Brazen Abbott leader / multi-instrumentalist Nikolo Kotzev has been busy of late.  My Resurrection continues the hard work that has been the Kotzev’s trademark since the Nostradamus project and I am happy to report that My Resurrection is a cracking slice of metal.  As is the the norm we have several guest vocalists - Joe Lynn Turner / Goran Edman / Tony Harnell - who weave their magic throughout the 11 tracks on offer.

Stylistically this is probably best described as classic metal however there are a few twists and turns along the way.  Track 4 Dreams is probably the biggest surprise with its almost AOR style delivery, this balled sees exceptional song writing with impassioned vocals from Joe Lynn Turner along with an excellent arrangement and piano solo, I was really knocked out by the emotion in this track.  For those that prefer a heavier delivery, well the rest of the album pretty much gives this from the opening title track to the closer Shades Of Grey.  One area that did surprise me was Goran Edman’s much darker delivery and vibe than I have been accustomed to on previous works.

Overall My Resurrection is a very solid rock album which places Kotzev near the top of the hard rock pack and showcases him as a strong songwriter and good guitarist, it is sure to please any fan that has a passing interest in the genre.

Rating - 85%

Now here we have two classic progressive legends with original Asia keyboardist Geoff Downes and vocalist John Wetton (also legendary work in UK).  Icon hit me pretty hard, I was expecting some soft lifeless prog (much like Asia), instead what we have in Icon is a pretty unique album which is on the soft rock side of things but with a much deeper musical and lyrical content.  Icon has a very religious feel in the chord progressions and lyrics, but this also brings with it a superb almost classical feel.  The musicianship is to be expected very good, no-one really holds the limelight but Down’s keyboard work is very good (if mainly from the chordal aspect) and Wetton’s vocals are about as good as I have ever heard them with his dark tones working wonderfully over the rich progressions.  

With the help of long-time John Wetton collaborators Steve Christey (Jadis) on drums and John Mitchell (Arena, Kino) on guitars, along with Annie Haslam (Ranaissance), Ian McDonald (Foreigner, King Crimson), Hugh McDowell (ELO), Mike Stobbie guesting - ICON is full of excellent musicians who have come together for a very original sounding album and one that is sure to be make regular return appearances on my cd player for a long time to come.

Rating – 80%

Steve Morse is probably best known to the general public as the guitarist who replaced Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple in the mid 1990’s, however Morse’s root stem much further back to rock/fusion specialists Dixie Dregs (fans of the old Tommy Vance (RIP) Friday Rock Show on BBC Radio 1 will recognise the Dreg’s Take It Off The Top which was the shows theme for years).  Suffice to say Morse is well respected in the guitar community, having won “Overall Best Guitarist” by Guitar Player magazine’s readers poll 5 times in a row (and subsequently banned), Morse has also received 6 Grammy nominations (but never won – typical of the Grammys).

Prime Cuts is as with the recent compilations from Terry Bozzio and Tony Levin a collection of tracks from albums released on the Magna Carta label.  Suffice to say this music is generally progressive in feel and sees material culled from Yes and Rush tribute albums (The Clap and La Villa Strangiato respectively) along with music from Steve’s solo albums and guest appearances on Jordan Rudess’ solo album Feeding The Wheel.

This is all high quality stuff and the 9 tracks on offer show the wide range of guitar skills Morse possesses.  I must admit I have never been a fan of Morse’s vibrato which I find well below his other skills but the compositional skill cannot be faulted.

Prime Cuts is a good introduction into the world of Steve Morse and you also get the bonus of an 11 minute interview with Steve. 

Rating – 80%

Lars Eric Mattsson's rock opera about the state of Earth has just been released.  War as mentioned is a rock opera which focuses on the state of the earth and is quite possibly Mattson's biggest undertaking to date.  There is a whole host of metal stars guesting on the release, including Mark Boals (vocals), Lance King (vocals), Irene Janssen (vocals) as well as some of Lion Music's most respected artists - Vitalij Kuprij (keyboards), Andre Vuurboom (vocals), Bjorn Jannson (vocals). 

Those expecting something purely prog metal maybe a little surprised to hear some more worldly influences to sound from tribal chanting to African beats, these work well with the strong metallic compositions whilst Mattsson's fretwork is arguably his best to date, some of the trades between himself and Kuprij are red hot roller coaster rides through musical landscapes.    Also good to hear is that despite all the guest performers this albums keeps a consistent sound throughout helping to keep focus and fuse the diverse musicality together well.  The production is of a very good standard with a strong focussed sound and good balance between instruments which helps tracks like Where's Our Chance, Deep In The Shadows, This Is The End and the highly impressive War Suite Concerto really hit the listener hard.

Overall War is a highly ambitious concept which has been pulled of by Lars Eric Mattsson and is arguably his best album yet.

Rating – 90%

Having said that the guitar tone does at times fall into the "thin and overly saturated" category, this doesn't detract too much from my overall enjoyment (and certainly doesn't hide Enevoldsens skills any), but had there been a slightly more open guitar tone then some of the dynamics of the lead work may stand up a little better.

As it stands Flying Solo proves why Enevoldsen is considered one of Europe's hottest players on the metal scene and will please anyone interested in the guitar instrumental genre.

Rating - 80%