DOUBLE ECLIPSE ‘FREEDOM TO
FUNCTION’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of the UK comes DOUBLE ECLIPSE, and in the past we
reviewed some of their demos, but the band has now
managed to release their first official full-length CD.
The music played is good strong groovy raw melodic
hardrock a la WHITESNAKE, HARDLINE and even THUNDER. The
production is very good for an independent record and the
included 10 songs are quite nice. Highlights are
“Burn” (groovy melodic rocker), “See you
on the other side” (very strong semi melodic
rockballad), “Reason why” (nice melodic
rockballad), “Take it all the way” (another
strong semi ballad) and “Chance to make
it right” (good semi melodic rocker). This is a
rather good release and recommended to fans of raw
melodic hardrock. More info at: http://www.declipse.f9.co.uk
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 SINPHONIA ‘THE DIVINE
DISHARMONY’
(LUCRETIA RECORDS)
Out of Denmark comes SINPHONIA, a female fronted
‘Gothic’ Melodic Prog/Power Metal band that is
playing in the style of SENGIR, WITHIN TEMPTATION,
EDENBRIDGE and of course NIGHTWISH. Not all the songs on
their debut (?) CD are quality stuff, because songs like
“A spectre of dust” and “Strength of the
static sight” are quite average. However, in general
speaking this is a good decent quality melodic Prog/Power
metal release with good Gothicish melodic lead vocals of
singer
Mokika Pedersen. Highlights on ‘The divine
disharmony’ are “The reflective and the
sleeper”, “Disclosure”, “The essence
of desire” and “My will is wisdom”. Fans
of mentioned band should look for this release, out on
the Italian label LUCRETIA RECORDS.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
LYZANXIA
‘EDEN’
(LUCRETIA RECORDS)
This is a Swedish band of whom I don’t have much
info, but what I can do tell you is that instrumental
they play impressive typical Prog/Power Metal, but the
vocals are unfortunately Black/Death orientated, so there
is not much of interest in here. There is however an
exception to the rule, and that’s the song
“Bewitched”, which is a great uptempo melodic
Power Metal with clean lead vocals, so if they make a
full CD with these kind of tunes we have a winner on our
hands, but for now they are nothing of interest for the
Prog/Power Metal fans.
(Points:
- )
DAVID
T. CHASTAIN
‘ROCK SOLID GUITAR’ (LUCRETIA RECORDS)
The American guitarist DAVID CHASTAIN has a new CD out,
and it’s called ‘Rock solid guitar’. The
people who are familiar with his music know what to
expect from him when a new album is released, because the
past 15-20 years the man has been releasing on and off
records of decent quality and all in the Melodic Heavy
Rock/Metal style. This new CD is an instrumental record,
which falls a bit more in the Bluesy Rock/Hardrock area
compared to his Metal orientated albums he released
before this record. Highlights are “Burning
passions” and “Riding in style”.
Guitarfreaks should check out this release.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
RUUD
COOTY
‘AFTERMATH’ (LUCRETIA RECORDS)
This is not really a good release, because first of all
the production is very average, and secondly, the
performed music is uninspired bluesy Hardrock like a
weaker version of MENIKETTI. Many of the included 12
tracks is slow and bluesy, only the opener “Feel no
more” and “Six foot, Blonde and blue eyes”
are good rockers. But further I have not much more to say
about this release...
(Points:
6.5 out of 10)
ARCHETYPE
‘DAWNING’
LUCRETIA RECORDS)
The American band ARCHETYPE released last year their CD
‘Dawning’. Recently the Italian label LUCRETIA
RECORDS also released the album in Europe, with some
beautiful new artwork. The album itself contains the same
material as on the CD released by the band independently
last year, but for those who haven’t checked this CD
out yet, I can briefly inform you about ARCHETYPE. This
band is playing quality melodic Prog Metal, yet with a
modern touch sometimes, such as the break in opener
“Final day”. Despite the few modern metal
influences, this is mainly a great high quality 80s
influenced melodic Prog/Power metal album in the best US
style. Songs like “Final day” and
“Dawning” are very good and remind me a bit of
the last SEVEN WITCHES album. For further details I would
advise you to check out our first review of the album or
go to the band’s website at: http://www.archetype1.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
STRANGERS
‘NEXT
TIME AROUND’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Dallas, Texas comes STRANGERS, a band playing good
quality 80s influenced melodic hardrock/metal with
QUEENSRYCHE, CRIMSON GLORY and SYRIS similarities here
and there. The band has a clear ‘independent’
sound, so nothing big here, just a low-budget sound, but
musically it sounds pretty good. The band has a good
strong lead singer (Kevin Dell Greer), and most of the 12
songs sound pretty nice to my ears. Highlights include
“Next time around” (uptempo melodic
hardrock/metal a la QUEENSRYCHE, yet without the Prog
influence), “I should have known” (great
semi-ballad, very melodic), “Pulled in” (great
midtempo piece a la SYRIS) and the fantastic classy 80s
uptempo melodic rocker “Danger”. A fine
release, more info at: http://www.strangersrock.com and you can buy a copy
of the album through http://www.dsb-versand.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BOB
ERNST ‘HANDS
ON’ (BIG DUCK RECORDS)
BOB ERNST is a guitarist from New Jersey, and he sent me
a 4-track CD that he released independently. The music is
instrumental Rock/Classic Rock in a 70s kind of way, not
unlike ERIC CLAPTON, CREAM, JEFF BECK... The 4 songs
sound nice and are interesting to check out if you like
this kind of guitar orientated instrumental music. More
info at: http://www.bobernst.net and e-mail him at: info@bobernst.net
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
MYTHIC
FORCE ‘SACRED
VISION’ (INDEPENDENT)
MYTHIC FORCE from Arizona, USA is formed around
multi-instrumentalist BRODERICK GRAY. He sent me 2 of his
CDs, and I must say that both discs are filled with high
quality melodic Prog Metal. The first one is as BRODERICK
GRAY, with 22 tracks included, this is a very good
instrumental Prog/Melodic Metal album in it’s best
form, so breaks and guitarsolos all over the place. Songs
like “Horizons of glory”, “The
prize”, “Dawn of the dragon”, “Metal
machine” and “Presto” (hello MALMSTEEN!)
are good examples of the quality sound Broderick has
created. The other CD is called ‘Sacred
vision’, and is released under MYTHIC FORCE. The
music on this disc is good Prog/Power Metal, and also
features vocals. Although Broderick’s voice
isn’t bad at all, I think he would have been better
off with a different vocalist, because his voice is not
that good he could sing a full album with Prog/Power
Metal songs. On the other hand, a fast Power Metal track
“Requiem (for the earth)” (this is pure Euro
Power Metal, done by an American!) does make you feel
interesting in listening further to the album.
Other
highlights include “Enter the realm” (nice
keyboardsolo), “Sacred vision” (this could be
an Italian band!), “Time machine”, “The
castle” and “Cryptic image”. Concluded, we
have 2 nice albums filled with almost 3 hours of music.
The instrumental of BRODERICK GRAY is the best record of
the 2, although the vocal songs on MYTHIC FORCE’s
album also sounds very impressive, but could have been
better with a better singer. Then again I must add that
Broderick can also improve his own voice, maybe on a
future recording, because I hope for more vocal songs in
the future. By all means, Broderick is a very talented
musician/songwriter, so check out his site at: http://www.mythicforce.com and e-mail him at: brodygray@hotmail.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BATTAGIA
‘HELL
JUST FROZE OVER’ (INDEPENDENT)
It seems like every Finish band is mastering, producing
or mixing their album at the Finnvox studios in Helsinki
with Mika Jussila. It doesn’t matter if it is a
Power Metal band (STRATOVARIUS) or an AOR band (HOUSE OF
MIRRORS), it’s all quality melodic stuff and
BATTAGIA is no exception to the rule. This band from
Helsinki features former IRON CROSS drummer Jimbo (if I
am correct this band released an album called ‘Too
hot to rock’ in the 80s?). Musically they don’t
sound anything like the usual Finish Power Metal, because
BATTAGIA is playing 80s type of raw straightforward plain
Hardrock a la KROKUS, KISS, KIX, KEEL... Especially the
KEEL reference is remarkable, because lead singer Tero
sounds a lot like RON KEEL, and also the 4 tracks on the
band’s 2nd demo CD ‘Hell just froze over’
are reminding me of KEEL. “Burning the sky”,
“Deep cuts the knife”, “Hell on my
back” and “Fire of rock” are all 4 uptempo
classy 80s LA Hardrock/Metal songs a la KEEL, WASP... In
the end we can conclude that this is a strong Melodic
Hardrock album in the best 80s L.A. tradition, yet with a
crystal clear production from today’s standards.
Check ‘em out at: http://listen.to/battagia and e-mail them at: battagia@welho.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘UN
VOYAGE EN PROGRESSIF VOLUME 8’
(MUSEA RECORDS)
On volume 8 of the prog compilation albums released by
the Prog label MUSEA RECORDS we can find a handful of
bands from all over the world. The music is not the
straight-forward Neo-Prog, but mostly more into a
laid-back calm prog/sympho style. Included bands are
QUIDAM from Poland, KERRS PINK (Norway), ARTSRUNI
(Armenia), Tempano (Venezuela), ENGEL (Spain), ASIDE
BESIDE (France), LORD OF MUSHROOMS (France), VERSUS X
(Germany), JEAN-PIERRE ALARCEN (France) and the PINK
FLOYD tribute band PIGS AND PYRAMIDS. People with a small
budget can now easily find out how 10 acts of the MUSEA
RECORDS label sound like by just buying 1 CD!
(Points:
- )
GREYSWAN
‘GREYSWAN’
(INDEPENDENT)
As the first song “Sleepless night” comes out
of my speakers I noticed that this is a very good band
playing a mixture of Gothic and Melodic Prog Metal,
ending up sounding a lot like EVERGREY, yet with
high-pitched vocals (a la early SAVIOUR MACHINE).
GREYSWAN is coming out of Italy, and they sent me a great
quality 3-track CD. Opener “Sleepless night” is
definitely the best song on the disc, this 8-minutes
counting slow melodic Prog Metal song is as good as
EVERGREY or VANDENPLAS, just to name a few comparable
bands. The second song “Alone among thousands of
people” is a bite more Gothic, but still nice to
hear. Closing track is “Tragic end”, which is
almost a ‘Doom-Metal’ track with Gothic ish
lead vocals. Although the first track is the highlight
and the other 2 tracks are weaker, conclusion is that
GREYSWAN is a quality band with a future! More info at: http://www.greyswan.too.it and e-mail them at: greyswan@libero.it
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
MISERY
INC. ‘SUICIDE
SERENADE’ (INDEPENDENT)
‘Suicide serenade’ is the new demo CD by the
Finish band MISERY INC. The production is better than
ever, but musically the band is now a bit too Modern
Metal orientated, such as on opener “Suicide
serenade”. Next track “Darkness” is a bit
more melodic happily, and sounds like a cross between
METALLICA and STRATOVARIUS. “Life ain’t
fear” is up next and sounds like a depressing slow
Metal song. It’s really a pity the band has turned
so modern, as their previous records saw them moving into
a Melodic Hardrocksound. Also the final 2 tracks are
Modern Metal orientated, so I am afraid I can only
recommend this to a fan of METALLICA, which is now the
closest comparison for MISERY INC. More info at: http://www.miseryinc.cjb.net and e-mail them at: yanne75@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
KIUAS
‘BORN
UNDER THE NORTHERN LIGHTS’ (DEMO CDR)
KIUAS comes out of Finland, and are yet another
sensational band from that country, which is been
overloading us with many new young bands. KIUAS sounds a
bit different than the usual STRATOVARIUS, NIGHTWISH and
SONATA ARCTICA clones we hear, but is still playing
Prog/Power Metal. The first song on the 3-track CD is
definitely the strongest track. The song is called
“Warrior soul”, a faster Power Metal track with
a superb melodic catchy chorus (a la STRATOVARIUS, SONATA
ARCTICA, sorry can’t help it!). What sets them apart
from the other bands is the band’s vocalist, who is
able to change his voice from raw, clean to very rough
(almost grunts) in a matter of seconds. I hope he will
use the clean voice more in the future, as he proves he
is at his best during the melodic parts. Anyway, that
first track is sounding incredibly HUGE, and should get
them signed to one of the bigger labels soon. The next
song “Across the snows” is clearly less
interesting, as it also introduces some Black/Death
grunts a lot of times, which is a pity, because that
isn’t necessary. The last track is the great
midtempo melodic Prog Metal song “Song for the
fells”. Concluded, the first song blows you away and
is BIG TIME PROG/POWER Metal, more songs in that style on
a full-length CD should make them one of the top acts to
emerge from Finland, and a big thread for STRATOVARIUS,
SONATA ARCTICA, NIGHTWISH... More info on them at: http://www.kiuas.net and e-mail them at: kiuas@email.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 FURIA ANIMAL ‘AZOTANDO EL
DESTINO’
(PIES RECORDS)
The Madrid based Spanish label PIES RECORDS sent me 6
very interesting Melodic Metal releases from upcoming new
Spanish bands. These are the bands that are following the
footsteps taken by TIERRA SANTA, MAGA DE OZ and BARON
ROJO. First up is FURIA ANIMAL, a band from Alicante, and
their CD ‘Azotando el destino’ is definitely a
highly recommended album if you enjoy bands like
SARATOGA, AVALANCH, TIERRA SANTA, SAVROM LAMDERTH, LAST
PROPHECY, ANKHARA... The album is filled with high
quality Melodic Hardrock/Metal with a great melodic lead
singer (Dani Milan) and the CD itself has a very big
sound, due to the use of 2 guitars and 1 keyboard. The
production is perfect, and most of the songs are very
sensational. Among the highlights we can count “En
la obscuridad”, “Otra vida”, “Tan
solo tu”, “Dama blanca”, the EAGLES cover
“Hotel California” and closing track
“Antes de nacer”. Concluded I can easily say
that with FURIA ANIMAL we have got another winner from
Spain on our hands, a band that can easily be put next to
TIERRA SANTA when it comes down to high quality melodic
metal. More info at: http://www.piesdiscos.com
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 MEDIUM AVATHAR ‘COMIENZA LA
LUCHA’ (PIES RECORDS)
Although not as good as TIERRA SANTA or some of the other
releases on PIES RECORDS, this Spanish band from the city
of Murcia is playing good quality Melodic Prog/Power
Metal with some AOR/Melodic Rock influences here and
there. The lead vocals of singer Daniel Gama are a bit
weaker, but the harmonyvocals make that up during the
choruses. I could find only one weak song between the 12
included, and that’s the midtempo “El
azteca”. The other 10 tracks (not counting the
intro) are very good, mostly uptempo Melodic Metal
orientated. The best songs to me are the uptempo melodic
heavy rockers “Ire a por ti”, “Para bien o
para mal”, “Para ti” (AORish),
“Diamanta negro” (great midtempo AOR) and
“Todopoderoso”. Conclusion is that this is
another great Spanish Melodic Metal release! More info
at: http://www.piesdiscos.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 MURO ‘CORAZON DE
METAL’ (PIES RECORDS)
I haven’t got much info on the Spanish band MURO,
but I believe they have been on the scene for quite some
time now, and can easily be mentioned along with other
established Spanish Metalbands BARON ROJO, OBUS and
TIERRA SANTA. The band is playing a mixture of old 80s
Metal and today’s Melodic Power Metal, and their
latest CD ‘Corazon de Metal’ is a very strong
album that will attract any fan of Spanish Metal. There
are 13 tracks on the CD, and among the highlights I must
add the fast uptempo Power Metal tracks “Contra la
pared”, “Juez y verdugo”, “Sal de
mi” and “Muere para ser libre”, as well as
the fantastic Y&T cover “Forever” (which is
renamed to “Por siempre” and the melodic
rockballad “Puedo vivir sin ti”. Spain is
definitely one of the most productive countries to bring
sensational Metalbands the past few years, as we have had
before MURO’s new record, fantastic albums by TIERRA
SANTA, SARATOGA, AVALANCH, GOLDEN FARM, SAVROM LAMDERTH,
DARNA, WARCRY, LAST PROPHECY, ANKHARA, FURIA ANIMAL, MAGA
DE OZ, PYRAMID and soon we will see lots of more
interesting new releases by the labels Arise Records,
Vinny Records, Locomotive Music etc. This will be a great
year for Spanish Metalfreaks!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
RAVENSHEAD
‘FROM
THE DARKNESS’ (INDEPENDENT)
Here’s a talented Melodic Metalband from Australia.
They have released a very impressive CD that combines
elements of Classic 80s Metal with today’s
standards, ending up sounding like an updated version of
MAIDEN and QUEENSRYCHE, but with female lead vocals. The
lead singer Rachel Pedri has a strong voice and if we
have a look at the included 11 songs, I could mention
that the finest tracks can be find towards the end of the
CD. These are the fantastic midtempo “Do you
believe” and the uptempo tracks “Sands of
time” and “How many times” (catchy and
fast). Also very good is the midtempo melodic Prog Metal
song “Arcane” (very strong) and the complex
Metal piece “Closing my eyes”. This is really a
great release, recommended to the fans of tough Metal
with a melodic approach and female lead vocals, and take
it from me, this CD is much better than the new HELLION
disc currently released here in Europe. If you want to
check out more on RAVENSHEAD, go to: http://www.wf.com.au/ravens’head and e-mail them at: ravenshead@hotmail.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
AGONIZER
‘DEMO
2003 CAIN’ (DEMO)
This is yet another new Finish band and again it’s
quality stuff what we get to hear. 3 songs can be found
on the demo of AGONIZER, and musically and also the
production sound perfect. The band sounds a bit like
SONATA ARCTICA. The songs are called
“Whatever”, “Mask” and “Cain the
slayer”, and all 3 are good uptempo Melodic Metal
pieces with strong choruses, with the last track being
the best song, with also some nice Prog Metal breaks and
keyboard parts. Count this band to the growing list of
new sensational Finish Metalbands! More info at: http://www.agonizer.cjb.net and e-mail them at: agonizer@email.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
LACRIMA
‘ANYWHERE
BUT HERE’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Las Palmas, Spain comes LACRIMA, and I believe
this is the first band from the Canary Islands I ever
hear and review. LACRIMA is a female fronted Melodic Prog
Metal band, and I must say that the 7 included songs
sound pretty good. Lead singer Yanira Lasry has got a
good voice, but I think she can do better, because at
times she sounds forced. However, the songs are quite
interesting, and especially “Essential”,
“Lost” and “Kiss of death” are very
nice melodic Prog Metal tracks. I can really recommend
you this band, more info at: http://on.to/lacrima and e-mail at: the11signs@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
SPACED
OUT ‘SLOW
GIN’ (UNICORN RECORDS)
‘Slow gin’ is the third CD by the Canadian band
SPACED OUT. Musically it is the same as their previous
releases, so again we get to hear good high quality
instrumental Prog Metal with DREAM THEATER orientated
passages. The highlights on ‘Slow gin’ are
“Slow gin”, “Spaced in” and
“E.M.O.”. This is an album that will be
appreciated a lot by the Prog Rock/Metal freaks!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
FARPOINT
‘GRACE’
(INDEPENDENT)
The 6-piece band FARPOINT from South Carolina returns
with a new CD release. The album is filled with calm
Prog. Rock that has some Celtic/Epic moments here and
there. On the highlights of the CD, such as
“Ghost”, “Yesterday” and
“Nevermore”, I could hear some similarities to
JADIS and FAF. It’s a good CD, although some more
uptempo rockers like “Nevermore” would have
given the CD some more diversity in styles, because now
it’s from the start to finish a very calm album that
will probably only attract fans of bands like CAMEL.
Anyway, check out the band’s website at: http://www.farpointband.com and e-mail them at: farpoint@farpointband.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 DGM ‘HIDDEN PLACE’
(SCARLET RECORDS)
DGM from Italy has been on the scene for 10 years now and
in that period they released 3 full-length albums and 1
mini-CD. Now, the band is about to release their 4th
full-length album titled ‘Hidden place’. The
album contains 10 tracks, and from start to finish it
sounds very impressive. The production and performed
material is of a very high level. DGM is still playing
Melodic Prog Metal that sounds like SYMPHONY X here and
there, although I also hear clear similarities to MARK
BOALS and RING OF FIRE. If you like one song, then you
will love them all, because most of the songs are in the
same style, so nothing new here, but still good clean
quality Melodic Prog Metal. Highlights include “Save
me”, “Hidden places”, “Invisible
rain”, “Storm #351” and “Age of the
flame”. Without a doubt, a recommended CD to the
Prog Metal fans! Official release date is set for the
19th of May...
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 NU ‘REQUIEM’
(PIES RECORDS)
I believe the Spanish band NU has been making records for
a few decades now, but this is my first introduction to
the band and I must say that their new album
‘Requiem’ sounds very impressive. They play a
mixture of Melodic Power Metal and Folk Metal, ending up
sounding like a mix between TIERRA SANTA and MAGA DE OZ.
The album has a big heavy melodic sound, and it’s
really a pleasure to listen to their CD from the start
until the finish of the album. My favourite tracks are
“Tenebros” (fantastic faster uptempo melodic
Power Metal), “Hada” (strong midtempo melodic
Prog Metal), “Entrega romantica” (great
midtempo melodic Metal) and “Refugiados” (good
slow melodic Prog Heavy rocker a la MAGA DE OZ). Without
a doubt, this is yet another high quality Metal record
from Spain!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
EVEN
VAST ‘OUTSLEEPING’
(MAUSOLEUM RECORDS)
Out of Italy comes EVEN VAST, and ‘Outsleeping’
is their 2nd CD. Musically this is is clearly Female
Fronted Gothic Metal in the style of NIGHTWISH, WITHIN
TEMPTATION, DELIGHT, SENGIR, AFTER FOREVER, THE
GATHERING... Most of the songs are slow or midtempo and
after hearing some of the songs I noticed that the band
could use some more variation. This is especially a
problem in the song “Dawning gloom”, a very
average song, due to the lack of diversity. Actually,
most of the songs are maybe a bit too depressing for my
taste, and the songs just don’t click with me
somehow. Although I mentioned the band is playing Gothic
Metal in the style of mentioned bands, that doesn’t
mean that it is also a highly recommended album, because
therefore this album has too little to offer for the fan
of this popular genre. The short playing length of the CD
(40 minutes) doesn’t help either, so concluded this
is an average album, only recommended to die-hard Gothic
Metalfans!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 JACK YELLO ‘THORNS OF
ANGER’
(ROGUE/EMPIRE MUSIC)
Out of Germany comes JACK YELLO, and their debut CD
‘Thorns of anger’ contains a staggering 80
minutes of high quality music. They play Melodic
Neo-Progressive Rock of a very high level, best
comparable with ARENA, RICOCHER, WINGS OF STEEL,
TIMELOCK, EVERON, JADIS... 10 long songs are included
(and a short outro) and without a doubt I think this is
one of the strongest Neo-Prog releases done the past few
months. The music of JACK YELLO sounds very big, and may
attract not only Prog Rockfans, but also the Melodic Rock
and even Prog Metal freaks might like this CD a lot. The
band has a lot to offer, and they do it very well, as
each song sounds different from each other. Besides, the
production is very good, so concluded this is a highly
recommended CD. If we have a look at the included songs,
I must mention as highlights the tracks “Inspiring
confidence” (fantastic uptempo melodic prog rocker a
la ARENA), “Game show” (great melodic chorus,
prog a la IQ), “The unknown soldier” (great
Prog Melodic Rockballad with nice keyboardbreaks),
“The bridge” (good uptempo Prog Melodic Rocker
with some heavy riffs, almost Prog Metal),
“Before” (semi Prog Rocker a la EVERON),
“Igraine” (great semi-prog ballad/rocker a la
EVERON, epic piece) and the JADIS orientated
“Emotional suicide”. Without a doubt, this CD
is a must to fans of quality Neo-Prog! More info at: http://www.jackyello.de and e-mail them at: Info@jackyello.de
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
ENZIGN ‘CAST THE FIRST
STONE’ (Z RECORDS)
ENZIGN is a 3-piece from the U.K. and their debut is a
typical British sounding Melodic Rockalbum. The album
starts very good with the fantastic midtempo melodic
rocker “Cast the first stone”, a song with a
catchy memorable chorus reminding me of TEN, DARE,
PRAYING MANTIS... Unfortunately what follows is a bunch
of nice melodic rocksongs in the style of LOST WEEKEND or
a weaker TYKETTO, nothing bad, but not as good as the
opening track. However, towards the end we get to hear
some better stuff again in the shape of the catchy
uptempo melodic rockers “Lazarus” and “The
one”, and closing track “Endless seas”
(great semi melodic rockballad with a very strong
chorus). About 4 tracks are really sensational, but the
rest is just standard melodic rock, but still this is an
interesting release for fans of typical British Melodic
Rock.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 JADIS ‘FANATIC’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
It took some time but finally the British Neo-Prog
Rockband JADIS has released their new CD.
‘Fanatic’ is definitely rockier than the
previous CD ‘Understand’, but is nevertheless a
continuation of the band’s music style. The CD
starts with a couple nice ‘groovier’ midtempo
Progressive Rockers such as “Into temptation”
and “I never noticed”, and the slightly
experimental “Each and everyday”, but as the CD
continues the songs are getting stronger and stronger,
with as result that the highlights are saved for last.
These are the fantastic Neo-Prog ‘Classics’
“Yourself alone”, “Take these words”
and “What kind of reason”. This is definitely a
CD you should play over and over again, before you
realise how good it is. The band grabs back to their
original Neo-Prog style of their earlier releases, but
also gave the songs a fresh and updated sound, so
concluded I can recommend this album to every music lover
that wants to hear quality music...
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
THE
DEVIN TOWNSEND BAND ‘ACCELERATED EVOLUTION’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
This is the fifth album of guitarist/vocalist DEVIN
TOWNSEND, and just like on his previous releases, also
this album stands out between all the other Hardrock and
Metal albums ever released. Again Devin comes up with
some bizarre experimental Rock/Metal with influences from
everywhere. For some of you this album might be
interesting, because it is very original, but for the
average fan of either AOR or Prog/Power Metal, this is
not the kind of album that will set your heart on fire!
The only interesting songs are the good Melodic Prog
Metal track “Storm” and the catchy uptempo
melodic rocker “Slow me down”. The rest of the
CD is very experimental, with the opening track
“Depth charge” as absolute least interesting
song, as this is almost Industrial Metal! Anyway, if you
liked Devin’s earlier releases, then you can go
ahead and purchase his new album, otherwise stay away
from this release!
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
 ARS AMANDI ‘AUTOCTONO’
(PIES RECORDS)
The 6 releases on PIES RECORDS I received were quite
impressive, and especially the CD of ARS AMANDI is very
sensational. This Spanish band is playing a mixture of
Melodic Metal and Medieaval Castillan Music with an
important role for the clarinet and other medieaval
instruments, while still being a pure Melodic Metalband
with in every song strong hooks and catchy memorable
choruses. Just like most other Spanish bands, also ARS
AMANDI is singing in their own language, but that’s
not a problem at all I think, because if they would sing
in English, it wouldn’t sound as good as it sounds
now. Anyway, this band sounds like the perfect mix
between TIERRA SANTA and MAGA DE OZ. Besides, their debut
CD ‘Audoctono’ is probably one of the strongest
Spanish Metal releases from the past few years. This
album is as good as the new TIERRA SANTA album, recently
released by LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC. If you like one song on
this CD, you will instantly fall in love with the rest of
the CD, which is from start to finish a high level
release. All the included 11 tracks are sensational, with
as absolute highlights “Campino sin fin”,
“Tu ley”, “Ven hacia mi” (hello MAGA
DE OZ!), “A que esperais”, “Testigo
mudo” and “Su fiesta”. Do I need to add
more than saying that this is one of the strongest
Spanish Metal release, along with the new TIERRA SANTA!
More info at: http://www.carabanchel.com/arsamandi and e-mail them at: arsamandi@carabanchel.com
(Points:
9.5 out of 10)
LUJURIA
’10
ANOS EL PUTO ROCK AND ROLL’ (LOCOMOTIVE MUSIC)
The Spanish band LUJURIA has been making music for 10
years now, and this DVD is a nice summary of their career
so far. People who aren’t familiar with
LUJURIA’s music, I can inform you that they play 80s
type of Metal with a Sleaze Metal attitude. The leader of
the band is probably their lead singer, who is a very
excentric person, as you can see on this DVD. On the
other hand, I am not so enthousiastic about his lead
vocals, because vocally it sounds very average to me.
Instrumental however, LUJURIA is playing good 80s Melodic
Metal. Anyway, this DVD is like I said a nice summary of
the band’s past 10 years, with some nice video and
live footage here and there. The fan of LUJURIA will
easily love this DVD, but for the average Rock/Metal fan
outside Spain this is just a nice DVD to watch one time
and then forget about, so only recommended to LUJURIA
fans!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 MOTORES ‘DEL MAL NADIE SE
LIBRA’
(PIES RECORDS)
This is one of the few Spanish bands that isn’t
sensational, although their CD ‘Del mal Nadie se
libra’ is still a nice album, but the problem is
that the band’s lead singer is a bit too raw in his
approach, and that doesn’t match with the Melodic
Metal of MOTORES. This band sounds like BARON ROJO meets
90s Hardrock, with a raw lead singer (a la LEMMY of
MOTORHEAD). The band is at their best during the faster
uptempo melodic metal pieces “El redentob” and
“Sueres un shock”. Another negative point to be
said about this release is the fact that the album has a
playing length of only 34 minutes! Then I would rather
recommend the other 5 releases on PIES RECORDS!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 STAR ONE ‘LIVE ON
EARTH’
(INSIDE OUT MUSIC/CMM MUSIC)
Last year Arjen Anthony Lucassen released the first album
with his new project STAR ONE, the follow-up to his
succesfull AYREON project. The album started a new
chapter in the man’s musical career, and his dream
came true when he brought all the musicians and singers
on one stage together for a small Tour. The result of
that Tour can now be heard on this fantastic double CD
‘Live on earth’. 18 songs are included, and
with such fantastic lead singer like Sir Russell Allen
(SYMPHONY X) and Damian Wilson (THRESHOLD), and of course
leader Arjen Lucassen on Guitars and Synth, this CD is an
absolute highlight in the history of live recorded
performances. Not only STAR ONE tracks are present, but
also a lot of AYREON tunes were played during the tour.
The finest tracks are “Songs of the ocean”,
“Dawn of a million souls”, “Into the black
hole”, “Intergalatic space crusaders”,
“Isis and Osiris” and “The eye of
Ra”. This is one of those Live-CDs that should be
part of the collection of every musicfan!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
EDGUY ‘BURNING DOWN THE
OPERA LIVE’ (AFM RECORDS/ROCK INC.)
The German Metalband EDGUY announced sometime ago a Live
CD and now is the time the CD is about to be released on
AFM RECORDS. It’s a double live CD (no DVD!) titled
‘Burning down the opera’ that included a
concert recorded live in Paris and takes about 100
minutes. The songs are a collection of the best tracks
EDGUY recorded in their career so far, so we get to hear
fantastic Melodic Metal songs like “Fallen
angels”, “Tears of a mandrake”,
“Painting on the wall”, “Vain glory
opera”, “How many miles” and the AVANTASIA
tune “Avantasia”. The performance is of a very
high level, and also the sound/production is very good,
so every EDGUY should save money for this double CD,
which will be officially released on the 26th of May.
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 SARACEN ‘RED SKY’ (NOW
AND THEN RECORDS)
In the late 1970s a new Symphonic Melodic Rockband was
formed called SARACEN. The band played in the style of
MAGNUM, RAINBOW and URIAH HEEP, and a few years later
they had some success with the release of their debut LP
‘Heroes, saints and fools’. The following years
saw them releasing 2 more albums, before closing the book
of SARACEN in 1985. 15 years later guitarist Rob Bendelow
released a solo album under the moniker TEMPLAR, with an
album titled ‘Come to the light’ (reviewed by
us 3 years ago). This eventually led to the reunion of
SARACEN, and now in the year 2003, the band has finally
released a new album. The album is titled ‘Red
sky’ and NOW AND THEN RECORDS has released it. The
included music is of a very high level, a mixture of
AOR/Pomprock, Melodic Rock and 80s Metal, something like
KANSAS meets MAGNUM meets PRAYING MANTIS meets IRON
MAIDEN, very 80s with lots of keys as well and a pure
British approach. The album has a playing length of 70
minutes and keeps you enjoying it from start to finish.
The highlights for me are “We have arrived”
(80s MAGNUMish semi melodic rocker with big harmonyvocals
and keys), “Red sky” (strong melodic heavy
rocker a la RAINBOW, with keyboardsolos),
“Faith” (very strong semi AOR ballad, classy
80s sound here!), “Horseman of the apocalypse”
(very impressive midtempo melodic heavy rocker,
superstrong impressive epic song with a MAIDENish break
and guitarsolo), “Heroes, saints and fools”
(epic semi melodic rocker a la MAGNUM, KANSAS),
“Angel eyes” (male/female duet, great semi AOR
ballad) and closing track “Follow the piper”
(big uptempo melodic rocker). This CD is highly
recommended if you want to hear quality Melodic Rock with
a strong diversity in songstyles.
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 MITCH MALLOY ‘MALLOY’88’
(NOW AND THEN RECORDS)
In the early 90s MITCH MALLOY released a fantastic debut
album, which brought also a lot of success for him, such
as a few top 20 hits in the USA, a performance at
‘The Tonight show’ and video rotation on MTV.
The album was filled with high class AOR, but his next
album ‘Ceilings and walls’ was a dissaponting
affair, a Pop record in the late MICHAEL BOLTON style. A
few years ago Mitch returned to the scene with a new
record called ‘Shine’, a good album, but not
nearly as good as his debut. Now NOW AND THEN RECORDS has
released an album filled with recordings by Mitch and his
band done in 1988, and I have to admit, this album is
getting quite close to the wonderful AOR/Melodic
Rocksound of his debut CD. The production and sound
quality is very good, so nothing dated or dusted material
on this disc, just high class AOR/Melodic Rock all the
way! From the 12 tracks included, 2 finally made it to
Mitch’s debut CD (“Forever” and
“Problem child”), but the rest is now for the
first time available. All AOR/Melodic Rockfans should get
a copy of this excellent album, because it is a damn good
album. The best songs are uptempo AOR rockers like
“On my way”, “If you were mine”,
“Forever” and “Money can’t buy
love”, and the wonderful semi AOR ballads
“Still in love”, “Angeline” and
“Without you”. This is an album that
AOR/Melodic Rockfans are gonna dig, so you know what to
do if you’re into this kind of rock...
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 AT VANCE ‘THE EVIL IN
YOU’
(AFM RECORDS/ROCK INC.)
The German band AT VANCE returns with the release of
their 5th CD titled ‘The evil in you’. Some
things have changed since their last album ‘Only
human’, because lead singer Oliver Hartmann left the
band to work on solo projects, and the band had to look
for a new singer. Soon they found MATS LEVEN, who sang
with TREAT and MALMSTEEN, and after listening to the new
CD of AT VANCE on which we can hear Mats as singer, I can
conclude that he’s a good replacement. The music is
still the same, so again we can hear excellent high
quality a mixture of Melodic Hardrock, Melodic Metal and
Power Metal. All the 12 included tracks are ssensational,
with as absolute highlights “The evil in you”,
“Fallen angel”, “The curtain will
fall”, “One million miles”, “Shining
star” and “Princess of ice”. Without a
doubt, this is one of the strongest albums of a German
band so far this year!
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 POWER SYMPHONY ‘FUTUREPAST’
(NORTHWIND RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
The female fronted Italian band POWER SYMPHONY exists now
10 years and ‘Futurepast’ is their latest
release. It’s a mini-CD, including 5 songs, of which
“Blood of my enemies” is a MANOWAR cover. The
music is good strong Progressive/Power Metal, and
especially the first 2 songs are very good. These are
“None moons” and “Infinite machine”.
After a good MANOWAR cover, the album sadly closes with 2
average songs, “Army of saints” and
“Mother noon”. To make it up, the album also
contains a great videoclip, so in the end we can still
recommend this album to fans of female fronted Prog/Power
Metal.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 HERALDRY ‘SHADOWS OF ANCIENT
SKIES’ (NORTHWIND RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
HERALDRY comes out of Italy, and this is their first
album. The music included is typical Italo Power Metal a
la LABYRINTH, but instead of being a weak copy, HERALDRY
is a very strong band with a great singer and some
sensational material on their debut CD. The album is
filled with fantastic uptempo bombastic Melodic (Power)
Metal songs, such as “Dream fighter”,
“Afterglow”, “Last warrior’s
cry”, “Heraldry” and “Shadows of
ancient skies”. People who are waiting for a new
LABYRINTH disc should check out this album by HERALDRY,
as it is a great typical Italo Power Metal record!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
LYNCH
PILSON ‘WICKED
UNDERGROUND’
(SPITFIRE RECORDS/CMM MUSIC)
Former DOKKEN members George Lynch (guitars) and Jeff
Pilson (vocals, bass, keys) have formed a new
project/band called LYNCH PILSON. They have released an
album titled ‘Wicked underground’, which
contains a mixture of Modern and Classic Hardrock. The
album starts with a couple average groovy modern
Hardrocksongs, but as the CD continues, the songs are
getting better and better. Songs like “Zero the
end”, “The evil that you are”,
“Goodbye Utopia” and “Closer to none”
are very good midtempo melodic rockers. Still, this
isn’t a recommended album, because it has too many
ups and downs, so not a consistent record at all. Only
interesting for die-hard DOKKEN fans!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 FM ‘LONG TIME NO
SEE’ (ESCAPE MUSIC)
We all know the story of FM. The English band released in
1986 one of the best AOR albums ever, the band’s
debut record ‘Indiscreet’. 17 years later the
album is still held high by all AOR fans, and till this
day I still play such classic AOR tunes like
“American girls”, “I belong to the
night”, “The other side of midnight” and
“Frozen heart”. After the 1986 album, FM
recorded another fantastic classic AOR record, but this
album from 1987 was never released, but let’s hope
it will be released someday, because the demotapes of
that unreleased album contained lots of excellent AOR
songs (the songs Alone tonight - Gonna miss her -
Dangerous - When tomorrow comes - Like lovers do - Closer
to your heart - Crying in the dark - Strange kind of love
- Say it like it is – Captured). Anyway, in 1989 the
band released ‘Tough it out’, although not as
sensational as their debut, also this album contained
some excellent AOR material (“Can you hear me
calling”, “Bad luck”, “Everytime I
think of you”, “Does it feel like love”),
but all the albums the band released in the 1990s never
contained any material that could be classified as
Classic AOR. Two of these albums are now re-released onto
a triple CD package by ESCAPE MUSIC, namely the albums
‘Paraphernalia’ and ‘Aphrodisiac’,
both good bluesy Melodic Rockalbums with nice songs like
“Caught in the innocence”, “After
hours”, “All or nothing”, “Inside
out” etc., but never it gets sensational AOR like on
their debut record.
As
a bonus, the triple CD also contains the far more
interesting live CD ‘Live at the Atoria’, and
this is what makes this 3-CD package really interesting
for every FM fan. The live recordings took place back in
88/89 at the Astoria in London. 12 tracks it’s
classic FM, with a total of 70 minutes playing time, this
is the ultimate FM at their very best. All the classics
from their debut are played, such as “Face to
face”, “I belong to the night”, “The
other side of midnight”, “Frozen heart”,
“That girl”, “American girls”,
“Heart of the matter” and a couple of their 2nd
album ‘Tough it out’. Lead singer Steve
Overland proved on this live-CD he is one of the
strongest British vocalists, and it also shows that FM
sounded at their best during the late 80s. Now
there’s only one thing we can hope, and that’s
the release of that unreleased album from 1987, and I
already heard some talkings of FM re-recording songs of
that recording session, and besides a new CD should
include new tracks, which hopefully set a return to thier
classic 80s AOR sound, because after 4 or 5 Bluesy
Melodic Rockalbums, the wait is over, FM must return to
the sound that made them popular: pure AOR like on
‘Indiscreet’! In the meantime, this triple-CD
package is a must for every FM-fan, because of the
Live-CD and 5 unreleased Bonustracks.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 MARVEL ‘EVERAFTER’
(TARGET RECORDS)
The Portuguese band MARVEL released a couple fantastic
AOR/Melodic Rockalbums the past few years. Recently they
signed with TARGET RECORDS, and now they have released a
new CD titled ‘Everafter’. Unfortunately the
keyboardplayer left the band in favour of a second
guitarplayer, so the music has not much to do with AOR
anymore. It’s now more pure Melodic Hardrock, which
is still quite enjoyable, as the performance and
sound/production is of a high level, so in the end this
is a great Melodic Hardrockalbum that sounds like DANGER
DANGER, HARDLINE, FIREHOUSE and HAREM SCAREM. 13 tracks
are included, of which my favourites are “Thought
about the days”, “I know U too well”,
“Hang on to the night”, “Revolution
day”, “Someday”, “How do you make me
feel” and “Fake the truth”. Fans of
mentioned band should check out this release. More info
at: http://www.target-records.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 TALISMAN ‘CATS AND
DOGS’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
The Swedish band TALISMAN is back with a new CD titled
‘Cats and dogs’. They haven’t returned to
their glorious polished melodic rocksound of the early
days (like the album ‘Genesis’), but instead we
can hear groovy (modern) melodic hardrock with heavy
guitar riffs, but also with excellent melodic choruses,
so the new TALISMAN is at some point quite interesting,
although don’t expect anything like their classic
sound. ‘Cats and dogs’ is still a very strong
album that will appeal to both modern hardrockfans and
the melodic rock lovers. The included 12 songs all speak
for themselves with as highlights “Skin on
skin”, “In make believe”, “Love will
come again”, “Sorry” (AOR style, very
catchy song, could become a big radiohit), “Hell in
paradise”, “Lost in the wasteland” and
“Wherever, whenever, whatever”. Jeff Scott
Soto’s vocals are excellent as always, and after a
couple of spins, this album became a very impressive
record, so I can give it a recommendation to you!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 DARK MOOR ‘BETWEEN LIGHT AND
DARKNESS’ (ARISE RECORDS/BERTUS)
The Spanish band DARK MOOR is about to release their 5th
CD ‘Between light and darkness’. A lot of
things happened with the band, because 3 bandmembers left
the band (and have already formed a new band) and so this
is the last DARK MOOR CD in the original line-up. This
new DARK MOOR CD consists of 4 new unplugged tracks,
filled up with unreleased Japanese Bonustracks, so
it’s not really a new album. However, the included 8
tracks are definitely very impressive, with the split
between a part unplugged semi-ballads with medieaval
touch and a part ‘plugged in’ Female Fronted
Melodic Gothic Prog/Power Metal pieces like WITHIN
TEMPTATION/NIGHTWISH meets RHAPSODY. The best songs are
the Prog/Power Metal pieces “Mistery of
Goddess”, “Dies irae” and “The fall
of Melnibone” (pure RHAPSODY), although the calmer
acoustic tunes like “Memories” and “From
dawn to dusk” are also very good. It’s a pity
DARK MOOR will continue in a different line-up in the
future, because this CD proves they are a very strong
band with good female vocals and very nice guitar and
keyboard passages, but on the other hand, we might get 2
great new bands from now on. In the meantime, fans of
mentioned band should check out DARK MOOR’s new
album.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 RED WINE ‘SUENOS Y
LOCURA’
(ARISE RECORDS/BERTUS)
RED WINE is another quality Spanish band, and their CD
‘Suenos Y locura’ is already their 3rd record,
but the first one I am hearing and reviewing. Anyway, the
included music is typical Spanish Melodic Power Metal a
la TIERRA SANTA, AVALANCH, SARATOGA, FURIA ANIMAL... The
CD has a very big sound, partly due to the excellent
mastering work of Piet Selck (IRON SAVIOR), and a lot of
the songs are a pleasure to listen to. Highlights on
‘Suenos Y locura’ are “Renacer”,
“Llantos de otra realidad”, “Fuego en la
sangre”, “Alma libre” and “Kill me in
dreams” (the only song in English), mostly all
uptempo melodic metal. Fans of the typical Spanish
Melodic Metal will totally love this!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 RATA BLANCA ‘EL CAMINO DEL
FUEGO’ (UNDERGROUND SYMPHONY RECORDS/BERTUS)
In Argentina RATA BLANCA is a very famous band, and they
have been releasing records since the mid 1980s. In
between some members also released 3 fantastic AOR
records under the moniker ALIANZA. Now RATA BLANCA is
trying to get some attention in Europe, with the release
of their new CD ‘El camino del fuego’ on the
Italian label UNDERGROUND SYMPHONY RECORDS. The album is
a good mixture of Classic Hardrock (RAINBOW/DEEP PURPLE
style) and AOR/Melodic Rock. In the past the band also
had some Power Metal orientated tracks on their albums,
but on this new CD only one song in this style can be
found and that’s a pity, because the particular song
“En nombre de Dios?” is one of the best tracks,
a very catchy faster uptempo melodic Power Metal track a
la TIERRA SANTA. Nevertheless, the rest of the CD is also
quite good, such as the fantastic uptempo melodic rockers
“Volviendo a casa” (the absolute winner of this
album) and “Sinfonia fantastica” (9 minutes!),
the bluesy Melodic Rockballad “Cuando la luz
oscarece”, the uptempo melodic heavy rockers
“La cancion del guerrero” and “Caballo
salvaje” and closing track “Majer amente”
(acoustic version, sounds like a calmer medieaval
ballad). On the other hand, the CD also contains a few
average groovy Hardrocksongs like “Abeja
reina”, “Lluvia purpura” and “Senora
furia” that are not convincing at all, and sound
like a weaker version of LED ZEPPELIN and DEEP PURPLE.
Nevertheless, the CD is still quite enjoyable and has
it’s highlights here and there, so check out this
great Argentinian band a.s.a.p.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 GREEN ‘LIFE’
(FRONTIERS RECORDS/BERTUS)
GREEN is a new Italian band, and their debut CD
‘Life’ is a good mixture of Melodic Rock and
Progressive Rock, with a slight modern touch here and
there. There are 13 tracks on their CD ‘Life’,
which starts very promising with the great uptempo
Progressive Melodic Rocker “Mr. Kite” (a bit
like RUSH). Unfortunately, the band can’t keep this
high level, because the following 6 tracks are a bit
dissapointing with such average rockers like “I
gotta run” and unnecessary instrumentals like
“The work and “Escape”. Track 7
“Cycling in the rain” then again picks up the
high level of the opening track, as this song starts
calm, but develops into a great semi melodic rockballad
with strong melodic choruses, not unlike DREAM THEATER in
a polished version. Next tune “Sometimes” is
very quiet, but after 4 minutes it develops into a nice
ballad. Then we have had 8 tracks and the CD is then
starting to become a boring album with too many ballads
and acoustic guitars. This is really a pity, because the
band proved on the song “Mr. Kite” they are
capable of writing quality rocksongs with an ear for a
strong melody. It’s not that semi-ballads like
“Can you feel the world” and “All is
OK” are bad, but the CD could have been much better
if there had been some more rockers on the album, because
besides opener “Mr. Kite”, only “I still
love...” is a real Rocksong, and this is the
album’s second best track, a great Progressive
Melodic Rocker. So this band is impressive at times, but
their CD lacks at some points in songstyles, because the
band offers too many slow ballad orientated material.
Let’s hope a future CD will see them moving into a
more Progressive Melodic Rocksound like on their songs
“Mr. Kite” and “I still love...”.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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