'Evil' is the 6th CD release of the Italian Progressive Metal band TIME MACHINE. I think this is their best effort, because their new album 'Evil' contains fantastic high quality melodic progressive rock/metal that can easily be put next to bands like VANDENPLAS, ROYAL HUNT, ANGRA, TEN, BALANCE OF POWER, SHADOW GALLERY... The vocals of singer Pino Tozzi are very impressive and super melodic, and also the instrumental qualities of this band are rather fantastic. The new album is some sort of concept album based around the novel "Eymerich" by Italian award-winning writer and history professor Valerio Evangelisti. It is said this is only part one, and the two following CDs of the band are already in process and will continue the stories of this novel.

Anyway, the music on this CD is superb! The only complaint I have is that the CD has a playing length of nearly 43 minutes, and there are only 6 real songs on the CD, because 3 songs are short intro tunes, and there's 1 instrumental piece. Nevertheless, these 6 songs are basically the best you can get these days in quality melodic progressive rock/metal. The first track "Where's my heaven" contains some interesting classical music influences during the keyboardwork, and is a lovely uptempo progressive melodic heavy rocker like ROYAL HUNT and ANGRA. "Army of the dead" is another lovely song, as this song is huge progressive melodic rock with a beautiful chorus, a bit like TEN and VANDENPLAS. The next track "Kiss of fire" is a superb uptempo progressive melodic rocker like BALANCE OF POWER and VANDENPLAS, and I mean, this song is really HUGE!

Another classic track is "Evil lies", an uptempo progressive melodic rocker that also features excellent female vocals of guest singer Melody Castellari (who is this girl, she has a wonderful voice, very much like LANA LANE). It's not over yet, because also the song "Angel of death" is a superb progressive AOR song, very close to VANDENPLAS and SHADOW GALLERY. Finally, "Hailing souls" is a faster melodic power/progressive metal song, the least interesting track, but still a fantastic song! What more can I say about this wonderful CD! This new TIME MACHINE is almost a classic, and I can give it a big recommendation to anyone into SHADOW GALLERY, BALANCE OF POWER, VANDENPLAS and that type of high quality melodic progressive metal bands.

Rating: 9,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

I received 3 CDs of the Classic Melodic Pomprockband RAIL. This band released 3 LPs in the 1980s and then vanished completely into obscurity. Now, just recently I discovered this band is still active, and they even released a new CD called 'Big world' in 1997. Well, let's begin with their first couple of albums that have all been re-issued onto 2 CDs. These two CDs are titled 'Arrival' and 'Adio', both albums contain excellent special video footage of clips of the band, and also included are several unreleased songs and demos, and many more rare stuff. If you're a fan of 80s AOR/Melodic Pomprock, then you will love these two CDs, as they contain about everything this wonderful American band did between 1977 and 1985. It's of course a total must if you're a RAIL fan!

Anyway, I always loved this band, and their powerful mixture of AOR, Melodic Hardrock and Pomprock that reminded me of bands like TRIUMPH and SANTERS. My favourite RAIL songs will always be "Fantasy" (TRIUMPH meets JOURNEY, incredible song!), "Hard girl to love", "Another side of blue", "Her majesty" (superb!), "The way" (very nice keyboardwork), "Don't take your love away", "Yes I am" (high class uptempo melodic Pomprock), "Cheater" (hello 70s ROADMASTER Pomp!), "Bandit", "Sirens" (heavy Pomprock), "The wizard" (lovely heavy Pomprock, with a beautiful chorus), "Two fisted night" (Pure Pomp, ROADMASTER/TOUCH style) and the semi-ballad "Forever yours".

As you can see, it's hard to pick out favourite tracks of mine, as RAIL was one of those bands that didn't had any weak song, you just loved of all their tunes! So these 2 CDs are really highly recommended, and besides, both CDs come with extended video footage that gives you an idea how popular they once were. RAIL was and will always be a Classic AOR/Melodic Pomprockband, and happily, the band went on, although it took 12 years before a new album was released.

In 1997, RAIL released a new CD, entitled 'Big world'. This new album was a little less rocking, but still it is another great release! Although they still played AOR/Pomprock, they now sounded a bit more like 70s STYX, TRADIA, DAVE BALDWIN… There are unfortunately only 8 tracks on the CD, but just like their previous records, it's all quality what we get to hear and not a single moment you're bored. The best tracks on 'Big world' are "Need your lovin'" (great hookladen uptempo AOR), "Fade away" (great semi AOR/Pomprocker like 70s STYX), "Spirit" (very good progressive AOR) and "Hold on" (lovely 80s AOR, very much like Classic TRIUMPH).

Well, it's just great to see yet another return of one of those legendary Hard Pomprockbands from the 1980s. Let's hope they will record another new CD in the future, as RAIL has so many qualities that shouldn't be left untouched. Happily, there's enough material to enjoy, and I can give you a good advice, purchase those 3 CDs, as they contain so many music and videos of RAIL that you will be pleased for a few hours for sure! Very soon an interview with RAIL about the past, present and the future. For now, go to their site at: http://www.railonline.net and e-mail them at: kelly@railonline.net

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This is the second CD of LA rockers LOUD'N'CLEAR, and again lead singer Jess Harnell and company prove that this band is one of the best Californian melodic rockbands at the moment. They make pure 'feel good' fun 80s type of uptempo melodic rocker, filled with catchy hooklines and melodic choruses that are easy to sing-a-long. The CD has a very HUGE production, and is comparable to DEF LEPPARD (circa 'Adrenalize'), especially the big harmonyvocals make this CD a pleasure to listen to.

It's really hard to pick up favourite tracks, because all 13 included tracks are catchy as hell, but let me add here some of the absolute highlights. These are "Tell me why" (fantastic classy 80s fun uptempo melodic rocker, super catchy!), "Fly away" (lovely midtempo AOR ballad), "Disc-connected" (straight-ahead pure 80s upbeat driven melodic rocker like VON GROOVE, CROWN OF THORNS…), "When I feel like that" (hello DEF LEPPARD), "Time to let go" (HUGE midtempo AOR, although very much like HAREM SCAREM's debut songs "Slowly slipping away" and "With a little love"), "Dangerous imagination" (great uptempo AOR like TWO FIRES), "Take another look" (uptempo AOR) and "I can't wait" (again lovely midtempo AOR a la HAREM SCAREM).

But actually it's hard to only mention these tracks, because the rest is also very sensational. The only song that isn't that interesting is closing track "You gotta dance" which is very much like RATT (not bad, but slightly less interesting than the first 12 tracks. With this CD you can only go one way and that's the fact you love it or you hate it.

The album has a very big sound/production quality and is a total must if you enjoy your melodic rock to sound big/arena-like with loads of harmonyvocals and catchy sing-a-long melodic choruses, basically very much leaning towards 1983-1993 DEF LEPPARD and 1989-1993 HAREM SCAREM. If that's the melodic rockstyle you like, then go ahead and purchase this superb album. To other people I can only say, give this a listen and I am quite sure you will eventually also like it.

This album is not a grower, but loved right from the minute you hear it, same as the albums of BRIAN MCDONALD, BIG BAD WOLF, RESTLESS and MICHAEL MORALES, MTM released the past few years… The new CD of LOUD'N'CLEAR will be released on the 25th of March.

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

It's a pity I don't have much info on this band and their CD 'Where reality cannot enter', because RIVER OF CHANGE is a sensational super high quality band from Italy. Their album sounds as good as any 'major label' release, and not only musically, but also the production is very impressive. They come out of the beautiful city of Rome, and I can easily put them next to bands like KAMELOT, BALANCE OF POWER, VANDENPLAS and THRESHOLD. There are 11 tracks on the CD, and not one song is weak or average. All the tunes are super sensational high quality progressive melodic rock/metal songs, with a lot of excellent keyboardwork. It's hard to pick favourites, because the whole album sounds just perfect, but well, I need to add some of the highlights here to give you an even better impression of how this band sounds.

The best songs are "Omen of Knell" (high quality progressive power metal a la KAMELOT), "Gleams in the dark" (pure Prog Heaven, like VANDENPLAS, lovely uptempo progressive melodic rocker with beautiful keyboard and guitarsolo), "The wonder" (progressive metal a la BALANCE OF POWER), "Memories" (superb strong progressive semi melodic rockballad like early DREAM THEATER, with again very impressive keyboardwork), "From beyond" (another lovely high quality progressive power metal tune a la KAMELOT, playing time of 9 minutes) and "Time you lose" (quite superb progressive melodic rocker/semi-ballad, with really outstanding musicianship). What more can I add? This RIVER OF CHANGE is a superb Italian progressive melodic rock/metal band. Their album 'Where reality cannot enter' is a complete must for anyone into bands like SHADOW GALLERY, KAMELOT, VANDENPLAS, BALANCE OF POWER, ENCHANT… More info at: http://www.riverofchange.cjb.net and e-mail them at: gleams@libero.it

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

LANA LANE is back with a complete new CD, entitled 'Project shangri-la'. The CD was produced by her husband ERIK NORLANDER, who plays keyboards on the whole CD (just like he did on all the previous albums). Musically not much has changed, although a slight change can be noticed, because sometimes the new album sounds a bit like LANA LANE's second album 'Curious goods'. The material on the CD is pretty diverse, ranging from (semi) ballads, midtempo to uptempo rockers. I must admit that I still think LANA LANE is at her best during the uptempo pieces, such as the fantastic "The beast within you", a song with a lovely chorus and highly impressive classical keyboardwork by Erik.

Other highlights on the new CD are "Before you go" (beautiful emotional bombastic sympho AOR ballad), "Encore" (great midtempo progressive AOR, song was written by DREAMTIDE/FAIR WARNING guitarist), ""Life is only a dream" (uptempo progressive melodic heavy rocker with great keyboardsolo's again), "Time to say goodbye" (impressive cover of famous classical pop song, with Italian sung lyrics!), opener "Project shangri-la" (uptempo progressive melodic rocker) and closing track "Romeo and Juliet" (excellent pure LANA LANE slow progressive melodic rocker). This last mentioned song is added as bonustrack, because it is the only track that features the Dutch musicians Arjen Lucassen (AYREON, VENGEANCE) and Ed Warby (AYREON). It's an older song that was left out of the 'Secrets of atrology' album, but could be used now, because on the rest of the album there are no guest appearances of Arjen and co. The reason was that due to the attacks of the 11th of september last year, Lana and Erik couldn't travel to Holland to record with Arjen, Ed and other musicians they normally would have loved to cooperate with, just like they did on their previous albums. In the future, these musicians will of course be involved again on Lana Lane's albums.

Anyway, with or without those musicians, there are still interesting guest appearances from Mark Boals (MALMSTEEN, RING OF FIRE), Helge Engelke (FAIR WARNING, DREAMTIDE), Vinny Appice (BLACK SABBATH, DIO) and on the bonustrack we can hear bassist Tony Franklin (WHITESNAKE, BLUE MURDER). Besides, all the songs are again classy masterpieces, just like everything else LANA LANE released in the past. Conclusion is that this new LANA LANE album is another excellent addition to anyone's collection!

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Keyboardwizards Clive Nolan (ARENA/PENDRAGON) and Oliver Wakeman have finished their idea to give the Baskerville theme their own touch and I must say the album they created has turned out to be a masterpiece that fits in the same category of such mega projects like AYREON and NOSTRADAMEUS. Besides a lot of lovely keyboardwork from Clive and Oliver, we can also hear a lot of additional musicians, such as guitarist Karl Groom (THRESHOLD), guitarist Arjen Lucassen (AYREON), lead singer Bob Catley (MAGNUM), bassist John Jowitt (IQ), bassist Peter Gee (PENDRAGON) and the female lead singer Tracy Hitchings (LANDMARQ).

All together they have come up with a fantastic high quality masterpiece that will attract fans of every genre, as so many music influences can be noticed (Classical Music, Progressive Rock, Melodic Rock/AOR, Metal and instrumental Movie type of themes). You can just put on the CD and listen over 60 minutes to such high quality musicianship, and also learn more about the story on which this project is based on, which is namely a legendary story written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, now celebrating its one-hundredth anniversary.

Highlights on the disc are "The curse of the Baskervilles", "Shadows of fate" (pure AYREON), "At home in the mire", "The argument", "Seldon", "By your side", "Waiting" and "Run for your life" (definitely my favourite, starts slow, but then bursts out into an excellent classy 80s uptempo Sympho-AOR song with a very strong catchy chorus, sounds like a mix between LANA LANE and LION'S SHARE). Anyway, this CD is a total must for almost every rockfan, but especially to those of you who bought the AYREON and NOSTRADAMEUS albums, and of course fans of fabulous keyboardwork. It's all there on one of the most exciting releases of the year!

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

'Beethoven's last night' is the third CD of the New York settled TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA. The new CD is a very impressive Rock Opera based on a true story. It tells us the whole story of Ludwig Von Beethoven's last night before he died. It was a cold night in autumn in the year 1827 when a terrible storm took Vienna apart and at this evening Beethoven was sitting in a small and sparse room facing his grand piano. He was writing on his 10th symphony but he could never finish it, because it was his last night. Now the TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA took this true history and are telling it in their own great way on this CD.

The album has a fantastic production by leader and guitarist PAUL O'NEILL. There are 22 songs on the CD, and the whole CD just sounds perfect, if only could Beethoven himself hear this (on the other hand, he is not only dead, but when he lived, he was also deaf, which makes him quite unique in the music history). Anyway, the whole CD is a highlight, with not only great songs, but also excellent performances of such musicians like all the SAVATAGE members, Al Pitrelli (ASIA), Robert Kinkel (on piano/keys) and drummers Jeff Plate and Dave Whittman.

About 50 percent was written by Beethoven, and the rest of the CD was written by the lead singers (such as Jon Olivia and Patti Russo). Especially in the beginning, the music is very bombastic and pure 18th/19th century classical music with opera and symphonic orchestra backing up, with some songs even reminding me of classic Horror movies such as 'The exorcist' and 'Halloween'. The second part is more vocal based, with some fantastic bombastic ballads (classical music meets AOR/Sympho) like "The dreams of candelight", "I'll keep your secrets", "After the fall" and "This is who you are".

There's also enough space for high quality instrumental parts, such as "Mozart/Figaro", "A last illusion" and "Beethoven". So this CD isn't only a must for fans of SAVATAGE, but also recommended to basically everybody (yes, from Classical Music lovers to AOR/Melodic Rockfans). This Rock-Opera is a highlight in the history of music, and can easily be put somewhere between Mozart/Beethoven and Ayreon/Nostradameus projects!

Rating: 9/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

SACRED RITE was one of the few bands out of the American State Hawaii. They released 3 albums in the mid 80s, and also an album under the monniker SABRE before they changed their name to SACRED RITE in 1984. After the release of their last LP 'Is nothing sacred' in 1986, it became quiet. Now, 15 years later the American label SENTINEL STEEL RECORDS has released two CDs of SACRED RITE, containing together about 132 minutes of music. These two discs are not only a total must for all dedicated fans of the band, but also highgly recommended to anyone into classical 80s melodic metal in the style of FATES WARNING, IRON MAIDEN, TYGERS OF PAN TANG, LEATHERWOLF, URIAH HEEP, LIZZY BORDEN, RUSSIANS, QUEENSRYCHE… Disc one is the best CD, containing many great songs, such as "Angels never die" (great melodic heavy rocker a la TYGERS OF PAN TANG), "R.I.P." (calm start, but later great midtempo melodic hardrock, very strong song, a bit like URIAH HEEP), "Executioner - Live" (live version, another great midtempo metal tune with a melodic chorus, very much like HEEP, TYGERS OF PAN TANG), "The blade" (a SABRE demo, excellent guitarplay can be heard on this tune) and "I will survive". This last mentioned song is maybe the best song of SACRED RITE, or should I say of SABRE, because it is one of the tracks of that SABRE demo LP that was released just before the first SACRED RITE album.

Anyway, "I will survive" is a great melodic rockballad, with an uptempo part towards the end. The song itself has a playing length of 8 1/2 minutes and is just pure Y AND T ("I believe in you" period). This is just one of many highlights on 'Rites of passage volume 1'. Below you can read about the 2nd CD of SACRED RITE released by SENTINEL STEEL RECORDS.

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Part two continues the story of the Hawaii settled Metal band SACRED RITE. The first 3 songs ("Teaser", "Ritual" and "Headfirst") on this disc show no mercy, and are pure early 80s fast N.W.O.B.H.M. type of songs, very much akin to the very first album of TYGERS OF PAN TANG. The rest of the CD is a bit different, more melodic hardrock/metal and even show the diversity of the band, such as on the commercial trip "Cold hearted girl", still an excellent 80s LA melodic metal tune a la ROUGH CUTT. Other highlights are "1812: the battle" (midtempo melodic metal), "I will survive" (the SACRED RITE version of the SABRE classic), "Eleanor rigby" (a surprisingly excellent cover of THE BEATLES classic), "The last rites" (HUGE melodic metal!), "As it was told" (fantastic semi melodic rockballad), "Son of souls" (a SABRE song, pure MAIDENish melodic metal) and "The blade" (another SABRE song, with excellent guitarwork, was also featured on disc one).

In general, what you get here are two full-length discs of excellent high quality 80s melodic metal, and besides, the CD booklets contain interesting extended liner notes, lyrics of all included SACRED RITE songs and some nice pictures of one of the leading bands from Hawaii back in the 1980s. I wonder if we ever can hear something new of this band. For more info on SACRED RITE and other SENTINEL STEEL RECORDS, go to: http://www.sentinelsteel.com Very soon a label special on SENTINEL STEEL RECORDS, with reviews of all their releases so far!

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

ANGUS was one of many Dutch bands that played melodic metal in the 1980s. I remember it very well that almost every city/town over here had a few bands playing melodic metal a la UK heroes IRON MAIDEN, one of the most popular metal bands in Holland. So many bands tried to play in the same style, and one of them was the Amsterdam settled band ANGUS. This band released 2 LPs and a 12" of the MADONNA (!) cover "Papa don't preach" (renamed to "Papa don't freak"), and then vanished into obscurity. SENTINEL STEEL RECORDS has re-issued both LPs onto one CD, which has a playing length of over 70 minutes. Fans of 80s melodic metal a la DIO, IRON MAIDEN… will love this CD a lot, with such good songs like "Track of doom", "The gates", "Warriors of the world", "Black despair", "Freedom fighter" and "If God's in heaven".

Back in the 1980s we had so many good Dutch bands, not only the well-known acts like VANDENBERG, PICTURE, HELLOISE, HIGHWAY CHILE, EMERGENCY, ZINATRA, etc, but also many underground acts like this ANGUS. I'm glad an American label has now re-issued both albums of this lost band onto one disc, so it will be easier to get for people who always looked for this band's music. The band is currently working on new material for a complete new CD! For more info on SACRED RITE and other SENTINEL STEEL RECORDS, go to: http://www.sentinelsteel.com

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Well, this compilation surely is very interesting, as it contains 35 songs on two CDs. Most included songs are new and will be released throughout the year on different Z RECORDS releases, but this compilation double CD gives you a good idea of what to expect on the UK based label. There are some very interesting new releases coming up later this year, such as the new SHY. Their included song "Skydiving" is a classic 80s type of pure AOR a la SURVIVOR, TWO FIRES… I look very much forward what their new full-length CD 'Unfinished business' will bring us. In the meantime, the band's lead singer TONY MILLS has his first solo-CD out (reviewed last week).

Anyway, there are many highlights on this double CD. My favourite songs are from SILENT RAGE ("Unchained" is taken from their forthcoming new CD 'Still alive', the song itself is a good late 80s type of American Melodic Hardrock with big harmonyvocals, a bit like DEF LEPPARD/FIREHOUSE), BURNING RAIN ("Cherie don't break my heart again" is taken from their debut 'Pleasure to burn', but it's such a terrific midtempo AOR song, I couldn't resist mentioning it here), NARO (their new song "You and me" is a classy uptempo 80s fun melodic rocker with a super catchy melodic chorus, reminds me of CONEY HATCH, AUTOGRAPH and TALISMAN's "I'll be waiting"), M2 (a new band, their song "Last to know" is high class uptempo AOR, this is the most interesting new act signed to Z), MICHAEL BORMANN (the JADED HEART singer will soon release his solo-debut on Z), PUSH (their new album seems to be in the WHITE LION style again), ACES HIGH (this Swedish band disappeared a long time ago, but are now back, their included new song Killing time" is good uptempo melodic hardrock), EDDIE CAMPBELL (a new singer/songwriter a la DANNY DANZI) and DOGPOUND (another new act, sounds like HAREM SCAREM).

Besides, there are also new songs included of DANNY DANZI, AMAZE ME, JOHN BLAZE, 21 GUNS, HUMANIMAL and LIDDEL, RUSH and THRALL. And last but least, if you missed out some Z releases, you can also hear released tunes by VON GROOVE, DOUG ALDRICH, TYGERS OF PAN TANG, SEVEN WISHES, SILENT RAGE, CONTAGIOUS, ARABIA, PONTUS NORGREN, DAMNED NATION, FRICTION, WESTWORLD, JEKYLL AND HYDE, RAINMAKER and 24K. So, there's enough to hear on this new Z RECORDS compilation. Their upcoming releases seem to be very promising, with SHY, M2, SILENT RAGE, AMAZE ME, DANNY DANZI, ACES HIGH and NARO is most interesting forthcoming albums.

Rating: - (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

FRICTION is a new UK band, formed around lead singer Steve Grimmett (GRIM REAPER, LIONSHEART). The band released their debut CD on Z RECORDS. The album contains 11 tracks, and musically it is a mixture of 80s melodic heavy rock, AOR, Hardrock and some Bluesy stuff. Not all included songs are convincing, because tracks like "Blue collar fever", "Breathe on me" and "Don't want you back" are pretty average rocksongs. Much better are songs like "Forgive and forget" (good midtempo AOR/Melodic Rock a la 80s LOVERBOY), Misery" (good semi melodic rockballad), "Tomorrows another day" (great sem-ballad a la BONFIRE) and closing track "Miss you" (another great semi-ballad with a very melodic chorus). The SWEET cover "Action" is done very well, but I've heard about 30 cover versions of this tune now, so they had been better off to either include a different SWEET cover or another original own song. Anyway, Steve Grimmett's vocals sound different than on previous releases with other bands, and FRICTION does have their fine moments on their CD, but it's not a sensational album.

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

BISS is the new band of former VICTORY shouter Fernando Garcia. He did some great stuff with VICTORY, especially their late 1980s records contained some of the best German Hardrock ever recorded (right next to BONFIRE and SCORPIONS). Now, Fernando has formed a new band with guitarist Doc Heyne. They have a released a strong album that mix up melodic hardrock and metal, in a way like VICTORY, but then a bit more updated. Michael Voss (CASANOVA, DEMON DRIVE, MAD MAX) did the production and he also did all the programming on all the songs, so the band didn't use a realm bassist or drummer.

Happily, you don't hear the difference that much, but when they're out on stage I hope they hire a bassplayer and a drummer, because you can't miss them during live performances. Anyway, there's some good material on the first BISS album, such as the songs "Circle of time" (uptempo melodic metal), "Electricity" (1989 type of VICTORY melodic hardrock), "Agony" (semi melodic rockballad), "Intoxication" (great chorus) and "Religion" (semi ballad). The second part of the CD is strangely enough a bit weaker and more 90s Metal orientated (the song "Pain" even has some PANTERA influences), but I can still give this CD a big recommendation for anyone who likes good solid melodic heavy rock/metal. More info on BISS at: http://www.b-i-s-s.com and e-mail at: j.mayer@barflymusic.de

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

On the French label BRENNUS RECORDS, the debut CD of the new band VOODOO SMILE has been released. Their first album 'All behind you' is a high quality melodic hardrock record. The band has a great singer, fantastic songs and the HUGE sound/production is from a very high level! So, this band can easily be seen as a new sensation! VOODOO SMILE is playing (mostly) strong uptempo melodic hardrock, with a very powerful direct approach, not unlike PINK CREAM '69, the first SARGANT FURY, DANGER DANGER… A lot of the 13 included songs are uptempo catchy rockers, this is VOODOO SMILE at their very best, just listen to the fantastic songs "Hard times", "Far away" (bit like TEN!), "No one knows", "Get the fire", "Forever", "Stay" and "Waitin'".

The band slow things down only a few times, like on the semi melodic rockballad "Your number one" (a la MELODICA, DANGER DANGER) and the calmer ballad "How can I say". Other notable tracks are the BILLY IDOL cover "Rebel yell" and the instrumental "Flyin'". Well, what more can say about this awesome release! This band is a big must if you're into catchy 'big-sounding' 80s type of uptempo Melodic Hardrock a la DANGER DANGER, BONFIRE, VICTORY, SARGANT FURY, PINK CREAM 69… E-mail VOODOO SMILE at: voodoosmile@hotmail.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

I've reviewed quite a lot of bands called DEAD END KIDZ, but this one is from New York, and I haven't had a band from there with that name before. So here goes, and it may sound strange, but it seems like bands with this name are all playing straight-ahead hardrock with 70s/80s rock influences. These guys are doing it very well, and they remind me quite a few times of KISS (the Gene Simmons songs!). The production is quite good, and among the 8 tracks aren't any really bad tunes. The best track has got to be the first song, the powerful melodic rocker "The power" that reminds me of 80s rockers RIGGS (a band that released 1 LP, and cut two songs for the 'Heavy Metal' movie, and leader Jerry Riggs played a short period in PAT TRAVERS' band).

The other 7 songs are less melodic and more pure 70s Hardrock in it's approach, kinda like ACE FREHLEY meets GENE SIMMONS in 70s KISS. For example, "Lost in the darkness" is like Gene's "God of thunder" and "I gotta know" is like Ace's "New York Groove". So, it's obvious that these guys have been influenced by KISS. The band also sent me a CDR with two new songs, following the same style created on their debut CD. Go check out these KISS influenced rockers at: http://www.deadendkidz.com

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

A few years ago I reviewed the instrumental debut CD of SILENCE, a French band formed around multi-talented instrumentalist Bruno Vesque. This album, entitled 'Trouble in paradise', was an incredible piece of high quality mixture between AOR/Melodic Rock and Progressive Heavy Rock/Metal. Now, vocalist Jerome Cazard has joined forces with Bruno, and the result is SILENCE's new CD 'Utopia' (out on MTM MUSIC). Together they wrote 12 tracks for the 2nd SILENCE CD, and
also included a cover of KIM WILDE's 80s smash hit "Kids in America". The album has a great production (by Bruno himself) and all I can say it's a very strong album that is recommended to fans of both Progressive Rock/Metal and AOR/Melodic Rock.

There are a lot of highlights on the album, and there's not a single weak track to be found on the CD, so all in all, an interesting release! My favourite tracks are "A new freedom" (quite excellent midtempo progressive melodic rock a la 80s QUEENSRYCHE, yet with an AOR influence as well), "Come back" (fantastic huge midtempo AOR), "Against the wind" (great progressive melodic rocker a la ZENO), "Strange sounds" (high quality progressive AOR) and "Consolation" (another awesome progressive AOR song). But like I said, everything sounds perfect on this album, as I think the fans of progressive rock/metal a la early FATES WARNING/QUEENSRYCHE will enjoy songs like "Why not today", "No life on planet earth" and "Utopia" a lot. There's something for everyone on this great album. Another great release from France!

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

It's a pity I haven't been able to feature this band sooner, because their only CD 'Johari's window' dates back to 1994. Nevertheless, it's still interesting to publish a review of it, because the music of SIR REAL is excellent AOR in the veins of BOSTON, SUNSHINE JIVE, RTZ… This CD is filled with high quality 80s type of AOR, filled with hooks, catchy choruses, lots of keys and all packed in a rocksong format, yet with original lyrics (such as the albumtitle/titlesong). After the intro "Mona Lisa", we also get to hear that titletrack and without any doubts, this is the best start you can get! "Johari's window" is a superb high quality uptempo AOR song with a lovely catchy chorus (close to AOR HEAVEN). The song itself is in the style of such great acts like URBAN TALE, DAKOTA, 80s ASIA and SURVIVOR. This uplifting song just blows out of the speakers, is very catchy and you can't stop singing it after a few days!

Although the rest of the CD isn't as sensational as that first track, there are still enough good songs to enjoy on the album of SIR REAL. Especially the songs "Heaven's not so far away" (great AORish semi ballad like REO SPEEDWAGON meets BOSTON), "Lost in paradise" (Classic 80s uptempo AOR like HIT THE GROUND RUNNIN', NIGHT RANGER, AVIATOR, VISION 180, SURVIVOR…) and "Puppet queen" (great high quality AOR a la HONEYMOON SUITE) are 3 songs that can considered to be high quality songs, right up there with the best AOR has to offer these days. The remaining 10 songs are all good performed tunes that mix up Progressive Rock, Melodic Rock and AOR, such as "Departing flights", "Can't change the world" and "Waiting at the Church". Let's say that about 4 tracks are quite sensational, and the rest is just good material, so basically this is a much-recommended CD. Check out the site of this Californian band at: http://cdbaby.com/cd/sirreal and e-mail them at: BrianEmmel@aol.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Unfortunately I haven't got any info on this French band, but what I do know is that their mini-CD 'Enhance' is a fantastic SUPER HIGH QUALITY Progressive Melodic Heavy Rock/Metal album in the style of VANDENPLAS, SYMPHONY X, ENCHANT… There are only 4 songs on the CD, but it still has a playing length of 27 minutes. Besides, the 4 songs are all very impressive, and I can also say that about the fantastic HUGE production. The lead vocals are very very good, and the songs are pretty progressive, but all together it just sounds super melodic. A lot of times it reminds me of VANDENPLAS, yet with an own more progressive approach. It's hard to say which song is the best, because all 4 included tracks sound great. The songs are titled "Winter's dying", "Erase your mind", "Millenium dawn" (bit like THRESHOLD, my favourite song!) and "Dimensions collapse" (excellent, very much like VANDENPLAS). This new French band is as good as any act signed to INSIDE OUT or LIMB MUSIC, especially recommended if you enjoy VANDENPLAS and ENCHANT. More info at: http://www.indescent.fr and e-mail them at: contact@indescent.org

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

'Touch my skin' is the third CD of the Swiss band INFINITE DREAMS. I am very glad to have heard their new demo CD, because it sounds very impressive. INFINITE DREAMS is a female fronted band and they play catchy 80s type of melodic rock, not unlike LAOS, VIXEN and HEAT (the German band with the female singer, and not the Accept cloned band). There are 3 songs on the band's latest demo CD, and all of them are great uptempo powerful melodic rockers. "Touch my skin" and "Call of the road" are both very good, and contain excellent catchy choruses. I don't know the name of the lead singer, but she has got a great voice. This band is even better than ALLISON, a Swiss band that was active about 10 years ago. Any fan of female fronted melodic rock should check out this sensational band from Switzerland. More info at: http://www.infinitedreams.ch and e-mail them at: mail@infinitedreams.ch or sschurch@iname.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Well, well, well, what about this little CD-single. I totally love the two DOMINOE records from the late 1980s ('Keep in touch' and 'The key'), both contain some of the best German AOR ever written! Now, the boys are back and working on a new CD, which should be out very soon. Before it's release, MTM decided to release their CD-single "Here I am", and that's not a new song, because if we go back in time, we can see that DOMINOE released "Here I am" as a single back in the 1980s and what happened when they released it? Well, they had a big hit in Germany, South Africa and several other countries. That's not so surprising, because the original version was a classy piece of harmonyvocals and catchy chorus-driven uptempo AOR that everybody could sing-a-long quite easily.

Now there's a 2002 CD-single of "Here I am", and I don't think DOMINOE fans are waiting for this release, because there are 4 different versions of "Here I am", and none of them are interesting. We are spoiled with a Dance, Unplugged, Grunge and an album version, and none of these versions can beat the original version. Why kill a good song, I am asking myself! Anyway, there's also a new song called "Dark dogs", but that's a very average Hardrocksong. So, this ain't really the comeback I was hoping for, but on the other hand, the real comeback has yet to come. The real new full-length CD of DOMINOE should be released any day now!

Rating: - (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Very soon you can expect an interview with the only (?) Progressive Rock/AOR band out of El Salvador. I reviewed their latest CD a few weeks ago, but happily I was also able to get to hear some of their earlier records, such as '…En algrun reino' (1995) and the double CD 'Entre seres Y sus raices' (2000). I must say that I am quite hooked onto this band, as OVNI's music is very impressive and will appeal to both Sympho/Prog and AOR fans. They sound a lot like the 80s records of bands like IQ, PENDRAGON, PALLAS, ASIA and a bit ARENA, yet with Spanish lyrics, which make OVNI sound quite unique, a most bands in this Neo-Prog style sing either in English or Italian.

Anyway, there's a lot of really high quality music on these two discs (actually 3 CDs, because one is a double CD), and I would like to mention here the best songs. First off, on the 1995 disc '…En algrun reino' the best tracks are definitely "En el reino de la rosa" (great midtempo Sympho/Prog AOR with big keys, little like ARENA), "Lycra'afil" (more mainstream uptempo Sympho-AOR), "Rio" (great AOR ballad) and "Mentesolidaverdad" (fantastic huge Neo-prog). There are also some poppier tunes, such as the IT BITES orientated "A marte" and "El angel" that both are also akin to bands like FROZEN GHOST and GOWAN.

Nevertheless, this 1995 released album of OVNI is recommended to fans of earlier mentioned Neo-prog bands. And so is the more recent double CD 'Entre seres Y sus raices', with over two and a half hours of classic Neo-prog a must to own if you're a fan of this genre. Highlights on these two discs are "Erase un ser" (great uptempo Sympho), "Y si vuelve" (excellent semi AOR ballad), "Quisiera el" (pure 70s 13-minutes counting Progressive Rocker, with lovely keyboardwork, a lot like YES), "El Corazon de la Ciudad" (great uptempo progressive AOR), "Ciencia muerta" (superb high quality prog, excellent keys!), "La Venganza del ager" (pretty good midtempo Neo-prog), "Murmullos" (pure 80s PALLAS, IQ, PENDRAGON) and the high class progressive rock dream "Celula".

OVNI is a highly recommended band from El Salvador, and maybe one of the best Neo-prog bands out of Southern America, give them a chance, especially recommended if you're a fan of IQ, PALLAS and TWELFTH NIGHT (actually this is the band that is best related with OVNI's music). I hope to interview them soon, but for now, go to their site at: http://www.ovni.com.sv and e-mail them at: seres@ovni.com.sv or rafaelalfa65@hotmail.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This French band exists for almost twenty years now, but it's the first CD I ever hear. I must admit that 'Cosmovision' sounds very good and can easily be called a high quality release. NIGHTMARE plays melodic heavy rock/power metal, like a cross between EDGUY, VIRGIN STEELE, WARRIOR, WOLF and AXEL RUDI PELL. The CD has a HUGE sound and wonderful production. There are 12 tracks on the CD, and I think if you like one, you're hooked on the whole CD. My favourite tracks are "Necropolis" (great uptempo melodic metal, very bombastic), "The cemetary road" (a la EDGUY), "The spiral of madness" (midtempo, again like EDGUY) and "Riddle in the ocean" (another midtempo piece). If you're keen on fast Power Metal (a la HEAVENLY, RHAPSODY), then you will love songs like "Corridors of knowledge", "Last flight to sirius" and "Cosmovision". But for the most part, this band is not playing that fast, and is more reminding of typical 80s Melodic Metal acts like WARRIOR, VIRGIN STEELE, WOLF and a lot EDGUY (not an 80s band of course). Anyway, this is a very impressive CD, and highly recommended if you like any of the mentioned acts. More info at: http://www.napalmrecords.com and e-mail them at: nightmaremgt@hotmail.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

'Circle of power' is the third CD of the German band TOXIC VIRGIN, a band out of Krefeld that played alongside well-known acts like BONFIRE and DORO. Their latest CD is filled with very impressive high quality typical German melodic hardrock in the style of AXXIS, VICTORY, PINK CREAM'69 and BONFIRE. The sound and production is from a very high level. The CD starts with the midtempo melodic hardrock song "Broken wings" that reminds me a lot of AXXIS. Up next is the uptempo melodic HR song "Son of the sun" that brings right into PC'69 territory. One of my favourite tracks is the excellent AOR/Melodic Rocker "Restless hearts", which reminds me of CASANOVA, MARATHON, BONFIRE, DEMON DRIVE…

The following two songs ("Waiting for the rain" and "Rock tonight") are just nice (and a bit plain) hardrock tunes a la STEELER. Then comes the best part of the CD, with 3 very good songs. First up is the lovely midtempo AOR ballad "Until the end" that sounds like a cross between GOTTHARD, ZENO and FAIR WARNING. The faster uptempo melodic heavy rocker "Alien lovesong" follows and is an early 80s type of song that sounds like the perfect mixture between SCORPIONS, MAD MAX and CACUMEN. It's a very melodic song, yet quite fast and very catchy, with a clear 80s approach. "Our only hope" is another highlight on the CD, as this is a very good midtempo AOR/Melodic Rocker and takes up to over 6 minutes of playing length.

The rest of the CD is less interesting. Songs like "Fireball", "Don't know what I want" and "Walk on water" are average simple HR songs a la AC/DC and KROKUS, and they really have nothing to offer. Closing track "All for one" has that typical German sing-a-long feeling, but remains to be a great melodic rocksong. Still, about 3 or 4 songs keep the score lower than it could have been. Nevertheless, this CD is highly recommended to anyone into typical German melodic hardrock. More info at: http://www.toxicvirgin.de and e-mail them at: toxicvirgin@freenet.de

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

INFUSED ROCK is a German band, and their CD 'Raise your hands' is a very nice record that reminds me a little of the Swedish band MAGIC (reviewed a long time ago) and the Dutch band FOR ABSENT FRIENDS (like their latest CD). Especially the first two songs ("Nevermind" and "Pretty eyes") are both great midtempo progressive AOR songs that sound a lot like the last FOR ABSENT FRIENDS. Both songs are quite strong and a pleasure to listen to. The following two ballads ("Raise your hands" and "Sun tonight") are nice, but not as good as the previous songs. INFUSED ROCK moves in a different area with the next tune "Soul like a rose". This is a fantastic early 80s type of catchy uptempo AOR/Radiorocker that sounds somewhat like STEEL BREEZE, PREVIEW, 707, first SILVER CONDOR, BLACK JACK and those type of acts. Quite a change in style, but happily a surprisingly excellent change! Up next is the good uptempo melodic rocker "Crazy kiss", which has a very nice guitarsolo.

The first real weak song is the groovy poprocker "Lead to me", but happily that's the only letdown, because up next are two lovely tunes again. These are the fantastic classic 80s uptempo AOR rockers "Everlasting will" (best song of the whole CD, excellent keyboardwork and just pure AOR, very much like TOTO/T'BELL/URBAN TALE) and "One of these days" (a bit like early BON JOVI, 1982/1983). The CD closes with the ballad "Hedonistic smile". Well, this INFUSED ROCK has a lot of fine moments on their CD 'Raise your hands'. Check 'em out at: http://www.infusedrock.com and e-mail them at: Rene.Piroth@T-Online.de

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

'Black wings' is the new CD of the Swedish band WOLF, and this is definitely a high quality release. The band sounds a lot like the 80s, yet with an updated approach (the Power Metal influences). Still, I hear clear influences from IRON MAIDEN and the whole N.W.O.B.H.M. movement. Nevertheless, it is all brought to us very well, and I must admit that I really liked the album. Highlights on WOLF's new CD are "Venom" (good melodic heavy rock), "Unholy night" (great semi melodic progressive hardrock/metal) and the MERCYFUL FATE cover "A dangerous meeting" (lovely melodies can be heard in this heavy rock/metal tune). This is highly recommended to people who like their melodic metal to sound like the 80s, and especially a must if you're looking for bands that draw their influences from 80s IRON MAIDEN.

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

A few months ago MTM MUSIC announced this album, and on the 18th of March it will officially be released. We are talking here about the collaboration between two famous rock singers, GLENN HUGHES and JOE LYNN TURNER. Both sung with many legendary bands, including DEEP PURPLE, and sold more than 15 million albums together. Joe and Glenn also both have the perfect voice for classical hardrock, and that's exactly what they do on this album, a project between the two lead singers. Together with guitarist J.J. Marsh, keyboardplayer Vince Dicola and drummer Shane Gaalas, and Glenn himself on bass, they are the HUGHES TURNER PROJECT.

The CD contains 11 tracks and is like I already said musically very much akin to 70s classical hardrock (read: RAINBOW, DEEP PURPLE and WHITESNAKE). There's also some weaker bluesy stuff on the album, such as "Sister midnight", "Fade away" and "Better man". But most of the time, this is a good quality classic hardrockalbum, with as highlights "Devil's road" (great uptempo early 80s melodic hardrock like RAINBOW), "You can't stop rock'n'roll" (not a TWISTED SISTER cover, great midtempo 70s groovy hardrock with a very nice bridge), "Mystery of the heart" (great calmer AORish semi-ballad in the style of 80s FOREIGNER, JOURNEY, very relaxing radio-ready song), "Heaven's missing an angel" (good semi melodic rockballad) and "Run run run" (uptempo classic hardrock a la RAINBOW). Although not all the songs are impressive, still this is a good release, and a must if you're a fan of one of these excellent singers…

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This is a very impressive Italian band, and their debut CD 'Lady of the lore' is a complete must for every dedicated fan of progressive melodic power metal, like HEAVENLY, EDGUY, ATHENA, DOMINE, WHITE SKULL, LABYRINTH… The Italian label NORTHWIND RECORDS has released the CD, and all the releases on this label contain beautiful artwork, especially the frontcovers. Also DESDEMONA's release has a very good looking frontcover, which is actually a painting realised by the Russian artist Igor Varavin. The music of DESDEMONA is very good.

Highlights on the CD are "Shadows of my life" (great progressive power metal, catchy chorus), "Event horizon" (also great progressive power metal, a la EDGUY), "Othello's crying" (lovely melodic rockballad), "If I were fire" (nice classical keyboardwork) and "Changing skin" (yet another great piece of melodic progressive power metal). If you're into melodic progressive/power metal in the style of mentioned bands, then you must really check out DESDEMONA, a quality band from Italy. More info at: http://www.northwindrecords.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Here's another interesting new Italian Power Metal band on NORTHWIND RECORDS. The frontcover of their debut CD is taken from a painting made by an artist (Luca Giordano) from Naples back in the year 600 (!). The fast melodic power metal of DARK HORIZON sounds like the French bands HEAVENLY and DYSLESIA. There are 8 tracks on the CD, and most of the songs are in the same style, fast, but very melodic. If you listen closely however, you can hear some interesting influences from other musical genres, such as folk/celtic ("Son of Gods") and classical music influences ("Power of the rune"). "Power of the rune" is also the best song on the whole CD, as this is lovely uptempo melodic hardrock/metal, with a very cool break in the middle of the song. That break shows those classical music influences, because the keyboards sound a lot like something MOZART or BEETHOVEN created ages ago. Anyway, I think this band will be loved by especially the fans of melodic power metal (HEAVENLY, DYSLESIA, RHAPSODY, TIME MACHINE), but DARK HORIZON has an own identity, due to those interesting classical music influences. More info at: http://www.northwindrecords.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Another beautiful CD cover is in front of me (made by the same Russian artist that did the above reviewed DESDEMONA album cover), and also musically BAD AMBITION is quite impressive. BAD AMBITION is an Italian band, and 'Daydream' is their debut CD. About 4 tracks are very sensational, and can easily be compared to some of the best AOR around these days. Yes, you read that well, this BAD AMBITION is playing AOR and they do it very well. "Never again" opens the CD, and is a good pure 80s uptempo melodic heavy rocker, with some clear Scandi rock influences (early EUROPE, 220 VOLT). The semi melodic rockballad "Winter night" is reminding me of CHANGE OF HEART, HEARTLAND… Then we're into pure AOR HEAVEN territory, with the lovely catchy 80s type of uptempo AOR rocker "Love is an illusion". The AOR/Melodic Rocker "Power of time" is actually quite close to MAGNUM. The keyboardwork on "Tears in the night" is pure AOR, and the song itself is another highlight on the CD. Two more highlights are the superb semi AOR ballad "Secret rendez vous" and "To feel lonely" (classy 80s uptempo AOR a la 8084). The remaining songs are the faster uptempo melodic rocker "Wild white wolf" (a la 80s MAD MAX) and "See you in heaven" (nice AOR ballad). There's nothing weak on this CD, so BAD AMBITION is highly recommended to people who like quality 80s orientated AOR/Melodic Rock. More info at: http://www.northwindrecords.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

TOLERANCE is the fourth release on the new Italian label NORTHWIND RECORDS, and it's the least interesting release I am afraid. The other 3 releases are very impressive, but TOLERANCE is nothing special. The band sounds like a stripped down version of bands like GREAT WHITE, WHITESNAKE and MAGNUM. Of course those are 3 great bands, but TOLERANCE is trying to mix up such influences and create an own style, but unfortunately they fail. The only highlight is the midtempo melodic rocker "Is anything changing?" that is a bit like WHITESNAKE. I'm sorry for this band, but with songs like "It's up to you", "In comparison with life" and track 8 (no songtitle???) you can't expect that a lot of people will take your band seriously. They can make good music (like "Is anything changing", "1812", "To the sun", "Go the way ones more" and "Somewhere"), but it's not spread out on the whole CD, because there are too many average songs. Only recommended to fans of DAVID LEE ROTH! Maybe a future record of this Italian band will prove they can do much better! More info at: http://www.northwindrecords.com

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

VAINGLORY is a new US band, and their CD '2050' is a very heavy melodic metal release that can be compared to the likes of NEVERMORE, STEEL PROPHET, CHASTAIN and I even noticed some TWISTED SISTER influences. This last comparison I add because the band's lead singer Ted Brasier reminds me of good old TS singer DEE SNIDER. But the band also has some less interesting influences that can also be heard throughout the songs on their debut CD, and then I am talking about bands like PANTERA and MEGADETH. You can hear that clearly in weaker songs like "Fight till the death we trust", "The executioner", "CCF" and "The promised land". Fortunately, the band also has plenty of nice moments, such as "The lost and found" (slow melodic metal with a good chorus), "Directive 65" (starts as ballad, but later good uptempo melodic metal), "Mastermind" (uptempo melodic metal) and "Free us" (best song, great faster metal song, very much like early 80s TWISTED SISTER!). Not a bad release at all, but more recommended if you don't mind rawer (doomy) vocals and a heavy 90s orientated guitarsound wrapped into your power metal style, so interesting if you like STEEL PROPHET, ICED EARTH, NEVERMORE…

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Here's another quality band from Italy. THE PROWLERS come out of Rome, and they are unsigned currently, but I think this demo should get them signed somewhere soon, because the 4 included songs sound very good. The band mix up Progressive Metal, Power Metal and 80s Melodic Metal into one exciting style. There are a lot of IRON MAIDEN influences here and there, but that's something to admire I think. All 4 songs are really good, and so I can easily mention them all as best tracks. "Incubus" opens up, and is a good progressive power metal song, like a mix between ICED EARTH and IRON MAIDEN.

Next track "Once again" is quite catchy actually, a great uptempo 80s melodic metal song, very much like IRON MAIDEN. "It" is one of the finest tunes of THE PROWLERS. This song has a very strong chorus, and is great uptempo power metal. Closing track is the progressive power metal track "The maelstrom". All I can say is that THE PROWLERS is quite an interesting band, and highly recommended if you like melodic progressive power metal a la GAMMA RAY, IRON MAIDEN… More info at: http://www.theprowlers.com and e-mail them at: prowlers@tin.it

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

'Storm over paradise' is the new demo CD of the Finish band TRITON. Included are 3 good uptempo melodic heavy rockers. The production is very good, and especially "On the road of no return" and "Lady darkness" are both great uptempo melodic hardrocksongs. They sound a bit like a mix between RAINBOW and the Swedish band BLACK ROSE. The keyboards on "On the road of no return" sound pretty nice, and in general, the new CDR also has a real Scandi-rock feeling. The new TRITON demo CD is good enough to check out at: http://members.tripod.com/triton_band/ and e-mail them at: triton@starplace.com

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This American band is playing the kind of Progressive Rock you either love or hate. There are only 3 songs on the CD, but still it has a playing time of 74 minutes! This band is focused on long progressive rocksongs, but always with an ear for a good melody, they do remind me a lot of 70s RUSH. The first track "Black river" counts 13 minutes, and is a fantastic progressive rocker. The song starts very calm, but later on it has some very good heavier parts and develops into an uptempo piece after 8 minutes, sounding quite a lot like the old RUSH. I also need to mention that the vocals of guitarist Bartholomew Boge are very good.

Next track "By leaps and bounds" is an instrumental progressive rocker (up to 9 minutes of playing time). The last track "Sorrow and promise" is the song that will be loved by the real progressive rockfan. This song is counting 52 minutes, but is split up in 9 parts. The song as a whole is described as a Christian Progressive Rock Opera song. The best parts of this song are "Viper's brood" (excellent), "Sleep", "Into the abyss" (terrific) and "Make me more like you". This band and especially the 52-minutes counting song are a total must if you're a fan of progressive rock. Go check out this quality progressive band at: http://www.divineinsightmusic.net and e-mail them at: contact@divineinsightmusic.net

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This is a French band, and their first CD sounds like yet another quality release. FALKIRK is playing high quality medieval fast melodic power metal with some calmer parts as well. 7 songs are included and they all sound great! You can compare FALKIRK to bands like HEAVENLY, DYSLESIA, VISION DIVINE, LABYRINTH… The best songs are "Feel ashamed" (fast power metal, catchy chorus, very much like LABYRINTH), "The day will come" (starts as ballad, then again uptempo melodic power metal) and "Crusade" (great progressive melodic semi rockballad). There's a lot of good quality unsigned bands out there, and FALKIRK is definitely one of them. Check out their site at: http://membres.tripod.fr/falkirk and e-mail them at: falkirk@lycosmail.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

The Spanish band NIAGARA was one of the first melodic rockbands out of that country, and they had a huge following in the late 1980s, releasing 3 records. Now, many years later NIAGARA has released a new CD. It's not really a new CD, but a collection of old unreleased tunes, and their complete third album '3'. Some of the demos are very interesting, with as most notable track "Big bang" (great catchy 80s melodic rocker), a song produced by TOMMY NEWTON (HELLOWEEN, VICTORY) and lead vocals by none other than Fernando Garcia (VICTORY and more recently BISS).

Anyway, there are 27 tracks on the CD (it's a double CD), so there's enough to enjoy. Not everything is sensational, but here and there are some fantastic classy 80s AOR/Melodic Rockers. The best songs are "Go" (excellent classy 80s very catchy uptempo aor/melodic rocker like DANGER DANGER), "This heart of mine" (strong midtempo aor/melodic rocker), "Fooling myself" (lovely chorus, a la DOKKEN), "Shadow of love" (excellent classy 80s AOR), "Tomorrow means nothing" (lovely midtempo AOR, 1984 BON JOVI influence), "In my hands" (lovely AOR/Melodic rock, again a la mid 80s BON JOVI), "Sometimes" (weaker production, but still high class 80s AOR) and "Nowhere" (classy 80s AOR). These 8 songs and the song with VICTORY singer Fernando Garcia are the best tunes NIAGARA ever recorded. But between the remaining 19 songs are also some weaker moments, such as the simple Party/Hardrock orientated songs "It's not money", "Time to burn", "Ten black rose", "Goodbye dusty road", "Wasted time" and "look but don't touch".

Nevertheless, I think NIAGARA had a lot of good stuff to offer, and this CD contains some of their best material. Let's hope they will record a new album somewhere in the future. More info at: http://www.piesdiscos.com

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

AMERICAN SCREAM comes out of the San Francisco Bay Area and they play pretty good pure 80s orientated American ballsy Hard Rock. The first two songs of their debut CD ("Hello operator" and "Bringin' me down") reminded me of acts like ROUGH CUTT, ICO, KEEL, VAN HALEN. Both are great tunes and bring back memories of the days when all Californian bands were playing this style out in every street from L.A. to San Francisco (except in the Bay Area (!) where Thrash Metal was hot). But we're in the year 2002 and this Bay Area settled band is one of the few bands to play this Hardrockstyle which sounds very uplifting.

Not the whole CD is as good as those first two tunes, because "Junkman", "Used" and "Santa Fe" are pretty weak. "Never fall in love" on the other hand is another typical 80s Party Metal song, kinda like BLACK'N'BLUE meets TEEZE. The band's new demo CD contains 6 tracks, that more or less follow the same route taken on their debut, with such Hardrock songs like "Breathin", "Nation on fire" and "Always". The best new song however is the great AORish melodic rocker "A little luck". So if AMERICAN SCREAM can make some more songs in the style of "A little luck" and the uptempo rockin' "Hello operator" and "Bringin' me down", well, then it would be even more interesting. Anyway, go check out this good Hardrockband from San Francisco at: http://www.americanscream.net and e-mail them at: americanscream@americanscream.net

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Never judge a band without listening to their album is one of the things I always say, but when I saw the frontcover of the CD of this Italian band, I really did expect to hear some sort of terrible alternative countryrockmusic! But when I put on the CD, what I heard was very good and sounded more like your typical AOR/Melodic rockband! BLUE STEEL reminds me a little of the last FOR ABSENT FRIENDS album, so I think this is a grower and you're gonna love it after a few spins, just like I did. The first two songs are very good, namely the uptempo AOR/Melodic rocker "Flashback" and the midtempo AOR song "Walk in these streets". Both songs are very 80s orientated and quite melodic in it's approach.

The following 3 songs are not that good, especially the groovy experimental "Out" didn't work out that well. Much better is "Coming home", one of the best songs on the BLUE STEEL album. This song is a great 80s orientated keyboard AOR driven uptempo rocker a la TERRA NOVA, TREAT and the first BON JOVI record.

Also the last 3 pieces on the album are very good. These are the instrumental melodic rocker "Ride the wind", the uptempo melodic rocker "I was the one" (with a guitar riff a la KISS "I was made for loving you") and closing track "Rosie" (good semi melodic rockballad). The band also recently released a new CD-single called "I will see the world", and this song is the best one the band recorded so far, because it is a wonderful AOR/Melodic Rockballad. Although the band is said to mix Country Rock with Hardrock, I can guarantee you that BLUE STEEL will mostly be liked by melodic rockfans. See for yourself at: http://stage.mp3italy.com/bluesteel or http://stage.vitaminic.com/blue_steel and e-mail them at: k30@libero.it

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This is a Greek band and 'When purity withers' is their debut CD. This is really quality stuff, not only the production is very impressive, but also the songs are quite good. The band has a very good melodic lead singer (Chris Kounelis). There are 5 tracks on the album. Opener "Renegade to life" is a nice progressive heavy metal song. Next track "Questions" is very good melodic metal a la FATES WARNING. Up next is the great uptempo progressive metal tune Mentally dead" that reminds me of the old QUEENSRYCHE and FATES WARNING. One of the best tracks is the 10-minutes counting semi-ballad "When purity withers". The CD closes with the relaxing instrumental acoustic piece "Outro/Aurora". Well, this is a great Greek band, and I can easily recommend to everyone who likes quality progressive metal. More info at: http://www.members.xoom.com/DisharmonyGr/ and e-mail them at: disharmony_gr@hotmail.com

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Out of Arizona comes CIRCLE ONE, a band that is mixing Progressive Rock, 80s Melodic Hardrock and 70s Pop into one style. It's not always easy, because the CD is very diverse, but there are some good songs on the band's debut CD (dating back from 1997), such as opener "Bonty chi chi", a good uptempo melodic rocker in the best 80s style (VAN HALEN). Other highlights are "Kitty and the coin king" (a song with female lead vocals, and very good vocals, I had rather heard her singing more songs, anyway the song itself is a good uptempo progressive melodic rocker), "The serpent and the hourglass" (change of style, this is a quirky poprocker like RICK SPRINGFIELD), "Modern day age" (another poprocker) and closing track, "Your redemption is drawing near" (nice semi progressive rocker, playing time of 7 minutes, with a nice guitarsolo, best song on the CD!).

On the other hand, there are also a lot of Popsongs on the CD, such as "Dominstra", "Rose of Sharon", "Kiss your guitar goodbye" and "Nippin' at the bud" (with DAVID BOWIE type of vocals). Instrumental it all sounds pretty good, but vocally, I have my doubts. On the other hand, the female vocalist (Mindy Harris) on two of the songs sings very well, but the male vocals of guitarist Dominic Circolone are not always convincing enough to keep everyone interested. Still, there's some good material on this CD, such as the songs "Kitty and the coin king", "Bonty chi chi" and "Your redemption is drawing near", so hopefully we can hear more songs in this style on a future CD. More info at: http://www.circleonerecords.com and e-mail them at: marketing@circleonerecords.com

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Out of Sao Paolo, Brazil comes the TIO KRUGER BAND. They sent me a 5-track demo CD, and it sounds good, although some more variation next time wouldn't hurt. They sing in Portuguese, but that's not such a problem. The first 3 songs ("Ter voce", "Rico" and "nem ai pra mim") are good uptempo melodic rockers with a 80s approach. The last 2 songs are the rockballad "Balada de Madrugada" and the bluesay midtempo rocker "Pantera da noite" (the only weak song). Nice band, go check them out at: http://www.tiokruger.hpg.com.br and e-mail them at: tiokruger@ieg.com.br

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This is one of those high qualities tribute records, with many well-known musicians involved, such as BRUCE KULICK, BRAD GILLIS, JAKE E. LEE, NEIL ZAZA, ENUFF'Z'NUFF, GEORGE LYNCH and several others. The CD contains 10 tracks, with a SATRIANI side and a VAI side, both 5 tracks. I must say I really like the JOE SATRIANI side, as I found him always the best of these 2 excellent guitarists. The songs on his CD's were always more melodic and progressive, than the mostly boogie and groovy hardrock style of STEVE VAI. Songs like "Surfing with the alien", "Echo" and "Summer song" are covered very well. The fans of VAI will of course also enjoy the 5 tribute songs on this CD. This CD is just a total must for anyone who is into instrumental guitar based hardrock, and of course very interesting to listen to if you're a fan of either Vai or Satriani or both! More info at: http://www.versaillesrecords.com and e-mail them at: Speedynumb@versaillesrecords.com

Rating: 8/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

RHUN is a band from Argentina and they sent me a demo CDR entitled 'The morning maker'. The album contains 16 songs. Musically they play a mixture of Progressive Metal and Nu-Metal, and that's a pity, because if they would drop the Nu-metal influences, I'll bet they could be one of the better sounding bands from Argentina. Now they sound like PAIN OF SALVATION and QUEENSRYCHE at some points, although sometimes, RHUN goes NU-Metal all the way ("Alimentade fiela", "The last day" and "Fuckinsane").

The good songs on the album are "Al suele" (progressive melodic rocker), "Desees" (very nice melody), "Father not pure" (good melodic vocals, another good progressive metal tune) and "The crystal ship" (by far the best song, a great calmer semi progressive rockballad). Towards it gets a bit too modern, with such songs like "Platina", "Your world" and "Trampas". I hope a future CD will see a change into the style that suits this band best and that's the progressive metal of the song "The crystal ship", a great melodic tune! For now, check out their site at: http://www.rhun.8m.com and e-mail them at: rhunis@yahoo.com

Rating: 6,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

This is a high quality band out of Argentina and they are about to release their first full-length CD, but in the meantime I was able to hear a 4-track promo CD. The production is very good and the songs are also very nice (especially the instrumental parts, vocally maybe a bit too raw). The band has some good melodic hardrock to offer, most of the time it's uptempo. The best tracks on this promo are "Los caballeros del rey", "Nuestra bandera" and "Misil", 3 good uptempo melodic rockers, a raw sound, not unlike PINK CREAM 69, only vocally much rougher. I look forward to hear their complete full-length CD that should be out later this year. More info can be found at: http://personales.ciudad.com.ar/traksion and e-mail them at: traksion@cvtci.com.ar

Rating: 7,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Out of California comes NICKY JAMS, a multi-instrumentalist who sent me his demo CDR, on which he did almost everything on his own. Musically he is playing instrumental Rock/Hardrock, with some groovy rhythms every now and then, and also some slight R&B influences (such as on "Visitation"). The best songs are "Blown out", "Jumpstart" and "Winter". For a start, this CDR shows that Nicky Jams is a good guitarplayer, and we can learn more from him in the future. More info at: http://www.nickyjams.com and e-mail him at: nickyjams@yahoo.com

Rating: 7/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)

Guitarist/Vocalist Rick Ray has a new CD out. 'Existing passages' contains either out-takes or unfinished pieces from recording sessions done in 1999 and 2000. The music is in the same style as Rick's 21 (!) earlier CDs (released in nearly 3 years!!!). Althought it's all played well, and we can hear influences drawn from 60s Pomp, 70s Progressive Rock and Hardrock, the production isn't really good, and not many songs of the 19 included are really impressive. Nevertheless, if you're keen on the man's work, you will appreciate RICK RAY's latest record for sure. More info at: http://communities.msn.com/GuitaristRickRay

Rating: 6/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)