“Big in Japan” is one way to sum up Fair Warning built around the talents of former Zeno bassist Ule Ritgen and V2 vocalist Tommy Heart.  Until recently this was a band I had heard little off, however such was my enjoyment of the last Dreamtide album “Dream & Deliver” that I went off in search of that bands guitarist Helge Engelke’s other band which just happens to be Fair Warning, and some fine treats were found. 

Starting in relatively commercial rock settings for their self titled debut album way back in the early 1990s the band’s back then progressed into a more epic classical melodic sound for 1995’s “Rainmaker” album which was followed up by “Go!” in 1996 and 2000’s “Four” before the band jacked it in.  After a break at the turn of the century the band regrouped in 2006 for the “Brother’s Keeper” album which left off where they had ended musically in 2000 with “Four”.  July 24^th 2009 marks the release of their new album “Aura”.

For those that have not heard the band before; Fair Warning are arguably one of the best purveyors of classy melodic metal out there with soaring vocals from Tommy Heart, a singer whose pitch is spot on with a glorious vibrato, this alongside the virtuoso fretwork from the aforementioned Engelke, well… if you like your guitarists in the Uli Jon Roth mold then look no further, for Helge to these ears is a more metalised version of Uli, heck the guy even has a 36 fret guitar and this coupled with gloriously swooping lead lines and superb rhythmic riffs make for a very exciting package.  The final piece is the rock tight rhythm section of Ule Ritgen and CC Behrens (drums) who are as tight a rhythm section as what you would expect from 20 years playing together.

Opener “Fighting For Your Love” is trademark Fair Warning, big bold riff with a strong rhythmic bounce coupled with stunning vocals and capped off a sublime bridge and chorus.  The icing on the cake comes in form or Engelke’s solo.  “Here Comes The Heartache” begins with keyboard orchestration before Engelke takes you on a melodic journey with a sublime melody inflected with tremolo bar warbles and his great vibrato.  The track breaks down for a restraint verse which grows in strength before landing at another near perfect bridge and chorus – if there’s a better band out there in the melodic rock/metal genre that can deliver melodies like this I have yet to hear them.  Another stunning guitar solo sees Engelke venturing up to the upper echelons of his extra fretted guitar for some more fine melodies.  A spectacular opening brace of songs.    

“Hey Girl” is a power ballad that fuses an acoustic guitar intro and verse which transposes well to another winning chorus which builds second time around for another cracking solo.  “Don’t Count On Me” is not a million miles away from the sound heard on the last Dreamtide album and this is a strong mid-tempo yet upbeat track with more of a popish element to its predecessors.  “Falling” is a quite majestic track with numerous elements, again relatively mid tempo but darker than its predecessor, the chorus has a lot of commercial potential and Tommy Heart conjures up a great mood throughout the track.

 “Holding On” is arguably the weakest track on the album and plods along a little, there is some salvation in the guitar solo though.  “Walking On Smiles” sees the tempo pick up a little but again does plod a little and lacks some of the excitement of earlier numbers yet some Uli-ish lead work will keep your interest here.  “Someday” begins out slow again and you feel the album is in danger of getting a little too lead booted, but there is salvation as the track builds and it’s a strong dark number with another good bridge and some nice keyboard orchestration added to the proceedings.  “As Snow White Found Out” might be one of the more bizarre song titles seen this year the track is again comprised of several light and shade moments, restraint verses and big choruses and another mighty fine guitar solo which builds in tempo rather nicely.  Album closer “Station To Station” is heavier but still relatively restraint tempo wise, and to be honest sees the album go out with less energy than with that it started with.  Again guitars and keyboard inflections blend nicely but you do feel the album has run out a little bit of steam at this point. A shame considering the immense quality shown on the opening five tracks.

Whilst this might not be Fair Warning’s best work to date, the opening tracks are certainly amongst the best the band have written and for this reason alone comes strongly recommended.  It would have been nice to have some faster numbers in the second half as the tempo’s do tend to merge a little into one, yet still there is excellent performances throughout these tracks and overall “Aura” is a strong slice of melodic hard rock.  If next time round they can combine the magic of the opening tracks throughout the running order they will have an all time classic on their hands.