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Sweden brought us THE POODLES, Norway brought us WIG WAM and now Finland brings us BROTHER FIRETRIBE. Be sure that from all 3 2006 albums of these Scandi Melodic Rockacts, the BROTHER FIRETRIBE's debut CD 'False metal' is the best one and just maybe it even is the best release of 2006! The band was formed by Emppu Vuorinen (NIGHTWISH guitarist) and also features the excellent vocalist Pekka Ansio Heino, who also sang on the recent LEVERAGE album. Musically BROTHER FIRETRIBE is a trip down memory lane, as the music recalls the classic fun 80s AOR/Melodic Rock. Imagine a mix between BON JOVI circa 'Fahrenheit 501' ("Only lonely" style), VAN HALEN ("Dreams"/"Why can't this be love" style), AUTOGRAPH's first classic, AVIATOR, some DANGER DANGER (first) and a harder edged version of JOURNEY/SURVIVOR. It's all about big keys, big guitars, huge choruses, melodic clean vocals, etc. pure 80s Americanised AOR/Melodic Rock like you haven't heard in ages. Highlights for me are "Valerie", "Devil's daughter", "Love goes down" and of course the anthem of 2006: "One Single Breath". The band did an excellent cover of the TOP GUN classic "Mighty Wings" of CHEAP TRICK. It's almost impossible to describe in words how good this album is. Although THE POODLES and WIG WAM delivered some great albums, this BROTHER FIRETRIBE record beats the hell out of every 2006 release, from start to finish top-notch AOR/Melodic Rock with some of the catchiest choruses American bands have forgotten to write for the past 15 years! Probably album of the year 2006! (Points: 9.5 out of 10) BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST ‘LIVE TAPES’ (ECLECTIC DISCS) Re-mastered from the original master tapes, this double album of prog legends BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST includes three previously unreleased bonus tracks together with such classics as “Mockingbird”, “Hymn”, “Poor Man’s Moody Blues”, “Child of the Universe”, “Jonathan”, “Crazy City” and more. As the title says, this is a collection of live recordings from BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST and is a nice addition to the growing catalogue of the band on the ELECTIC DISCS release schedule. More info at: http://www.eclecticdiscs.com (Points: 8.1 out of 10) BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST ‘CONCERT FOR THE PEOPLE’ (ECLECTIC DISCS) This live album was the most successful Barclay James Harvest album to date in both the UK (where it remained a top twenty fixture for some weeks) and in Germany and Switzerland where it reached number one. This expanded reissue has been re-mastered from the original master tapes and includes previously unreleased bonus tracks recorded at the concert. I sure do not know why ECLECTIC DISCS releases 2 live records of BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST at the same time, but on the other hand fans are delighted with this release and we all know the prog bands sound best live, as they can then show their skills. Also this live release was very special as it was recorded in front of an audience of 175,000 people between the Reichstag and the Berlin Wall in Berlin on the 30th of August 1980. This was the time when Germany was split into east and west, of course a very unique event that was happily recorded, although a DVD release of it would even be more interesting to watch, but anyway this re-issue is of course quite excellent. More info at: http://www.eclecticdiscs.com (Points: 8.4 out of 10) HIGH WHEEL 'LIVE BEFORE THE STORM' (PROGRESS RECORDS) German band formed in the late 80s and 'Live before the storm' is their 5th CD, but it's not a new studio-album. Their only studio album in 10 years was 'Back from the void' in 2001, so I think most fans of the band were hoping for a new studio release. However, as is the case with many progbands, live they are even better, so this 2-CD set is a nice overview of what this band has made the past 15 years, recorded live in March 2005 somewhere in Germany. In a time when live CDs are being replaced by live DVDs, HIGH WHEEL takes the challenge to release a live CD, a double CD! Indeed a live album that will take you by storm, because this is a great melodic progrockband that has strong similarities to 70s KANSAS. In caser you did not hear them before, this is the best opportunity to get familiar with the band’s music. More info at: http://www.progressrec.com (Points: 8.3 out of 10) DARYL STUERMER 'REWIRED' (UNICORN DIGITAL) UNICORN started 10 years ago with an album release of the Canadian band MYSTERY, which was a classic Pomprock release during a period that kind of music was completely vanished. The label started releasing more and more records in the next few years, eventually becoming one of the best proglabels ever to come out of Canada. Now 10 years later 2 new CDs are being released. The first is the CD 'Rewired' of guitarist DARYL STUERMER, who has also been a member of GENESIS and the PHIL COLLINS BAND for quite some time now. On his CD we can hear very impressive instrumental progressive rock recorded through the years. Without a doubt, must-have for the progfans and definitely better than anything GENESIS has done since the late 70s! More info at: www.unicornrecords.com (Points: 8.3 out of 10) T.A.O. 'THE ABNORMAL OBSERVATIONS' (UNICORN DIGITAL) From out of nowhere comes the Polish band T.A.O., a band which released their first album 'The Abnormal Observations' has been released on UNICORN DIGITAL on the first of September 2006. T.A.O. is a blend of many influences and their modern Prog will please those seeking for some intricate arrangements and writing. Unlike most other progbands, this band is more focused on technical difficulties in their instrumental sounds instead of keen melodies, which also becomes clear in the songs themselves, because the singing is quite experimental, sort of theatrical like GALAHAD or TWELTH NIGHT, something you like or don’t like. One way or the other, this is a quality prog CD, but more for the open-minded fans. More info at: www.unicornrecords.com (Points: 8.0 out of 10) FREE 2 FLY ’12 MILE ZONE’ (INDEPENDENT) The Austrian band FREE 2 FLY has got their minds set back to 1986, because their catchy Melodic Rock sounds like if it was 1986 European time, with many similarities to TREAT, ZINATRA, TOBRUK, DOMINOE, CRAAFT, DAVINCI, DALTON, DAYTONA, BONFIRE, JOJO and of course BON JOVI/EUROPE. I have to admit that the 12 included songs sound pretty good, both musically and production wise, but vocally it isn’t that strong. It also reminds me of the mid 90s melodic rock revival we experiences at Strutter’zine with LONG ISLAND RECORDS releasing CDs by acts like TRANSIT, TRANCE, MASON… This is basically fun 80s inspired Melodic Rock with catchy memorable choruses and a radio-ready approach, with as result some great songs like “I could have died” (a bit JADED HEART), “Surfing on a sunbeam”, “Fallen angels” (best song, hello 80s BON JOVI!) and “Shiver”. If BON JOVI’s sound of 1985-1987 still is your fave style, then the Melodic Rock of FREE 2 FLY will surely please you, it definitely gave me a good feeling! Have to inform you the best can be heard during the beginning, when things rock, while during the middle a couple of calmer slower songs put the level a bit down, as this band sounds best during the uptempo rockers. Anyway, more info at: http://www.free2fly.at and e-mail at: info@free2fly.at (Points: 8.1 out of 10) PROTOS ‘ONE DAY A NEW HORIZON’ (INDEPENDENT) 24 years after the original album release, PROTOS is re-issueing their 1982 LP ‘One day a new horizon’ onto CD. Symphofreaks will absolutely love this record, although it may sound dated now. Obviously influenced by EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER, this legendary UK band released a great record with ‘One day a new horizon’, so it is indeed a good thing to see it making a re-issue now in 2006. Almost forgot to mention it is a completely instrumental release with melodic guitarwork and pompous synthesizers, again very much like old ELP. The band released 5 albums, all now re-issued and this one is their most well-known album, although I must admit that I had never heard of PROTOS before. Available through: http://www.newhorizonsmusic.co.uk and e-mail at: music@roryridleyduff.com (Points: 8.2 out of 10) LITTLE TRAGEDIES ‘THE SIXTH SENSE’ (MALS RECORDS) Unfortunately not much info came with this release, with even a missing frontcover, so it is just the CD. The CD in this case was from the Russian band LITTLE TRAGEDIES, of whom we reviewed albums in the past. Their new CD ‘The sixth sense’ has a good strong Neo-Progsound a la ARENA, yet with Russian lyrics, so that’s something you have to understand, as it sounds very different than the standard English sung prog. 12 songs are included and what is prominent here is the big keyboardsound. It’s the instrumental passages with the keyboardsounds that makes this band quite interesting, as some very unusual keyboards can be heard, so probably a sort of ANDRE ANDERSEN (ROYAL HUNT) type of keyboard wizard is behind LITTLE TRAGEDIES. Progfans might want to check this out at: http://www.mals.ru (Points: 8.1 out of 10) TAYLOR’S UNIVERSE ‘CERTAIN UNDISCOVERIES’ (MALS RECORDS) Instrumental prog from America, not really heavy, but more funky, jazzy and poppy here and there. Band is a 3-piece and is lead by multi-instrumentalist ROBIN TAYLOR. Result is a very experimental original release, to be checked out if you’re an open-minded prog fan. More info at: http://www.mals.ru (Points: 8.1 out of 10) FAITH AND FIRE ’ACCELERATOR’ (METAL HEAVEN/ROUGH TRADE) FAITH AND FIRE is a new project consisting of 2 RIOT members (lead singer TONY MOORE and guitarist MIKE FLYNTZ), BOC/QUEEN bassist Danny Miranda and drummer John Miceli (RAINBOW/MEATLOAF). Together they recorded an album, which sadly doesn’t live up to the expectations, because it is quite an average album. So it is filled with classic melodic hardrock a la RIOT, FIFTH ANGEL, RAINBOW, but what if none of the 12 tracks are making an impression? Performance is good, production not that good and actually only the ballads “Ashes” and “Angel” are strong songs (VANDENBERG style), because the rest of the material goes in one ear and out the other. Not a terrible album of course, but if you have played in RIOT, RAINBOW and BLUE OYSTER CULT you would expect something much better than this OK release… (Points: 7.7 out of 10)
Already formed back in 1996, so this year celebrating their 10th anniversary, the French band DREAMLOST releases it’s debut in 2006 with ‘Outer reality’. Theya re yet another strong French band playing high quality Melodic Progressive Metal. This style is very popular in France, where bands like KAMELOT, VANDENPLAS, DREAM THEATER and also TOTO are megastars and a lot of French bands try to follow these bands by playing a similar style. Some sing in French and some in English. DREAMLOST sing in English and they sound very impressive actually. The band’s progmetal has superb melodic rock choruses and also their singer Arnaud Graudin has a great voice, while the production is top-notch. Together with 9 strong songs, of which the highlights are “Come and take me”, “The way things are”, “Myself” and “White domain”, this band is easily a must-have to check out if VANDENPLAS, PAGAN’S MIND, MIND’S EYE, TUNNEL VISION etc. are your fave acts! Available through: http://www.brennus-music.com (Points: 8.5 out of 10)
Partly singing in French and partly in English and the funny thing is that if it is sung in French, the band sounds at their best, coming close to MANIGANCE, especially on the fantastic song “Vivre sans lumiere”. Anyway, AWACKS is a French band formed in 1990 and ‘The third way’ is their third release so far. The band has a big sound which is pure Progressive Metal, like said, not far away from MANIGANCE and VANDENPLAS, yet not that strong as those 2 bands. Nevertheless, the band’s new album is a very good Melodic Prog Metal affair with 10 songs included. If you liked MANIGANCE, then you will absolutely love the new AWACKS album as well, because it is very similar to each other, with the difference that AWACKS is doing 50/50 when it comes down to the lyrics, as 50% is in French and the other 50% is in English. No matter what, it all sounds pretty good and besides the mentioned “Vivre sans lumiere”, other highlights are “Everything is nothing”, “Reve” and “S.O.S.”. Available through: http://www.brennus-music.com (Points: 8.3 out of 10) SOLID STATE ‘DEEP SIDE OF THE TUBE’ (BRENNUS MUSIC) Founded in The late 90s, the French band SOLID STATE have released a CD, which musically sounds like the early 90s US style, very much like EXTREME, ROXY BLUE, ROXANNE, EVERY MOTHER’S NIGHTMARE… ‘Deep side of the tube’ is their first album. The singer is not sounding that strong, but this is made up with strong harmonyvocals during the choruses. The funky groovy Melodic Hardrock sounds good for what it is, but I am mostly impressed by the more melodic rock sounding songs a la DANGER DANGER, such as “Living in space” and “Can you feel”. Not a sensational release, but worth checking out for the fans of very early 90s American orientated Hardrock. Available through: http://www.brennus-music.com (Points: 7.8 out of 10)
Neo-Classical Progressive Power Metal with strong melodies and lots of bombastic keyboards is what to expect from the French band FORGIN’ FATE. Comparisons to a KAMELOT, SYMPHONY X, RING OF FIRE, TIME REQUIEM, SPACE ODYSSEY, etc. are possible most of the time and most of the 9 included songs on their debut CD ‘Antares’ sound very good actually. OK, so this is not in the exact same high level of the mentioned bands, but some of the songs here are deadly catchy and super melodic and reminding of mentioned bands a lot. The first 2 songs (“The wise way” and “Morphed into a beast”) are pure Neo-Classical Prog/Power Metal pieces, while the fantastic “Imminent explosion” is a very bombastic Pompous Melodic Rocker. The rest of the CD is following the Neo-Classical Prog/Power Metal style, very impressive, although you can clearly hear the band has some stuff to improve here and there, which could make them sound even better than their countrymen of HEAVENLY. A song like “Liberation” has a superb chorus, but somehow should have been polished a little more, kinda like HEAVENLY has done the past few albums. The band also reminds me a bit of a heavier SILENT EDGE, so all you fans out there of this style be sure to check out the FORGIN’ FATE CD. Available through: http://www.brennus-music.com (Points: 8.3 out of 10) CYRIL LEPIZZERA ’SERVATIS A MALEFICUM’ (BRENNUS MUSIC) 3rd album of this French guitarist and once again filled with classic 80s inspired instrumental guitar based Melodic Rock, kinda like TONY MACALPINE. The melodies are beautiful, especially in uptempo rockers like “Another world”, “Servatis a maleficum” and “Fields of memories”. Must-have for fans of instrumental melodic rock/classic hardrock! Available through: http://www.brennus-music.com (Points: 8.4 out of 10)
American band (Houston/Texas) we reviewed some time ago when they were unsigned, but now they are signed to the French label REPLICA RECORDS, on which they have released their official full-length CD. Musically pure Neo-Classical Power Metal a la RING OF FIRE, ARTENSION… yet with a slightly rawer approach at times, such as the PRIEST influenced opener “Raise hell”. However, most of the time this is your typical Neo-Classical Power Metal lunch and fans of mentioned bands as well as MAJESTIC, SPACE ODYSSEY, TIME REQUIEM and such will absolutely love the first CD of this band. The singer goes up very high in almost every song, which might put some people off, but if you like old GEOFF TATE/HALFORD kinda screams you will love this for sure, although the music is like said before Neo-Classical Power Metal, so with some nice guitar-keyboard duels and very strong melodies here and there. Not saying this is the best release in this genre, but for sure it is a nice addition if you’re a fan of any of the mentioned acts. (Points: 8.2 out of 10) WARCRY ‘LA QUINTA ESENCIA’ (JAUS RECORDS/AVISPA MUSIC/ROCK INC) OK, nothing new on the horizon with the new WARCRY CD, but definitely a nice welcome if you love typical Spanish sung Melodic Metal in the style of TIERRA SANTA, AVALANCH, SARATOGA, RATA BLANCA, etc. The CD comes in a ncie digipack edition and contains 11 strong songs that sound quite impressive, although it is something you gotta love, meaning the Spanish lyrics… I don’t mind personally and anyone else who likes mentioned bands will agree with me that the new WARCRY is another highlight in the Spanish Metalscene. Not as good as TIERRA SANTA or MAGO DE OZ, but definitely worth checking out… (Points: 8.2 out of 10) FURIOUS ZOO ‘FURIOSO 3’ (BRENNUS MUSIC) French band formed many years ago and now releasing their 3rd CD, which contains a mix of covers and originals, musically pure 80s Hardrock. Their own tunes sound pretty nice, pure 80s almost Teutonic Metal sounding, but their covers of “I might lie”(ANDY TAYLOR) and the HENDRIX medley are not really impressive. On the other hand, this band should be a fun stage act. Available through: http://www.brennus-music.com (Points: 7.4 out of 10) ANTIQUUS ‘ELEUTHERIA’ (CRUZ DEL SUR MUSIC) From out of nowhere a Canadian band with a huge 80s influenced US Progressive Metalsound in the style of FATES WARNING, QUEENSRYCHE… Their CD was mastered in Sweden by Goran Finnberg (IN FLAMES, SOILWORK) and mixed in Canada by Larry Anschell (ALICE IN CHAINS, PEARL JAM). What you get is classic 80s guitarsolos a la VAI/.SATRIANI, big Metal riffs and high pitched vocals like GEOFF TATE used to do in the very early QUEENSRYCHE days. Take a bit of QR, FW and CRIMSON GLORY, well then you have ANTIQUUS. Fans of that style will love the record, but do not expect anything that sensational. It’s a good record for what it is, but to produce a classic something extra needs to be added, but fair enough this is a recommended CD if you like 80s QR/FW/CRIMSON GLORY… (Points: 8.0 out of 10) VARIOUS ARTISTS ‘LIGHTING STRIKES AGAIN TWICE: VOLUME TWO’ (RETROACTIVE RECORDS) Nice compilation CD of the Christian re-issue label RETROACTIVE RECORDS. Here you have 20 songs out of their catalogue that mostly is focused on classic 80s Hardrock/Metal, but also throws in some modern or Thrash Metal here and there (and even Death/Industrial!). However, with the catchy 80s rock/metal of bands like ZION, X-SINNER, SERVANT, BRIDE, ARMAGEDDON, ELECTRIK, etc. the fans of 80s Hair Metal (with a Christian message) will like this CD for sure, if you don’t own the separate CDs of these bands. Available through: http://www.retroactiverecords.net (Points: -)
2007 starts with the release of a new ALIAS EYE album, which is their 3rd so far and without a doubt a very strong album that will please the fans of melodic progrock a la JADIS, ENCHANT, EVERON... The German band has of course a fantastic lead singer, PHILIP GRIFFITHS, who has got a voice that is similar to the DENNIS DE YOUNG vibrato. The new album of ALIAS EYE is a very impressive album, with some very strong melodies packed in a progressive rockformat, yet with some tempo changes and influences from other music styles, even some Latin influences can be heard. The best songs of the album do even reflect an AOR influence, such as "History lesson" and "Hold on". Without a doubt, a high quality record! (Points: 8.5 out of 10)
In the 1980s there was a project called PHENOMENA, which featured a whole list of well-known musicians, including singer GLENN HUGHES and keyboardplayer DON AIREY, with even BRIAN MAY guesting on the 3rd CD. Now ESCAPE MUSIC has released a very impressive package that features those first 3 PHENOMENA albums. Musically prime-time 80s AOR/Melodic Rock with a poppy touch and a radiofriendly sound, but for sure these are classics. Songs like "Kiss of Fire", "Still the Night", "Dance with The Devil", "Phoenix Rising", "Stop", "Surrender", "Did It All For Love", "No Retreat, No Surrender" and "Move You Lose" are timeless tunes. The 2nd PHENOMENA sold over 250,000 copies worldwide and was together with the first album the best release in this PHENOMENA project, because the 3rd one was slightly weaker. Nevertheless, this package includes all 3 PHENOMENA albums with a bunch of bonustracks. Nice to add to the collection of any 80s melodic rockfan! (Points: 8.7 out of 10)
2nd CD of the project of LARS ERIC MATTSSON, who of course is known for many solo releases in the past. With BOOK OF REFLECTIONS he goes into a pure Melodic Neo-Classical Prog/Power Metal direction that should be compared to bands like TOMORROW’S EVE, PAGAN’S MIND, ARTENSION, BALANCE OF POWER, ROYAL HUNT, MIND’S EYE, etc. etc. Without a doubt, this is a high quality CD, which also features the likes of vocalists Bjorn Jansson (Tears Of Anger) and Martin LeMar (Tomorrow’s Eve) who handle 3 songs each, guitarist Anand Mahangoe (Sphere Of Souls, Solo) and. Mistheria (Bruce Dickinson) contributes keyboard solos on 4 tracks whilelong time Mattsson collaborator Eddie Sledgehammer plays drums. All together it is a pretty good album, but not outstandingand not beating mentioned bands. Just a nice addition, with as highlight the song “Bringer of the torch”. Still worth checking out if you like any of the mentioned bands, because this is a good release for sure… (Points: 8.2 out of 10)
In the 80s Teutonic Metal was at it's peak, with hundreds of bands in Germany playing the style, which SCORPIONS, HELLOWEEN, ACCEPT and a few others introduced. Especially the GEMA label was one of the labels to unleash many records of bands that wanted to follow the footsteps of afforementioned bands. STRANGER was just one of them, starting as a MAD MAX/HELLOWEENish faster Melodic Speed Metal band, they ended up in becoming an AOR band with the releases to follow 'The bell'. However, 20 years ago they released their debut 'The bell', which was a typical Teutonic Metal release, yet very melodic. Now KARTHAGO RECORDS has done a remarkable job in doing a re-issue of the record, with as bonus 5 unreleased demos and 4 videos. Clearly the band was very close to early MAD MAX/HELLOWEEN on the original album, but moved to a very radiofriendly melodic rocksound (80s DOKKEN/BON JOVI/EUROPE) in the following years, as notable on the bonustracks. Happily, STRANGER were always a quality band, just changed a bit during the years. Together with the extensive liner notes, this CD is surely a must-have for the collectors among us. Available through: http://www.karthagorecords.de (Points: 8.5 out of 10)
Although in the 1980s Teutonic Metal was huge in Germany and almost every new band was playing it, here and there some bands were trying out a slightly different approach. NO TROUBLE for example was a more American orientated band, with a style closer to RATT/CRUE than ACCEPT. However, still very Metalish, the 2 releases of this band from the mid 1980s have carefully been remastered (like any other KARTHAGO RECORDS release) and put out on CD, along with a few bonustracks and extensive liner notes. Definitely a very rare gem now available for the collectors on CD, sounding better than ever! Available through: http://www.karthagorecords.de (Points: 8.5 out of 10) (All reviews by Gabor Kleinbloesem) |
BROTHER FIRETRIBE ‘FALSE METAL’ (SPINEFARM/UNIVERSAL MUSIC FINLAND)
DREAMLOST ‘OUTER REALITY’ (BRENNUS MUSIC)
AWACKS ‘THE THIRD WAY’ (BRENNUS MUSIC)
FORGIN’ FATE ‘ANTARES’ (BRENNUS MUSIC)
OUTWORLD
‘OUTWORLD’ (REPLICA RECORDS/ROCK INC) 
ALIAS
EYE 'IN FOCUS' (QUIXOTE MUSIC) 
PHENOMENA
'THE COMPLETE WORKS' (ESCAPE MUSIC) 
BOOK
OF REFLECTIONS ‘CHAPTER 2: UNFOLD THE FUTURE’ (LION MUSIC/BERTUS) 
STRANGER
'THE BELL' (KARTHAGO RECORDS) 
NO
TROUBLE 'LOOKING FOR TROUBLE BUT WATCHING OUT' (KARTHAGO RECORDS)