VINCE NEIL - TATTOOS AND TEQUILA
Out 4th June 2010 - Frontiers

Vince Neil needs no introduction. You either love or hate his voice.
His first solo album “Exposed” was a surprising masterpiece of melodic LA style hard rock. So how does this new one hold up against it?

A covers album with two new tracks thrown in, this CD is a bundle of fun.
There’s the obvious (Aerosmith’s “Nobody’s Fault”, Sex Pistols’ “No Feelings”) the not so obvious (Scorpions’ “Another Piece Of Meat”) and the downright surprising (CCR’s “Who Will Stop The Rain”).  Special mention has to go to “Viva Las Vegas”, which is nearly as much fun as ZZ Top’s version.

“Another Bad Day” was apparently voted off “New Tattoo”. Crack is a helluva drug kids. This is a fine ballad, not in the least bit sappy and eminently hummable.

The trio of musicians providing the backing are Slaughter’s Dana Strum (bass guitar), Jeff Blando (guitars) and Zoltan Chaney (drums), and it’s no surprise they’re all more than competent. If you think you don’t like Neil’s voice, give this album a spin anyhow. You might get a pleasant surprise.

Neil hasn’t gone out of his way to do something contemporary, but has stuck to what he knows best : make a kickass rock n roll album. The soundtrack to your summer?

Rating – 89%
Review by Sancho
 

8 POINT ROSE - PRIMIGENIA
Out 25th June 2010 - Escape Music

Metal by the numbers would be an easy way to dismiss this band.
And even if it wouldn’t be all too far fetched, it’s a cheap judgement to make.

The problem is, I can’t think of a better description… We get decent if not very exciting or original metal tracks, with keyboards and the occasional grunt shoehorned in. Why, by Jove? To attract a portion of the typical Wacken crowd, who like their Scandinavian bands to sound at least a bit like Nightwish? It’s a shame, because this could be a very competent melodic heavy metal band.

“Endless Rage” is a good example of what this band is capable of.  Marcus Nygren has a very agreeable voice, the musicians are good although the many guest solos made me raise an eyebrow… This should be a good album.

Unfortunately the contemporary pseudo-extreme metal influences sound forced. “Relentless” is a painful illustration of this point, whereas in “The Shadow” the grunt is simply ludicrous. And a lineup with no mention of a keyboard player, on an album this keyboard heavy? C’mon guys…

Rating – 55%
Review by Sancho

WILDSIDE - SPEED DEVIL
Out Now - Escape Music

With a name like Wild Side, it’s no surprise this band is somewhat influenced by Mötley Crüe. Album opener “Live Forever” sets the tone: exciting metal with a singer who could fill in for Vince Neil any day of the week.

“Play With Me” has a hint of Pretty Maids about it, without the keyboards that are such a defining part of that band’s sound. Singer Joachim Berntsen overreaches a bit on “Need To Deliver”, trying too hard to show off his vocal range. As the album progresses the band displays more of its own identity. These guys are no mere copycats of the aforementioned bands but rather took their influences to craft a personal, if not innovative, metal album. “Devil In Disguise” illustrates this as good as any track on the album. Big ballad “Love For You” isn’t bad but it’s definitely not the highlight of the album. The Crüe are back for album closer “Speed Devil”. Not as fast as the title suggests, this is a mid paced stomper. Either way it provides a neat closing to the album.

Overall we’re dealing with accomplished musicians here. I’ve never heard guitar work this good on a Crüe album. The compositions are more intricate than I expected. The album cover had me thinking I’d be dealing with a speed rock band. Fortunately I was spared the agony. Andy Larocque’s clear mix ensures we get to savour all of the instruments to their fullest extent.

This is an unpretentious swinging metal album, delivered by one of the better, if not the best, Norwegian bands of the moment.

Rating - 87%
Review by Sancho

SECTION A - SACRIFICE
Out Now - Lion Music

Section A return with album number 3 and a more streamlined stripped down sound with ‘Sacrifice’. Whilst some of the progressive metal progressions and instrumental segments of its two predecessors have been lost, the guitar work of Torben Enevoldsen and sublime vocals of Andy Engberg power the music along with a new found drive and enthusiasm. New drummer Thomas Heintzelmann (Decoy) also provides an exceptionally strong showing with drum work that is up there with the best known names.

The more streamlined nature of the ‘Sacrifice’ yields a heavier sound, but the songs have more impact as a result which is further aided by the strong clear production.

The opening trio assault of the title track, ‘Room With A View’ and ‘Lionheart’ will leave you lying on the floor from the knockout one-two-three pronged attack of driving riffs and soaring vocal melodies. ‘Land Of The Desert Sun’ is a hark back to the bands earlier sound with the band continuing their tradition of a master keyboardist to provide some solo flavours, this album sees Lasse Finbråten of Circus Maximus provide the necessary flirting keyboard flurries. More melodic waters are catered for with the early segments of ‘Concealed In Lies’ whilst heroes has a neo-classical feel to it that adds a nice dimension (Engberg is flawless here also). ‘Days Of Sorrow’ should appeal to the melodic European metal contingent with its strong chorus which possesses all the anthemic qualities one might require. ‘Danger’ is the blandest track on offer (in comparison) yet closer ‘The City Is Falling’ ends the album on a nice fast paced high note and is a highlight.

Section A fans might feel a little reticent when reading this a slight shift away from the sound that worked on the bands first 2 releases, yet fear not, the band have returned with the best elements of the earlier albums, repackaged it more powerfully and delivered a very enjoyable slice of metal which deserves to pick up new fans along the way. I

f you like well played and well sung metal then Section A have provided the perfect tonic in ‘Sacrifice’. Special mention must also go to the stunning artwork from Carl-Andre Beckston. Welcome back guys.

Rating – 90%
Review by Andy

THE MILESTONES - DEVIL IN ME
Out Now - Tempo Music

Bold, soulful and groovy are the words to describe The Milestones whose 70's influences include such greats as Lynyrd Skynrd, Allman Brothers, a touch of Bad Company and healthy dose of the attitude of Bon Scott era AC/DC. You’d swear these guys were coming out of the southern reaches on America but no, they hail from Finland and have produced a quite marvellous album in “Devil In Me”.

If you enjoyed early Black Crowes and the two gems from Cry Of Love or the above mentioned bands you will enjoy this thoroughly. Great songs powered along by clear twin guitar with guitar tones that are on the right side of vintage dirt, a grooving rhythm section and a superb vocalist in Olavi Tikka who is equal parts Chris Robinson/Bon Scott and Paul Rodgers. This is an album made in the finest traditions of when it was the music that mattered – you can smell the earth, the bourbon and the Marlboros and I don’t think I’ve enjoyed an album in a similar vein so much in quite some time.

No need for picking out individual tracks for this is an essential purchase from start to finish. If you have a penchant for 70’s rock in its more honest form then check this out now.

Rating – 90%
Review by Andy

PHONOMIK - SOUL CREEPER
Out Now - Nightmare Records

I’ve rarely come across such a garbled mess as the promo sheet for Phonomik’s “Soul Creeper” album. I have to say my expectations were low from the off due to the shambolic press release.  Fortunately, the band seem to have their act together a lot better than their label.

The first name that springs to mind is Into Another, probably due to the singer’s voice. The band offers up proggy metal with some added groove. Lots of keyboards but they are integrated very well in the band sound. There’s hints of the early nineties in the band’s sound but overall this is a pretty contemporary sounding album. Right down to the absence of guitar solos, unfortunately…

A rather original sounding band. Their down tuned groove is pretty catchy. Now if only they’d thrown some lead breaks into the mix, they could have scored a lot higher.

Rating - 83%
Review by Sancho
 

TARA’S SECRET - VERTIGO
Out Now - Black Cat Music

“The band stay true to their classic rock roots but bring a modern day twist to the album” it says in the band’s press sheet. Who dreams up this stuff?

Tara’s Secret are a rather generic sounding, melodic hard rock band. Modern day twist? I remember demo tapes from Dutch and British bands circa 1988 that sounded more contemporary than this album…

Which isn’t to say this is a bad band. There’s a swagger to their hard rock that recalls the early days of Thunder or FM. Songs are hummable, there’s some good guitar work and of course the odd ballad. On their heavier moments, they remind me a bit of Winter’s Reign. UFO’s Misdemeanor era is another valid comparison.

Production is rudimentary. There is a certain vibrancy to the sound but it’s not exactly smooth. Not distracting to the enjoyment though, unless you insist on Mutt Lange style aural overkill.

For all the crap the record label spouts about this band in a desperate effort to avoid using the term hard rock, this is a nice, unassuming, old school HARD ROCK album with a hint of DIY charm about it.

Rating - 83%
Review by Sancho
 

THIRD EYE - RECIPE FOR DISASTER
Out Now - Escape Music

“Contrived”. It’s the first word that came to mind when listening to Third Eye’s debut album. This is in no small measure due to the forced vocal lines and grating voice of singer Per Johansson. The rhythmic incoherence and needlessly complex song structures don’t help their case either.

From opener “Solitary Confinement” on, the band strive to stuff as many riffs and ideas into every single song. A band like Watchtower made it work, but unfortunately these six Swedes fall very wide of the mark. The songs don’t have a natural flow and whatever melodic hooks are there are killed off by that unpleasant voice. Faux-Nevermore track “Dark Angel” starts off promising, but then they go and cram an overload of syllables into the chorus and kill it off.

If you enjoy bands like Mekong Delta and Sieges Even you may give this a spin. If you’re looking for an agreeable tune to hum along to, steer well clear.

With a different singer and some careful trimming of the song writing this band could well produce something interesting. As it stands today, unfortunately not.

Rating - 50%
Review by Sancho
 

FIRECRACKER - BORN OF FIRE
Out Now - Escape Music

Out Now / Escape Music

What would you end up with if Yngwie joined Dream Theater? Well, the end result might be something like Firecracker. Lots of widdly guitar and keyboard solos, some less obvious song writing twists and very energetic drumming are joined to halfway catchy choruses.

It has to be said, guitarist Stefan Lindholm is damn good. Scratch that, all the instrumentalists are damn good. They pull off this old school Dream Theater/Malmsteen mix quite well. Whereas Malmsteen usually manages to find a damn good singer, no such luck here. Sounding like James Labrie’s awkward kid brother, vocalist Tomas Kerevik is the weak link on this album. It doesn’t help that his vocal melodies are sometimes unnecessarily strained and he tries to cram too many syllables into the phrase. I think he can actually do better than is demonstrated here (he definitely can, see Seventh Wonder - Ed).

Overall this is a decent album if you’re into neo-classical prog, just nothing earth shattering.

Rating - 73%
Review by Sancho
 

STEVE CICHON – CRANIAL FEEDBACK
Out Now / Nightmare Records

Solo guitar album from Steve Cichon, someone I had never heard of previously despite having a love of the instrumental genre, even the press blurb states you may never despite it supposedly being his third release (but first instrumental).

First off this album is absolutely terrible sonically, a muddy bass clouds everything almost to the point of distraction. The fake live audience is nothing more than cheap and contrived sounding – dare I say double cheese with a side order of cheese. Steve states that he wanted to approach this album with the intention of creating a soundscape of the perfect live show… really?

In a guitar sense Steve could be an ok player, unfortunately as mentioned the production is terrible. In addition to the overloaded bass we get budget drum samples which are poorly programmed i.e. obviously done by someone without a drum brain programmed them. A truly awful digitally processed guitar tone mar this whole thing to point of making you wonder what the hell Nightmare Records are doing even bothering to release it – all this topped off with a mix from hell. Next time give us a decently produced album that is listenable Mr Cichon.

Vai and Satriani won’t be losing any sleep over this and nor should you.  I might due to having endured it for 3 spins. Horrid – AVOID.

Rating – 10% (purely for the signs of some guitar skill if you really listen).
 

MASTERPLAN - TIME TO BE KING
Out 21st May 2010 / AFM Records

When Roland Grapow and Uli Kusch left Helloween you wondered if they would be heard from again. Ultimately returning with Masterplan along with former Ark vocalist Jorn Lande the band delivered a very solid debut which won a great deal of attention, the follow up ‘Aeronuatics’ was not quite as good and ultimately led to the departure of Lande and Kusch to be replaced by vocalist Mike DiMeo and drummer Mike Terrana for the rather average Mk.II. Despite the new vocalist being rather good, the press and public at large seemed less than convinced and things looked bleak until the return of Lande was announced last year and now we get the bands fourth release “Time To Be King”.

Stylistically the band have changed little so expect power metal with ample amounts of melody about it, and overall the band seem rejuvenated.

The energy displayed is impressive with the whole band being on fine form and the production is very solid. Opener ‘Fiddler Of Time’ kicking things off with great gusto being a double bass drum led charger. The more mid tempo melodic numbers ‘Blow Your Mind’, ‘The Dark Road’ and ‘The Black One’ are very fine tracks indeed and its here that the band excel. Some of this class is lost on the faster numbers which at times are power metal by numbers (Far From The End Of The World, Blue Europa) and rather bland Lande’s vocals aside. Grapow plys his trade well however his style of play is rather faceless in comparison to his Helloween and even more so his 2 solo album days, yet overall it’s a solid body of work and strong return.

It’s a shame Mike DiMeo never got the time he deserved to win over the bands fans but its was also probably inevitable that Lande would return one day - given the current state of the music industry where a name is needed to sell anything these days.

Long-term fans of the band should be satisfied with ‘Time To Be King’, for newbies this is as good a starting place as any. I personally feel it’s the best album since the debut and overall is a good release.

Rating – 84%
 

DRIVE SHE SAID – DREAMS WILL COME
Out 21st May 2010 / Metal Heaven

Drive She Said hit the scene just in time to be wiped out by the grunge tidal wave of the early nineties. The band (well, main figures Al Fritsch and Mark Mangold) reunited at the occasion of Firefest 2009 and this compilation album is the first result.

I’m unfamiliar with DSS’s original output, so I’ll have to judge this album on face value.

In addition to a collection of songs from the band’s past there’s two new songs, the title track and “Try2LetGo(FukUUp)”. Well, they fukked up alright… While the title track is a classy slab of AOR, the other one is an experiment that should never have left the lab.  The rest of the album is filled with standard AOR. “Don’t You Know”, “Hard To Hold” and  “Think Of Love” are amongst the better material on offer. After an iffy start the album picks up a bit in the second half.

The sound of the album isn’t impressive. Muddy and cheapish. I somehow can’t imagine the original releases sounding like this.

Not a bad album, but it’ll be an uphill battle with all the great AOR releases we’ve had recently.

Rating - 70%
Review by Sancho

PANGEA - RETROSPECTACULAR
Out 21st May 2010 / Lion Music

Pangea are a melodic hard rock band from Denmark who released a couple of well received albums (particularly in Japan) in the early 1990’s.  “Retrospectacular” is the bands long thought lost third album which the band have reunited to finish up and see what happens.

Led by guitarist and vocalist Torben Lysolm (known for his producer work with the likes of Section A, Acacia Avenue) the music is funky melodic metal straight out of the early Extreme school of thought.  So expect lots of flashy guitar all of which is perfectly executed.  Lysolm's vocals are also pretty strong having a lot of individuality making them a nice change from the vocals you normally associate with rocking American tinted hard rock. 

Opener “Time’s Up” is a solid enough start but the album really hits a home run with “Hold Your Fire” which sums up the bands approach rather nicely… great guitar work here too for fans of EVH and Bettencourt.  The Extreme funky leanings get a little close for comfort in a couple of places (“Right Between The Eyes”, “Don’t Let Go”) but generally this is well constructed well played and highly enjoyable.  “2 am” could well have been the summer hit of 1988 but in 2010 you could argue it’s missed the boat somewhat, still fans of commercially driven metal will enjoy this.

The production is a little raw in places with a very dry sound yet a good mix is here, it’s just different to most of what you hear these days and certainly not what you expect from melodic hard rock/metal lacking some lushness to the sound.  However, the songwriting is mostly excellent and this is a nice surprise from Lion Music – the cover artwork however is plain awful! 

Fans of pre grunge late 80’s hard rock will find an awful lot to enjoy here, with its origins dating back to that era. This is band that deserve to of been household names but as it stands in 2010 its just a great little nostalgic trip back to arguably the glory days of hard rock for many. I for one hope it leads to new material and a new fanbase.

Rating – 88%
 

SVEN LARSSON - SUNLIGHT AND SHADOW
Out Now / Avenue Of Allies

Sven Larsson is probably best known for his guitar work with AOR-sters Street Talk having recorded 4 albums with them. With that band taking a back seat of late Sven has seen fit to use the time to piece together his debut solo effort “Sunlight and Shadow”.

The album is a fusion of easy on the ear AOR/melodic rock with a couple of instrumentals. Sven handles the majority of lead vocals with the exception of Thomas Eriksson taking over vocals on 2 tracks. A common ground here is the work of the aforementioned Street Talk with some pointers coming from the Toto side of rock. The opening two numbers being a perfect example of this complete with some Lukather-esque lead work from Sven. Fans of west coast melodic soft rock will find a lot to enjoy here, more casual listeners may find it a little too nice in its delivery but there is no doubting its well played and one of the more enjoyable of its type I have heard of late.

The production is strong with a definite 80’s sheen to it (perfectly suited to the music) and overall it’s a solid enough release that just lacks a little something to make it truly memorable.

Rating - 80%
 

SKILL IN VEINS - SKILL IN VEINS
Out May 14th 2010 / Avenue Of Allies

Skill in Veins are a hard rock outfit hailing from Italy. Initially pieced together by young upstart guitarist Andrea Lanza who turned to producer Alessandro Del Vecchio (member of Eden’s Curse) to produce his songs. Del Vecchios contacts helped find vocalist Gabriele Gozzu (Markonee), drummer Francesco Jovine (ex UDO) and bassist Nik Mazzucconi to provide some backing fire for Lanza’s compositions.

Coming from a background influenced by Guns n Roses, Aerosmith and Skid Row the album surprisingly sounds more like modern hard rock than the hard rock staples on what it’s supposedly based (and marketed). Granted Lanza has a straight up guitar approach reminiscent of Slash but the songs lack the quality and appeal of those influences. Shouter Gabriele Gozzu is not exactly a great find sounding like the illegitimate forgotten son of Axl Rose and Seb Bach on a bad day, cue raspy vocal with a piercing, unmusical and not so subtle high pitch squeal when his mood suits;  which unfortunately is quite often. A shame as some of the music does show potential its just not fully realised here. “You’re Doing It Again” and “The Way Out” come closest to sounding truly convincing with both built around very solid riffs and a half decent vocal performances but the rest is average at best.

There is some potential on offer here, but Skill In Veins (odd band name too) will have to really step up their game next time if they want to be recognised on a bigger scale.

Rating – 40%