 SPHERE 3 ‘COMMEUPANCE’
(CYCLOPS RECORDS)
Instrumental band from the UK, with a CD titled
‘Commeupance’ which contains 10 tracks. The
music is quality atmospheric instrumental relaxing
Neo-Prog with references to early MARILLION, IQ,
PENDRAGON, yet instrumental. Without a doubt, this is a
very fine release to put on when you want to relax and
just take a moment of peace and quiet. Songs like
“Sidewalking”, “First kiss” and
“December gaze” are examples of this relaxing
instrumental Neo-Prog sound with nice keyboard and guitar
work. More info on the band at: http://www.sphere3.co.uk
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 LANDMARQ ‘AFTERSHOCK‘
(CYCLOPS RECORDS)
LANDMARQ has already a big discography of releases behind
them, but their first 4 releases had DAMIAN WILSON on
vocals, so with new singer TRACY HITCHINGS they knew a
live-album would give the fans something extra. This
live-CD on CYCLOPS RECORDS contains 6 long tracks from
the band’s earlier albums and with Tracy on vocals
this time it is clear that this is LANDMARQ at their very
best. All 6 tracks are wonderful, with the absolute
highlight for me the superb “Lighthouse”, which
is terrific Melodic Progressive Rock. The sound is just
perfect and so every fan of Neo-Prog, but also the
regular fans of female fronted melodic rock will enjoy
this CD a lot. I hope to see this band once live on
stage!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
KARDA
ESTRA ‘CONSTELLATIONS’
(CYCLOPS RECORDS)
KARDA ESTRA is a band that combines Classical Music with
calm Progressive Rock, so another instrumental release on
CYCLOPS RECORDS. The music is quite close to STEVE
HACKETT, with some RICK WAKEMAN similarites as well, but
I also heard influences from CAMEL here and there, and
last but least some songs are very close to Classical
Music. The CD contains 7 tracks and is nice to put on if
you’re in a really relaxing mood. Only recommended
to people who look further than just the odd Prog. Rock
release. It’s not the kind of style we usually
review here, but it’s released on CYCLOPS
RECORDS, so therefore I needed to inform you about the
release.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 IRON WARE ‘BREAK OUT’
(LIMB MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
As usual LIMB MUSIC brings us only HIGH QUALITY releases,
and IRON WARE is easily a band every real Metal fan
should check out as soon as possible, because their debut
CD ‘Break out’ has that big Melodic Metalsound
which is so popular at the moment. IRON WARE is coming
out of Sweden, but they sound like a typical German band
(read: PRIMAL FEAR, BRAINSTORM, BLIND GUARDIAN, GAMMA
RAY, HELLOWEEN, FREEDOM CALL), so big guitar orientated
Melodic (Power) Metal with excellent guitarwork and lots
of singable harmonyvocals driven choruses. The band used
to have a keyboardplayer in their line-up, but he left
the band and now lead singer Pasi Humppi takes over the
keys, but like mentioned, this band is guitar orientated
and so the keys are put far to the background, but for
IRON WARE it really works well. There are 11 tracks on
the CD, and the absolute winner on the album has got to
be “Sanctuary”, a true German Metal piece, fast
but very melodic and extremely catchy. The band has a raw
lead singer, and that’s not really typical Swedish,
because the Scandi singers usually sing very melodic and
clean, but like I said before IRON WARE sounds to me like
a traditional German Metalband, and believe me, a really
good one! The first couple of songs (“Holy man”
and “Dark sun”) are nice, but things really get
started with the following fantastic Melodic Metal pieces
“From deep inside”, “Time machine”,
“Sanctuary” and “Saviors”, which are
basically the highlights of the album, but also the
stunning choruses of the midtempo “What is going
on” and “Break out” need to be mentioned
here. The production by KING DIAMOND’s guitar player
Andy LaRoque is also very impressive and so all together
this is a highly recommendd piece, especially if you dig
typical German Melodic Metal!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 BLACK MAJESTY ‘SANDS OF
TIME’
(LIMB MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
Sometime ago we reviewed the fantastic mini-demo-CDR of
the Australian band BLACK MAJESTY, and not long after
they were signed to LIMB MUSIC, and now it is time to
discuss their official European debut CD release
‘Sands of time’, an album filled with superb
high class Melodic Metal. The band has a very good
melodic lead singer called John ‘Gio’ Cavaliere
and the 10 included songs are all very sensational. The
album starts with the Melodic Metal Hymn “Fall of
the reich”, one of the strongest songs here and as
the songtitle predicts, this is a QUEENSRYCHEish song
mixed with some IRON MAIDEN. Other highlights include
“Legacy” (lovely faster uptempo melodic Euro
Power Metal), “Guardian” (lovely melodic
ProgMetal with super strong chorus), “Sands of
time” (a la WARLORD, Melodic Metal Masterpiece!),
“No sanctuary” (uptempo melodic metal) and
“Beyond reality” (8 minutes counting epic). So
a fantastic album, with many amazing songs, and a
wonderful big sound/production. Concluded, this is
without a doubt a Melodic Metal masterpiece!
(Points:
9.5 out of 10)
 GODIVA ‘GODIVA’
(LIMB MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
This band from Switzerland is playing PURE HEAVY METAL
like it was ment to be in a time when JUDAS PRIEST and
ACCEPT were the role models for a whole new generation of
raw to the edge pure Metal without the sweet melodies and
keyboards that are now found in today’s Power Metal
bands GODIVA could have been a German band, but they hail
from neighbouring country Switzerland and they surely
aren’t another KROKUS/GOTTHARD copy! This is raw
Heavy Metal and they have listened A LOT to the 80s
records of JUDAS PRIEST with ROB HALFORD on vocals, so
this is Metal like only the good old Headbangers were
listening to some 15 years ago. 11 tracks are included,
and songs like “Razorblade romantic”,
“Heavy Metal Thunder” (hello 80s pure Heavy
Metal!!!) and “Cold blood” are instant hits for
the fan of pure 80s Heavy Metal with choruses that could
have been done by ACCEPT or JUDAS PRIEST. Although
everything sounds big and also quite perfect, I still
think we can better leave such pure 80s Metal to the
heroes of the genre (ACCEPT, MANOWAR, JUDAS PRIEST),
because now too many people might call it dated and
unoriginal, but if you’re keen on such raw German
orientated Metal, then this GODIVA is a must for you to
check out!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
MORNING
‘INSIDE’
(INDEPENDENT)
Last year was the big breakthrough of WITHIN TEMPTATION
in Holland, and ever since we have seen many new female
fronted acts popping up here and there playing along the
lines of that Gothic Metalband. MORNING is one of them,
although they are clearly heavier and more akin to
Power/Progressive Metal which is a good thing for us.
Besides, the band was formed before the big chart success
of WITHIN TEMPTATION, so actually MORNING has not that
much in common with WITHIN TEMPTATION, except for the
fact that both have female fronted singers. Back to their
demo-CD, the production and the included 5 songs on their
latest demo are from a very high level, and actually this
band should be signed a.s.a.p. by a label here, as they
are as good as other Dutch bands like WITHIN TEMPTATION,
EPICA, SENGIR, AFTER FOREVER... Lead singer Saskia van
Heugten is only 19 years old, but she proves that she is
a very good singer, while the other 5 male members are
also quite young and can definitely play their
instruments very well, so nothing stands in my way to
give this band a high rating. From the included 5 tracks,
my favourites are “When shadows dance in
light”, “Kill the silence” (with excellent
riffs, a bit like AYREON) and closing track “Stop
drawing” (an 8-minute epic song of a very high
level!). If you enjoy NIGHTWISH, LACUNA COIL, early THE
GATHERING, EPICA... then be sure to check out the latest
Dutch sensation in female fronted Gothic Melodic
Prog/Power Metal which is MORNING at: http://www.morning.nl and e-mail them at: info@morning.nl
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
THE
PAST ALIVE
‘DEEPEST INNER’ (SOUNDBOX MUSIC)
A German band playing Metal with both a traditional and a
modern approach, not unlike ICED EARTH and RAGE, yet
sometimes also clear METALLICA influences, in fact lead
singer (and guitarist) Nik Gledic sings a bit like JAMES
HETFIELD and you probably know by now that I am not that
a fan of James’ vocals! However, this THE PAST ALIVE
is definitely much better than the last METALLICA album!
15 songs are included and mostly they are just o.k.
Melodic Metal songs, nothing spectacular. Maybe it is
better to hire a new singer next time, because this is
the weak point of THE PAST ALIVE, because some of the
songs are really good (“Desperate soul” and
“The final bow”). Check ‘em out at: http://www.thepastalive.de and e-mail at: management@ThePastAlive.de
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
STORMWARRIOR ‘HEAVY METAL
FIRE’
(REMEDY RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
Last year the German band STORMWARRIOR released their
debut, and now a year later it is time for the mini-CD
‘Heavy Metal fire’. 7 songs are included and
also a videoclip, so you definitely get something for
your money here. The band is playing high class Melodic
Metal, not unlike TWISTED TOWER DIRE and typical German
bands such as RUNNING WILD, HELLOWEEN... If you like one
song, you will love them all! Songs like “Heavy
Metal fire”, “Warrior” and “Storm of
victory” are uptempo Melodic Metal tunes that are
winners for the fans of MANOWAR and co. This is true
‘black wind fire and steel’ like only the
Germans (and MANOWAR) are able to create and for instance
this is done very well actually. There are more bands in
this genre, and they are not always convincing me, but
this STORMWARRIOR is definitely one of the better True
Metal bands, as they have a strong singer and their songs
are very (am I allowed to say this?) catchy! Also check
out the cool video “Iron prayers”! Without a
doubt, a must for fans of True Metal!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
CONDITION
RED ‘2’
(LION MUSIC/BERTUS)
‘2’ is the second CD of the Neo-Classical
Prog/Power Metal band CONDITION RED, a band formed around
mega guitarists LARS ERIC MATTSSON and ALEX MASI. On
their debut there even was a guest appearance by DREAM
THEATER keyboardplayer DEREK SHERINIAN. The new CD is
simply titled ‘2’ and is an improvement, as the
band introduces us female lead singer Ella Grussner, who
also plays violin and keyboardplayer Alexander King who
plays some great keyboardsolos here and there. The CD
counts 13 tracks, and with a fair production it’s a
good quality record, although not a masterpiece in the
Prog. Metal scene. The CD has 6 vocal and 7
instrumentals. Highlights are “Eye of a storm”,
“The eagle’s return”, “Why won’t
you hear me?” (great midtempo melodic rocker) and
“Cycles”. A nice album with quality Prog. Metal
and a female lead singer, but not a must to have.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
MARCEL
COENEN ‘GUITAR
TALK’ (LION MUSIC/BERTUS)
MARCEL COENEN is best known for being the guitarist in
the bands LEMUR VOICE and SUNCAGED, and now he has
released his first solo-CD ‘Guitar talk’, an
instrumental piece that is highly recommended to the
guitarfreaks among us. 12 tracks are included, and this
is really prime-time instrumental Melodic Metal, with
fast and slow songs, very diverse and relaxing to listen
to. Fans of SATRIANI, VAI, MORSE etc. should check out
this quality instrumental guitar release by one of Dutch
brightest hopes since ADRIAN VANDENBERG and ARJEN
LUCASSEN.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 ZHORN ‘Z COMES
FIRST’
(GENERATION RECORDS/GERMUSICA/SUBURBAN)
Former LANFEAR member STEFAN ZOERNER (keys, vocalist,
songwriter) has joined forces with LANFEAR producer ANDY
HORN (multi-instrumentalist) and together this German duo
has released a CD under the moniker ZHORN. The CD is
titled ‘Z comes first’ and contains high
quality music. It is a mixture of various rock and metal
styles, with melodic rockers, prog. metal songs and even
neo-prog material, so a very diverse exciting album.
Stefan’s vocals remind me of SAVATAGE and ALICE
COOPER, and like I said the music takes us in various
directions, but always very melodic and also with lots of
keyboards. Opener “Z” is a great uptempo 80s
sounding happy uptempo AOR/Neo-Prog rocker like a mix
between TERRA NOVA and PALLAS. The following 2 songs
(“Of swords and kissed” and “Tuned for
misery”) are both good strong uptempo melodic
rockers with keys, a bit like ROBBY VALENTINE, yet with
rawer vocals. A completely (good) change of direction is
“White blanket”, a Prog/Power Metal inspired
midtempo song like EVERGREY, so a bit darker than the
rest of the CD. “Sitha’s dance” follows in
a more SAVATAGE/CIRCLE 2 CIRCLE mood, but the best songs
can be found towards at the end of the CD in the shape of
“Man of 2,000 words” (catchy typical 80s German
uptempo melodic rocker), “What I feel today”
(great semi-ballad), “Not enough” (Good semi
melodic Progmetal, like a heavier ACT) and closing track
“At the end of a day” (good semi-ballad).
Concluded, a very diverse album that might attract fans
of both AOR/Melodic Rock and Progressive Metal, as it
fits somewhere between with even something for the
Neo-Prog fan! More info at: http://www.generation-records.de
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
UDO
‘NAILED
TO METAL...THE COMPLETE HISTORY’
(AFM RECORDS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
After the audio CD of UDO, live in Russia, there’s
the DVD that also features the particular concert, but
happily includes much more! The DVD spans around 255
minutes (!) and contains besides the concert, also
videos, behind the scenes and previously unreleased audio
tracks, so this is definitely worth your money. Only
negative point to add here is that the menu is hard to
reach after watching one of the parts on the DVD, but
apart from that this is the perfect DVD like we would
always like to see when watching a DVD. The videos of the
early UDO days are very nice to watch, and although Udo
Dirkschneider is best known for his time with ACCEPT, on
this DVD we can find only UDO related material. Through
the years he recorded quite a few albums, and the videos
and live concert are the living proof the man can also
make good stuff without being in ACCEPT. Anyway, if you
enjoy true Metal and are a long-time ACCEPT/UDO fan, this
DVD is without a doubt a must to own!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
LUST
‘WE’LL
NEVER DIE’ (CULT METAL CLASSICS)
Just like all the other releases on CULT METAL CLASSICS,
also the CD release of LUST is Classic 80s Melodic Heavy
Rock/Metal the American way, but also some similarities
to German bands like MAD MAX are notable. The band had a
great melodic lead singer, although he sang with a small
accent, because the band didn’t come out of the USA,
but they hailed from France. Anyway, there are 11 tracks
on the CD re-issue and from start to finish it’s
high quality stuff what we hear. The original was
released in 1988, and although some might find this album
sound dated nowadays, then better listen close to this CD
because it is filled with high class Melodic Metal.
Highlights include uptempo Melodic Heavy Rockers like
“Smoke On The Hills”, “The Hold”,
“Deep In The Dark” (actually classy Melodic
Rock a la DOKKEN), “Too young to know” (classic
epic Metal) and “I am the death”. Concluded,
get this CD asap if you’re into classy 80s Melodic
Metal. More info at: http://www.cultmetalclassics.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
SALEM
HILL ‘PUPPET
SHOW’ (CYCLOPS RECORDS)
I never heard a record of SALEM HILL before, but this
double Live-CD of the American Progressive Rockband SALEM
HILL gains my interest. These guys are great, sounding
like a mix between ENCHANT, YES, FLOWER KINGS, KANSAS and
some SPOCK’S BEARD. The CD takes up to almost 2
hours of high quality Progressive Rock, and it’s all
performed live, although it sounds like it was done in a
studio, so this sounds perfect! Anyway, I am definitely
gonna check out the earlier releases of SLAEM HILL, as
this live-CD is awesome, with so many great Progressive
Rocksongs. The songs are of course long in length, and
feature loads of instrumental parts with the hammond,
keyboard, organ and guitar, pure 70s inspired Melodic
progressive Rock and with strong choruses as well, so
what more do you want if you’re a Prog. Rockfan! My
favourites are “Brave new world”,
“Overture/When/Someday”, “Between the
two”, “Awake” (this guy Carl can really
sing, and with the Violin in here by KANSAS member DAVID
RAGSDALE, it’s like 70s KANSAS revisited),
“Golden crosses” (lovely uptempo Prog-AOR/Pomp,
reminds me of SWEET COMFORT BAND!!!), “January”
(rocking riffs, quite like ENCHANT!) and
“Aceldama”. The CD even includes a new song,
which will not appear on their new upcoming album, so if
you’re a fan of the band this is a total must!
Without a doubt, this CD is a must for every ProgRockfan,
and I can easily put SALEM HILL next to bands like
ENCHANT, KANSAS, FLOWER KINGS...
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
MANNING
‘THE
RAGGED CURTAIN’ (CYCLOPS RECORDS)
This concept-album by the band MANNING is a nice typical
soft Progrockalbum that reminds one of CAMEL, YES etc.
but is different approach. The additional sax wasn’t
necessary and it disturbs the songs, because in egenral
the epic tunes of MANNING are really good, but the sax
doesn’t belong here and this makes it not that
interesting for the prog fans, unless you don’t mind
a Sax in the line-up. Only recommended if you like the
bit out of the ordinary Prog like GENTLE GIANT, KING
CRIMSON... yet a few levels lower, but nothing bad here,
just more average material which can’t compete with
the other CYCLOPS releases.
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
ATRAXY
‘FRAGMENTS/MOONLIGHT-DRUNKEN
EYES’ (INDEPENDENT)
Out of Germany comes the melodic Neo-Progressive Rockband
ATRAXY. They have released 2 CDs so far, of which by far
the best one is their debut ‘Fragments’,
released in 2000. This record is a nice Neo-Progalbum in
the style of EVERON, with some great tunes like
“Heaven”, “Endtime vision” (lovely
song), “Obsequious eve” and “The
pane” (big keys). In general, this is a recommended
CD to fans of Neo-Prog. The second CD ‘Moonlight
drunken eyes’ is slightly introducing some modern
rock influences, but towards the end of the CD the band
comes up with some of their best songs written so far,
such as “Wanna be a moon”, “Rousing
silence” and “Show me your life”, all 3
are very good melodic Neo-Prog rockers a la ARENA.
Sometimes it’s a bit experimental like the opener
“Brain-consulting”, which sounds a bit like a
heavier version of today’s MARILLION or even
RADIOHEAD, but happily most of the CD is good Neo-Prog,
with even some Prog. Metal influences here and there.
Basically, 2 good albums of which their debut is most
interesting for Neo-Prog fans, and if you like EVERON or
ARENA, then this is interesting for you to check out.
More info at: http://www.atraxy.de and e-mail them at: contact@atraxy.de
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
BLACK
KNIGHT
‘MASTER OF DISASTER’ (CULT METAL CLASSICS)
“This sounds really good” was my first reaction
after hearing just the first couple of minutes of the
first song on the BLACK KNIGHT disc. The Greek label CULT
METAL CLASSICS is bringing back lost 80s US/UK/Greek
Metal albums onto CD with high quality re-issues and
BLACK KNIGHT is one of their finest. This US band
released a very obscure mini-LP in the 1980s, which has
been gladly re-issued. The first song “Warlord's
Wrath” is totally awesome and has everything you
want to hear in a sensational 80s Melodic Metal tune,
which is hooks, excellent strong vocals (high and low,
and it’s a female singer here who is singing
extremely well!), classy upbeat sound and a lovely
twin-guitarsound. To me it sounds like a HEAVIER version
of typical mid 80s LA Hair Metal bands like
BLACK’N’BLUE, GREAT WHITE, RATT..., and with
some songs getting quite close to those bands such as
“Metal screams and “Born to rock”,
although the band also has strong similarities to WARLORD
on superb faster Melodic Metal pieces like “Master
of disaster” and even produces a Doom Metal tune a
la BLACK SABBATH (“Aaraigathor (Metal Anthem)”,
but let’s keep them somewhere in between all these
acts, as they seem to take a bit of everything (just like
the bands VAIN and LAAZ ROCKET did in the 1980s). Besides
the already mentioned tracks, other highlights include
“Fire in your eyes” (lovely midtempo Melodic
Metal), “Day Of The Wizard” (uptempo classy 80s
Melodic Metal), “Battlefield”, “Black
knight” and “Dead of knight” (superb
catchy faster Melodic Metal, BITCH eat your heart out!).
The CD is from start to finish high quality stuff, so we
can enjoy 50 minutes of HIGH CLASS 80s US Melodic Metal!
More info at: http://www.cultmetalclassics.com
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
NEMESIS
‘LOST
HUMANITY’ (CULT METAL CLASSICS)
NEMESIS was a Greek band and they played typical 80s
Metal, with elements of Power, Thrash and Heavy Metal,
combining into an exciting own style. The band managed to
release 2 demos in the early 90s, and both are now
re-issued onto 1 CD by CULT METAL CLASSICS. Some of the
songs are fast and also a bit Thrashy, kinda like AGENT
STEEL (Including high pitched vocals). However, when the
band is making slower songs they play very good Melodic
Metal like in the song “To the end”.
There’s some RAGE similarities in the song
“Search for immortality”, and although
it’s a quality Metal release, it’s not one of
the best releases on CULT METAL CLASSICS. I need to add
that the 5 tracks of the second demo included here are
much better than the first demo, with such Classic 80s
Speed Metal pieces like “Walls between the
nation” (like a very fast IRON MAIDEN) and
“Ancient legend” (with even keys!). Therefore I
can still give this CD a recommendation and again CULT
METAL CLASSICS has released something interesting. More
info at: http://www.cultmetalclassics.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
VALHALLA
‘THE
RETURN OF THE MYSTIC WARRIOR’
(CULT METAL CLASSICS)
In 1984 the American band VALHALLA released a very
collectable mini-LP, which is now finally re-issued onto
CD, with the addition of 6 unreleased bonustracks. The
first 6 tracks on the CD are high class 80s US Melodic
(Power) Metal pieces like a mix between RUFFIANS, Q5,
VICIOUS RUMOURS and WARLORD. The band has a very good
lead singer, and songs like “Nightstalker”
(very strong 80s US Metal), “Valhalla” (great
uptempo melodic metal a la WARLORD) and “Break of
darkness” (superb CLASSIC Melodic Metal with
tempochanges and even a keyboardsolo!). These songs are
very impressive, but unfortunately the second part of the
CD, the 6 unreleased bonustracks, are slightly different,
as they feature a new (weaker) lead singer and the music
is standard 80s Metal (SAXON/TOPT), not bad at all (as a
song like “Tribulation” is very good), but
it’s not as good as the original mini-LP songs.
Nevertheless, this VALHALLA is still recommended to fans
of WARLORD, Q5, VICIOUS RUMOURS and that sort of typical
80s US Melodic Metal. More info at: http://www.cultmetalclassics.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
ELIXIR ‘THE SON OF
ODIN’ (CULT METAL CLASSICS)
ELIXIR was a legendary UK act that released 2 albums in
the 1980s, but eventually it never got any further. Now
the Greek label CULT METAL CLASSICS has re-issued their
debut from 1986, and added a few bonustracks. Together
the CD covers 12 classy tracks, and is a must for every
fan of classy 80s Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal a la WARLORD,
RAINBOW, UFO... Songs like “Pandora’s
box”, “Hold high the flame”,
“Treachery ride like the wind” (best song!) and
“Winds of time” are high class Melodic Metal
tunes. Without a doubt, this CD is a must for every fan
of 80s Melodic Metal! More info at: http://www.cultmetalclassics.com
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
ELWING
‘IMMORTAL
STORIES’
(CULT METAL CLASSICS/ROCK INC./BERTUS)
Here’s something really good from Greece. The band
is called ELWING, and they play super high quality fast
Melodic Power Metal like BLIND GUARDIAN meets STEEL
ATTACK, with some MAIDEN riffs here and there. The CD has
a big sound/production, and besides the 8 great songs
included here (not counting the 3 short intro/outros), I
can also mention that the band has a very strong powerful
lead singer (called Sakis Kourtasis) who also plays
guitar. Highlights are uptempo Power Metal songs like
“Illusions”, “Doom crimson shore”,
“Excalibur” and “Altered beast”. Also
very good is the calmer bombastic epic ballad
“Something to believe in”, which sounds like
QUEENSRYCHE/VIRGIN STEELE in their heydays. Concluded, a
great CD that is recommended to fans of BLIND GUARDIAN,
MAGA DE OZ, MAIDEN etc. More info at: http://www.cultmetalclassics.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
VILLAIN
‘ONLY
TIME WILL TELL’ (CULT METAL CLASSICS)
Although the Belgian label MAUSOLEUM RECORDS recently
released the VILLAIN album, this re-issue of the CULT
METAL CLASSICS label is also very interesting, as it
contains 2 more tracks than the MAUSOLEUM release. These
are the live recorded songs “Hungry for glory”
(great uptempo Melodic Metal) and “Don’t you
forget it” (great uptempo melodic heavy rocker).
Needless to say, this album remains to be a highly
recommended Classic Metal release! Here is the original
review I wrote: This CD of VILLIAN comes with extensive
lyrics, additional writing/info, pictures and unreleased
songs. VILLIAN was one of those typical 80s Californian
Metalbands that didn’t make it big time, but had
their fifteen minutes of fame. Lead singer CARL ALBERT
had a fantastic voice and was basically the winner of
this band, because his voice got him hooked up with
VICIOUS RUMOURS, but he also sang 1 great classic Melodic
Metal album with the band RUFFIANS. Anyway, Carl sadly
died when he became the victim of a car accident, so
besides the VICIOUS RUMOURS albums, there were 2 more
albums of Carl that needed to get a re-issue on CD.
Unfortunately RUFFIANS still isn’t available on CD
(as far as I know!), but happily VILLIAN has made it onto
CD, and CULT METAL CLASSICS took care of this album.
‘Only time will tell’ is the title of the
record, which was originally recorded in 1986. The
included music is typical 80s Melodic Heavy Rock like MAD
MAX, RUFFIANS, GRIM REAPER... Highlights of the 9 tracks
included here (this is more like a Mini-CD) are
“Kamilkaze” (uptempo rocker), “Only time
will tell” (midtempo melodic metal),
“She’ll make you fall in love” (semi
melodic heavy rocker) and the superb semi melodic
rockballad “Just close your eyes” (DOKKEN
style). If you’re a dedicated fan of 80s US Metal,
then better get hold of this release, but it’s
especially a must if you’re a fan of VICIOUS
RUMOURS. More info at: http://www.cultmetalclassics.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
STRANGEHOLD
‘WORLD
PART 2’ (DEMO CDR)
The Belgian band STRANGEHOLD has a new demo out, and
it’s called ‘World part 2’. 8 songs are
included and a videclip. The videoclip is the song
“Sands of time”, a good Metal song, very 80s
influenced and the clip is also done very nicely. Back to
the CDR, which contains some good old-fashioned 80s
Melodic Metal, very well-played and reminding me of bands
like KILLER, MAIDEN (the guitarsolo’s), PICTURE and
some SAXON. The best songs are “Sands of time”
(the hitsingle?), “Goodbye”, “Like a
ghost” (very good ballad!) and “The voyage
home”. If you’re looking for some good raw pure
Metal, then check out the new demo by STRANGEHOLD at: http://www.facimages.com/Strangehold.html and e-mail them at: strangehold@skynet.be
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
TWELFTH
NIGHT ‘FACT
AND FICTION’ (CYCLOPS RECORDS)
I have never been a big fan of the UK Prog band TWELFTH
NIGHT. They just can not get into the high class of
PALLAS, IQ, JADIS, MARILLION, PENDRAGON... Although the
band exists for more than 20 years now, they never made
an impression on me with their albums. Also this new CD
‘Fact and fiction’ is not sensational, as it
contains again that typical TWELFTH NIGHT sound you
either love or hate. Anyway, back in 1982 they released
this album, which has now been re-issued onto CD, with
the addition of a lot of new unreleased bonustracks. The
music is a mix of Neo-Prog, Sympho and some
Wave/Electric, kinda like SAGA, only even more Wave based
sometimes. Listening to the album I become aware that
this album might be their best effort after all, as some
of the follow-up releases are really quite average. I
still don’t call this album a classic for Progfans,
because therefore it is too experimental sometimes (such
as the hugely New Wave influenced “East of
Eden” which sounds like MARILLION on acid and 80s
GENESIS fronted by a Metalsinger who kicked Phil Collins
out of the band). “Constant” and actually all
the bonustracks remind me of those terrible UK
Electro-Popbands like ERASURE/COMMUNUARDS (!!!). I can
make up some more of these comparisons, but in the end I
can conclude that this album is just like the other
TWELFTH NIGHT records one of those o.k. records with too
many uninteresting songs, so it just isn’t a
recommendation worth, unless you’re a dedicated fan
of the band. If I really want to hear good British
Neo-prog, then you must go for bands like PALLAS, IQ,
PENDRAGON, JADIS...
(Points:
6.5 out of 10)
MYSTERY
BLUE
‘METAL SLAVES’ (ROAD SHOW PRODUCTIONS)
The French band MYSTERY BLUE exists for almost 20 years
now, and they were one of the first bands to release an
album on the well-known French Label AXE KILLER RECORDS.
Now they have just finished the release of a new CD
titled ‘Metal slaves’, a clear high quality
release with a big production and nice songs. I have
reviewed a demo of them in the past, but I though that
was more in the melodic rock vein. This CD contains a mix
of Progressive and Power Metal with strong female vocals,
kinda like JUDAS PRIEST meets HEADLINE. The CD contains
11 tracks and is quite impressive at times. The
highlights can be found in the Progressive Metal song
“Dark visions”, the uptempo German orientated
Melodic Heavy Rocker “Metal dream” (SCORPIONS
meets ACCEPT) and the melodic rocker “Land of no
return” (sounds like DORO back fronting WARLOCK).
Without a doubt, this is really a good record that will
be loved by fans of strong powerful Melodic Metal with
high pitched (female) vocals. More info at: http://www.mysteryblue.com and e-mail them at: HMysteryblue@aol.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
OLIVER/DAWSON
SAXON ‘IT’S
ALIVE’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
SAXON is the legendary band that was one of the first
real Metalbands in the UK, but they will always be
remembered as SAXON with Biff Byford. This version of
SAXON however is also worth checking out, as they feature
the 2 original members, guitarist Steve Dawson and
bassist Graham Oliver. On vocals we can hear John Ward,
who once sang with SHY (with whom he released their
weakest effort in the early 90s), but is singing actually
quite well here. Of course this live-album of
OLIVER/DAWSON SAXON is mainly situated around the SAXON
classics, such as “Strong arm of the law”,
“Dallas 1PM”, “747” and “Wheels
of steel”, but there are also 3 songs played which
are actually OLIVER/DAWSON SAXON’s originals. These
somngs are also qutie good, such as the uptempo Melodic
Heavy Rockers “Past the point” and “One
more for the road”. Although the true SAXON fans
will not really enjoy SAXON without Biff, I can still
recommend this quality live-record to them, because the
sound is pretty much close to perfection!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
RABBIT ‘WELCOME TO
AMERICA’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
There are quite a few bands called RABBIT out there, with
the Japanese band being my favourite, but on ANGEL AIR
RECORDS we can discuss the review of the UK Band
RABBIT’s CD release ‘Welcome to America’.
This band formed around keyboardplayer John
‘Rabbit’ Bundrick was active in the 1970s and
can musically easily be compared to FREE, CREAM,
CRAWLER... The guitarsolo’s are very impressive,
with a strong HENDRIX influence, although the music is
somewhat slow and bluesy, but all played very well, with
as highlights “Taxi to Gatwick”, “Welcome
to America”, “Trouble in mind”,
“Emotions” (best song, 80s AOR a la
ASIA/BRONZ!!!) and “Zaragosa” (another AORish
song, like MIKE AND THE MECHANICS meets ASIA). People who
want to hear something dating back to the late 1960s when
real Rock and Hardrock had to be invented, some bands
started to play Rock’n’Roll louder than it had
been before, and RABBIT has put that classic late 60s
Hardrock’n’roll sound back on record now on
this CD. Especially recommended to CREAM and HENDRIX
fans!
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
GILLAN ‘ON THE
ROCKS’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
Recorded more than 20 years ago during a tour through
Germany as the GILLAN band, with of course IAN GILLAN on
vocals and BERNIE TORME on guitars. This live-CD has a
great sound quality and contains some great Classic
Hardrock in (of course) the DEEP PURPLE style, so lots of
Hammond and screaming vocals here and there, but the
GILLAN songs are also quite melodic. 12 songs are
included and so there’s a lot to enjoy if
you’re a fan of IAN GILLAN or DEEP PURPLE. The
highlights are strong Melodic Heavy Rocksongs like
“Bite the bullet”, “No easy way”,
“On the rocks” and “Vengeance”.
Concluded, this is a not-to-be-missed piece in the
collection of every DEEP PURPLE/GILLAN-fan!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
JEZABEL
‘LEGIONES
DEL SUR’ (CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC)
Not many people are ware that in Argentina hundreds of
great new bands playing are playing high quality Melodic
Power Metal. JEZABEL is one of them and the Italian label
CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC has released the 2nd CD of the band.
Musically it is typical Euro Melodic Power Metal like
LABYRINTH, ANGRA, RHAPSODY... Most of the 10 tracks (not
including the 2 short instrumentals) are fast paced
uptempo Melodic Power Metal pieces, and actually it all
sounds very strong and impressive. JEZABEL is a 6-piece
band with 2 guitarists and a keyboardplayer, so the sound
is pretty massive. The band’s lead singer has a
strong voice that is able to reach the high notes without
any problem. Fans of HELLOWEEN, ANGRA, BARILARI/RATA
BLANCA, LABYRINTH will love songs like “Alas de
acero” (bit KAMELOT), “Legiones del sur”
(like EDGUY), “El tiempo dira” (a la
LABYRINTH), “Gritto de libertad” (ANGRA style)
and closing track “Imagen del mundo”. Without a
doubt, this is a high quality release! More info at: http://www.cruzdelsurmusic.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
ULYSSES
‘SYMBIOSES’
(ECLECTIC PRODUCTIONS/CDISTRIBUTIONS/BERTUS)
The Dutch band ULYSSES has released a new CD titled
‘Symbioses’. Everything looks very professional
and also the sound quality of the CD (which has a playing
length of 60 minutes) is very impressive. The included
music follows the same path taken on the previous
records, so again we can hear good solid performed
Progressive Metal with the high pitched vocals of singer
Raymond Jansen. Maybe it’s not as good as a DREAM
THEATER, but it sure is quality Progressive Metal. Just
listen to the opener “World of confusion”, a
great Prog. Metal song with fantastic guitarwork (by
guitarist Sylvester Vogelenzang De Jong). The keyboards
are also played very well, such as on the start of
“Disbeliever”. The only thing is that the lead
singer still sings a bit forced at times, but especially
on the ballads “The script” and “Watching
over you” it sounds much better than on the heavier
tracks, but in general he comes across like a mix between
JOS MENNEN (ZINATRA/MENNEN) and a less interesting
version of JAMES LABRIE, but understand me well that he
doesn’t bad at all! Some of the other highlights are
the epic 10-minutes counting tracks “Unspoken
words” and “A moment of insanity”.
Concluded, this is a nice Prog. Metal CD, not as good as
SILENT EDGE for example, but still recommended to fans of
the genre. More info on ULYSSES at: http://www.ulysses-online.nl and e-mail them at: info@ulysses-online.nl
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SPITFIRE ‘HEROES IN THE
STORM’ (ANDROMEDA RECORDS)
This is one of those cult-underground Metalbands from the
mid 1980s. SPITFIRE came out of Verona, Italy and
resurrected from there in 1982 and only managed to
release demos and a 7” single in the years to
follow. This CD contains all the demo/single-material
recorded by the band during the 1980s. For a fan of
Classic 80s Melodic Metal (like a cross between MAIDEN,
TYGERS OF PAN TANG and Y AND T), this CD is a total must.
The 11 included tracks are all in this Classic
Hardrock/Metal style, with as absolute winners
“Hurricane (I’m free)”, “Blade
runner” and “A quiet man”. Concluded, if
you’re a fan of MAIDEN, Y&T, etc. then better
get this CD a.s.a.p. More info at: http://www.fanzine.net/magazine/andromeda
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
DARK
QUARTERER ‘VIOLENCE’
(ANDROMEDA RECORDS)
Here’s another really obscure Italian band, just
like SPITFIRE, also on the ANDROMEDA RECORDS. This band
however has released 5 CDs, of which ‘Violence’
is their latest record. The band is playing a wicked Doom
Metal orientated style, which sounds very dark (of course
CANDLEMASS, TROUBLE and BLACK SABBATH influences) and
totally non-commercial. Although only 6 tracks, the CD
still has a fair playing length of about 50 minutes. The
songs are actually very good, and are also slightly
Progressive here and there, with some Epic Metal
influences. A song like “Last breath” even
reveals some 70s URIAH HEEP influences, while at the same
time it has similarities to a BLACK SABBATH or LED
ZEPPELIN. This band is really trying to do something
totally different than all the other Italian bands and
they succeed, because they are not even a standard Doom
Metal band. The fact that the band already exists for 20
years is showing how comvinced this band is of their
music style, because in all those years they have hold on
to their roots and therefore the music has now reached an
own identity for DARK QUARTERER, which is quite good.
“Last breath” is one of the absolute highlights
here, with it’s tempo changes and high quality sound
in general. This is a band playing True Metal in
it’s own way, for which I am very impressed.
Let’s hope for many more albums of them in the
future! More info at: http://www.fanzine.net/magazine/andromeda
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
SABOTAGE
‘MEDNIJ
BYK’ (ARIJA RECORDS)
Out of Russia comes SABOTAGE, another quality band
playing Melodic Progressive/Power Metal. There are 9
tracks on their CD, and musically they are not far away
from countrymen like SHADOW HOST and EPIDEMIA. The
production is very good and among the highlights I would
mention “1”, “2”, “4”,
“7” and ‘9’. The beginning is pure
Melodic Power Metal, but as the CD develops it turns more
into a Melodic Rock/Prog. Metalalbum, with even 2 great
AOR pieces (“6” and “8”). From start
to end this is really a good album, so a recommendation
worth! You can buy the CD at www.metal-cd.ru
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
VICTOR
ZINCHOVK ‘NEOCLASSIC’
(IMPORT)
I have absolutely no info on VICTOR ZINCHOVK, but I can
guarantee you that his CD ‘Neo classic’ is a
very impressive instrumental album. He comes out of
Russia and his music is Neo-Classical Hardrock/Metal, not
unlike MALMSTEEN with some Russian tradition melodies
mixed into the 12 included songs. The production is also
very good, so without a doubt this is a much-recommended
album to fans of instrumental Neo-Classical Melodic
Hardrock/Metal. You can buy the CD at www.metal-cd.ru
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
GRAHAM
OLIVER ‘END
OF AN ERA’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
Former SAXON guitarist GRAHAM OLIVER not only continued
to perform and record records as OLIVER/DAWSON SAXON, but
also managed to release solo-CDs, such as this ‘End
of an era’. This CD contains a collection of all
sorts of tunes, such as JIMI HENDRIX covers, SAXON songs,
his son’s band BULLRUSH, a few instrumentals and
some GRAHAM OLIVER originals. The music is mostly
Hardrock here, but different from SAXON, as this is more
70s inspired (groovy) Hardrock instead of the
straight-forward Heavy Metal of SAXON. Also I need to
mention that Graham’s sons’ band BULLRUSH are
playing more modern sounding rock a la RADIOHEAD, but
they also have some AOR influences such as in
“Standing in the rain”. Anyway, this is a
quality record with 13 nice songs. Highlights include
“Born to rock’n’roll”, “Goodbye
to yesterday”, “Can you see me” and
“Never surrender”. Recommended to fans of SAXON
of course, although don’t expect anything close to
Graham’s former band (except for the SAXON cover!)
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
 STEVE DAWSON ‘PANDEMONIUM
CIRCUS’
(ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
Basist STEVE DAWSON is best known as the SAXON member who
got kicked out of the band in 1986. In the years to
follow Steve has done a lot, and some of the recordings
he did in the late 1980s are now released on CD. The CD
is titled ‘Pandemonium’ and contains a
collection of very impressive material Steve has recorded
between 1986 and 1989 in various line-ups. The music is
quite surprising, as it is typical 80s AOR/Melodic Rock
with catchy hooks, memorable choruses and some very good
lead vocals (by the singers Adrian Davidson and Steve
Johnson). The material is reminding me of bands like
BRONZ, FM, SHY, BON JOVI, DEF LEPPARD and even PREVIEW!
16 songs are included and some of the songs are really
great. Highlights are such excellent uptempo AOR/Melodic
rockers like “She”, “Step inside
love”, “Answer to my prayer” and
“Like Marrionetts”, but also the fantastic
midtempo ‘big sounding’ melodic rockers “2
Late”, “More foolin” and “Join
hands”. Finally I also need to mention such great
faster paced uptempo melodic heavy rockers like “All
we dream of” and “Wings at dawn”. Most of
the material on this record is really quite awesome, but
only the sound quality is not always like it should be
and that’s a pity, but don’t let that keep you
off from trying to check out this great collection of
AOR/Melodic Rocksongs from the former SAXON bassist.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 NEWMAN ‘SIGN OF THE MODERN
TIMES’
(ESCAPE MUSIC)
Steve Newman is back with a hot new release and after a
few spins I can maybe conclude that ‘Sign of the
modern times’ is his best record. OK, this is AOR by
the numbers, out of the big cliche book where the
standard formula 80s AOR was built around, but it still
has a great catchy 80s AOR approach that reminds me of
bands like ATLANTIC, GARY HUGHES/TEN, BAD ENGLISH, the
first FM record, a heavier STAN BUSH and NIGHT RANGER. 11
songs are included and together with a big production (by
Pete Coleman of BLACK SABBATH, AC/DC-fame), this is
clearly a recommended piece for fans of
quality AOR/Melodic Rock. My favourite tracks are
“Save me tonight” (big classy 80s uptempo AOR
like a heavier STAN BUSH), “You should be gone”
(great midtempo AOR), “Watching you” (lovely
semi AOR ballad a la ATLANTIC – what happened to
that awesome UK AOR act?), “Heart v. Desire”
(nice fun 80s uptempo AOR a la BAD ENGLISH), “What
you do to me” (high class uptempo AOR like very
first FM) and closing track “Worlds apart”
(lovely semi AOR ballad). In general, this is really a
great recommended AOR album, but just don’t expect
anything new, because it is after all AOR by the number
without any surprises, but on the other hand it’s a
good ‘second hand’ AOR release!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
LEGION ‘1980-1987’
(RUSSIAN IMPORT)
Like the title predicts, this CD is filled with material
recorded between 1980 and 1987. The Russian band LEGION
was playing Melodic Metal like a mix between SAXON and
MAIDEN back then and this CD is very impressive from
start to finish. All the 13 older songs of this CD are
classy 80s Metal with a lot of melodies and great
guitarwork. Recently the band has released a new CD,
which got a good review here in our RUSSIAN METAL
SPECIAL, and saw a more Power/Progressive Metalstyle, so
this CD is a nice look back at the band’s earlier
years when they played a somewhat different style.
Highlights include “2” (catchy!), “4”
(fantastic midtempo melodic heavy rocker, like HEEP),
“6”, “7” and “10”. This
LEGION might be one of Russian’s best Metalbands and
this CD is therefore highly recommended to all Melodic
Metalfreaks! You can buy the CD at www.metal-cd.ru
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 OMEN ‘ETERNAL BLACK
DAWN’
(MAUSOLEUM RECORDS)
The legendary US band OMEN returns with a complete new CD
titled ‘Eternal black dawn’. From the original
line-up there’s only one member left, guitarist
Kenny Powell. With a new line-up, including new vocalist
Kevin Goocher, OMEN has released a new CD on MAUSOLEUM
RECORDS. The music is very impressive, as it is excellent
pure 80s Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal, very US orientated,
kinda like WARLORD with some MAIDENish guitarwork. The
vocals are very melodic (very much like WARLORD), so no
high pitched vocals here, but a very melodic way of
singing. It’s a pity only 9 songs are included (with
closing track “The specter of battle’s
past” being a medley of old OMEN songs), because the
45 minutes on this CD are really awesome. It doesn’t
matter which song you are listening to, because they are
all very good, with as absolute highlights “1000
year reign”, “Eternal black dawn”,
“Blood feud” and the fast “Chaos in the
cathedral”. Highly recommended to fans of pure 80s
US orientated Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal a la WARLORD,
FIFTH ANGEL, GRIM REAPER!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 DARK FIRE ‘DARK FIRE’
(SACRED METAL RECORDS)
We’re
heading into Italy again with the band DARK FIRE. This
band as formed in 1994, and on their debut Omar Zoncada
of TIME MACHINE is singing, so the vocals are quite
excellent. Happily, also the music is of a very high
level, because DARK FIRE is playing HIGH CLASS MELODIC
PROG/POWER METAL! Thier CD is really awesome and the
songs are very impressive, while also the
production/artwork is very professional. The first song
“The darkfire” is fantastic catchy fast uptempo
melodic Italo Power Metal, very much like LABYRINTH! The
following 8 songs move more or less in the same
direction, so what you get here is a fantastic Melodic
Power Metal album in the typical Italian style, yet with
Neo-Classical influences as well (MALMSTEEN/SYMPHONY X)
and together with fantastic vocals of Omar this album is
a winner for fans of mentioned bands. At the moment, the
band is working on a new CD, and instead of Omar (who is
a full-time member of TIME MACHINE and just did the vocal
part of this album) the band has now also a full-time
lead singer called Francesco Compiani. If he sings as
well as Omar does on the debut CD of DARK FIRE will be
clear on a future record. Besides the fantastic opener,
other highlights are “Master of bulls”,
“The pure sound” (very melodic!),
“Colours” (lovely semi-melodic rockballad) and
“Gorgoroth’s fire” (best song, fantastic
fast Power Metal, pure LABYRITNH circa ‘Return to
heaven and denied’). I can say only one thing:
“Get this record a.s.a.p. if you’re a fan of
bands like TIME MACHINE, LABYRINTH, MALMSTEEN, SYMPHONY
X!” More info at: http://www.sacredmetal.too.it
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 NORDHEIM ‘RIVER OF
DEATH’
(MAUSOLEUM RECORDS)
Let me first inform you that NORDHEIM is a high quality
Melodic Power Metal band from Brazil, and their CD
‘River of death’ is a very impressive Melodic
Euro Power Metal record (HELLOWEEN, EDGUY, GAMMA RAY),
yet the pity is that the band also uses some raw
Death-grunts and some Thrash-screams sometimes that sadly
disturb the music a few times. That’s really a pity,
because NORDHEIM sounds (especially during the bridges
and choruses) like a great Power Metal band, but the use
of Death/Thrash-elements is making them different than
most other bands, which some people might really like
about a band having an own style, but in this case the
band is too good during the Power Metal parts, so it only
has a negative influence on their music. If we ignore the
Death/Thrash influences we can hear some great songs like
“River of death”, “Raining fire”,
“Before the light”, “The Metal
March!” and “Evil intentions”. Please on a
future record drop the Death/Thrash elements and go for
straight-forward Power Metal!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 ARIA 'KRESCHENIE
OGNEM/CHRSITENING BY FIRE (JETNOISE RECORDS)
The legendary Russian Metalband ARIJA/APUST has a new CD
out. Like most of their earlier records, the lyrics are
sung in Russian, so there’s no need in mentioning
the songtitles here. Anyway, the music itself is just
like all their other recordings, so we get to hear
excellent high quality Melodic Metal with clear 80s
MAIDEN and HELLOWEEN influences. 9 tracks and a video are
included on the CD, and from start to finish this is a
great Melodic Heavy Rock/Metalalbum the old fashioned
way, so with clean vocals and guitarwork, very 80s
indeed! You can buy the CD at www.metal-cd.ru
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
MCCOY
‘THINK
HARD AGAIN’ (ANGEL AIR RECORDS)
Bassist JOHN MCCOY is a very respected English (session)
musician who played on a lot of albums and released a few
albums under the monniker of MCCOY. This ‘Think hard
again’ album is a compilation of the Mini-album he
cut in 1983 and the ‘Think hard’ LP from 1985.
In total we can find 15 tracks. Remarkable is the
appearance of the late Paul Samson on guitars. The music
included here is classy early 80s N.W.O.B.H.M. with some
Melodic Rock elements, not unlike RAGE, UFO, PRAYING
MANTIS and EXPORT. My favourite tracks are “The
demon rose” (classy 80s melodic rock), “Ride
the night” (typical British, a la RAGE/UFO),
“Night lights” (faster melodic heavy rocker)
and the midtempo melodic rocker “Because you
lied”. Concluded, this is a great release by ANGEL
AIR RECORDS, recommended to fans of classy British
Melodic Rock.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 WONDERLAND ‘ETERNALLY’ (RISINGWORKS/UNDERGROUND
SYMPHONY RECORDS)
The
Italian band WONDERLAND returns with a new CD titled
‘Eternally’. It’s not a new full-length
CD, because that will be released later this year (and
titled ‘Follow me’), but ‘Eternally’
is a great sneak-preview Mini-CD, including 4 new tracks.
The sound/production by FRANK ANDIVER (former LABYRINTH)
is very impressive and the Melodic Rock/Metal of
WONDERLAND sounds really great, a bit like a mix between
TIME MACHINE and early LABYRINTH. The band has a
fantastic lead singer (Alexx Hall), who lift WONDERLAND
above all the other Italo bands in this genre. Opener
“Eternally” is the perfect melodic
rock/metalsong, a very strong song like TIME MACHINE.
Next track “Follow the end” is totally
different and has absolutely nothing to do with mentioned
bands, as this is a very calm almost AOR/Neo-Prog
orientated song that sounds like a cross between JADIS
and ALIAS, yet a bit poppier. The third song “The
call of the dawn” is a sneak preview of the
forthcoming album ‘Follow me’, and without a
doubt this is the best song, a SUPERB uptempo Melodic
Metal song like TIME MACHINE with again lovely lead
vocals. Singer ALEXX HALL is clearly one of the better
singers in Italy at the moment, right up there with the
singers of RHAPSODY, LABYRINTH and TIME MACHINE.
“The call of the dawn” is really an awesome
song that sounds like AOR meets Italo Power Metal, so the
upcoming album might become one of the strongest releases
this year when it will be released (hopefully soon!). The
final track of this mini-CD is “Children of
heaven”, a cover of a song of the band SWORD. This
song will also be included on the forthcoming tribute CD
‘In the land of the brave’, and actually
WONDERLAND’s version is even better than it’s
original!!! This 4-track is really great and I look very
much forward to the band’s new CD. More info at: http://digilander.libero.it/wonderland
(Points:
9.0 out of 10)
 VALAS ‘A GLANCE FROM
UNREALITY’
(SACRED METAL RECORDS)
I can hardly keep up with the amount of CDs of Italian
bands lately, because VALAS is yet another interesting
Melodic Metal outfit from Italy. The band is mixing 80s
Metal with today’s Prog Metal, not unlike MAIDEN
meets DREAM THEATER, but it also reminds me a bit of the
80s US Power Metal sound and even AOR/Melodic Rock
influences can be heard. There are 8 tracks on the CD and
it all sounds quite impressive and very melodic actually.
The clean vocals, keyboards and melodic (harmony) vocals
make this CD a true winner for the fan of Melodic Heavy
Rock/Metal. The best songs on the CD are “Cassandra
crossing” (uptempo Melodic Metal),
“Walkin’ in the rain” (fantastic uptempo
melodic rocker a la 80s CRIMSON GLORY/QUEENSRYCHE),
“The wayfarer” (great epic semi-ballad),
“Fairy (in the realm of Xantor” (lovely uptempo
melodic Italo Power Metal) and “Tonight the
sky”. So this is yet another great album from Italy!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
HAMMERHEART ‘PROMO 02’
(PROMO)
Out of Slovakia comes HAMMERHEART, a fantastic classic
80s orientated Melodic Metalband. They play in the style
of IRON MAIDEN, and they feature a very strong singer,
while the sound of this 4-track promo is very impressive.
Without a doubt, this is 20 minutes of pleasure with only
high quality Melodic Metal. “Back from
serenity”, “Describe my fate” and
“The revival” are all 3 uptempo Melodic Metal
pieces, while the best track is closing track “When
dark dreams...”, a classic 7-minute epic midtempo
Melodic Metal track with tempo changes a la early
QUEENSRYCHE). I believe the band released more CDs, but
this promo is already something really sensational. More
info at: http://www.hammerheart.sk and e-mail at: Klaus.Stracke@mp-media.com
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
FIRESTORM
‘BACK
FROM HELL’ (F&F)
The Austrian band FIRESTORM has released a new CD, and
without a doubt, ‘Back from hell’ is a huge
album. It’s as good as the recent new releases by
SHAKRA and WYCKED SYNN, so big 80s influenced Melodic
Heavy Rock/Metal in typical German tradition (a la
BONFIRE, VICTORY, AXXIS), yet with some slight Prog.
Metal influences here and there such as on the great
midtempo song “Paralyze my fear”. The band has
a very powerful singer (although it seems like both
guitarists and the
bassist are singing!) and the CD has a crystal clear BIG
SOUND! The music is definitely the perfect mix between
Hardrock and Metal, so I could label it as Melodic Heavy
Rock! 9 songs are included, of which the highlights are
“Back from hell”, “Heading for
tomorrow”, “War” and “Sunny
lane”, all big midtempo melodic heavy rockers in
typical German tradition. I can easily recommend this CD
to fans of mentioned bands, so go check it out at: http://www.thefirestorm.com and e-mail them at: firestorm@aon.at
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
MANIC
OPERA ‘MOMENTS
IN TIME’ (INDEPENDENT)
Metalbands are rare in Australia, but when a new act
arrives here it’s almost always sensational. After
we had the bands ANARION, BLACK MAJESTY, BLACK STEEL,
PEGAZUS and a few others, it’s now time for the band
MANIC OPERA. They hail from Melbourne, and on their debut
CD ‘Moments in time’ we can hear high quality
Melodic Neo-Classical Prog. Metal, influenced by the
likes of SYMPHONY X and DREAM THEATER, but also IRON
MAIDEN. The band has a good lead singer, who can easily
sing the highs and lows, and if you’re a Prog.
Metal/Neo-Classical Metal fan you will enjoy this
45-minutes counting CD. The highlights of the 8 included
tracks are “Moments in time” (SYMPHONY X meets
MAIDEN), “Stand proud” (great keys, uptempo
Power Metal), “Holding on” and “New
horizons”. More info on MANIC OPERA at: http://www.manicopera.com and e-mail them at: manicopera@manicopera.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
STEAMROLLER
‘CRUSHING
FRAGILE ROCK’ (MIND BLOWN RECORDS)
The American band STEAMROLLER has a new CD out. It’s
called ‘Curshing fragile rock’ and contains
very groovy Melodic HR, with some Bluesy influences here
and there, a bit like BLUE MURDER, GLENN HUGHES etc.
It’s definitely quality music, but not really
sensational. However, the band has a very powerful singer
(Marc Don Vito) and the CD itself has a big sound, so
therefore this is quality stuff, but only the songs could
be better. There are some very good songs on the album
such as “Big day”, “Aurora”,
“Powerlines” and “Rather fight than
bitch”, of which some also contain influences from
Sleaze/Hardrock. I hope next time they can come up with
some stronger songs, because STEAMROLLER can easily sound
better if only they would improve on the songwriting
part. Nevertheless, it’s still a quality and
recommended to fans of BLUE MURDER/GLENN HUGHES etc. More
info at: http://www.steamrollerrocks.com
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
JUMP ‘HOME SONGS’
(CYCLOPS RECORDS)
The UK band JUMP has built up quite a big discography so
far, with their new album ‘Home songs’ being
their 8th CD so far. The new album is a collection of
nice calmer melodic Neo-Prog in the style of FOR ABSENT
FRIENDS, JADIS, although a little poppier. Although not
all songs are convincing (such as the weaker “All
hail” and “The better part of Valour”),
the CD is still quite good. Highlights are “Home
song”, “Never too far” (70s GENESIS),
“My little eye” and “Spin the silver”
(AORish rocker). So this is another good record of the UK
Neo-Prog band JUMP.
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
THE
GUARDIANS OFFICE ‘THE GUARDIANS OFFICE’
(CYCLOPS RECORDS)
THE GUARDIAN’S OFFICE is a new project of the
drummer/composer of FRUITCAKE, a Swedish Progrockband. 8
songs are included on the CD, and musically it’s a
mixture of 70s/80s Melodic Prog. Rock (a la RUSH and
MARILLION) and 70s Pomp (the keys), with a great lead
singer (Tony Johannesen) in the style of
QUEENSRYCHE’s Geoff Tate (so a Prog. Metal kind of
singer). This CD is of a very high quality and I can
easily recommend it to all Prog fans. Highlights are
“Dark girl”, “Play of your life”,
“The room below” (a real uptempo rocker, with
an impressive keyboardsolo) and “Heat of that
sound”. Check it out if you’re a fan of high
class melodic Progrock!
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
VARIOUS
ARTISTS ‘CYCLOPS
SAMPLER 5’ (CYCLOPS RECORDS)
The UK Prog. Rocklabel CYCLOPS RECORDS has a new
compilation CD out which contains 20 long songs of
artists/bands from the label, with the mention that all
songs are unreleased, so therefore a must for every Prog.
Rockfan. Highlights are such fantastic Prog. Rocksongs of
bands like FLAMBOROUGH HEAD, GUARDIANS OFFICE, MOSTLY
AUTUMN, MYSTERKAH, NICE BEAVER, SAENS, TRANSIENCE and
TWELFTH NIGHT. Any progrockfan must own this CD a.s.a.p.!
(Points:
- )
CYNICAL
LIMIT ‘CYNAICAL
LIMIT’ (INDEPENDENT)
ANGELICA was a fantastic underrated Canadian Christian
Melodic Rockband from the 90s, they had 4 excellent
releases on which even ROB ROCK sang! Anyway, the
bandleader of ANGELICA was guitarist/keyboardplayer
DENNIS CAMERON. We are now in the year 2003 and he has a
new band called CYANIC LIMIT, and with them he has
released a full-length CD. The sound is very big, of
label quality, and the included music is Melodic Hardrock
with a groovy twist sometimes. It’s not much like
ANGELICA, but happily it’s also different from all
the horrible Nu-Metal bands currently coming out of the
US. Maybe you can say that ANGELICA could have sounded
like this if they had continued. The band’s singer
Jeff Martel has a very powerful voice, and the included
10 songs feature heavy riffs, but melodic bridges and
choruses. Highlights are “What did you see”
(uptempo melodic HR like HAREM SCAREM’s ‘Mood
swings’), “It’ll be alright” (great
midtempo Melodic Hardrock), “Choices” (great
heavy semi melodic rockballad), “War keeps
raging” (huge midtempo melodic heavy rock with a raw
edge, and a great chorus a la GUILD OF AGES) and
“Tonight” (great midtempo melodic rocker like
JADED HEART and old BON JOVI). A few songs are a bit
weaker, such as “The code”, “Motives”
and “N.L.T.B.”, both very groovy rockers.
However for the most part this is a deadringer for fans
of HAREM SCAREM’s ‘Mood swings’ and
HARDLINE. This is a fine return of ANGELICA’s main
man, he could try shopping it to an European label,
it’s heavy enough for a Metal label, but also
melodic enough for the AOR label, otherwise said his
chances to get signed in Europe are very big, as there
are almost 100 labels here in Europe specialized in Rock,
Metal or Melodic Rock. For now, more info at:
http://www.cynicallimit.com and e-mail them at: dennis@cynicallimit.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
STRAY
BULLET ‘STRAY
BULLET’ (INDEPENDENT)
STRAY BULLET hail from Brazil and their 6-track-CD sounds
really great. The band is playing 80s influenced US
Melodic Rock a la AUTOGRAPH, WHITE LION, DANGER DANGER,
DOKKEN, FIREHOUSE, HEAVEN’S EDGE... They sound very
good, not only the songs, but also the production/sound
is good and STRAY BULLET has a great strong melodic lead
singer (Guilherme Oliviera). Opener “Seasons”
is a classy uptempo melodic rocker and definitely one of
the best songs. Also closing track “Saturday
night” is a great cheesy and catchy 80s uptempo
melodic rocker, but unfortunately the rest of the CD is
not as classy and uptempo melodic rock based as the
opening and closing track, but still a midtempo melodic
rocker like “Power intentions” is pretty nice.
I hope for some more uptempo melodic rockers a la
“Seasons” and “Saturday night” next
time. In the meantime, check out their site at: http://www.straybullet.br and e-mail them at: straybullet@yahoogrupos.com.br
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
TRANCE
MISSION ‘BACK
IN TRANCE 2’ (LCP PRODUCTIONS)
In the early 80s the German band TRANCE released 3 good
Hardrockalbums in the style of SCORPIONS. They were seen
as a band with a future, but somehow somewhere something
went wrong, because we first had to wait until the year
1989 (I believe) when the band released under the
monniker TRANCE MISSION an album titled ‘Back in
trance’, which was an average album. Now almost 15
years later there’s a follow-up to that record and
unfortunately again the band has not succeed in reaching
the high level of their earlier records. The production
is good, and the songs are slightly better than the
previous TRANCE MISSION record, but still songs like
“Back in trance”, “Jesus was a
headbanger” and “Metal men” are not really
memorable. They now sound like a typical 80s German Metal
band with even some keyboards, like ACCEPT meets HIGH
TENSION (if anyone remember them?). It’s not bad
what we hear, because songs like “Maryanne”,
“God of Rock” (ACCEPT chorus) and “Holy
bitch” (catchy! Many keys!) are good melodic
rockers, but it’s just not like the TRANCE records
from before and it also can not compete with all the
other Metal/Hardrockalbums at the moment. The vocals are
not strong enough and the songs are too simple to make
this CD a winner, so this might only be interesting for
the die-hard TRANCE fans. I can only advise the band to
change something on a future record, which is introduce a
new lead singer and let Lothar Antoni concentrate on the
guitar, and secondly write really good songs with better
lyrics. Maybe this album would have done better 15 years
ago when ACCEPT and SINNER easily sold thousands albums
with this kind of simpler Metal, but today there needs to
be done more in making a good Metal/Hardrockrecord. Check
it out if you’re a dedicated 80s German Metal fan or
are really into TRANCE, then go to: http://www.trancemission-music.de
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
REA
SILVIA ‘OUR
HIDDEN WORLD’ (INDEPENDENT)
Not many people are aware of the fact that in the Eastern
Europe countries a lot of great Metalbands are active
that play a rather good own approach of Classic 80s
Metal. MAIDEN was probably the biggest influence, because
I can easily mention them when reviewing any band from
Eastern Europe. Also the band REA SILVIA from the Czech
Republic is a band that has clear IRON MAIDEN influences,
although I also heard some similarities to SAXON, early
DEF LEPPARD and URIAH HEEP. Before you might think that
it all sounds dated, that’s completely untrue,
because REA SILVIA is playing 80s influenced Melodic
Hardrock/Metal that still sounds updated for today’s
market. They just listened very good to the 80s melodies
and guitarsound, and released a great album titled
‘Our hidden world’. The band sings in their own
language, but music has no borders, so it’s still a
pleasure to listen to REA SILVIA’s melodic heavy
rock/metal. The best songs are “Pecute”
(fantastic catchy uptempo melodic heavy rocker a la MAD
MAX), “Speed Metal world” (fantastic faster
melodic power metal with fantastic guitarwork),
“Ohniva lady” (great uptempo melodic rocker)
and “Batalion” (very good midtempo melodic
metal). Concluded I can only say that this is a
recommended band from Eastern Europe, especially if you
like ARIJA/APUSTA, LEGEND, DIVLJE JAGODE, SOUTHERN STORM
etc. then REA SILVIA should not be missed in your
collection! This CD was released back in 2000, and the
band is currently working on new material. More info at: http://www.reasilvia.wz.cz
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
 HUGHES/TURNER PROJECT ‘2’ (MTM
MUSIC/SUBURBAN)
GLENN HUGHES and JOE LYNN TURNER return to the scene with
their 3rd CD ‘2’ (yes, I also counted the
live-CD they cut). Nothing has changed, so again we can
hear high quality Melodic Classic Hardrock a la DEEP
PURPLE and RAINBOW with a groovy guitarsound every now
and then. 11 tracks are included and both singers sing
their hearts out of their lungs on them. The production
is very good and without a doubt this is a must for every
fan of these incredible singers. Best songs to me are
“Losing my head” (has a great catchy melodic
chorus), “Going my way” (midtempo with an
AORish chorus!), “Hold on” (very cliche
songtitle, but still a good uptempo melodic rocker),
“Time and time again” (very relaxed late night
semi-AOR ballad a la RAINBOW’s “Street of
dreams”) and “Lost dreams” (strong
midtempo melodic rocker). Concluded, grab this CD if
you’re a fan of GLENN HUGHES, JOE LYNN TURNER, DEEP
PURPLE, RAINBOW, BRAZEN ABBOT etc.
(Points:
8.5 out of 10)
STAINLESS
STEEL ‘WIGANT/RED
HEAT WITHIN’
(HAMMER/MUSIC WORKS)
STAINLESS STEEL hail from Hungary, and they have released
2 CDs so far. Their debut ‘Wigant’ was released
back in 2000 and contains good solid typical Euro Power
metal with a strong 80s approach, a bit like HELLOWEEN,
KAMELOT and a faster IRON MAIDEN, but I also heard some
HAMMERFALL similarities. I need to add that STAINLESS
STEEL is good, but not of the same high level as
mentioned bands, but nevertheless it’s still a
recommended band to check out if you’re into any of
the mentioned bands. Most of the 17 included (short)
songs are fast uptempo pieces, with as highlights “A
great adventure”, “The mission”,
“Outrage”, “Farewell” (great uptempo
melodic heavy rock, very strong with excellent lead
vocals that somehow sound much better than on the other
songs of the CD!), “The journey” (also very
good, with classy guitarwork) and “Scourge of
God”. In 2002 STAINLESS STEEL released their 2nd CD
‘Red heat within’, which saw them moving more
into an updated Euro Power Metal sound (read:
STRATOVARIUS/SONATA ARCTICA/BLIND GUARDIAN, only without
the keys and not of the same high quality). The CD counts
9 tracks and opener “The returner” is a really
awesome start, as this fast paced uptempo Power Metal
tune has a great catchy singable choruses a la SONATA
ARCTICA. The CD continues in this style, and so further
highlights we can find in the songs “Lady at the
rocks”, “The wicked game”, “In
fever” and “The lion and the eagle”.
Concluded, this Hungarian band is recommended to fans of
the typical Euro Power Metal sound of today. More info
at: http://www.stainlessteel.de and e-mail at: steel@mail.uti.hu
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
 AOR ‘DREAMING OF
L.A.’ (AOR HEAVEN)
The AOR Project has a new CD out titled ‘Dreaming of
L.A.’ and although the CD starts really awesome with
one of the best songs they have made so far, namely the
superb high class midtempo AOR song “You’re my
obsession” with STEVE OVERLAND of FM doing excellent
lead vocals, the rest of the CD is a lot poppier than the
earlier records of AOR. That first song by the way is
finally bringing back STEVE OVERLAND at his best, namely
singing a song in the style of the first 2 FM Classics.
Back to the AOR CD, which contains 12 tracks, the album
has many Pop/Westcoast orientated songs, such as
“Lost in your eyes” (a la BEE GEES!!!),
“Teach me how to love you again” (a la 70s
CHICAGO), “Haunted by your smile”, “Worlds
away” and “Never gonna let her go”.
It’s really a pity, because the list of lead singers
is quite stunning (STEVE OVERLAND, TOMMY FUNDERBURK
etc.), but like I said the music is either Pop or soft
AOR. Besides the opener “You’re my
obsession”, other highlights are “Don’t
give up on love” (great AOR a la TOTO),
“Sensation” (fantastic AOR rocker a la
RADIOACTIVE/LE ROUX) and the calmer semi-AOR ballads (a
la STAN BUSH) “On dangerous ground”, “Fly
with me” and “Last days in San Francisco”.
Concluded, this is not a Rockalbum, because fun uptempo
AOR stuff can not be found, so this is only interesting
for people who appreciate a more Westcoast/Pop orientated
direction somewhere between TIM FEEHAN/DAVID ROBERTS/TOTO
and CHICAGO/RICHARD MARX or even poppier. Although
it’s a quality Westcoast/Pop album, I really hope
for some more AOR next time.
(Points:
7.5 out of 10)
KATT
‘DEMO
CDR’ (DRIVIN’ RECORDS)
KATT from California has released herself a demo CDR, on
which she is helped by musicians of THREE DOG NIGHT. 11
songs are included and the music is Bluesy Rock a la
ALANNAH MYLES, FLEETWOOD MAC and some JANIS JOPLIN, so it
has nothing to do with AOR or Hardrock/Metal. KATT has a
good raw voice and songs like “Walkin”,
“Once in a lifetime” and “Burnin
love” are quite nice to hear. Still I miss some more
uptempo catchy rockers (I actually had hoped for a more
early PAT BENATAR style), as most of the songs are slow,
bluesy and groovy. Nevertheless if you like SASS JORDAN
or ALANNAH MYLES, this KATT might also be very
interesting for you. More info at: http://www.katt.com and e-mail them at: ronj_91602@hotmail.com
(Points:
7.0 out of 10)
STYGMA
IV
‘A HISTORY IN PAIN LIVE’ (AUSTRO MECHANA)
The Austrian Melodic Metalband STYGMA IV has released a
live-CD. The sound quality and the actual recordings are
very impressive. The concert took place on the 9th of
November 2002 in the beautiful city of Salzburg. The band
is playing a mix of Melodic Hard/Heavy Rock like PRETTY
MAIDS and some Power Metal a la BRAINSTORM/ BLIND
GUARDIAN, with lead vocals reminding me of both DEE
SNIDER of TWISTED SISTER and BLACKIE LAWLESS of WASP. 10
long songs are included and with a playing length of 73
minutes you really get worth your money. Highlights are
especially the last couple of songs, such as the great
“Earth children” and “Solum mente
infirmis”. Without a doubt this is a great Live-CD,
maybe not as big as the recent BLIND GUARDIAN, but still
a good Melodic Metal live record that showcases that this
band is making a perfect mix between US and German Metal
(WASP/TWISTED SISTER meets BRAINSTORM/BLIND
GUARDIAN/PRETTY MAIDS). More info at: http://www.stygma4.com
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
TEMPLARIO
‘SUENOS
PERDIDOS/LA RISA DE LA BESTIAS’
(ZERO RECORDS)
We’re heading to Spain once again where we can find
a band called TEMPLARIO. This band has released 2 CDs so
far. Their first ‘Suenos perdidos’ dates back
to 2001 and contains 12 good Melodic Metaltracks, sung in
Spanish. TEMPLARIO is a 3-piece and they play in the
style of BARON ROJO, MURO, NU... Highlights on that debut
CD are 80s influenced Melodic Heavy Rockers like
“Padre nuestro”, “Fuerza”,
“Dominar” and “El Guante Blanco”.
Recently the band released a follow-up titled ‘La
risa de la bestias’, which continued the same
Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal style as on their debut. The
best songs on the new CD are “Talisman”,
“Hoguera viva”, “El llanto del miedo”
and “Arnau”. Although they play good 80s
influenced Metal, TEMPLARIO is not as good as BARON ROJO,
MURO or TIERRA SANTA, as they are a few levels lower.
Nevertheless, interesting for the fan of Spanish Metal!
(Points:
8.0 out of 10)
(All
reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem, except where noted)
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