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BABY
WOODROSE
A.S. 6/10 |
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BAD RELIGION
T.A. 8/10 |
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BALANCE OF POWER
K.P. 7,5/10 T.A. 8/10 |
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BALANCE II
T.A. 8,5/10 |
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BALATONIZER
G.K. |
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BARATHRUM
G.K. 3,5/10 |
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BATHORY
G.K. 6/10 |
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BATTALION OF FLIES
A.S. 7/10 |
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BATTLEROAR
G.K. 7/10 |
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BEATEN BACK TO PURE
T.A. 6/10 |
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BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
T.A. 8/10 |
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BEAUVOIR JEAN
A.S. 1/10 |
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BEECHER
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BEHEXEN
G.K. 1,5/10 |
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BEHEXEN
T.A. 0,5/10 |
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BELYERATH
G.K. 7/10 |
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BESTIAL DEVASTATION
G.K.
1,5/10 |
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BEYOND THE VOID
T.A. 7,5/10 |
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BEYOND TWILIGHT
T.A. 7,5/10 |
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BIG COCK
T.A. 7,5/10 |
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BILOXI
T.A. 7/10 |
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BIOSYSTEM55
T.A.
4/10 |
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BISS
T.A.
7/10 |
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BISS
T.A. 6,5/10 |
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BITTERSWEET
T.A. 8,5/10 |
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BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
G.K. 7,5/10 |
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BLACK LABEL SOCIETY
K.P. 9/10 |
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BLACK LEAGUE (THE )
A.S. 7,5/10 T.A. 8/10 |
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BLACKMAKER
T.A.
8/10 |
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BLACK MASQUERADE
T.A. 6,5/10 |
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BLACKMORE’S NIGHT
G.K. 8/10 |
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BLAME
T.A. 6/10 |
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BLAZE
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BLIND ALLEY
T.A. 8/10 |
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BLIND GUARDIAN
A.S. 7/10 |
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BLOODJUNKIES
A.S.
8/10 |
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BLOODSTAINED
A.S. 7/10 |
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BLUDGEON
T.A. 6/10 |
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BLUE BIRDS REFUSE TO FLY
T.A. 7/10 |
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BLUE TEARS
T.A. 7/10 |
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BOBBY TISDALE & EUGENE MIRMAN
T.A |
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BODIN
TOMAS
A.S. 8,5/10 |
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BOHICA
T.A. 6,5/10 |
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BONFIRE
T.A. 5,5/10 |
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BONFIRE
T.A. 3,5/10 |
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BON JOVI
T.A. 7,5/10 |
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BOOMERANG
G.K. 6,5/10 |
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MICHAEL BORMANN
T.A.
7,5/10 |
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BORMANN MICHAEL
A.S. 7/10 |
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BOWES & MORLEY
A.S. 8/10 |
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BOYSVOICE
T.A. 7/10 |
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BRAINSTORM
T.A. 7,5/10 |
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BRAZEN ABBOT
T.A.
6/10 |
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BREAKPOINT
G.K. 7/10 |
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BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION
T.A. 6,5/10 |
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BRIGHTEYE BRISON
A.S. 7/10 |
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BROTHER FIRETRIBE
T.A. 7/10 |
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BRUTUS
G.K. 2/10 |
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BURNER
A.S. 6/10 |
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BURDON ERIC
A.S. 8/10 |
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BUSH STAN
T.A. 7/10 |
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Interesting proposition from the Nordic countries... for those who want to
have fun and not much... thinking with their music. Let’s clear things up:
Baby Woodrose’s album is in essence more of a mini CD, as it only lasts
for 30 minutes. However the band here proposes a “light” version of hard
rock and roll that is suitable for having a good time... or by listening
while doing other things (e.g. playing a game on your PC). The album is
washed by hippy elements, less distortion, “cheats” from Jimi Hendrix and
Led Zeppelin, but the whole thing is presented in a good way. Won’t change
our life, but it might be good for a loooooose listening.
Bad Religion is considered to be a legendary band for the punk-rock music. Especially after Brett Gurewitz (original guitarist/songwriter, and owner of Epitaph records) rejoined the band, they gain again their reputation of being one of the most uncompromising bands in the world. Although I’m not a huge punk rock fan, Bad Religion is one of the few bands that I like very much and I respect for their attitude all these years. So, “The Empire Strikes First” is another very good album from a band that has nothing more to prove to anyone and just keep playing the music that loves most. Fast and mid tempo rhythms, punk-rock guitar riffs, lyrics that questioning everything and everyone (even God) and of course excellent
hooklines, are all here, in this release. Just listen to “Sinister Rouge”, “Atheist Peace”, “All There Is”, “Los Angeles Is Burning”, “Let Them Eat War”, “God’s Love”, “The Empire Strikes First”, “Beyond Electric Dreams”, “Boot Stamping On A Human Face Forever”, and “Live Again (The Fall Of Man)” and you will understand right away for what I’m talking about. No surprises here… just the well-known Bad Religion that we all know and we all love. If you like punk rock music, then you probably love Bad Religion… so I do not see a good reason why not like “The Empire Strikes First”.
Recommended to all the fans of the band and to all the lovers of punk rock music.
“Heathen Machine” is the fifth album of Balance of Power and the first without the singer Lance King. The new singer is John K and he is a surprise for the fans of melodic metal as his voice reminds a lot the style of Geoff Tate (Queensryche) with lots of amazing high pitch vocals and fits the band damn well! The new release of Balance Of Power is truly an interesting work and I’m sure that will satisfy the fans of this specific genre. After an atmospheric opening with the short track “The Rising” the band is offering us the strong homonymous song “Heathen Machine”, and afterwards the beautiful, prog “I Wish You Were Here” which reminds a lot of Queensryche ( I’ll probably say that again and again cause that’s the way it is!). Some other remarkable songs of the album are: “Chimical Imbalance”, “No Place Like Home” and definitely “The Eyes Of The World” with heavy guitars and dynamic drums. The album contains also a very sensitive and dark ballad “Just Before You Leave” with wonderful lyrics. In spite of all these, I’m sure that Balance of Power can release a better work in the future and worthy to take a place among the “big” names of the genre.
Balance
II is really an interesting band. I mean that you don’t listen easily to
this kind of music nowadays and they do not really follow any trends or any
music paths that have been crossed by thousand of other bands in the past.
On the contrary their music is not easy. Yes, it’s melodic, well played
and well produced but it needs several listens to get into it. As the band
says, it took them almost 2 years to produce this album and it sure worth
the waiting. The band was conceptualized by Brian Moritz (guitar, keys,
backing vocals) along with vocalist Vince Claps. This project rounded off
with the help of the seasoned veterans, Dave LaRue (bass - Dixie Dregs,
Steve Morse Band); Rod Morgenstein (drums - Winger, Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse
Band) and Joel Kaplan (keyboards - Crawdads). I shall also mention the
incredible work that Mecca
Balotonizer is an Italian band, which was formed in 1997. The band consists
of three guys and they are all playing in ultra fast speed their grindcore
music! The album is brutal, aggressive, violent and hellish! The vocalist
(Mario Musumeci) sings so brutal that you will understand nothing of what he
says. On the other hand, I don’t think there are any lyrics at all,
because the vocalist sounds like he is screaming and growling only! The
guitars (Marco Failla) are very fast and sound like the typical grindcore
guitars... The rhythm section consists only from Rodan Di Maria (bass),
because Marco Failla has programmed the drums. Marco has also done the
artwork and has illustrated the booklet with comic faces that are very good!
The album includes 32 tracks and only 6 of them last over one minute. Apart
from this, many of the tracks start with some samplers (which sound like
movie samplers), so you can understand that most of the tracks contain about
40 seconds of music, but believe me this is enough time for these guys to
unleash their anger! The fans of the true grindcore music and those who love
bands like Deicide, Napalm Death, and Suffocation etc. should get this album
as soon as possible! The rest of you, better stay away because you will be
shocked by their brutality! I’m not the most appropriate person in the
world to rate such an album, so the final rate and decision is, as always,
up to you.
The Finish band Barathrum strikes back with a new blasphemous album. This
new album includes the classic oldschool black metal (influenced by Bathory,
Venom etc.) they used to play in the past, but it is also influenced by the
heavy, thrash and doom metal scene of the past... The guitars (Pelcepoop) are
mainly fast, except from some very few and calm moments, which are
influenced from the doom metal. The rhythm section is also fast, hellish and
oldschool and it consists of three bassists (Demonos Sova, G’Thaur and
Nuclear Tormentoerr) and a drummer! The vocalist (Demonos Sova) growls in
the whole album and reminded me of some early Scandinavian black metal
bands. The production is not very good and the album lasts only 37 minutes...
Finally, the album has no clever ideas and nothing new or interesting to
offer to the black metal fans... Generally, I don’t believe that this album
can excite the oldschool black metallers and so, I would say that only the
fans of the band could easily listen to it. The rest of you will surely find
something more interesting than this!
Almost a year ago Bathory (in other words
Quorthon) released the first part of his concept "Nordland". Now he releases the second part, which was recorded the same period with the first album. Anyone who loved the previous one (I don't belong to these fans) will surely enjoy this one too. For the rest, I would suggest to hear it first before buying it. Quorthon still insists on singing on his disks although he is out of tune very often. He also continues having a production that damages the whole album instead of showing off the weak tracks, although we are in the year 2003 and almost all groups search for the best production they can afford. This dirty and old-fashioned production would be suitable if this album was recorded at the early 80s… The last objection is for the use of the drum machine, which can't give to the listeners the feeling of a real drum set sound. Some good moments are "Death and resurrection of a northern cross" and "The Wheel Of Sun" (12 minutes of epic music). The second track "Blooded Shore" strongly reminds me something of
Manowar. I wonder if I am the only one…
This one is hard to describe. It’s all about a new group from Edinburgh that in essence plays dark, heavy rock. But it’s not only that. The power trio seems to have been inspired by bands like Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, Muse but also by Iggy Pop and Foo Fighters (two bands that Battalion Of Flies has toured with). So we are talking about a post-grunge record that blinks the eye to modern stoner rock. It also presents some really sharp and heavy riffs, along with twisted acoustic bridges. The voice reminds a lot of Alice In Chains. To be honest I’m not much of a fan of the aforementioned group (and of grunge music in general), so I might not be the most suitable person to review this album. I have to add the cover of the album and the artwork are a minus for me. However I can understand that something good is going on here and I suggest friends of the sound to check the band out. A fan of the sound might appreciate this one better.
The
Greek band Battleroar after the success they had with their debut album in
the underground scene, decided to release their second CD almost two years
later. The music is still epic metal in the style of 
Beaten Back To Pure is coming from Virginia and “The Burning South” is the third release of the band. The band’s music seems to balances between rock n’ roll and sludge/doom music with some references to Motorhead, Black Sabbath and of course Alabama Thunderpussy. The songs are dirty, groovy and can easily please any fan of sludge/doom music that also loves dirty rock n’ roll with few southern elements. Personally I’m not the biggest fan of this kind of music but I can see that something good is going on here! The production is good but I would prefer the vocals to be clean and no brutal on some parts. But this is my personal point of view. I totally believe that the fans of Alabama Thunderpussy will love Beaten Back To Pure and they will put another good CD in their groovy sludge/doom album collection! The fans of this genre should check them out…
Beautiful
Creatures are back after almost 4 years with a new album that’s being
titled “Deuce”. After the success that the band had in 2001 with its
debut album, it took them 4 years to release a new album and under a new
label this time. I do not know why their “old” label didn’t want to
have one of the most promising rock bands of 00’s on its roster but the
band seems that wants badly to rock the whole world. The band’s hard rock
n’ roll music, which is influenced from bands like AC/DC, The Cult, Guns
N’ Roses, Aeorosmith etc., is very good and inspired. The vocalist Joe
LeSte (Bang Tango) needs no special introduction and takes the whole band a
step further with his unique performance. The production is excellent and
the songs will satisfy those who love rock music and just looking out for
new bands that can hold the rock flag high. My beloved songs are:
“Anyone”, “Freedom” (the hit of the album, – The Cult spirit is
alive - according to my opinion), “Save Me”, “Empty”, “Straight To
Hell”, “I Still Miss you”, and “Starr Cross”. The European edition
of the album (it was first released in 
“Manowar,
Manowar, living on the road. When we’re in town speakers explode. We don’t
attract wimps ‘cause we ‘re too loud. Just true metal people that’s
Manowar’s crowd. We like it hard, we like it fast. We got the biggest
amps, man they blast. True metal people wanna rock not pose. Wearin’ jeans
and leather and not cracker jack clothes”.... Well I really prefer to
listen to immaturities like the mid-Manowar period, than bullshits like
Beauvoir! This is by far the worst album I’ve heard so far - plus I don’t
understand what the hell does it have to do with our site. Third class pop
crap, programmed drums, Boy Zone fuck each other, while Britney pimps and
gets self satisfied. Crap!!!!!
Well
what do we have here? Second album for the Machenster-based band 
Behexen released their new (second I think) album in order to fulfill their hopes and make us swear at them! But they will not fulfill their dreams because I am going to refer at their label most and least to them. I have written this in the past many times but I still have no answer. Why does a label release such trash albums? Maybe they want to get rich from groups like Behexen. Maybe they have a sick taste of music. Maybe they are just crazy. Maybe they want to have fun of groups like this one. Maybe they are deaf or they believe that we are deaf too or even worse they want us to become deaf! I really don’t know which of the above is the right answer. The only thing I know is that I always waste my time with groups like this and that gives on my nerves! Try to forget their name, their existence and their label of course! By the way their “music” style has still remained the same shitty old school black metal…
How do the hell this promo get into my hands? Maybe by mistake? Maybe someone hates me so badly that has an evil smile on his face when he gives me such promos?! Maybe I’m too crazy cause I do not push the “stop”?? Maybe Behexen, before starting writing material for this album, forgot to learn how to play their instruments? Maybe they have taken as vocalist the evil dark vampire that leaves in a ruin house near me?! Maybe they think that are too bad and evil persons (see cover) that they also use corpse painting when they go to the nearest kiosk to buy cigarettes?! Maybe my ears will be destroyed if I listen to this album for a second time? Does the vocalist sings or only howling? Please answer to those questions and I will give you this album as a present! Perhaps this music is too good if you wanna scare your neighbor especially if it is a helpless old lady and you turn on the volume to the max at 3 o’clock p.m.! Who needs to listen to third class black metal which wanna be too bad and too evil and continues to scares your old- lady neighbor? Maybe the sound engineers that allowed them to write this album in their studio are crazier than I am!!
“The Eternal Fight” is the debut album for Belyerath, from Spain. The
band, which was named under the known French philosopher Christofer Van
Belyerath, formed in 2001 by Russell (keyboards). After many line-up
changes the band managed to record this debut album in 2003, which only
now came into my hands by Savvas from Kinetic (thanks Savvas!). The band
has influences from gothic, atmospheric and death metal sounds, but their
main characteristic is the female vocals of Mirian, who seems to be a good
vocalist. Here you can find some melodic parts together with more
aggressive moments. The guitars are heavy and melodic in most tracks and
the keyboards add a gothic atmosphere to the album. The rhythm section is
powerful, but the sound of the drums sounds a little bit strange in my
ears, although that the general production is pretty good. The artwork is
very good and was made by Michael Schindler (Motorhead, Mystic Circle,
Graveworm and others…)! Finally, as I found out on the Internet, the band
took part in a compilation of new coming bands with the track “Revenge”,
which is included in this album. The fans of the gothic-death metal will
like this album...
What
would you expect to listen from a band that is called Bestial Devastation,
the debut album is called “Spatter Mania” and has an artwork like the
one you can see on the left? Grindcore – brutal death metal music with
gore lyrics may be the first thing you can think and you are right! The band
comes from 
Beyond
The Void is a quite new band in the gothic scene but they are already
regarded as one of the rising forces in the gothic rock scene. They have
released an E.P. last year and now “Our Somewhere Else” is their debut
album, which was recorded at Down-Town studios in Munich by the producer and
sound engineer Jochen Scheffer (Goethes Erben, Udo Lindenberg, Le Mystere
Des Voix Bulgares and many others) and it was mastered by Hubsi Widmann/Zerebus
Musik (Schandmaul, Faun). The production is very good for a gothic rock
release and it exhales a dark/gothic feeling as well. The vocals of the
singer Daniel Pharos are very good and they fit perfectly with the music
of the band. Although I’m not the biggest gothic rock fan in the world,
I listened to this kind of music and I can tell whether any band is good or it is not... and of course whether it plays good
gothic rock music or not. Well, Beyond The Void is one of those hard
working bands that have the talent and what they only need is a chance to
prove it. Thus, “Our Somewhere Else” will satisfy the fans of gothic
rock music and the fans of gothic music in general, cause is a bit more
depressing than all the others known gothic rock bands. Just listen to the
catchy opener “Raven In My Heart”, the atmospheric “Turn White”,
the depressing “Waiting”, the dark “Everywhere I Turn”, the gothic
rocker “For All That Disappeared” and the excellent moody “Our
Somewhere Else” and judge on your own whether they deserve your support
or not. Personally I like them and I believe that day by day they will
become more known in the gothic rock scene.
The
Danish metalers strike back with their second studio alum. This time Jorn
Lande is not behind the microphone of the band and he is replaced by the
American Kelly Sundown Carpenter (Outworld). According to their label the
mastermind/keyboardist/songwriter of the band Finn Zierler wrote the songs
of the album while he was locked in an attic, submerged under water and
living on the dark streets of London. Pretty psychotic for being real but
you never know! Once again the album is concept and deals with the mysteries
of human mind and about cloning. Of course the concept story is very weird
and complex and you can have a better idea for it by visiting the band’s
official site. On the music part the band’s moving on prog metal paths,
but again this cannot describe well the music of Beyond Twilight. I will
only say, in order to help someone who hasn’t heard anything of the band
in the past, that while I was listening to the album bands like Ark, Kamelot
and Royal Hunt crossed my mind. The band’s music is really strange, dark,
atmospheric, esoteric and very gloom. The production is very good and heavy
and was made by Finn Zierler and Tommy Hansen. I know that Beyond Twilight
were absented for a long time period (almost 4 years) from the music society
and that kept the band away from being more popular and known. But on the
other hand here we have not a so common metal band that plays music that
will satisfy even the most demanding metal fans and for sure we are not
talking for hit wannabe songs with childish melodies. This is not an easy
album and it needs several listens in order to get into it but then...
darkness, fear and terror are waiting there for you. For the bold and the
open-minded music fans only.
That’s
one of the big surprise bands of the year that’s about to leave. Big Cock
filled the gab on fun rock bands and reminded us that rock music is all
about love (sex), beautiful women, fun, attitude, vagabondage, beers but in
the very end never take yourself too seriously! The band was formed by the
vocalist Robert Mason (Lynch Mob, Cry Of Love, James Byrd Group, Magnum {the
hard rock band} and Silent Witness) and the guitarist Dave Henzerling
(a.k.a. David Michael-Philips) of King Kobra. This album came into my hands
out of nowhere and I loved it after several listens... this is pure fun
party hard rock n’ roll music made by males!! The lyrics will surely make
you laugh and think about hot chicks... but do not worry Big Cock is here to
take care of them! The production of the album is fine and I’m sure that
in the next release will be more polished. I must also tell that the album
lasts about 35 minutes but you won’t be left unsatisfied in the end
‘cause you will push “play” far too many times. Songs like: “Bad
Motherfucker”, “I Want I All”, “Cinnamon”, “King Of Cool”, “Carrie’s In Love”, “Mean Street Machine”, “Take It Off”, “Hard To
Swallow” (what a spontaneous chorus!), “You Suck The Love Out Of Me”
and “Year Of The Cock”, will rock you to the ground. A little of AC/CD,
Guns N’ Roses, Bulletboys and dirty rock n’ roll and you have one of the
best party rock albums of the year!
After
almost nine years from their excellent debut "Let The Games Begin",
Biloxi released their second album entitled "Right The Music".
Don't be surprise when you'll find new names in Biloxi cause the whole
line up of the band has change except the singer and also the leader
Clyde Holly. In spite this their music remains the same! And what can we
expect from Biloxi? Nothing more or less than great melodic hard rock
songs like "Listen", "Lay", "Ocean" and
the majestic "Vampire", which are songs that all the rock/hard
rock fans will adore. Also in this point I must tell that I liked very
much the cover on "Have You Ever Seen the Rain". They gave to
the song a really strange feeling and they also change some hooklines of
it. As you can see my friends' things here are very simple. If you
consider yourself as a rock/hard rock fan that likes to have all the
pretty albums that are being released from time to time, then, you must
have Biloxi's new (and old) album. I truly believe that every fan of
that specific genre will like Bolixi's "Right the Music". 2002
was really an excellent year cause many great albums were released.
Biloxi is another band who helped on that!
Those
Italians have chosen to play a mix of nu-metal, with some Slipknot and
Sepultura (“Roots” era) elements in their debut full length album.
Although I like some bands from this genre, I’m easily getting bored with
the heavy guitars and the brutal vocals in the verses that change to clean
in the choruses. This combination might be successful once but now everyone
does such thing and it’s interesting anymore in my opinion. This album is
not bad but it lacks of originality and inspiration… we have heard of some
things in the past thousand times before and I’m not impressed anymore. If
you consider yourself a die-hard fan of this genre that’s not missing a
single release of that kind then try them out… but if you’ve had enough
of those bands then avoid it...
I
remember that I have written on the “Face Off” review that Biss can
surely do it better the next time, although I considered that album the best
of the band up to that day and I wasn’t wrong. Now with the forth release
the mastermind of the band Ralf Heyne not only managed to keep 9for the
first time) the same line-up that was listed on the previous album but he
also delivered some very good guitar-driven, in your face hard rock songs
like: “Run For Your Life”, “Always”, “Born To Ride”, “Blood On
Sand” and “Train Of Thought”. Marc Storace has also delivered some
excellent performances on this album and I’m sure that the lovers of
AC/DC, Accept etc. will like it a lot. Nothing really groundbreaking here…
just pure simple hard rock music with a total heavy and powerful production
that was done by Mr. Michael Voss. I got no much things to say about this
album… it’s simply the best album of the band.
Biss
is back with album number three and ready to rock the place again! Ralf
Heyne has once again found a new singer for the band. Three albums with
three different singers! Anyway, “Face Off” is the hardest album of Biss.
Straight-forward hard rock with excellent vocals from Marc Storace (Krokus)
with no frills & furbelows! The album was mixed at Barfly Studios in Germany
by the driving force behind Biss, the great Michael Voss and as you can
imagine the production is very good, heavy and clean. I like very much this
album and I totally believe that is the best work of Biss to date. Just
listen to “Breathless”, “Pyromania”, “Rejected”, “D.S.O.D.”, “Raise The
Hammer”, “Calling” and “Lady Of The Night” and you will understand right
away why I think that this is the most mature work of the band till now. I’m
sure that they can do it better than this one but till then, this album
will keep me good company...
Bittersweet is the band that David and Stephen Shaw put up together, in the late 80’s, after Stephen’s departure from, his previous band, Rock Candy. So, as you can guess Bittersweet plays american 90’s hard rock music full of power, catchy hooklines, and melodies! Of course for the re-issuing of the old Bittersweet’s songs we should thank once again Joe from Retrospect Records who is willing to offer us good “old” music again! “Loaded Up” is a 2CD set, and as Joe also says, it is a gem for all the hard rock collectors. Thus, in this double album we can listen to our favourite music for about 80 minutes and have a lot of fun along with many beers. “Love Loaded”, “Bought & Sold/Love Fade Away”, “Take A Stand For Me”, “High Road To Heaven”, “Shot (Round The World)”, “Living In America”, “Loaded Up”, “Down To The Wire”, “Under The Gun”, “Falling For Your Love”, “Paradise”, and “Spread Your Wings” are considered to be excellent songs of the hard rock music. The production of this double album is good and I do not think that it could be any better especially if we consider the fact that the songs that are presented here were stored on a tape for over a decade! So, the remix of the songs has been made from the original master tapes, and all of them have been remastered to digital CD quality. If you consider yourself as a hard rock collector or generally as a fan of 90’s american hard rock music then this release is a must buy for you! Good hard rock music and beautiful women always
making me feel good!
Most of you will probably know the mastermind behind this band, Zakk Wylde. If you believe that he is just a common guitarist let me remind you what he has done, in his so far carrier, and then judge on your own how wrong you are. At the age of twenty, he becomes the guitarist of Ozzy's band and since then he has released with him four studio albums and three lives. He has also released two personal works and three with his personal band: Black Label Society! Now at the age of 36, he strikes back with his new work. "The Blessed
Hellride" is his best album under this band's name! The whole album sounds like an exploding dynamite. It is very well worked and everyone who listens to it carefully will understand that Zakk spent much time in order to compose such songs and to record them. The sound of his Les Paul guitar is for once more unique. Zakk plays all the instruments (he has done amazing guitar work), except the drums. Most of the tracks are full of heavy guitars, great rhythms and catchy melodies. In order to understand what I mean, let me tell you that in many songs you will think that you hear Black Sabbath with Ozzy on vocals. His voice sounds a little bit strange in my ears, but on the other hand, sometimes, reminds me something of Ozzy's vocals (who, by the way, does some guest vocals on the song "Stillborn"). All tracks worth hearing but my favorite ones are "Doomsday Jesus", "Dead Meadow", "Stoned and drunk" and "We live no more". Everyone who desires for albums with the label QUALITY will not be disappointed. 
What can we say for a band that has the megalith Zakk Wylde as their
former/guitarist? Prepare yourself for the ultimate statement from the premiere rock guitarist of our
generation. Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society return with a spectacular new studio
album, “1919 Eternal”. We are hearing again and again “1919
Eternal”, and we are more breathed each time! Black Label Society, with the latest
release, has showed the difference between the spontaneous, authentic metal music and the canning boring
one!!! In an industry that has been plagued with clique songwriting, boring riffs and
machine-driven backbone, Black Label are a welcome breathe of fresh air with an uncompromisingly heavy set of songs from Ozzy Osbourne's favorite
guitar-singer. Zakk himself, in conjunction with Black Label Society’s live sound engineer Eddie
Mapp, produced “1919 Eternal”. 14 astonishing songs on the new album all made by unquenchable metal fire are making so hard to choose between them and say what are the
best! But I believe that the metal fans will be thrilled by enormous
bone-crunchers like "Demise Of Sanity" and "Battering
Ram" along with the album's first single, "Bleed For Me", but also will enjoy the new tones to Wylde’s riffing on tracks like
"Lords Of Destruction" or to the ballad "Bridge To
Cross". Let's face it, the man can play anything and make it sound as brutal
(as Zakk would say) or subdued as he wants!!!!!!!!!
The Black League is Taneli Jarva's
(x-Sentenced) current group and this is (according to my knowledge) their second
full-length album. Those who are familiar with the band's former work (named
Ichor) know what to expect. For the rest, I have to say that the sound of the band reminds a lot of Sentenced's early works with Tanelli in lead vocals and especially the album
"Amok". "Utopia AD" is bathed in desperation, something that I feel was one of the band's
intention. Most of the songs exude such a dark feeling and Taneli
(a vocalist hero for this genre) performs in a dramatic way, while he sometimes convinces you that he needs someone to save him from his drowning into an endless sea of tears
(listen to Tedium Vitae). Black is the colour that would characterize the
album...but don't be misled that you might hear something resembling groups like
Katatonia. In contrast most of the songs are fast and guitar riffing is quite heavy. However in the structure of most of the songs I diagnosed some pure hard rock forms and
ideas. In addition I have to mention that the album owes a lot to Paradise Lost
(the pioneers of this sound), something that the group reveals in many songs
(especially the song Day One). Things are simple here: fans of this kind of sound have to buy this album
(and they will possibly glorify it). Those who want to just have an idea of this dark genre of heavy
metal, have in their hands a new good proposal to establish their first
contact. As for those who persist in pure heavy or power metal...keep
out, because two listening of Utopia AD in a row will possibly cause you suicidal
tendencies...
Blackmaker
is a brand new band from Chicago. In a more general way they can be
described as a rock band but things here are not that simple. I mean that
they are looking more at the modern rock music with some nu-metal, nu-breed
and hard rock elements from song to song. When I put the CD in my
CD-player I was afraid that I was going to listen to boring uninspired
rock music… but thank God, I was wrong. I like to listen to all kinds of
music, above all I’m a music lover, and I really love to listen to
inspired catchy melodic music. Thus, Blackmaker has got that point. Rock
guitars, steady rhythm section and excellent vocals… are the things that
offering us with their debut album. The production is superb and gives
more points to the whole result. Also the promo package that I received is
the best that I have seen in years and the digipack edition of the CD is
just great. These are some things that make them overpass other bands that
moving in the same music path with them. I know what it matters most is
the music, but in that part they doing great as well. Just listen to songs
like “Good Day”, “Spiraling”, “Let It Go”, “All About A
Girl”, “Wicked Tongue”, “Break”, “Novocaine” (surely can
become the hit of the band and brought on my mind The Cure), “Still
Waiting” and “Few & Far Between” and I have no doubt that they
will grab your attention. If you like modern rock music along with nu
metal and hard rock elements then this CD will please you. I believe that
we have found a band that can take a leading part in that specific music
genre… but time will tell. Till then, give ‘em a chance cause they
truly deserve it.
Black
Masquerade is a new band that’s coming from Japan. The band is playing
heavy/power metal music and has participating in some Festivals in Japan
and in Korea. The “star” of the band seems to be the guitarist
Yoshihiro Nitta, who is rather influenced by guitarists like Blackmore,
Malmsteen and 
The new album of the legendary guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore, is released and it is titled “Ghost Of A Rose”. I don’t now how many of you like the music direction that Ritchie has taken the last years, but I really like it (although that I would surely prefer him holding again an electric guitar). Most of you, who have listened to his previous releases with Candice, you will probably expect what you are about to listen to… Your expectations, after having listened to the album, will become pleasure because this new album is the best that Ritchie has released the last years (together with his first with Candice, “Shadow Of The Moon“). The medieval music becomes magical music when Ritchie composes songs (together with Candice for the first time as I can remember) and Candice sings with her ethereal voice. Here you can find wonderful-almost godly melodies that strike straight into your heart and a medieval atmosphere, which carries your mind away. The surprises with this album are that Candice has made much progress and she is singing, as she has never done before! The other surprise is that Blackmore uses the electric guitar much more than he has done in his previous releases, something that made me really happy and made me wonder when will come the time that he will return again to hard rock music … Another point that’s worth to be mentioned is that this album includes two covers of two popular songs. The first one is “Diamonds And Rust” (original by Joan Baez) and the second one is “Rainbow Blues”(original by Jethro Tull). This album is advised to all people. To those who love Ritchie, to those who like good and melodic music and finally to those who haven’t listened to anything from the acoustic tracks of Ritchie.
Blame
is a young band that comes from 
I've been anticipating Blaze Bailey's (x-Iron Maiden) band's second album after having seeing the band live and listened to 2-3 songs from the then unrealized album. And I have to say that it worth the wait! To be honest I didn't expect that they would release anything better than their first album Silicon Messiah (which was great), but I was wrong! 10th dimension is much much better than its ancestor. Fresh, released by Maiden's ghost, Blaze and his band produce pure heavy metal, performed in the best possible way. Heavy guitars filling the songs with solos and melodic interventions (really good work on the guitars), strong rhythm section, and Bailey in perfect shape! This album is better than whatever Maiden released with Blaze in their line-up (God save me after what I've written). Of course it reminds of them, especially in the way vocals are performed, but it is original in its way as well. The really good thing of the album is that it presents a variety between its songs. So, one can listen to it from the beginning until the end without being tired at all (I think that the only weak point of the album is the song “Land of the Blind”- not bad but bellow the standards of the rest of the songs). Do you buy many albums these days that you can hear them all at once without skipping a couple of songs? If yes, please tell us via e-mail, which are they, so that we can buy them as well. If not and you are really into pure heavy metal, just buy this album...you won't regret it.
Blind Alley’s story starts with the break-up of a band. That band was the
swedish Fortune, which after a couple of records from their own company they decided to spilt up. So, Blind Alley’s first album was titled “On The Way” and it was released on mp3.com. After that they started working on a new album and after they finished it, they also signed a contract with AOR Heaven. Thus, formally “Infinity Ends” is the first official release of the band. As it concerns the music part of the album now, Blind Alley plays A.O.R./light melodic rock music that will remind you the 80’s era of this specific kind of music. They seem to be influenced from the Scandinavian scene and also from the great band Journey. In truth to be told, I like very much “Infinity Ends” and I’m listening to it all the time. It’s so sensitive, melodic and smooth, that not only the rock fans will like it but and the pop ones, as well! I know that their music, may not be very original, but the album is so inspired and well-written that you will be taken away by songs like the catchy “S.O.S.”, the Journey-like “Shadow From My Heart” (which reminded me a lot of “Separate Ways”), the melodious “One Life”, the super emotional ballad “From Now On”, the wonderful “Hunter”, the rocker “Payback Time”, the pop-rocker “Wild Rose” and the 80’s pop “We Still Belong”. To tell you the truth, “Infinity Ends” has no filler songs and all the tracks are very beautiful. The production is also very good and the programming will not mind you at all. If you consider yourself as a fan of melodic, light pop-rock music then try somehow to listen to this album.
Before writing this
critique, I would like to emphasize this: I consider myself as a music fan
(and
especially heavy music-whatever it is called) and not a music critic. Therefore whatever I write accrues from what I receive
from each album as a fan and nothing else. No need to hide that I am a Blind Guardian fan for many years now and that it was to my pleasure to see the group evolving and becoming a big
name, as they've worked hard and they
deserved their success. Having listened to the new album several times (that's why it took me that long to write this
critique) I have concluded to this: the album isn't bad, but it has some specific flaws and it is definitely below the high standards of the
band. I think that the band was trapped under the question "what do we do
now, after the unique success of the previous album (Nightfall in Middle
Earth)?". BG decided to change a bit the approach to their music
(I would characterize them "more aggressive") and not
re-produce a second "Nightfall..". Having the balls to do that is a plus for them but is not enough to save the
situation. The new songs bear indeed the familiar sound of the band, but in my hears they sound
"too much". What I mean with that? The band composes very complicated songs loaded with
"multi-multi vocals", guitars here, guitarsthere, harmonies
low-harmonies high, melodies changing so fast yet being so many, that I cannot follow
them, understand and digest them. It is characteristic that after listening to the album five
times, I could hardly remember any song and melody. In its effort to embellish the songs and make them rich
enough, the band loses the game of hitting the spot of the listener, rather creating to
him/her a feeling of confusion. I will be honestly amazed if they manage to produce all this sound live and even if they will remember all the parts of the songs without losing the
way. By the way I will see them live in a month and have a chance to find out about it myself
(you'll be able to read my impressions form the gig via this site). In sum I have to say that the album isn't
bad. It has some really great songs (like Under the Ice), epic
atmosphere, but it loses the game of capturing the listener because of its unnecessary
complexity, which leads to nowhere. Grading the album is really
difficult... 
First
of all I should tell you this: if in the word “Maladies” you replace
“d” with “k” and you pronounce the word exactly as you read it,
viz. “M-a-l-a-k-i-e-s” you have the Greek word for bullshit! Having
the title such a bad connotation in the Greek language you can imagine
that I was willing to make this review an open circus.... poor me! You see
Bloodjunkies here blew my brains out! Dirty hard rock with loads of punk
elements of the best quality is what we get and the party goes on! And
loads of r-n-r attitude as well!!! Monster Magnet meets Ramones, Motorhead
and The Hellacopters in a CD that has the ability to burn your speakers!
Along with Monster Magnet’s “Monolithic Baby” this is the best album
of this genre that I've heard this year so far - although this one is more
“melodic”. I should mention the vocalist who sounds a lot like James
Hetfield, but much deeper and clearer. What makes this album distinct are
the exceptional vocal melodies, riffs and harmonies that stuck to your
mind for good. 17 tracks of party music are what Bloodjunkies provide us
with here! And of course we will follow them!
Thank
God pure power/epic metal never surrendered to any trends, and now seems
to return even stronger! One good proof of that is the debut album from
Bloodstained that is more than promising! The band really kicks ass. There
is so much power coming out of the speakers that you unintentionally start
headbanging to rhythm of the fury riffs!!! Acoustic themes lead to heavy,
thunderous outbreaks. Double bass drumming is strengthened by the very
good production that makes the whole album sound solid as a rock. Those
who bow for Jag Panzer, Savage Grace, Manilla Road and of course Manowar,
shouldn’t miss this record. Bloodstained offer their Greek steel to the
eternal battle and we fell really proud of them. I feel that if the band
keeps the good work up, it can stand equally besides European forces like
Tad Morose and Brainstorm. My only objection are the vocals...the singer
sometimes is out of rhythm and he seems to be trying too hard, but without
the wanting result. However I have to mention that 
Bludgeon is a new American band that plays death
metal, and also is the first band that has signed with Joey DeMaio's (and I was really surprised that Joey signed a death metal
band) music company. The band plays heavy American death metal, the songs that this album features are not very
fast-tempo and also the guys can write very good heavy riffs. A remarkable fact about this album is that it was recorded live in the living -
room, in the house, where the band lives. That was Joey DeMaio's idea and I think that is was really successful cause the sound of the album is raw and very
aggressive. The fans of death metal better check out Bludgeon, and they might discover a very good
new-comer band. The album has some very interesting songs like "Smoke
Green" and "Stained In Blood". Personally I would suggest Bludgeon and other bands also not to use so stupid and naive
artworks, for their own good of course! But be careful, cause "Crucify The
Priest" is only recommended to the brutal death metal funs, who they must listen to Bludgeon's new
album, cause I'm sure that they're gonna like it. The rest of you might not even manage to listen to the whole
album. Bludgeon's "Crucify The Priest" is a good album, for it's genre of
course.
Blue Birds Refuse To Fly is the personal project of Kyriakos Poursanides who used to be the keyboard player of the Greek indie band Wasteland. “Anapteroma” is the second full-length release of Blue Birds Refuse To Fly, as its debut album “Give Me The Wings” was released back in 1998. The music of the band has not lost its electronic stigma but it also moves in some darker, pop, dance paths nowadays. The role of the basic singer, this time, is given to George Dedes, who is the leader of the gothic band The Illusion Fades. George’s dark, esoteric voice gives a mysterious and more gloomy atmosphere to some songs, and since it’s his first time that he is dealing with this kind of music I think that has done it very well. “Anapteroma” has some light joyful songs like “House Of Sex”, some beat/dance tunes like “Lacrima Di Balena II – The Revenge”, “Quasi Stellar II – Give Me The Wings” and “Anapteroma” and some gloomy esoteric tracks like “Celebration”, “Some Roads Can Take You Everywhere”, “Love Like Prison” and “Strange Little Girl”. The production is excellent and I believe that Kyriakos has done a very good work in general. As a result “Anapteroma” is a good dark, pop, electro album that will satisfy the fans that love electro music along with dark and atmospheric sounds.
I always wanted to hear some new songs from this band. Most of you know
that I totally love the band’s debut album… a look at the Hall Of Fame
section will refresh your memory. So, I was very happy when Gregg decided
to re-master the old tapes that he had and to offer us the band’s old
songs with a new strongest sound. That was a very smart move from his
side. The he announced that Bleu Tears will release a new album. Do not
forget that Gregg had also released new material with Attraction 65 in
2003. Attraction 65 might was too modern for the die hard fans of Blue
Tears (personally I love that album) so a new album under the name of Blue
Tears was a very good chance for Gregg to be in music industry again.
Well, those who were waiting that Gregg would release a new album that
would have been close to the debut better think again if something like
that is possible. “The Innocent Ones” generally is a good album that
some times tries to be Blue Tears (with the 80s feeling-sound) and some
others is looking straight at Attraction 65. Do not also forget that Gregg
played all the instruments here (except from the bass which was played by
Bryan Wolski, done the vocals, the programming and the production of the
album. So it hard to say that this is a Blue Tears album… rather I would
call it a solo Gregg album. I do not believe that the die hard Blue Tears
fans will be excited by listening to the album neither the Attraction 65
will like it that much. It’s not that the album lacks of good songs…
has many good songs indeed but the big problem here is the poor production
and the bad (not professional) drum sound. Personally I do not like that
much the guitar sound as well. Songs like: “Drive”, “Let It Rain”,
“Run For Your Life”, “Save Your Life”, “All The Way Home”,
“She Wants To Be A Star”, Gloryland”, “Silent Scream” and
“Unrequited Love” would have been highlights if they had a better and
heavier production… but even now they are some very good songs. The
early 90s sound of the band does not exist anymore neither and the 80s Def
Leppard/Bon Jovi influences… they have been replaced by more modern
influences from the aforementioned bands and some more Bruce Springsteen
elements than in the past. If you live the last works of those
bands/artists then you will like much more this album than I did. Not that
Gregg has lost his ability to write good catchy songs but he definitely
needs the “help” of some others players in order to achieve better
goals. Till the new Blue Tears album (which I hope it would be more 80s
oriented) will have good time by listening to the aforementioned songs.
Invite
Them Up is a weekly live show that includes music, sketches, film, and all
that, hosted by Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale. So, what we get here is a
CD package that includes three audio CDs which contains some very funny
sketches and monologues. Also the package includes DVD where u can see the
best of those audio files that included on the three CDs. Although I like
the CDs a lot I obviously prefer the DVD ‘cause I’m not only
interesting got listen to a good joke but I need to see the way that
someone telling it and his face while he’s on stage. Those who love this
weekly show would have already bought this CD/DVD package and enjoying it
right now. As for those who do not live in 
This is half a Flower Kings album. Tomas Bodin (keyboards), Jonas Reingold
(bass) and Marcus Liliequist (drums) seem to have gotten bored to wait for
Ronnie Stolt to work on the new Flower Kings album. So they joined forces
with Jocke JJ Marsh (Glenn Hughes) and produced an amazing album of
progressive rock music, that travels us far far away. Bodin (the mastermind
here) seems to be more free here to elaborate on his ideas and prolong them
they he wants. So, we get three compositions of approximately 20 minutes
duration each, based on keyboards. However the guitars are present, playing
their role for good. Sometimes the riffs are hard enough and flirt a lot
with what came to be known as stoner rock. And this is the uniqueness of the
album: that it managed to digest so many variable sounds and offer them in
the best possible way: symphonic parts evolve to hard, psychedelic bridges,
just to end up in three individual masterpieces. The approach here is
magical, ethereal and I can tell you that it is one of the best sentimental
prog rock albums I
Bohica is a newcomer from UK. The band was formed in 2002 and “No Apologies” is its debut album. They play rock music with heavy, nu-metal, new rock and melodic elements and maybe will remind you a little bit of Blackmaker but with a sharper sound. This kind of music is very popular nowadays and it’s not a surprise to me that I see so many bands coming out of nowhere and applying a mix of many rock and metal styles. This is the trendy kind of music today and we must accept the thing that we are going to listen far too many similar bands in the next years. To tell the truth Bohica do not have anything wrong in their songs or in their sound. On the other hand they seem very hard working and they have some songs like “Take Control”, “Hide” (the CD contain a very good video clip for this song) and “Doorway” that will appeal to those who like this kind of music. The production of the album is very good and clear, but this is not my favorite music style although I’ve listened to many CDs of this kind especially in the last 7-8 months. The die-hard fans of this music kind should at least listen to the aforementioned songs.
I’m
really happy ‘cause Bonfire understood that have taken a wrong turn with
their previous release “Free” and they tried to make a right step by
releasing “Double X”. Yes, the new album is by far much better then
“Free” and it’s rockin’… but in the end cannot compete with any
Bonfire albums of the past. It has a nice production… some really good
melodious rocking songs like “Day 911”, “What’s On Your Mind”
and “Notion Of Love” that will satisfy you… but in the end there are
not any highlights here and nothing here will travel you back to the old
days of the band. If you are a die-hard fan of the band I’m sure that
you will enjoy this album but after a little time they will be left
wondering why they left this album of the shelf gathering dust… and I
ask …‘cause it was soooo very good when it was released?! Furthermore
songs like “Rap Is Crap” are not to be written and published from
serious rock bands like Bonfire… OK we all know that rap is crap and we
can’t bear this kind of music but please leave other fun-rock bands to
deal with this matter… not you. Can’t you see that mistakes like these
(the biggest mistake was “Free” in my opinion) has taken you down?
Besides I do not think that I’m gonna play this album far too many
times… and once again I will wait for the band’s next work.
I
don’t think that Bonfire needs any kind of introduction. There is no
chance for someone who deals with the melodic rock or hard rock music not
to know this huge band. I cannot also believe that there is someone, who
loves this kind and not to have bought any album or at least listened to a
song of them! The truth is that Bonfire was rockin’ all those years, and
now they have forgot how to rock or something? This album is not that good...
I would say that is a bad turn on the band's history ‘cause everything
is wrong here. The production is weak and overall the album losses many
points due to this band production. On the other had the songs are not
good... just some simply rockers that you will forget them right away...
not this cannot be the real Bonfire that we know... I’m sure that soon
Bonfire will forget of this album and will return to the rockin’ days of
the group when they used to release excellent hard rock albums. If they do
not see the problem soon then they will surely have major problems in the
future.
I
was very pleased from the band’s previous album “Bounce” ‘cause it
was a solid album with some very good hard rock songs on it. On the other
hand, the modern rock elements of the band’s latest albums were something
that fitted on the band’s new sound. Some may not be very happy with that
but we’re not in the mid 80’s anymore so we must learn to live with
that. The new album of the band is not a surprise to me ‘cause I was
expecting it to be in that way. Yes, they have put some more modern elements
on their sound (maybe due to the producer John Shanks who has worked with
artists such as: Ashlee Simpson, Anastacia, Kelly Clarkson, Alanis
Morissette etc.) but the whole result isn’t far away from “Bounce” or
“Crush”. I listened to, on the TV, the first single of the band “Have
A Nice Day” and it reminded me a lot of “It’s My Life”. It’s
moving on the same rock base and it’s a nice rock anthem. Other songs that
I like from this album are: “I Wanna Be Loved”, “Welcome To Wherever
You Are”, “Last Man Standing”, “Last Cigarette”, “I Am”,
“Complicated”, “Novocaine” (although it’s little too modern for my
liking), and “The Story Of My Life”. The album also has some bonus
tracks on the Japanese and the UK versions, which are very good indeed.
“Dirty Little Secret” and “Unbreakable” are very interesting rockers
and I cannot find any good reason why those songs are not included on the
tracklist of the album. Anyway, if you do no have a version of the album
that contains those songs try somehow to listen to them ‘cause they are
really good. Overall, “Have A Nice Day” is a good album that’s moving
on safe places. You won’t find any surprises here but only good rockers
and ballads. This album has the quality that all the Bon Jovi albums have
and it will satisfy the fans of the band. I like this album, although I
prefer the 80’s period of the band. It will surely bring some new fans on
the band’s ranks as the most Bon Jovi albums did. They are one of the best
bands of our time and no matter if they are moving on safer music paths or
not, they can hardly let us down.
Boomerang was created in 1996 in Germany and after several line-up changes they managed to release their first demo CD, "The Real Unreal", in 1999, and in 2002 they recorded their first full-length album “Weaverworld”. Most of you will have sanely guessed that as soon as these guys come from Germany they play European power metal. In part you are right, for their general music style, but I have to tell you that they play power metal with many aggressive parts, like the American power, but Boomerang are more melodic than them. The vocalist (Axel Johann) is very good and has a melodic voice. He can sing the high notes without this meaning that he sings all the time and without reason in high tones, as many groups have done in the past and doing till now... The guitarists (Thomas Fahrnbach and Stefan Zobel) sound very melodic in some parts and in others they approach the thrash or the speed metal sound! This album has some very nice songs and some that are indifferent, because you can’t characterise them as interesting or not interesting. The production isn’t very good and I think that’s what they must take care of it, in their future releases. The main reason I found this album enough interesting is that you can find many epic moments that are very well combined with their power and the more aggressive parts. Some tracks that you should listen before buying this CD are the following: “Mourning Sun”, "Keepers Of Light", “Weaverworld” and “Like Black Like White".
Michael
Bormann is surely one of the best European rock vocalists today and of
course a very busy man. He’s not only participates in other bands but
he’s releasing solo works and producing other albums, as well. If you do a
little search you will see that he is participating in three albums that
have been released in the same time period! It seems that this guy never
rests! Here, we have the second solo work of Michael, where he wrote (with a
little help from his friends of course), produced and released through his
own record label. “Conspiracy” is a very well balanced and produced
album… it contains hard rock songs like “Conspiracy”, “Its Not
Physical”, “Stand Up”, “No Regrets”, “Living Just A Lie”,
“One Man, One Soul”, 
For those who aren't aware of
that, Michael Bormann used to sing for Letter X, Charade, The
Sygnet, Rain and he is also the vocalist of Jaded Heart. This is the first
self-titled personal album. To be honest this is an album that can be presented even by
non-metal/rock zines. Michael here plays pure AOR of the American kind (although sometimes he reminds me of Chris
Rea), which at times flirts more with pop music rather with rock. If you don't have any problem with this and you do not belong to those who wake up with Slayer and go to bed with The
Haunted, but you can fit into your listenings "softer" albums
(which are valuable sometimes - imagine you flirting with someone with Dimmu Borgir in the
backround), then this is a good proposition. I don't know if Michael wants to reach bigger
audiences, but his songs here have the ability to do it, yet being
remarkable. After all he is not just an ordinary musician...he has the ability to compose great
songs, even if directed to easy listening. He experiments with soul sound
"The Best Is Yet To Come", latin rhythms "So What About", something that makes the album pleasant in
listening. The grade is according to the music he plays here.
Now that Thunder is back, Danny Bowes and Luke Morley are more free to express their alter ego in their side project. So after 2002’s “Moving Swiftly Along” the dynamic duo is back with good mood, providing a great album. The thing is that the two efforts of the two musicians are different in that the first album had a rock approach, instead of this new one, which leans towards funk and soul approaches. Not that rock elements are absent, but the CD as a whole is a clear reference to soul music. This becomes more evident with the covers of a few soul/funky hits, like “Living For The City” (Stevie Wonder) and “Why Did You Do It” (Stretch). However I have to tell you that if you are open to anything good, you will find very interesting and soulful music in here. Especially in songs like “A Day Like Today” where the classical guitars are mixed with winged instruments and piano the result is a balsam for the tired souls. Luke said that “When writing for Bowes & Morley, all restraints and parameters fall away” and this becomes crystal-clear when listening to that album. I'd suggest you to take a seat for this barbeque. At least I’m sure that I want to eat the biggest
stake... raw please!
To
tell the truth, I never believed that I was going to hear form this band
again but I must always have on my mind the saying: never say never. It was
a big surprise to see the Germans back in action after 12 years! Boysvoice
did quite an impact when in 1990 released its homonymous debut album and
after three years “Dirty Talks”. Then as we all know the grunge movement
came to burn down the house of every pure rocker. Anyway the guys seem to be
in good shape and they really missed rock music. “Serenity” of course
presents the Boysvoice of 2005 and not the band of 1993... so, do not be
surprised or disappointed if you do not hear the same kind of music that
band used to play... as many bands have done after their comeback, Boysvoice
are moving in a more melodic rock way than in the past, but that doesn’t
mean that the album is not good. It has many good moments such as “Open
Your Eyes”, “Lights Out”, “Always On My Mind”, “All About
You”, “Only See You There”, “Too Late” and “Rocket”. The
production is good and a little modern as well as the feeling that you will
get from the whole album. I do not think that this album can be compared
with the two previous albums of the band and such a thing wouldn’t be so
fair... but still is a good melodic rockin’ album from a band that was
inactive for 12 years and can kick many new rock bands very hard 
Brainstorm
presents its new album after the highly acclaimed “Soul Temptation”.
Those who keep in pace with Grande Rock will remember that I have praised
the album almost two years ago and I have said that although the album was
terrific it will be very difficult for Brainstorm to overcome it.
Unfortunately, I was right and although is hard for me to face that fact, in
the very end is the goddamn truth! “Liquid Monster” is not a bad album
(how could it be anyway?) but is not so great as “Soul Temptation”. It
is in the vein of their previous work but I think, that it lacks of
inspiration. Some songs of this album are far too traditional for
Brainstorm’s standards. On the other hand, the production is very solid
and heavy but those very traditional heavy songs, do not help the whole
result at all. Undoubtedly, the album has also some very good songs like:
“Worlds Are Coming Through”, “All Those Words”, “Heavenly”, “Painside”,
“Despair To Drown” and “Mask Of Life”, that will satisfy every stern
fan of heavy/power music. The truth is that I was expecting from Brainstorm
to release a better album than “Soul Temptation” but it seems that my
expectations were too high. If they haven’t released “Soul Temptation”,
then this album would have got a better feedback in general. Regarding that,
it’s on their hand to find their way to the top again or to remain a
simply good heavy/power metal band.
No,
this is not Brazen Abbot’s new album. It is a live album that was
recorded after some shows that the band gave in Varna, Sofia and Plovdiv
and were both filmed and recorded by a professional crew. The band’s
line up on those shows were: Nikolo Kotzev – guitars, Joe Lynn Turner
– vocals, Wayne Banks – bass, Lars Pollack – keyboards and Thomas
Broman - drums. I do not know how good were those shows but I didn’t
quite enjoy the live CD. I’m not a big fan of live CDs but I can tell
that the sound on this CD is rather poor and didn’t satisfy me at all.
The performance of the members is good but I didn’t get that feeling
that they were really enjoying when giving those live shows. Maybe it is
my impression but the truth is that I get bored after the fifth songs of
the live CD! Anyway there will be also released a live DVD which will
contain the same tracklist. Thank God that they didn’t gave it to me to
review it… I do not know if it is good or not but I also do not enjoy
watching live shows on a DVD… and this has nothing to do with Brazen
Abbot. Jus to inform you that the live CD includes an acoustic bonus
studio track “Love Is On Our Side” which is just good. If you are fan
of Brazen Abbot or if you like too much live albums then listen to it.
Breakpoint is a band coming from Dijon, France. They were formed in 1994 but they only released their first album (“None To Sell”) in 2002 and now after many live shows they recorded the “Strange Fruits” album. Since I haven’t heard their debut album I found out that their influences must be
Megadeth, Metallica, Pantera, Spiritual Beggars etc. So, as you can understand, here we have heavy and aggressive music based on thrash and heavy riffs! The vocalist sometimes sounds like Bruce Dickinson others like Geoff Tate and others are more aggressive… There are also many alternations of melodic parts and more aggressive moments. The musicians seem to be giving their pest performance and they sound technical enough. The production (Fred
Rochette) is very heavy and is almost excellent! Also the lyrics are in English, despite the fact that many groups from France, sing at their native language. This fact gives them the advantage to become more popular and I think they deserve it! Fresh and heavy music is something that I really love and this album combines both freshness and heaviness! Listen to the following explosive tracks: “Ascending Rain”, “The Oldest Story To Tell”, “Half Past Void”, “Neon”, “Anything Without” and “A Certain Optimistic Way”.
Bassist Nikki Sixx and guitarist Tracii Guns, formed this project band with the “weird” name Brides Of Destruction. Also the band features, drummer Scot Coogan (ex-Paul Gilbert, Oni Logan/Rowan Robertson, Sinead
O’Connor) and vocalist London LeGrand, who is the less known from the four members. So, as I was expected Brides Of Destruction play hard rock music influenced by Motley Crue, L.A. Guns with some punk and alternative elements as well. The production is very heavy and strong and the whole result is fine to me. The guys here seem to spend their time fine and do their job with a lot of joy… but I have an objection to that. The fans are waiting and always will be waiting as they pay for the CDs, to get something really good especially from the big names of the scene. I do not say that this album does not have quality but the songs are few (only nine) and the CD has some filler tracks too. On the other hand there
are interesting moments on this CD like the semi-ballad “Only Get So
Far”, the modern rock “Life”, the great rocker “I Don’t Care”, the heavy-alternative “I Got A
Gun” and the hard rocker “2 Times Dead”. Personally I was expecting from these guys to release something very special but it seems that
I’ll wait for the next one, as the band has a contract for three albums. I am harsh with musicians that I truly love and I want to see them releasing only good or incredible albums. By the way, listen to it if you like the aforementioned bands or if you like modern rock.
This band with the strange name comes from Sweden and is a brand new one
in the prog circles. Their keyboard player Linus Kase is also known from Narnia, but the style of this band here is quite different from the
aforementioned one's. Up tempo prog rock, with long compositions, and influences from Kansas and Spock's Beard to the maximum. But this is not
all: I think that the band is directly influenced by Beatles' music of the
second period, producing thus a nostalgic, kind of old fashioned (in the good sense) sound, which works well for the band. Some excellent guitar
work is accompanied by smart breaks in the rhythm section and the whole effort
becomes even richer when the saxophone appears to add variety to the music. Listen to the opening
track "Aspects From Newborn Eyes" and you will understand that something good is going on here. My only objection
concerns the vocal lines, which at times need a bit more working out to present a more balanced sound. But this is just my view and somebody else
might like them as they stand. In general, if you have already checked out
Kaipa and Mythologic this month, "bite" this one too.
Brother Firetribe is a band from Finland that was formed by Nightwish’s guitarist Emppu Vuorinen and gained people’s interest from the very first moment. The truth is that Emppu this time is not playing heavy symphonic music or anything close to that but he
decided to form a melodic rock/AOR band that looks straight at the 80’s melodic rock music. The album is well-produced, the songs are all well-arranged and most of the rock fans already love the album… but I’m not so excited as other people are over this album. First of all the album has too many keys for my taste (this is not absolutely bad for the fans) and the songs lack of good original hooks… too many times by listening to the album came on my mind melodies and hooks from older stuff. For example, is it me or “Single Breathe” sounds like the little twin brother of Van Halen’s “Jump”? Anyway this is not the point here. The basic point for me is that you must have a nice time when you listening to an album and “False Metal” can surely offer that to you. Do not search for originality or any groundbreaking ideas here… we have heard all those things in the past and even better most of the times… but in my opinion this album can keep you good company for some time but it is far way from being a classic one. In truth to be told, it really takes you by a surprise on the first two listens but then as you listen to it again and again it becomes a little too “known” and predictable. For sure the new fans of the genre will appreciate it (love it) much more than the old fans. To cut it short, I believe that “False Metal” is a good album that will satisfy the fans of keys and melody for sure.
What do we have here? Brutus! Who the hell are they? Don’t ask me, but as you and I can guess, these guys play brutal death metal. Their music sounds very boring to me and all the ten tracks, included in this CD, sound the same. The only thing that changes is the length of the tracks… Extra brutal death metal and monotonous vocals are here, ultra fast guitars and ultra boring guitars most of the times go together, and so are now. Extremely fast drums that are extremely worked on the P.C, because I can’t believe that this speed is normal for a drummer... Also the drums sound so false that I think that only the drum machine worked for this album instead for the drummer. No melodies can be found on this album, only blast-beats and pointless fast guitars. The production is simply good, if we expect the sound of the drums, but this is not enough for a professional release. Finally, I must add that the band tries very hard to sound scary but the only scary thing is that some labels still sign groups like them! Anyway this release is meaningless even for the fans of this kind of music, so the best thing you can do is to forget this CD and listen to something more interesting and believe me everything else is more interesting than this album!
The release of monumental albums is always
dangerous because it always presupposes that a whole river of imitators will appear like
mushrooms to try and steal a part of the fame, creating thus a fashion. In this case the latest fashion is what came to be known
as stoner rock. After Monster Magnet, Spiritual Beggars and a couple of others produced their masterpieces a few years
earlier,
an avalanche of imitators appeared. This is the case with Burner. One more stoner rock
band, which tries to elevate by using others' success. It's not that their music is
bad, but ok, we've had enough
of it already! There are some good ideas and a few good songs (like
"Five Pills"), but nothing more. Too much noise, sometimes
they try to sound like Motorhead (this is quite difficult-trust me), and too much
"aggression". Some of their songs (e.g. "No Regrets")
try to combine dirty hard rock with death metal (!!!!), with the result to create a wonderful potato without
identity. Judging from
the times that I will listen to this again in the future I would give them a "6.5", but the grade is lower because of their
singer.
He adopts brutal vocals that are irrelevant to what they try to play, and worse of all when his vocals are
clear, he tries to sound like
James Hetfield. Hetfield is an average singer (not to say a bad one), and I really don't see why would anyone try to sound
like him...
It should have been needles to mention it, anyway, Eric used to be the voice of the legendary Animals and War. The great interpreter with the hoarse voice is back to offer us one more great album-diving to our soul. It is really amazing to see veterans releasing albums only when they have something to say with their art, and not because they would need a few more money. By the way album’s release coincides with publishing of his self-biography – a very good trick indeed. Eric here presents a mixture of Rhythm ‘n’ Blues, rock, soul and jazz and he does it with style! The whole sound refers directly to the past albums of the musician and reminds also a lot of Van Morison and Dire Straits. Even the production is old-fashioned presenting thus a complete journey to the past... or to our soul. Indeed some songs in here have nothing to be jealous for in comparison to anthems like “Don't let Me Be Misunderstood”. Invest!
I know that many people were waiting for Stan
Bush’s new album cause he has a strong fan base. Those who
weren’t satisfied a lot with
Stan’s previous works cause they were in a more pop direction, will be glad by listening to “Shine”. Stan return to his roots and does what he knows to do better. He plays melodic rock/AOR music with many melodies, strong choruses and very good guitar work by Tim Pierce. The album opens with the homonymous song and Stan gets right to the point. Songs that are very good and will grab your attention from the very first listening are “Falling”, “I Will Be
There”, “I Turn To
You”, “What Do You Mean
Tonight”, “Say It
Ain’t Love”, “Have You Ever
Believed”, and “Do It All
Over”. I do not think that there will be a single fan of Stan that
won’t like this album. The production is very good and clear and Stan has written some of the best songs of his carrier here. So, if you like melodic rock/AOR music or you are a
Stan’s fan then I do not see any reason why not try this one out.