diverse
(semi) instrumental CD to check out! More info at: https://soundsofnewsoma.bandcamp.com/
(Points: 8.4 out
of 10)
THE ORPHANED BEE
‘THINKING WITHOUT LANGUAGE’ (BIRD’S ROBE RECORDS/MGM/CREATIVE ECLIPSE
PR/GERMANY IMPORT)
THE ORPHANED BEE is a new project formed around
Australian multi-instrumentalist/sound engineer BRETT TOLLIS. He is helped by
drummer MENISCUS, pianoplayer RON POLLARD and drum recorder TIM CARR on his
debut EP Thinking Without Language. It’s a typical modern-age instrumental
retro 80s inspired synth wave driven album, on which we can find 5 tracks in
total. It sounds fresh and very synthy that should easily find it’s way to the
fans of the THE MIDNIGHT and FM 84. More info can be found at: https://www.birdsrobe.com/news/the-orphaned-bee-announce-debut-ep-thinking-without-language
(Points: 8.4 out
of 10)
MARK MULEMAN
MASSEY ‘BEEN A LONG, LONG TIME’ (MULE TONE RECORDS/FRANK ROSZAK PROMOTIONS/USA
IMPORT)
Out of Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA comes the
sensational guitarist/singer/songwriter MARK MULEMAN MASSEY, who has been
around in the music business for over a few decades, His new album Been A Long,
Long Time is a superb piece of blues meets soul meets rock in a way it reminds
me of JOHN NEMETH, Mark is a superb singer and guitarist, who also (co-) writes
most of his songs. They sound excellent for sure and very soulful thanks to
that wonderful voice of him. This is the way that authentic soul/blues needs to
sound, rocking enough and that voice, just picture perfect! He gets help from
several other musicians, such as keyboardplayer JIM WHITEHEAD, guitarists BILLY
LAWSON, TRAVIS WAMMACK and KEVIN HOLLY, bassist BOB N. WEAVER, drummer
ROGER STARR, THE WEBSTER STREET HORNS, harmonicaplayer ROBERT FOSSEN and THE
AVALON SISTERS as backing singers. Without a doubt, a highly recommended album
to check out! More info can be found at: https://markmulemanmassey.com/
(Points: 8.6 out
of 10)
SUNNY BLEAU &
THE MOONS ‘PASSION & REGRETS’ (COCCOMUSIC/ENDLESS BLUES RECORDS/FRANK
ROSZAK PROMOTIONS/USA IMPORT)
Out of Oxford, Michigan, USA comes SUNNY BLEAU &
THE MOONS, a band formed around powerhouse female singer Kelly Brock aka Sunny
Bleau, guitarist/composer/producer Nicholas Cocco, Jon "Starky"
Staercke on Bass, Gloria "Ms.G." Bailey: Piano and Organ and Paul G.
Sikorski: Drums and Percussion. Passion & Secrets is their 4th album
since their formation in the early 2020s, and I can honestly say that this is
quite a killer heavy blues rock and roll record. Especially Sunny’s vocals are
quite amazing and as mentioned in a powerhouse female vocal style a la SHEMEKIA
COPELAND, LARKIN POE, SAMANTHA FISH… The combination of those superb vocals and
soulful bluesy rock makes this album a true winner. 10 songs are included, and
most of them are self-written, yet a few based on traditionals from the past.
Just listen to the wonderful opener Two Glasses Of Whiskey On Ice, Waitin’ On A
Man or closing track Memphis Bound (It Is Well With My Soul). Soul, Jazz, Blues
and Rock and Roll are melted perfectly here and this band should definitely be
checked! More info at: https://sunnybleau.com/ and https://sunnybleauandthemoons.bandcamp.com/album/passion-regrets
(Points: 8.3 out
of 10)
MATT ‘THE
RATTLESNAKE’ LESCH ‘BLUES CUT LIKE GLASS’ (BLUE LOTUS RECORDINGS/FRANK ROSZAK
PROMOTIONS/USA IMPORT)
At 21 years of age he already released his debut
album, and now in 2025 he is 28 years old, and the American blues
guitarist/singer/songwriter MATT LESCH from St. Louis releases a wonderful new
album titled Blues Cut Like Glass. He is definitely one of the new hotshots in
the heavy blues rock scene. He is closer to the classic blues rock sound of
BUDDY GUY, BB KING, STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN and such, which is in contract to most
of the others in the blues rock world. Matt does a wonderful job here, both
vocally and singing. There is a long list of musicians helping him out here,
such as Chuck “Popcorn” Louden (BUDDY MILES) on drums, Wayne Sharp on B3 Organ,
John Davies on bass, Gus Thornton on bass (ALBERT KING, STVIE RAY VAUGHAN…),
Taylor Streiff (NICK MOSS BAND) on Organ and other hotshot in the scen SEAN
“MACK” MCDONALD (ZZ WARD, JOHN NEMETH) on guitar and organ, but there are a lot
more guests including a horn section. This gives the album a rich diverse sound
and all together there’s no weak moment to be found here, because Matt is an
excellent singer and guitarist who understands at his young age how to play the
blues as authentic as possible. Hard to mention favorite songs, because they
all sound excellent, but the calmer Sittin’ At The Station is one of the most
sensational blues rock songs of the past few years. Matt writes all his songs
by himself and they already sound like classic blues rock tunes now, so I
wouldn’t be surprised if Matt will become much bigger in the coming years,
primarily based on what I hear on this new album of him! Check him out
at: https://mattrattlesnakelesch.com/
(Points: 8.7 out
of 10)
WILL WILDE ‘BLUES
IS STILL ALIVE’ (VIZZTONE LABEL GROUP/UK IMPORT)
As soon as the opening song and titletrack Blues Is
Still Alive of the new album of the British singer/songwriter/harmonicaplayer
WILL WILDE is blasting through the speakers, it is clear that we are dealing
here with a sensational album. Will has got a fantastic -so called picture
perfect blues- voice and he plays the harmonica very well, while on this first
song on the CD the lead guitarwork is done by heavy blues rock God WALTER
TROUT. Anyway, Will comes out of the beautiful area of Brighton in the UK, and
he has already released 4 studio albums and 1 live album in the past 15 years.
Sadly I have not heard his earlier work, but hopefully I am able to do so soon,
because his new album Blues Is Still Alive is a major league heavy blues record
that takes the best of everything the Blues genre has brought us the past 100
years. In fact, he takes the best of GARY MOORE, BB KING, SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON,
WALTER TROUT, KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BAND, LAURENCE JONES, JOE BONAMASSA, MUDDY
WATERS, etc. etc., melts it all together and gives it a melodic accessible and
memorable approach due to his amazing strong voice and his harmonica playing
works as well as a guitar would do. The guitarwork is handled by BOBBY
HARRISON, keys by GREG COULSON, STEVE RUSHTON is the drummer and on bass we can
find RUSSELL CARR. Furthermore we can also hear some backing singers, of whom
we know Will’s sister DANI WILDE, another blues performer we reviewed some time
ago. Anyway, there is enough diversity going on here to keep you entertained from
start to finish, and thanks to Will’s strong vocal skills and his superb
harmonica playing, it’s a joy to listen to both the uptempo rockers such as the
fantastic Don’t Play With Fire and Trouble Of That Girl as well as the calmer
material like the beautiful Gypsy Woman and Broken Dreams Blues. Will has
released a sensational CD that should easily end up high in the yearly best of
charts! Hopefully we will also see him live on stage someday soon, because he
deserves a lot of attention in the blues rock world and beyond. Culemburg Blues
Festival would make a wise decision to get him on this year’s line up!
Meanwhile, check out more information on Will and his whereabouts while
checking out his site at: https://www.willharmonicawilde.com/
(Points: 8.9 out
of 10)
BLACK EYED SONS
‘COWBOYS IN PINSTRIPED SUITS’ (INDEPENDENT/UK IMPORT)
Out of the ashes from a fight between THE QUIREBOYS
lead vocalist Spike and the other members of the same band, all of them except
Spike moved on to form a new band with members of the band DOWN N’ OUTZ, and
they are called BLACK EYED SONS (ironically named after an album of THE
QUIREBOYS. The line up of the band consists of guitarist Guy Griffin, guitarist
Paul Guerin, keyboard player Keith Weir, bassist Nick Malling and his brother
Pip on drums. The resulting album is a very strong debut that is not too far
removed from the QUIREBOYS sleazy/glam/rootsy rock and roll sound, yet likewise
a bit different, which especially is due to the fact there are a long list of
famous guest singers and musicians, such as JOE ELLIOTT (DEF LEPPARD), CHIP
Z’NUFF (ENUFF’Z’NUFF), CHARLIE STARR (BLACKBERRY SMOKE), MIKE TRAMP (WHITE
LION), RICK PRICE, DAN REED, KYF BREWER (THE RAVYNS, COMPANY OF WOLVES) and
many more. Anyway, the 11 included songs sound very strong and are basically
pure classic rock and roll heaven. Opener Lie To Me is a superb uptempo classic
rocker with a ROLLING STONES kinda vibe, while HUMBLE PIE comes around as well,
especially during the following calmer melodic 70s glam rock ish Medicine.
Foolin’ Yourself is a song that is dangerously close to classic ROD STEWART in
his THE FACES period. The whole album continues this mix of classic early 1970s
British semi-Glam meets rootsy ROLLING STONES rock and roll, so fans of SMALL
FACES, HUMBLE PIE, T-REX, BLACK CROWES and also THE QUIREBOYS of course will
definitely like this strong debut album BLACK EYED SONS. Other highlights on
the album are Cowboys In Pinstriped Suits (a real radio staple rock hit
orientated tune), Don’t Throw Me In The Corner and Savoir Faire. Concluded,
this is a lovely debut from BLACK EYED SONS, and therefore I would highly
recommend it to anyone who wants to hear classic 70s rootsy British rock and
roll! More info at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564951567105&locale=nl_NL
(Points: 8.6 out
of 10)
CANDYCASH ‘L’OMBRE
DES FAUVES’ (ATYPEEK MUSIC/THE ORCHARD/CREATIVE ECLIPSE PR/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of Paris, France comes CANDYCASH, a trip-hop
electro duo formed around female singer PANDRA VOX and musician JAMES
SAUCERFULL. Together they create a modern sounding calm electronic album that
has beats and lush vocals, sorta settling itself somewhere between trip-hop and
dreampop, with a slight touch of cinematic French chanson (just listen to a
song like Contre-ordres, corps à corps for example). There’s something mystical
around the sound and it surely has some interesting moments, although you don’t
have to be shy from modern electronic sounds. Check it out for yourself
at: https://candycash.bandcamp.com/album/lombre-des-fauves
(Points: 7.0 out
of 10)
SAILOR FREE
’SPIRITUAL REVOLUTION PART THREE’ (TIDE RECORDS/ITALY IMPORT)
The moment I put on the new CD of the Italian band
SAILOR FREE, and the first couple of songs are blasting through the music room,
it is clear that we are dealing here with a superb band and a truly wonderful
diverse album. Of course melodic progressive rock/metal is the main course, but
there is a lot to more discover actually. There are similarities to SOEN, but
also a slight light dark gothic touch can be heard and the wonderful melodic
vocals of DAVID PETROSINO give the music a memorable touch. A song like So
Beautiful for example is a song that captures a lot of diversity and should
appeal to both the die-hard musicfans and regular people who just like good
catchy music. David also plays keys and guitar by the way, while the rest of
the band consists of Raimondo Mosci - drums; Alphonso Nini - bass; Stefano Toni
- drums; Stefano Barelli - guitar; Lorenzo Canevacci - guitar; Cecilia Amici -
backing vocals; Stefano Ribeca – sax. SAILOR FREE has been around since 1991,
and so far they have released 4 albums. Spiritual Revolution part three is
their 5th album, and it seems to sound like their best album,
because it is of an incredible high level. Not a single weak moment to be found
here, so especially the fans of SOEN, THRESHOLD, ARENA, SUBSIGNAL (but then
perhaps a little calmer) should check out this band for sure. More info can be
found at: https://sailorfree.bandcamp.com/album/spiritual-revolution-part-1
(Points: 8.4 out
of 10)
LARKIN POE ‘BLOOM’
(TRICKI WOO RECORDS/MATTAN RECORDS)
Many years ago I was in touch with a great Americana
duo called LARKIN POE, and they were kind enough to send me 4 EP CDs they
released entitled Spring, Fall, Summer and Winter. This was back in the year
2010, and now fast forward to 2025, the same duo has evolved into a hard
rocking classic rock band. They are still called LARKIN POE, and besides the 2
sisters (Rebecca Lovell – lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar,
mandolin, banjo, violin, piano; drum programming, bass and arrangements and Megan
Lovell – harmony vocals, lap steel, Dobro), they get a little help on the CD
and also when playing live from several other musicians. One of them is the
rock guitarist/singer/songwriter TYLER BRYANT, who also co-produced the new
album Bloom, which is the band’s 7th full-length album so far.
Without a doubt, live on stage LARKIN POE absolutely owns the venues where they
are playing, and I was lucky enough to witness one of their gigs a few years
ago (in the city of Utrecht). Anyway, their new album Bloom is another
sensational record in their ever-growing discography. The production is massive
this time, and it sounds even better than all of their earlier work, which was
also already delivering the goods.
Opener Mockingbird rocks big time in a way it reminds
me of classic 70s HEART, while following Easy Love Part 1 has got a southern
bluesy rock touch. Little Bit slows things down in a calmer radio ready lush
country pop/rock ballad direction, yet with a catchy chorus to sing-a-long to,
but also a great slide-guitarsolo. Bluephoria has an excellent heavy groovy
guitar riff like a female version of JOE BONAMASSA. It really seems the girls
have delivered their finest record so far with this Bloom album. Easy Love Part
2 follows and this is a nice soulful semi-ballad.
The album continues with Nowhere Fast, a superb
uptempo classic rocker that screams and grabs you right from the start with
it’s driving AC/DC alike beat and catchy overall vibe. If God Is A Woman
follows nicely in the swamp southern USA bluesy rockstyle, while Pearls is a
hard-hitting big time sounding garage rocker with a groovy guitarsound as we
know it from LARKIN POE. Fool Outta Me shows what an incredible singer Rebecca
is, because this is a lovely midtempo melodic rocker with a rootsy rock guitarsound
and it captures one of the best choruses on the album. You Are The River
however also has a beautiful midtempo melodic rocking chorus. These last 2
songs could easily be compared to JAIME KYLE. Closing track Bloom Again is a
song that starts calm and acoustic Americana orientated like LARKIN POE did in
their early days, yet it develops into a powerful rockballad.
Concluded, the 2 sisters have delivered a true new
masterpiece that should easily find it’s way to the fans. It’s their best
record so far, and as you could read throughout the review, this is an album
that should easily gain them new fans and perhaps even give them a couple of
hits. Check them out a.s.a.p. at: https://www.larkinpoe.com/
(Points: 9.1 out
of 10)
LUDWIG HART
‘LUDWIG HART/PALOMA/STAY YOUNG VINYL ALBUMS’ (ANGLE BARGLE STUDIOS/SWEDEN
IMPORT)
I really like the way this musician describes his
music, because it is called "Get-in-the-car-and-just-drive”-rock according
to him! Anyway, the Swedish guitarist/singer/songwriter LUDWIG HART is an
undiscovered talented musician from Sweden. He has already released 3 albums
and I am somewhat surprised I haven’t heard or seen a lot about him over here,
because his music is of an exceptional high quality that belongs somewhere
between 80s American AOR/Poprock and Modern Americana rootsy radiorock. It’s
kinda like melting BRYAN ADAMS, THE WAR ON DRUGS and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. The
result is an enjoyable journey through the 3 albums he released since 2019.
I received his 3 studio albums on vinyl, so I could
have a rather good listen to this sensational musician. Starting with his same
titled debut from 2019, opener Purpose Of Love is a superb piece of midtempo
80s American AOR/Poprock that reminds me of BRYAN ADAMS, RED RIDER/TOM
COCHRANE, TOM KIMMEL, RUSSELL, COREY HART and REFUGEE/MYLES HUNTER. Following A
Dream I Keep Returning To is a lovely crystal clear uptempo AOR/Poprocker with
another radiohit ready catchy chorus that shows what an incredible singer Ludwig
is. The song itself has a cool uptempo cheerful beat and a melodic soaring
guitar solo. Of course modern bands like THE WAR ON DRUGS, BEAR’S DEN, THE
GASLIGHT ANTHEM and L.A. EDWARDS follow the same route a bit, but where those
acts give it an Americana/Rootsy Rock touch a la TOM PETTY/BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN,
while Ludwig is more going the AOR direction somehow, although later on the
album he does the PETTY/SPRINGSTEEN a bit more. I have no idea how and where
did Ludwig hide himself these past 6 years since the release of his same titled
debut, because he is delivering some of the best AOR/Radiorock I have heard in
ages! If it was 1985 this guy would have been huge for sure! Other highlights
on his debut are Cowboys and Eyes Wide Shut. There are also calmer moments to
be find where the Americana singer-songwriter orientated work is upfront, such
as during Helpless, Silver Man (here he sounds a bit like ROBERT TEPPER vocally
speaking), River, Lakes & Hills (calm song like RICK SPRINGFIELD did in the
90s) and Dance On Your Graves.
Following album Paloma follows the same path, so here
we have another great mix of catchy 80s AOR/Poprock and modern Americana/Rootsy
rock. Besides Ludwig on vocals, guitars and synths, we can also hear several
other musicians, such as bassist/guitarist Emil Kreivi, guitarist/synthesizer
player Oskar Nyman, drummer Daniel Kreivi, pianoplayer/saxplayer Karl Lundberg
and guitarist Theo Stocks. Emil also helps in the production and songwriting
part of the record. Album opener Slow Motion Running shows rightaway that
Ludwig continues delivering radiorock classics in the best 80s American rock
format. This is close to BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN circa Born In The USA, and even
includes a cool retro 80s saxsolo. Following Stuck On You is 80s melodic
poprock all the way, kinda like a mix between BRYAN ADAMS circa Reckless and
RICK SPRINGFIELD’s early 80s records, while also REFUGEE (the Canadian band is
not far away). I actually think that if you like PRISM’s later records,
HARLEQUIN and such Canadian lightweight AOR/Poprock you will also enjoy this a
lot! Other highlights on his 2nd album are the smooth westcoast
ish 8-Track Lover, the catchy uptempo radioready 80s synth driven hit Bloodshot
Eyes, and the cool cover of the 80s classic The Boys Of Summer of DON HENLEY
(which now actually sounds like LOVERBOY!). Although I refer to AOR, fans of
THE WAR ON DRUGS and THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM will of course also like this
musician, so it’s actually the best of both worlds here! This 2nd album
has the synths a bit more upfront by the way, which gives it a real retro 80s
vibe.
Then there’s Ludwig’s most recent album, which is
titled Stay Young, originally released in 2024. Just like the previous 2
albums, also here we have the 80s rock vibe going on. It’s melting PETTY,
SPRINGSTEEN, SPRINGFIELD, COUGAR and ADAMS in a way it sounds like LUDWIG HART!
More or less the same team as on the previous record, although a few more guest
musicians helping him out, but again multi-instrumentalist EMIL KREIVI
co-writing and co-producing the record. The album starts surprisingly with the
Power Ballad Stay Young, where Ludwig shows his excellent vocal skills. Many
highlights again, but the absolute favorite songs (according to me) are the
classic 80s midtempo AOR/Melodic Rock anthem Journey (even reminding me of WORK
OF ART, H.E.A.T., NESTOR and such Swedish bands, with a chorus a la HEARTLAND!
Besides a deadly catchy chorus, 80s rock riffs, it also has a cool bridge like
in the classic 80s AOR days), Boys Gone Wild (pure BRYAN ADAMS uptempo fun
melodic poprock), What If (catchy classic Springsteen working class tune), the
uptempo cheerful Don’t Stop and the superb midtempo AOR tune Less I Try (JOHN
WAITE meets JOHN PARR!). Although the Americana influences are a little bit
pushed to the back here, the closing tracks of side A and side B do capture
some really nice calmer Americana moments. This is definitely his best album so
far! It has a bright fresh huge sound and it’s especially highly recommended to
the fans of American 80s AOR/Poprock.
Concluded, LUDWIG HART is a name to remember for the
future to come, and hopefully he will have a break outside Sweden someday soon,
because I think live these bangers will go down very well. There’s a lot of
competition out there at the moment however, because countless bands follow the
same 80s ish melodic rock direction nowadays (especially in The Netherlands),
but Ludwig definitely deserves at least some attention for his excellent catchy
albums he has released in the past 6 years. More info can be found at: https://ludwighart.com
(Points: 9.1 out
of 10)
MICKI FREE
‘DREAMCATCHER’ (BUNGALO RECORDS/UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP/FRANK ROSZAK
PROMOTIONS/USA IMPORT)
Over 30 years ago I was overwhelmed by the wonderful
debut album of CROWN OF THORNS, which was a stunning melodic hardrock/aor album
that featured the legendary JEAN BEAUVOIR on vocals/guitar and MICKI FREE on
guitar. Many more CROWN OF THORNS albums followed, but Micki also started a
solo career back in 1995. Dreamcatcher is his latest album, which features
besides Micki on guitar, lead and background vocals and Native American flute,
also members of the SANTANA band including drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, bass
man Benny Rietveld and singer Ray Green, while other guests include bassist
Rhonda Smith (PRINCE, JEFF BECK) and keyboardplayer Mark "Muggie Do"
Leach. The music is bluesy soulful rock with a groovy touch, but also here and
there a world music influence, such as can be heard during the instrumental
Native American Flute driven titletrack Dreamcather. However, bluesy rockers
like When The Devil’s At Your Door and We Are One are definitely the strongest
songs that will please fans of JOE BONAMASSA and KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD.
Definitely recommended to everyone who enjoys the current melodic heavy blues
rocksound of aforementioned musicians. More info can be found at: https://www.mickifree.com/
(Points: 8.0 out
of 10)
ALLIED NATION
‘RESURRECTION’ (INDEPENDENT/USA IMPORT)
In the late 1980s the San Francisco/Santa Rosa based
American AOR band ALLIED NATION started to get attention from abroad, and
eventually they were able to release a demo tape and appear on 2 legendary
AOR/Melodic Rock compilation albums (Album Network Unsigned Bands CD Tune Up #3
and Hot Night In The City). Sadly the 1990s made it very hard for the
band to continue and eventually it was over and done, but thankfully in 2009 a
lot of their recordings as well as new material appeared as their debut album
release Touch And Go. Fast forward it’s 2025 and we have a true new album in
the shape of Resurrection, which features Jeffrey Nation (lead vocals), Anthony
Martinez (keys, guitar and vocals), Dan Petruzzella (guitar), Jeff Berger
(drums) and Mike Welinske (bass). 6 tracks are included, and without a doubt,
it’s a fantastic sensational release if you like old school AOR!
Opener Trouble Again is basically the classic
AOR/Pomprock I like the most. This big bombastic midtempo tune has a sound that
goes straight back to the glorious days of AOR and Pomprock, which is the
period 1978-1984 when thousands of bands in the USA were following the
footsteps of BOSTON, STYX, JOURNEY, FOREIGNER, TOTO, KANSAS and such. The song
has the high-pitched lead- and harmonyvocals, catchy hook, memorable chorus,
the piano-led keys/synths and a soaring guitar melody, so it has got all the
ingredients needed for a true early 80s Classic AOR sound. It sounds roughly
like a cross between ROADMASTER, PATRIARCH (First hand), SHELTER (First Stop),
TOUCH and early 80s KANSAS. The die-hard fans then know exactly what to do
here! The CD continues with the uptempo AOR rocker Day By Day that continues
the classic AOR/Pomprocksound, perhaps closer to SHOOTING STAR this time, yet
with a touch of SURVIVOR. So far so good, this is how I personally like my AOR,
because here we have a real authentic pure AOR/Pomprocksound how it was done
about 40-45 years ago. Good Seed Gone Bad is slightly harder edged groovier
midtempo melodic hardrock orientated in a direction that ticks the late
80s/early 90s Hair Metal boxes a few times. Not bad, but compared to the first
2 tracks a little bit less interesting. Moving on with Dead of The Night, the
guys go back to the classic 80s AOR sound with a memorable hook a la
AGENT/AVIATOR/WHITE SISTER (first album), and a somewhat FORTUNE (1985) ish
touch, although this could well have been one of those 90s MTM Music releases.
High class AOR/Melodic Rock is the main ingredient all throughout this CD, and
it’s just a pity that there are only 6 tracks included, because in the end you
want to hear more and more. Last In Line is a calmer midtempo semi melodic
poprocker that has a 90s vibe (reminding me of INNUENDO meets FAIR WARNING
meets late 90s FIREHOUSE, including a great soaring guitarsolo), while closing
track Sheila is a calmer power AOR ballad with a strong JOURNEY similarity.
Concluded, every single dedicated fan of 80s American
AOR/Pomprock/Melodic Rock should check out this new CD of ALLIED NATION
a.s.a.p., because this is how real authentic AOR/Melodic Rock should sound
like! More info at: https://www.alliednationband.com/
(Points: 8.7 out
of 10)
THE LIGHT ‘THE
LIGHT’ (FASTBALL/BOB MEDIA/GERMAN IMPORT)
Out of southern Germany comes a new band called THE
LIGHT, and their same titled debut album offers modern melodic metal with some
references to MYSTIC PROPHECY and METALLICA. The band is formed around
guitarist HOLGER TERHORST, bassist ALEX SCHERZ and vocalist NICK ANTONELLI,
with as guest on the drums Sven. Toxic Dependence, Fall and You will never Know
are definitely the strongest songs on offer here, because those ones are
uptempo hard-hitting melodic metal at it’s best! The album is released on CD and
even on vinyl, while touring plans are also on the way, so go check out this
German metal band if you like your metal to sound both heavy and melodic with a
modern edge. More info at: www.the-light.eu
(Points: 7.7 out
of 10)
DERHEROLD ‘ARCANUM
1 – RAGE’ (FASTBALL/BOB MEDIA/GERMAN IMPORT)
DERHEROLD is a Swiss project formed around
musician/artist/vocalist OLAV DAUMLING. The debut album Arcanum 1 – Rage is a
concept album that further features vocalist Seraina Schopfer, guitarist
Cristoph Teuschei, bassist Fred Jacobssen and drummer Sebastian Lanser. The
artwork looks rather nice and it took probably quite some time to accomplish
it, while the music is somewhat dark rock/metal orientated, yet with both a
theatrical touch and a few Teutonic metal riffs. Actually it reminds me a bit
of 80s/90s underground metal acts like THOR, ROUGH SILK and even UDO/ACCEPT,
but then with some proggy touches. Vocally you have to get used to a sorta own
way of singing, but in the end the material does not sound bad at all. More
info at: https://derherold.ch
(Points: 7.2 out
of 10)
KRYPTOPORTIKUS
‘DARK RAINBOW’ (FASTBALL/BOB MEDIA/GERMAN IMPORT)
KRYPTOPORTIKUS is a new band/project between
producer/composer/musician CHRIS TECHRITZ (SCATTERFACE, CARRIER, ex-FUDGE, etc)
and FRANZ HERDE, who is the original lead singer of SIEGES EVEN on their first
2 albums from the late 80s/early 90s. Together they created a nice progressive
power metal album in the style of SIEGES EVEN, yet a bit heavier. The album has
a nice front cover and besides the 2 founders of the project, there are also
guest appearances by bassist Tom Brenneis, keyboardplayer Alex Kreuch, guitarists
Jimmy Konsta and Mark Nickel and several others. Basically the album is filed
with typical Teutonic Metal, yet with a progressive touch. Vocally speaking
Franz has a high-pitched voice in the PRIMAL FEAR/PRIEST direction, yet here
and there he doesn’t reach the high notes I’m afraid. On the other hand, fans
of German traditional Metal will definitely like this album!
(Points: 7.3 out
of 10)
C2C Country To Country Festival - Live festival review
Saturday 8th of
March and Sunday 9th of March 2025 – Ahoy, Rotterdam, The
Netherlands
The festival C2C (Country To
Country) is the biggest European countryrock festival and it takes place in
various cities
each year. In 2024 we attended the festival for the first time
and after seeing the line-up of the 2025 edition I was quite excited to check
out the new edition of this wonderful festival in Rotterdam. It was a good
opportunity to catch up once again with a bunch of the latest new sensations
from the USA, and we were surprised by a lot of the acts that seem to rock
harder than last year’s edition.
Country music is for the
European readers among us a music genre associated with old-school slow (or
hyper-bluegrass fast!) jangle howdy acts in a very cliché tingled performance
where people start to do a line-dance, but if you visit C2C it is a completely
different adventure that will definitely brings you in a really good mood, and
as already mentioned there are some serious rocking acts performing on stage,
especially NATE SMITH and CORY MARKS, both of whom would go down well among the
rockers. Later this year we will attend a concert of the biggest rocker in the modern
country world, KIP MOORE, who is basically one of the greatest solo rockers at
the moment (imagine musically speaking a mix between BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and
early GOTTHARD!). The festival also offers enough talent that doesn’t need a
full rocking band backing them up, but instead shows them on a smaller stage
with just an acoustic guitar and a microphone. I guess you can easily call
those performances singer/songwriter orientated. Basically everyone starts from
a country point of view, but eventually each act throws in influences from all
the music genres that dominated the American music world the past 50 years, so
you can also hear traces of singer/songwriter, Americana, Heartland Rock, 80s
AOR/Melodic Rock, 70s rock and roll, 90s alternative rock, soul, blues and
other music genre influence every now and then if you listen closely enough to
the songs. Especially the fact that many of the acts originate from the USA is
a guarantee that all these influences pass by, while also the performances
leave enough room open for entertainment, because that is what Americans can do
best!
Anyway, C2C 2025 has 26 acts
in total, performing on 3 different stages in 2 different halls, and I have to
admit that it worked better than last year because you could now easier catch
all the performing acts and there were also plenty of possibilities to sit-down
and watch a performance. Off course when crowd pleasers like DASHA and NATE
SMITH are performing, you have to stand up and rock along with them, while
closing band MIDLAND for example is a perfect band to watch while sitting down
on one of the seated chairs. The festival started with the female trio of THE
CASTELLOWS, a great act from Georgetown, Georgia that combined classic
traditional country with a touch of THE CORRSish folkie melodic poprock. The
lead-and harmonyvocals were upfront and the songs were rather catchy, so this
was a great opener of the festival. The main stage was perhaps a bit too big
for them at the moment, but they did a great job and before the next big act
would turn up, we could check out on the smaller stages more laid-back
singer/songwriter country/pop/rock performances by LANIE GARDNER (a great
singer with a wonderful raspy voice) and TYLER HALVERSON (we sadly only saw a
few minutes of his performance due to overlap of Sophia’s show).
WYATT FLORES has a great voice
and his music is actually quite diverse thanks to a superb rocking band backing
him up. The drummer, Hammond organ player and guitarist were killing it big
time, and they gave Wyatt the back-up for a fantastic rocking show! GRAHAM
BARHAM was the next act on the spotlight stage, and he had a rather nice
melodic southern hard rocking sound actually, although he sadly missed a
drummer and bassist to fully give a high quality performance. Perhaps next time
he has a full band and rocks out in a LYNYRD SKYNYRD/38 SPECIAL/VAN ZANT kinda
direction. Speaking of… after seeing only a few minutes of CALEB LEE HUTCHINSON
(which was not bad at all!) due to the overlap with Graham, the next major
stage performance was done by 49 WINCHESTER.
49 WINCHESTER from Castlewood,
Virginia is a band I saw live at Paradiso, Amsterdam in 2024, and we also
reviewed their wonderful new album Leavin’ This Holler recently, so we already
knew what to expect, and actually they even improved even further. They are a
superb soulful southern rockband that is dangerously close to BLACKBERRY SMOKE,
VOLTAGE and LYNYRD SKYNYRD. The band has a lead singer/guitarist (ISAAC GIBSON)
with an incredible voice range, and he is perhaps the greatest southern rock
singer at the moment. There were moments during the set his voice broke all the
rules and I think everyone in the crowd was impressed by the talent of this
musician/singer. His band also has this lovely southern rock vibe, and so without
a doubt, the 49 WINCHESTER show was rocking the way it was meant to be, really
feeling like you’re somewhere down south in the USA. Fans of aforementioned
bands absolutely need to check out this excellent band. A few of the songs have
country rock up front, but overall it has the southern soulful swamping
rocksound like we know it from LYNYRD SKYNYRD. It offers the best of both
worlds and shows there is actually no border between country and southern rock!
The next 2 smaller stage acts
were KASSI ASHTON (great raspy voice I would like to hear in a rockier setting)
and ZACH MEADOWS, both of them delivering nice acoustic tingled
singer/songwriter kinda performances, but we were basically waiting for the
biggest act on the bill for us rockers, because NATE SMITH was up next on the
main stage. There was clearly something going on here, because after a rather
long introduction about the recent fires in and around Los Angeles, Nate seemed
to be the hero in the end. Despite he lost everything during the fires, his new
song World On Fire became the anthem song for the people whom experienced this
tragedy. Loud and proud NATE SMITH entered the stage with his rocking band, and
he basically set the venue on fire, because this was true rock and roll the
American way. Of course he is labeled as a country rocker, but throughout the
set he seemed to rock harder than the average rockband, and even threw in a FOO
FIGHTERS cover, while he also did a walk through the audience during one of the
songs. His music is loaded with 80s melodic rock influences, with references to
DEF LEPPARD Hysteria, BRYAN ADAMS and also DAUGHTRY here and there. However, he
also did a step back with a calmer song here and there (acoustically and a
power rock ballad), and basically this was the kinda rockshow that had all the
ingredients you need! Towards the end Nate even started crying and saying that
he was living his dream and loved every moment of such performances as tonight
on C2C. Concluded, it was clear that Nate set the bar very high, and probably
none of the other acts would best him, but on the other hand I have to say that
every act we saw (and the ones we hardly saw) sounded really good.
AVERY ANNA was one of the big
surprises, because she is a fantastic singer with an excellent rocking sound,
especially during the superb midtempo catchy Make It Look Easy. Along with a
great rocking band, this was a very entertaining show. Avery also plays keys
and without a doubt we are going to hear much more of this talented
singer/songwriter who is quite far removed from country actually, and is
perhaps closer to a rocking version of ADELE. BAYKER BLANKENSHIP was on the
other stage, but due to the incredible performance of Avery, we sadly missed
it.
Closing Day 1 was LAINEY
WILSON, who is one of the big names at the moment in the USA, which is not that
strange if you hear her music. It’s the closest thing to country music on this
first day, because here we can witness a young DOLLY PARTON, yet with the
modern take of early TAYLOR SWIFT. It’s not that strange she is a big name in
the USA, because she has that great classic female country voice and her music
is fun upbeat country pop/rock crossover orientated with a focus on catchy
little tunes with the help of traditional instruments, while she walks around
the stage constantly to make contact with the audience. It doesn’t get any
better than this, and even if you’re not a country music fan, there is
something happening here that should put a smile on your face! The rockers
among us however had their biggest smile when witnessing NATE SMITH perform one
of the greatest rockshows I have seen lately!
Day 2 was another sunny spring
day outside, but inside it was clearly much warmer with another nice collection
of (mostly) American acts that travelled all the way from (mostly) the southern
states of the USA to Rotterdam to perform on one of the 3 stages at the Ahoy
venue in Rotterdam. Opener on day 2 was the BEYONCE lookalike TANNER ADELL, who
sounded quite strong and had actually a full blown’ rocking set for us. I think
that due to the fact that it was day 2 and the weather outside was absolutely
stunning, a lot of people decided to arrive later on the day, so the venue was
half empty when Tanner performed, which is a pity, because this was definitely
a high class performance. Tanner was accompanied by a female drummer and a
female guitarist, so actually this was a 3-piece all-female band.
SOPHIA SCOTT was up next on
the smaller stage, and she had a superb bluesy tone in her voice, sounding quite
raw and with a typical southern US kinda vibe. She was joined by an acoustic
guitarist, but I can imagine that with a full blown rockband backing her up,
Sophia could put on a performance close to a band such as LARKIN POE. On the
other hand, we now could enjoy a real honest performance without any other
instruments, back-up or stage show, which is a nice contrast to most of the
main stage acts.
Anyway, on the 3rd
stage we saw a piece of the performance of TYLER HALVERSON, who is a
singer/songwriter troubadour a la JAKE BUGG/BOB DYLAN. He was all alone on the
stage, with just an acoustic guitar and a harmonica, so another real unplugged
performance, but he did quite a strong job.
CHASE MATTHEW was the next big
act on the main stage, and basically we have another rocker here. The show
opens with a big time midtempo heavy rocker that is actually quite far removed
from country music, and perhaps closer to AEROSMITH or BLACKBERRY SMOKE. Chase
has a strong band backing him up, including a superb hard rockin’ guitarist from
Toronto, Canada and a great tight drummer. Although musically speaking it is not
far removed from other hotshots like KIP MOORE or NATE SMITH, Chase adds a few
electronic and modern pop/rock influences to his sound, while his vocals are a
bit less stronger than the 2 aforementioned singer/songwriters. Actually he
takes a bit of old-school rap here and there (in a way also DEF LEPPARD and
WARRANT did in the late 1980s) and he even reminds me of BRETT MICHAELS here
and there, so this sets him apart from the rest for sure. Chase did put on an
exciting show that brought him close to the audience during the full
performance, because his interaction was picture perfect.
Things slowed down during the
next 2 smaller stage performances, which included TAYLOR HOLDER and GARETH.
Taylor was accompanied by an acoustic guitarist, who happens to be an even
better lead singer, because he showed his vocal skills during 2 wonderful
covers. That was quite funny, but the 2 of them together were a very nice act
to watch, but we also had to take a glimpse of the performance of GARETH. He
will in a few months join KIP MOORE as a support act, so this was a great sneak
preview of things to come. GARETH has a fantastic voice and brings some
beautiful melodies with his vocals, so I am looking forward to his upcoming
show in May.
TUCKER WETMORE is the next big
act on the main stage, and despite we have here another rock orientated show
here, Tucker also digs from all kinds of other music influences, such as modern
pop/rock, some pieces of electronic music and while doing a short solo on the
piano/keyboard he even makes it possible that people start singing along with
him to a QUEEN classic he plays (Bohemian Rhapsody). He further played a nice
cover of the JERRY LEE LEWIS classic Great Balls Of Fire and THE
COMMODORES/FAITH NO MORE classic Easy, while he totally rocked out during the
cover of KINGS OF LEON’s Use Somebody.
Tucker is a real showman/performer and he is one of the big new hotshots in
modern country crossover pop/rock, and along with a superb drummer and a
rocking guitarist besides his own musical talent, he is definitely one to check
out live. I personally really enjoyed his uptempo 80s AOR/poprocker Break First
from his new album, but the enormous diversity of his show should appeal to a
lot of people outside the country music world.
HARPER O’NEILL is one of the
best female singers I have seen on the smaller spotlight stage, because her
voice has got that raspy old school feeling I miss so much in most of the
singers today. Her music is also close to classic singer-songwriter 1970s
style, so it was a joy to see her performance. I only saw a very short part of
DREW BALDRIDGE due to the overlap time with Harper. I did notice that Drew had
an old school country sound for sure, and that was during this edition actually
quite rare.
Anyway, DASHA was up next and
she is one of the biggest newcomers of the past few years. She is already
compared to early TAYLOR SWIFT and I can easily inform you that her performance
shows that we are dealing with someone who is going to become much bigger in
the near future. Her music is country crossover poprock orientated (actually
close to a SHANIA TWAIN), yet there is a mix of all kinds of music styles here,
including 80s AOR/Melodic Rock, Bluegrass, 90s singer/songwriter, Bluesy Rock
(Here For The Party) and modern pop. It’s just all there and Dasha is doing a
really good job on both the vocal department and as an entertainer, while her
band is giving it both a rock and a classic country/folk back-up. During her
major breakthrough hitsong Austin everything fits together perfectly, as she
goes into the crowd for a little walk and you can really feel the energy of her
great exciting performance. Of course time will tell, but writing your own
songs and deliver high quality shows is something you need to keep doing to
built up a big name inside and outside of the country scene. Tonight’s
performance of Dasha is definitely ticking all the boxes for now.
Things slow down once again
during the spotlight stage performance of MAX MCNOWN, who is a wonderful
singer, and here he is helped by 2 acoustic guitarists who also provide backing
vocals. All together they bring us beautiful melodic songs in a calm but authentic
performance, which is not heard a lot these days. Especially the harmonyvocals
are exceptionally well done and quite close to THE EAGLES and VENICE. Max
himself has a great laid-back tone in his voice, and it seems a lot of people
were quite excited to see him perform. Along with the earlier spotlight stage
show of Harper, they were one of the best on the smaller C2C stages overall
this weekend.
I was right on time to still catch
a portion of the heaviest performance of the whole C2C festival, which was the
3rd stage show by CORY MARKS. He gave a true classic rock/heavy
metal ish show that still had some connections with country, but on the other
hand he could also easily fit a spot on a festival like WACKEN OPEN AIR. The
energy of this superb rockshow was very attractive to watch until the end,
because this is rock and roll the way it needs to sound for sure. Although
nicely done, the BRYAN ADAMS cover Somebody was quite unexpected and not the
best song on the set of Cory, because his own songs are much stronger. However,
it was nice to see the crowd singing along to the this 80s anthem! Cory is
definitely someone you need to check out when he’s in town!
The festival finished with the
most authentic and most traditional country show of the whole event, because
the American band MIDLAND is one of those bands that is active in the classic
style of bands like ALABAMA, POCO, 
DIAMOND RIO, OAK RIDGE BOYS, LONESTAR,
BLACKHAWK, etc. etc. Ever since the early 70s there have been countless
American bands playing this genre, and in those 55+ years nothing has changed,
because newcomers MIDLAND might as well have been active since 1971! THE EAGLES
could also be mentioned as comparison here, because MIDLAND is very keen on the
harmonyvocals, and the fact they create their own songs gives them an own
identity within the genre. This is traditional classic country the way it was
meant to be, and perhaps they were the perfect fit to close day 2 of another
wonderful C2C edition!
Concluded, this 2nd
edition of the C2C festival in Rotterdam was another fantastic event that
showed that country music is extremely diverse if you listen closely to each
and every act that was on the line-up this weekend. NATE SMITH was definitely
the best act, and I can guarantee you that this rocker will become huge in the
future. AOR/Hardrockfans should check out this singer/songwriter as soon as
possible. As for C2C, we already look forward to next year’s edition!
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