I’m normally not enthusiastic about “supergroups” or all-star projects. But I’ll gladly make an exception when the result is as good as W.E.T.! The acronym stands for Robert Säll, guitarist of Work of Art, Erik Martensson of Eclipse and Jeff Scott Soto, singer of Talisman.

What do these guys offer? AOR of a very high level, with some harder edged tracks thrown in for good measure. Is Soto showing Journey they made a rash decision in firing him? It sometimes sounds like it!The songs have big hooks, big choruses, big keyboards and big guitars. I’ll gladly take W.E.T. over Soul SirkUS or Chickenfoot. The songs are just better.

Standout tracks include opener “Invincible”, “Running From The Heartache” and “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is”. And let’s not forget “Just Go”, a fast paced hard-driving rocker where every part of the puzzle just falls into place.

Production is impeccable, or what did you expect?

Brilliant melodic rock album.

Rating – 90%
Review by Joost

Frontiers are on a roll! Not content with releasing the excellent W.E.T., they present us with this second album of Blanc Faces.

I have to admit their debut album passed below my radar, but judging by what I’m hearing here I will have to look it up. The La Blanc brothers have something up their sleeve, for sure. The title track is exemplary for this album : an irresistible hook in a driven AOR rocker. But it doesn’t end there. Choosing standout tracks is near impossible, as every song is a virtual AOR classic. Whether it’s a ballad like “Everything”, “Light Of The World” or “Goodbye Summer”, or something rockier like “I Come Alive”, “Like A Believer” or “Don’t Take It Away”, the band just nails it with equal skill.

For some reason, listening to this album reminds me of Giant’s debut. Not a bad band to be compared to I’m sure you’ll agree. There’s some Survivor in the mix as well. Again, they could do worse.

Production was in the capable hands of Dennis Ward and is open and airy. Maybe a bit too bright at times, but definitely “crisp”.

Another great release that puts many a big name to shame.

Review - 93%
Review by Joost

I intended to write a longer review, I think "Heartbrake Station" is a fantastic album, but with this I listened to this, thought something isn't right but percieved, however this is terrible. 

The music is fine, the problems begin at the audience being too high in the mix making it seem overly fake.  But the main issue is Tom Keifer's godawful vocals - I know the guy has had vocal problems but really this is unacceptable, the guy has 1 note for the entire set, it kinda the vocal version of Neil Young's 'Cinammon Girl' solo.  To make things worse Tom's one note is delivered with a vocal that is brittle as toffee and that 1 note is never in key.  I have Aerosmith bootlegs where an obliterated Steven Tyler performances sound like Pavarotti compared to this. 

Quite how the paying public didn't cause a riot demanding refunds from this gig is beyond me, but for one I would say avoid this album like the plague.  This is one live album where you wish the  vocals were doctored in the studio!  Really there is nothing else to focus on, the vocals obliterate any enjoyment to be had elsewhere.

OPINION #2 - JOOST’S JUDGEMENT

Oh lordy… If you have an irresistible urge to listen to a bad AC/DC cover band, a really bad one, you could check out this album I suppose. Keifer’s voice is shot, the band sounds tired and the muddy mix just drives the last nail home.

Avoid.

OVERALL RATING - 10%

Now here is something quite different, yet manages to fall within the boundaries of V1.  Mörglbl are a power trio that deliver instrumental music that fuses shred, jazz and funk into a somewhat cohesive package.  The press blurb describes this as a mix between Steve Vai and Primus, and to be honest that is selling the music short!  Led by guitarist Christophe Godin, an eccentric French guitarist who is an underground “name” for those in the know and he showcases his not inconsiderable skills throughout. 

What we have here is music that is entertaining, intelligent and technically proficient yet manages to stay within these boundaries whilst being accessible.  The rest of the band is made up of bassist Ivan Rougny who is complemented by the double bass of new drummer Aurelien Ouzoulias who form a formidable rhythm section. Granted the artwork is a cheap as can be, but its almost as if the band are tempting the listener in with the shoddy look, for the music is pretty much first class throughout.  Its hard to pick out highlights as there is something on offer in each tune, so it’s a case of listening through and enjoying the whole lot. 

If you like your instrumental, or for that fact music interesting with lots of unexpected twists then Jazz for the deaf is on your for purchase list. A nice surprise.

Rating – 85%

Hailing from France, Spheric Universe Experience are a progressive metal outfit that have been kicking around the scene for a number of years.  We last came across them in 2007 with their last album “Anima” which was flawed somewhat in the production department. Whilst better than its predecessor in that department “Unreal” is still by no means perfect being very dark sounding with a overly healthy dose of bass and lower drum frequencies, that said its not terribly bad, you just seem to loose a lot of the mids which means the guitars and keyboards lack punch and power, in shorts it’s a production which is very fatiguing on the ear.

 Musically the band seem a little more focused this time round yet still reside firmly in the B category of prog metal bands. Vocalist Franck Garcia is still going to be an acquired taste for most and the guy’s pitch is often off, not to mention the heavily accented pronunciation of a lot of lyrics means he makes the material hard work pretty much from the off.  If you can overlook this definite flaw then tracks like “Down Memory Lane” and “Lost Ghost” are probably the best I have heard from the band, yet otherwise you will get tired pretty quickly from the constant dark barrage,yet it has to be said there are moments of musicality to enjoy, just not enough to get me coming back for repeated spins. 

 The potential shown on its predecessor has not yet been built on, and whilst this is the difficult 3^rd album, the band still show they have potential, that said next time it really is time to deliver guys. 

Rating – 65%

The German melodic/power metallers Mob Rules are back with album number 6 in “Radical Peace”, and to be honest I am amazed the band are already at this mark as it only seems like yesterday their debut was released, the fact that was 11 years ago makes me worry what else I have forgot aside from those years?  Anyway, the band after being journeymen via Limb to SPV are now on perhaps their most suited home of AFM Records.  Listening to "Radical Peace" its obvious the band have matured nicely since their earlier albums and this is a stronger effort than its predecessor 2006’s “Ethnolution A.D.”

 The bands sound is now less reliant on the stock power metal trademarks and makes better use of slower tempos adding a classier and more accessible vibe to the proceedings as well as being overall more dynamic.  Vocalist Klaus Dirks is still somewhat of an acquired taste, yet I feel this is his best effort yet so growth is obviously on the agenda for all involved.    Opener “Children Of The Flames” is a strong opener but track 2 “Trial By Fire” is  full of majestic glory and a highlight.  “Warchild” see the quality drop a little with its quasi Iron Maiden quiet verse whilst the chorus is power metal textbook stuff leaving it rather faceless.  “Astral Hand” sees some unusual vocal melodies from Dirks yet these work quite well over the strong musical backing, next up is an 18 minute epic “The Oswald File” which questions whether  Lee Harvey Oswald really was the fatal shooter of Kennedy.  It has to be said that this is probably the best all round piece of work I have heard from the band yet so kudus guys.  Unfortunately the final 2 numbers suffer somewhat in comparison, a shame as “Waiting For The Sun” is built around a very strong riff and home is arguably the most accessible track on the album.  Whilst album closer “The Glance Of Fame” is again built around solid musical foundations yet is let down by the vocals making this not quite the closer I was hoping for.

Mob Rules have arguably delivered the album of their career to date with “Radical Peace”, the production is very strong. Unfortunately I have no idea who is responsible as its nowhere to be found on the promo materials nor the band or label website.  Now the question is do the band have what it takes to make it into the melodic power metal elite? On the basis of this album they are still slightly short but if they can improve on this effort next time round  and perhaps get the running order working better then they may well have a chance. 

Rating – 84%

Steve Overland is probably best known as the singer of classic British AOR band FM.

This is his second effort under the Overland banner. FM fans won’t be disappointed. Thanks to Steve’s instantly recognizable voice and a selection of easy going melodic rock songs, this album recalls that band’s heyday. There are also hints of Bon Jovi, Journey, Night Ranger, you name it…

“You Lift Me Up”, “Roll Back The Years” and “After The Storm” are stadium sized rockers while “Where Is The Love” has an undeniably British vibe to it. Needless to say there are ballads as well. If “Brave New World” had been released in 1987, it would undoubtedly have featured in a Miami Vice episode. “Hearts Don’t Lie” should, by rights, be a major radio hit.

Scandinavian musicians seem to be the default line up for this kind of music nowadays, and the band Overland has gathered around him does not disappoint. Musicianship is beyond reproach, as is the smooth and organic production, something that was lacking on the first Overland effort.

Rating - 85%
Review by Joost

German thrashers Paradox resided in the also-ran category during their first stint at the end of the eighties. Their comeback hasn’t been all that fruitful it appears, this being only their third release since 2000’s Collision Course.

I doubt this album will lift them to the top of the heap, even with the current thrash revival going on. Not that this is a bad album, but it fails to grab the attention. The band wear their influences on their sleeve, from the obvious (Metallica) to the more obscure (Sabbat, Onslaught), but fail to distil an identity of their own. This is generic thrash if ever the term applied.

Performance is tight, but the songs fail to ignite. It’s too civilized to match the sheer brutality of the three greats of German thrash (Kreator, Sodom and Destruction) and to uncouth to woo the power metal audience.

Not a bad album, just bland.

Rating - 69%
Review by Joost

Voices Of Rock is a project from Metal Heaven that gathers up several resounding names of hard rock. Production and presumably songwriting are in the hands of Michael Voss (of course) and Chris Lausmann.

Tony Martin does a great job on opening track “Into The Light”. Bert Heerink pleasantly surprises on his contribution, the rocking “Shame On You”. Shame on you, Bert, for not having anything this good on your solo album! Joe Lynn Turner’s “Tonight” is an excellent semi-ballad. Paul Shortino’s “Rock Me” is a step up from his last solo album as well. “Remember Me” is a big ballad, sung quite convincingly by Rob Rock, who keeps it quite restrained. Mitch Malloy’s “Lay You Down To Rest” is a solid rocker, while Tony Mills’ “In The Heart Of The Young” is a lighthearted tune that suffers from Voss’ typical forced backing vocals. David Reece delivers a fine performance on “Dirty Games”, a solid 80s rocker. Paul Sabu sings from the chest on “Down The Drain”, one of the less eventful songs of the album, even if it has one of the best guitar solos. Torben Schmidt is a lightweight between these guys, and it reflects in “Only 4 Ever”, a rather pedestrian mid tempo tune.

This project is a lot better than I expected, with some very good songs and solid performances by most singers. The pacing of the songs and track order is very well balanced, except for the last two songs.

Rating – 80%
Review by Joost

“Time Elevation” is the debut album from Grand Design, a melodic rock outfit from Sweden led by the voice of Pelle Saether who is perhaps best known for his vocal work with Zeelion and Zello when not working as a producer.  Quite surprising the band also sees the inclusion of Wolf drummer Richard Holmgren showing that even heavy metallers have a softer side.  The album is melodic rock to the max, it seems that Pelle and the rest of the band seen fit to try to ape a production between Pyromania and Hysteria era Def Leppard right down to the sampled electronic drum sounds and bigger vocal layering as per the Mutt Lange production rule book– did they succeed? Well if you imagine Leppard had a 1/100^th of the budget they had for their 2 1980’s blockbusters and no key part producer then yes they did. With Saether’s vision being to produce rock in the vein of Leppard, you can’t really deny he isn’t at least being honest about what he’s trying to recreate here given that it sounds like demo Def Leppard and with that comes its own successes and flaws.

I am not going to deny that this is catchy, well written perfectly acceptable safe material, arguably more commercial (if the year is 1987) than what Leppard have offered themselves for the last 15 years, but therein lies the problem, its always trying to be someone else or at least sounds like it.  Guitarists Peter Ledid (ex Vanessa) and Dennis Vestman do their best Collen/Clark guitar show and yes they have the melodic rock style down, even if they are often drowned out by swathes of reverb on the drums and vocals.  All 10 tracks are listenable, there are no duffers here, but then also nothing to get excited about either, you feel you’ve heard it all before and better.  The pick of the crop comes in the guise of the Hysteria wannabe’s of “Love Sensation” and “Sad Sound Of Goodbye” although Leppard themselves might feel just a little too violated by “Sheik Iddup” which borrows “Rocket” just a little too much in places.

As it is the albums production gets tiring after a while – very little warmth and a lot of digital clean precision, the main problem is the drums and vocal harmonies fighting for domination and overall it comes across as a chaotic mix in places.  Fans of Pyromania and Hysteria era Leppard may well enjoy this if they crave more of the same (just not as good), otherwise others might just see it as a big rip off with no originality at all and question the whole point.  I am somewhere in the middle.

 Rating – 50%

The promo literature for this CD makes it quite clear Heerink was the voice of Vandenberg, the biggest hard rock band the Netherlands ever produced. Unfortunately, he was never a very good singer, and years of doing Dutch covers of AOR hits haven’t done much to improve matters.

Heerink has a distinct accent, compounded by a voice that lacks power and pitch. He pulls off some nice melodies at times (“Whose Side Are You On” comes to mind) but there are painful moments as well. “Falling Down” is a good example of how it’s not supposed to be.

The songs are written by big names like Bob Daisley, Russ Ballard and Harry Hess. Unfortunately, Heerink’s voice and the very bland execution don’t bring out the potential that definitely exists in most of the tunes. It doesn’t help it’s mostly mid tempo pseudo-ballad fare either. And when it does rock, like in “All Fired Up”, it makes my toes curl up…

After horrible opening track “Panic Attack”, “April” is nice enough until the faux-Vandenberg solo comes in. And that sums up the entire CD. Good intentions, marred by the execution and Michael Voss’ (it’s Metal Heaven, who did you expect?) strange ideas on production, not to mention the unimaginative album cover.

Rating – 55%
Review by Joost

Put down whatever  you are doing as its time to don the battle armour and prepare to head to distant lands of yore to slay dragons… well not really but then to be in the right mood for symphonic power metal releases is often essential. 

To some extent this isn’t always the case for the debut from Infinity Overture, led by Danish guitar whiz Niels Vejlyt with the vocals of one Ian Parry (Elegy / Consortium) powering the grandiose tunes along.  Parry himself, can be considered quite a catch for he has also contributed the story from which his lyrics have been derived and I guess brings the whole package together.  In the absence of new releases from the likes of Rhapsody of Fire and Kamelot then “Kingdom Of Utopia” makes a worthwhile substitute. All the essentials have their boxes ticked – fast riffs, intricate instrumental segments, orchestrated power and soaring vocals.  However, what’s quite welcome is more melody than you normally get, perhaps aided by Parry’s distinctive vocals, these are also joined by the female vocals of Lene Peterson whose voice is no different to the seemingly bottomless pit of female vocalists in metal.  Although it has to be said the contrast works nicely with Parry’s distinct more dramatic voice.   

Opener “Millenia” gets things off to a flying start, fast, rich and melodic with great symphonic edges, and the likes of “Warrior King” and “Temples Of Doom” are  more great tracks, all well executed, cleanly written and full of melody.  It seems Vejlyt knows that playing everything at breakneck speed gets stale fast and this really does separate Infinity Overture from the competition.    The album doesn’t quite have the polished production of the likes of Rhapsody Of Fire (despite using the same production team) with the mix being a little uneven in places, drums often a little too high in the mix and Vejlyt’s lead guitar tone lacking dynamics yet its perfectly listenable on a larger scale and the orchestrations and vocal production sound great.

Whether Symphonic Power Metal is your bag or not, there are likely to be moments in all tracks to attract even the most hardened symphonic power metal cynic.  I found it did need at least 5 plays to really come through, and now I am enjoying it more with each listen, as well as finding myself coming back to it.  One to be bold and brave about and check out.

Review - 86% (and likely to improve with time)

 

What’s in a name? In the case of Grimmstine, both founding members. Steve Grimmett and Steve Stine. Could have called the band "Steves" as well, but that wouldn’t have the same ring to it.

Whereas Steve Stine is a glorious unknown to me, Steve Grimmett has quite some notches in his belt : Chateaux, the much maligned Grim Reaper, Onslaught, Lionsheart etc. The man is one of the great unknown singers in metal.

After the acoustic intro “Memory” the album kicks off with “911”, a track that brings to mind the best the NWOBHM had to offer. “Supernatural” has a slightly more contemporary slant, with a heavy down tuned riff.  The pace continues unabated with “Got Nothing But Time” and “To Catch A Killer”.  “You’ll Never Know” offers a breather in the form of a gentle ballad. “It’s Over” and “Prisoner” bring back the metal, whereas “You Give Me Love” is a fine semi ballad.  “Straight As An Arrow” is a more epic track that sees Grimmett stretch those vocal chords.  “Till They Take My Wings” straddles the line between mid-tempo and power ballad and is one of the best tracks on the album.  “Like This Air” and “Afraid Of The Dark” are sledgehammer songs but still retain the melody that marks this album. “This Don’t Look Like Love To Me” is a majestic ballad, yet another highlight of the album. The tender “To Sing A Lullaby” closes the album on an intimate note. A surprising ending…

Overall, what sticks out on this album is Grimmett’s fantastic voice, the hook filled melodies and the brilliant guitar playing. Driven by strong songwriting, this is easily one of the best metal albums of the year.

Rating - 90%
Review by Joost

 

Tommy Ermolli is the incredibly impressive guitarist from Twinspirits, Khymera and Cosmics.  Discovered by Daniele Liverani at a guitar trade show a few years back Liverani has been nurturing Ermolli through the aforementioned bands and now we get to see what Tommy can offer on his own.  Safe to say if you own any release Tommy has been involved with you will know this young man (21 I believe) has his own style. 

 Focusing more on songs as opposed to flashy licks you get the feeling a number of these tracks like opener “Endless Space”, the title track and “Arrival” could fit nicely within a vocal context.  Tommy also shows great taste in where he layers his lead work, showcasing a number of styles this is arguably the most direct release Ermolli has been involved with, and also shows another string to his bow.  That said Tommy lets fly on the likes of “Taking Control” and “Enlightening Darkness” which are more traditional guitarist adventures. 

 The production here is excellent, great tones, great backing from his Twinspirits cohorts and if you are a fan of that band this will be a welcome addition to your collection.  On another level Tommy is carving his own sound and this will do his reputation no harm at all.  Recommended.

 Rating – 84%

Pink Cream 69 are probably best known for providing singer Andy Deris to Helloween.
In David Readman they definitely traded up. After ten albums, the band now presents this double live album. And it’s a corker!

Let’s ignore the rather lame version of One Step Into Paradise (which is a lot better on the debut album) and focus on what is good. High energy rockers like "Hell’s Gone Crazy", "Living My Life For You" and slower tracks like "The Hour Of Freedom" and "Welcome The Night" combined with the prowess of the musicians make for a thoroughly enjoyable live album. Production is excellent, which is no surprise considering bassist Dennis Ward is a highly sought after producer in his own right.

PC69 have been one of Europe’s best hard rock bands for twenty-odd years now, and this live album is ample demonstration of their skills.

Review by Joost
Rating - 88%

French band Nightmare have been going at it since 1979. After a promising start with opening stints for Def Leppard and a deal with Ebony Records, the band came to an untimely end. Back together since 1999, the lads present their newest offering “Insurrection”

Contrary to most French bands of the era, Nightmare’s vocals have always been in English. Former drummer Jo Amore, now promoted to front man, does a fine job, with no discernible accent to mar proceedings.

Nightmare deliver a blend of 80s heavy metal with modern power metal and some minor thrash influences. Metal Church, Primal Fear and Hammerfall are some names that come to mind while listening. A very enjoyable mix, spiced with some very good guitar playing.

While the production overall isn’t spectacular, there’s no arguing tracks like “The Gospel Of Judas”, the ferocious title track, “Decameron” or really any song on the album. The ballad “Target For Revenge” is a bit pedestrian and exposes the limitations of the singer, but it’s really the only blemish.

A good album for fans of 80s metal with a modern twist.

Review by Joost
Rating - 83%