|
HAMADRYAD
A.S.
7,5/10 |
|
|
|
HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE
G.K. 7/10 |
|
|
|
HANTAOMA
G.K. 7,5/10 |
|
|
|
HAPPY THE MAN
A.S. 4/10 |
|
|
|
HARDCORE SUPERSTAR
T.A. 7,5/10 |
|
|
|
HAREM SCAREM
A.S. 9,5/10 |
|
|
|
HAREM SCAREM
A.S. 8,5/10 |
|
|
|
HARLAN CAGE
T.A. 9/10 |
|
|
|
HARMFUL
T.A. 6/10 |
|
|
|
HARTMANN
OLIVER
T.A.
7/10 |
|
|
|
HATERUSH
G.K. 6/10 |
|
|
|
HATESPHERE
G.K. 5,5/10 |
|
|
|
HAUNTED (THE)
G.K. 7,5/10 |
|
|
|
HEADMEAT
T.A. 1,5/10 |
|
|
|
HEADRUSH
A.S. 7,5/10 |
|
|
|
HEADSPEED
G.K. 4,5/10 |
|
|
|
HEARSE
G.K. 6,5/10 |
|
|
|
HEARTBREAK ENGINES
A.S. 6,5/10 |
|
|
|
HEARTBREAK RADIO
T.A. 7/10 |
|
|
|
HEAVEN & EARTH
T.A. 8,5/10 |
|
|
|
HEAVEN & EARTH
T.A. 8/10 |
|
|
|
HEAVENLY
T.A. 7/10 |
|
|
|
HENNING PAULY
A.S.
7/10 |
|
|
|
HENSLEY KEN
A.S. 8/10 |
|
|
|
HERMANO
A.S. 6/10 |
|
|
|
HERNANDO
TONY
V.M. 6,5/10 |
|
|
|
HEROD
A.S. 6,5/10 |
|
|
|
HESS HARRY
T.A. 6,5/10 |
|
|
|
HIGHLORD
G.K. 7/10 |
|
|
|
HIGH ON FIRE
T.A. 5/10 |
|
|
|
HIM
A.S. 5/10 T.A. 6/10 |
|
|
|
HODSON
T.A. 7/10 |
|
|
|
HORIZON
T.A. 6/10 |
|
|
|
HORNED GOD
T.K. 6,5/10 |
|
|
|
HONEYMOON SUITE
T.A. 8/10 K.P. 7,5/10 |
|
|
|
HONEYTOAST
A.S. 7/10 |
|
|
|
HOTSHOT
T.A. 8/10 |
|
|
|
HOUSE OF SHAKIRA
T.A. 7,5/10 |
|
|
|
HOWE
STEVE
A.S. 8,5/10 |
|
|
|
HUGHES
GLENN
A.S. 8/10 |
|
|
|
HUGHES GLENN
A.S. 8,5/10 |
|
|
|
HUGHES TURNER PROJECT
A.S. 9/10 K.P. 9/10 T.A. 9/10 |
|
|
|
HUGHES TURNER PROJECT
A.S. 8,5/10 |
|
|
|
HUGO
T.A. 8/10 |
|
|
|
HUMAN FORTRESS
A.S. 7/10 |
|
|
|
HUMANIMAL
A.S. 8/10 |
|
|
|
HYPNOS 69
A.S. 6/10 |
|
|
|
HYPOCRISY
G.K. 8/10 |
|
|
I can only tell you one word concerning the album: Marillion. Or better
three words: Marillion with Fish. The band comes from Canada, and in its
core is a family business after all, but they seem to have digested the
legacy of English traditional progressive rock. In their very early days
the band used to play gigs with Rush covers and the magic touch of the
wonder-trio and compatriots has not left Hamadryad uninfluenced. Very good
approach in general, although the band does not play anything novel or
innovative. The change in rhythms and moods is knitted in a very good way.
Floyd, and King Crimson manage to find a home under the Marillion roof,
which seems to have extended itself upon anything else (of course the
Genesis influences are taken for granted). My only objection is the singer
who at times tries very hard to sound like Fish - something that can never
happen with anyone. The CD is good indeed, but just because they seem to
pay such an honest tribute to the legacy of my beloved first Marillion
period, I can only be by their side.
Here
we have to do with an eccentric band, and that’s the only thing that a
normal person can say for these crazy guys from San Francisco. The band
was formed in the late 90’s and has previously released one more
full-length album (“The Bastard”) for another label. These strange guys
create really patent music and try, successfully, to explore new paths of
the metal music. Their sound will remind you great bands coming from the
doom metal scene, some more extreme bands, also psychedelic rock and hard
rock groups... and even Pink Floyd! Here you can find everything: melodic parts, acoustic parts, female and male vocals that together create a psychotic condition in your mind. Be careful, this is not an easy listening CD, but everyone who is really open minded will accept it and can easily love it. Quality and exploration of music is the object of research for these amazing people. After some listenings you will feel the melancholy and the bitterness that this album exhales. Listen to the track “Insect”, carefully, to realize what I’m talking about. Other tracks that have the same insane feeling are: “Doomed Parade” and “The Trial And The Grave”. I hope that in their next album, they will keep exploring the unknown paths of the music and succeed a better production, in order to become a more known name, because metal and music in general needs bands like them. Feel the music!
Hantaoma is a band that comes from the South of France and was formed by
members of Stille Volk... a band that was formed in 1994 and its first
full-length album was titled “Hantaoma”. The group plays folk/pagan
metal and the lyrics are in Occitan, an almost dead language that was
spoken in the north France many years ago. The album is heavy, powerful
and the guitars (Patrice Roques) are very melodic and approach the black
metal guitar sound. The vocals (Patrick Lafforgue) are closer to the black
metal vocals although there are choruses with clean vocals in every song.
Apart from these the band uses many traditional instruments and create
wonderful melodies and strange atmospheres! My only objection is about the
old-school production (although this “barbaric” sound fits the band)
and that I couldn’t understand a word from the lyrics... I believe that
they are singing about old legends and stories or at least this is the
feeling they transmitted to me from their interesting music. When I listen
to such kind of music I found many epic influences and this is why I love
this kind of music very much! The album is a must have for the fans of
bands like Finntroll and Moonsorrrow... You are going to love it!
It is really difficult to play progressive rock/metal. This is because the band needs to have developed personality. Otherwise it will sound like only a replica. I’m afraid that this stands for Happy The Man. By pushing “play” I instantly think that by mistake I have put on a King Crimson album! But then I realize that this cannot be King, but it is just an imitation. Unfortunately the “robbing” thing continues to the rest of the songs. Not with King Crimson, but with other prog bands. Dream Theatre, Yes etc. In general during listening to the CD you always think, “hmm, this reminds me of something”! Consequently, I urge you to spend your money to the originals... unless you already own them and you are willing to test your memory. Then this can be a quiz-album.
The truth is that I have listened to many rock n' roll bands lately and Hardcore Superstar left me with a very good impression. They seem to love this kind of music and to be focus on what they are doing and the also to enjoy it a lot! Besides, that's the real meaning of good rock n' roll music. So, as I told above Hardcore Superstar play rock n' roll music with some punk and modern rock and sleaze rock elements from song to song. The songs are short (between 2 and 3 minutes each) and that's the ideal length of a good rock n roll song after all. The singer sound so creepy and dirty that makes you wanna sing all the lyrics from the songs! The production of the album is ideal for this kind of dirty rock music and the highlights of the album are, without doubt, the homonymous "No Regrets", the wonderful rock n' roller "Soul Of Sweetness", the catchy "Bring Me Back", the excellent melodious "Why Can't You Love Me Like Before", the up-tempo "Honey Tongue", the mid-tempo rock n' roller "The Last Great Day", and the fantastic rocker "I Can't Change". Somebody may say that their music isn't very original and I agree to that, but I can assure you that it kick ass my friends and that is absolutely true! It seems that this album will play several times in my stereo again especially when I want to listen to something to cheer me up! This album is recommended to the fans of this genre and especially to all those that live in the world of rock n' roll music! As the album's title says, let us have no regrets and enjoy every minute of our fuckin' life listening to great rock music!!
Holy
shit! I am still trying to gather up my pieces after this! I don't even
know how I am going to make you understand the consequences of listening to
this album-dynamite!! All I can say (and although the Webmaster is complaining - using a whip - about
this) is that this CD has stuck in my CD-player and it won't come out!!!! For those who don't know them
(their
first album was released in 1991-this is their seventh studio album) the
band plays hard rock-AOR with huge balls crawling on the floor, proving how
qualitative such listenings can be. The songs are based on the amazing guitar harmonies and the melodic refrains with the multiple
voices. What is
stricking is the variety of the songs, which are full of surprises, acoustic
cuts, heavy outbreaks, fancy bridges, solos-like-thunder. Of course the production is
crystal-clear, modern, yet reminding something from the past.
The album leads you through green valleys to stormy seas of pain, in order
to wash you ashore in a golden beach, where you will take the long way home
amidst roses and fallen yellow leaves and with a wonderful sunset ahead of
you. I am still standing like a fool, whispering the words of "Outside
Your Window", believing that it is the best refrain of the year so
far, and being
sure that the album will be among the five best releases for 2002. I know
the good releases in this genre are numerous these days, but if you are going to make only one
selection, then make it be Harem Scarem's "Weight of
the World" and you won't regret it.
All
right!!! This is how we (the fans) like to see this magnificent band: full
of inspiration, melodies and power! Yes, my friends Harem Scarem is back
with a magnificent album of pomp, melodic rock music. After 2004’s
average, not to say bad, and completely uninspired “Higher”, the band
realized that the couple-refrain structure based on childish and common
melodies (of the “Higher” album) wouldn’t carry them for long. So,
they decided to create a more direct hard rock album (again based on good
melodies). Elements from “Weight Of The World” and “Voice Of
Reason” albums are combined here to give us some really good songs. To
be honest “Overload” does not match the unearthly high standards of
the two aforementioned masterpieces, but it shows the band still has much
to give. Songs like the amazing “Forgive And Forget”, “Dagger” and
“Leading Me On” argue that Harem Scarem is back for good. One of the
finest moments of melodic rock for the year so far.
Now I'm pretty sure that in this year, have been released so many good
and excellent melodic hard rock/AOR albums, and this specific genre is
getting back all the popularity that once had. To prove you all those
things that I said above, I provoke you to listen to the new fourth
studio album of Harlan Cage. "Temple Of Tears" is a really
fantastic album! The album is full of great melodic hard rock songs such
as "Any Port In The Storm", "One New York Morning"
which was influenced by the terror attacks of September 11th, "On
The Nickel" with the southern atmosphere and the slide guitars - a
very impressive song, "Just A Face In The Rain" with the
melancholic melody in the chorus, "Sin City" a very smooth but
energetic rock song, "As You Fly" a deep sad emotional ballad,
and the up-tempo melodic dynamite "Later Than You Know". As
you have already guessed, Harlan's Cage new album has left me breathless!
I wish that Harlan Cage will continue to offer us in the future great
albums like "Temple Of Tears"; cause people need to listen to
really good melodic songs. Harlan Cage released one of the most
beautiful albums in their genre for this year. Melodic hard rock is
alive and kicking! 
I have to admit that I haven’t listened to that band before, cause really bands like Helmet and Unsane are not the first or even the second choice for me when it comes to music. So, knowing that Harmful are influenced from the bands above that was a reason that kept me away from this band. I also find out recently that the bassist of the band must be a Greek homogeny in Germany cause he’s last name is for sure Greek and I’m very happy seeing Greek persons around the world to succeed in what they are doing. Well, enough talking about the band and better go to the music part of this album. The first thing that I noticed and that I liked also was the heaviness of Harmful’s sound and their ability to compose nice short rock songs with good melodies like the opener “Open End” (although the melodic riff in the refrain was “taken/inspired” from Judas Priest’s “Breaking The Law”), the straight rocker “Overfed”, my favorite, catchy “I Remember You” (that song has a metal feeling) and the last song of the album “Deliverance”. It is obvious that even though Harmful jumped to a bigger label they do not seem eager to write a “hit” rock song in order to become a radio-play for a better promotion of their music. I respect that thing cause it shows that they remain, till now, close to the ideas that they had from the beginning as a band. Of course times change, and some of their ideas will change as well in the near future but that’s not absolutely bad. Well, as it concerns the production of the album is ideal for the music that they play and it gives you a very “creepy” – “dirty” feeling. So, whoever likes Helmet or Unsane then should check out the new (fifth in a row) album of Harmful with the: ”weird” artwork (even if I find it wonderful!) and title “Sanguine”. As, for the classic rockers or hard rockers, must have in mind that there are other better releases to spend their money.
Oliver
Hartmann, the german vocalist best known for his works with At Vance and
Empty Tremor, has finally released his first solo album. Forget anything
that you have heard from Oliver’s bands in the past. This album has a
different musical direction. Oliver is moving in melodic rock paths and he
is doing it pretty good! This musical change has surprised some people
nicely and even some of those that were not interested in any of the two
bands that Oliver is/was participating. The truth is that I also didn’t
except from him to release something as strong as “Out In The Cold”.
After all, this album shows that Oliver has just found in which way he
should move from now on. The production of the album is flawless and you
will definitely enjoy songs such as: “Alive Again”, “Out In The
Cold”, “Brazen” (Skunk Anansie’s cover), “I Will Carry On”,
“What If”, “The Journey”, “Who Do You Think You Are?” and
“Into The Light”. As a matter of fact, “Out In The Cold” is a very
listenable, easy melodic rock album that will please most of melodic rock
fans that only care for good mellow music. Let’s hope that Oliver’s next
steps will be at least equal to this one.
The debut album of the Swedish metal band Haterush, which managed to sign a
contract with the Greek label Black Lotus Records, is finally released! The
band consists of Jan Sandberg on guitars, Stefan Embretsson on vocals,
Richard Holmgren on drums, Magnus Wall on bass and they all have played in
other bands in the past. Their music can be characterizes as heavy/power
metal. After some hearings of this album I found out that the album lacks of
inspiration (a problem with many power metal bands in our days…). Although
that I enjoyed it, when I was listening to it, I realized that after the CD
ended I could hardly remember a chorus or a riff… Despite this there are
some good moments where the power metal is very well combined with the
80’s heavy metal. There are also some epic moments, which add a variety in
the album… The best part of this album is the vocalist, which has the
appropriate voice for a heavy/power metal band. The production is made at
the Underground Studio in Sweden and is a little bit weak for the particular
music style and I expected it heavier and louder… I wouldn’t advice you
to buy this album before listening to it, but if you have the chance to
listen to it, don’t hesitate…
Hatesphere from Denmark released their third full-length album after a
tour with The Haunted and Mastodon and the release of the mini CD “
The Haunted are back with their (third) new full-length album "One Kill Wonder". Their previous impressive album "The Haunted Made Me Do It " made them more popular among the metal fans all over the world because of its power and its true thrash violence. The new album is more aggressive but also more melodic than the previous one. It is based on Swedish metal style and it is very influenced by the best thrash group ever: Slayer. The only objection comes for the vocalist Mark Aro that sings very brutal for a thrash album. Most of the songs have strong riffs and a rhythm section that can lead to head banging and violent behavior. The songs, which are going to impress you, are
"Godpuppet" (which will remind you old Slayer
days),"Everlasting" (80's thrash) and " Shithead"!!! " One Kill Wonder " is a very good effort and everyone who loved their previous albums should be pleased.
Headmeat
from Belgium has just released its debut mini CD. What a nice name for a band! What kind of music do they play? Can you guess? Come on now… it’s so easy! Yes, you are right… death metal with grind and doom elements with extra-brutal vocals! The production is good and heavy but believe it or not this mini-CD has only four songs and lasts about 18minutes! I do not know why they decided to release a CD without having at least six or seven songs… but their music here is so unoriginal, so predictable and so fuckin’ boring… even though it lasts only 18 minutes! I wouldn’t bear to listen to it more than 20 minutes. I do not know if anyone is going to buy it but if he does, then he must be prepared to listen to fast drumming, screams instead of vocals and furious guitars. It’s like you listen to the same song for 18 minutes! Have we heard this kind of stuff in the past and even better? Of course! If we think to buy it, will it be a waste of money? Of course! If we try to listen to it somehow, will it be a waste of time? Of course! What should we do then? Just avoid it! Pretend that has never been released!
This is the debut album of the band and makes a good impression. Looking at
the label you can tell at once that the music here must be related to the
melodic side of rock, and in a way this is what we get here indeed. The
introductory song “My World” makes a really impressive impact, with the very
good guitar work and the catchy melodies and you know that things are going
to be at least interesting with this listening. Indeed the musical content
of the CD flows easily and at times you get excited by the music. This
happens mainly because the group does not deliver only a nerve-less AOR
profile that has bored me to death lately. On the contrary the songs seem to
be structured on the guitar riffs, which work very well for the band. In
addition, I should mention that the guys here present high skills with their
instruments -a big plus for a rock band. Many rhythmical changes, from heavy
to mid tempo, with a rhythm section that must be envied by other groups.
They remind me a lot of Harem Scarem, but elements from Talisman, Shylock
appear as well. The strange thing is that at times they bring the most
straightforward moments of Enchant to my mind... I’ll be having many
expectations from this group.
Headspeed is almost a new-coming band, since it was formed in 2002 in the 
Almost a year has passed since Hearse released their debut album “Dominion Reptillian” and they have already released their second one. Most of you must remember that Hearse is the second band that John Liiva (vocals) created after he left Arch Enemy. The album has many influences like: melodic death and thrash metal and even heavy and metal! The band’s thrash metal moments sound a little bit oldschool to me and the melodic death metal influences will remind you the Swedish death metal scene. The guitarist (Mattias Ljung) sounds interesting enough and he achieves to sound melodic, aggressive and even technical the same time. As far it concerns Liiva’s vocals, they still remain dark and aggressive. The album is good when you listen to it for the first two or three times, but then you will notice that there are little things you will remember from this CD… The artwork is just great, as you can see by yourselves, and the production, which was made in Sweden, sounds oldschool but good. Best tracks: “Mountain Of The Solar Eclipse”, “Turncoat”, “Crops Of Waste”, “Tools”, “Play With Rules” and “Determination”.
I'm not sure, but it wouldn't be surprising if this band came from Sweden. And don't let your mind go to Swedish death metal. No, the case here is about dirty hard rock and roll. Lately the Swedish ground seems too fertile for such kind of music and Heartbreak Engines seems to be one of the seeds. The musical stigma of the group is somewhere between The Hellacopters and Gluecifer. But of course all these groups are influenced (directly or not - in this case directly) by Motorhead. The music here sounds aggressive and "dirty" enough to convince us that we are in for a qualitative listening. Except for the thunderous, groovy tracks, like "Get On The Engine", the band here presents also a more melodic approach in songs like "Falling" which works well for the group. In general, we have here a good CD, but nothing that would make us go nuts. However those who are into this sound should check this one out, especially because it contains some r-n-r anthems like "Friday Night Is Right".
Heartbreak
Radio is a project, which was founded in the year 2004 by the producers
Torbjörn Wassenius/Claes Andreasson who have worked in the past with
Last Atumun’s Dream and with singer Mikael Erlandsson. The band’s line
up consists of Pierre Weinsberg (ex-Prisoner) and Mikael Erlandsson (he
sings on three songs) on vocals, Mikkey Dee on drums, Magnus Rosén
(Hammerfall) on bass and Sayit, T’Bell and Tommy Denander (Radioactive)
on guitars. Other guests on this album include Max Abbey (Ultravox, Paul
Young) Joel Starander (Geisha) and Jim Jidhed. Well, the musicians above
are really hot names in the melodic rock/AOR scene, and as you can imagine
there was no way not to have released a very good album. But let’s take
things from the start. Pierre has a wonderful voice, which will remind of
you of the great Steve Perry. Torbjörn and Claes have written songs
in the vein of Journey, without trying to copy them but with keeping in
mind the feeling and the melodies that Journey had in the 80’s. The
production is flawless and the guitarists have done an excellent work
here. I must tell you that I prefer most the songs that Pierre sings, not
only ‘cause I love Journey very much, but I think that those songs are
the best of the album... and if only Pierre was singing on the album that
wouldn’t be a problem for me. Just listen to songs like: “Hard Rock
City”, “Now You’re Gone”, “Let Me Have My Heart Again”, “Don’t
Look In Her Eyes”, “Knockin’ On Hell’s Door”, “Love Don’t
Live Here No More” (just close you eyes and tell me that you do not hear
Steve Perry on this song!), “Only You” and “Just 4 Love” (those
songs are heavily influenced from the “Raised On Radio” era of
Journey) and then decide on your own. I do not know if some of you are
missing Journey with Perry too much, like me, but this album will satisfy
you if you love the aforementioned great band. I’m just waiting from
Heartbreak Radio to release another album better than this one ‘cause
good memories mean a lot to me!
This album has shown its value through the years. It was originally released in 1998 by Samsung Records and in 1999 was re-released by Frontiers Records with 4 bonus tracks. Here we have the third version of this great album, which has two new bonus tracks but is missing the instrumental “Telstar 2000” which was on the second version of this album. The two new songs are “Life On The Line” and “Still Got The Blues”. “Life On The Line” is classic rock song with some blues elements, which is featuring Bobby Kimball (Toto) on vocals. A very tasteful song. “Still Got The Blues” is a cover of the wonderful Gary Moore song, which is featuring the great Joe Lynn Turner on vocals. A very good cover close enough to the original one. As for the rest of the album I do not think that songs like: “Don’t Keep Me Waiting”, “Heaven & Earth”, “When A Blind Man Cries”, “Do You Ever Think Of Me”, “Shadow Of The Tyburn Tree”, “Road To Melnibone”, “Howlin’ At The Moon”, “Trouble In Paradise” and “Loose My Number”, will leave anyone unhappy. The production is great and just keep in mind that this re-released album includes 16 songs… we are talking about 72 minutes of good rock/blues music! Can you resist? Ohh… is so difficult! Also for those who may not know on “Heaven & Earth” are participating great musicians that have marked the rock history like Joe Lynn Turner, Glenn Hughes, Richie Sambora, Bobby Kimball, Howard Leese, Steve Priest, Kelly Hansen and Dave Chamberlain among others. I’m sure that most of you already have bought the two versions of this album but the third version I believe that is the most complete. As for the new fans of rock music just remember that sooner or later you will get it anyway!
Stuart
Smith’s Heaven & Earth are about to release their new album in a few
months, which will be titled “Screaming For Redemption”. While they
were recording the album they took a break just to play at The Warner
Center in Woodland Hills on July 4th, in front of an ecstatic crowd of
more than 40.000 people! Also I have to mentioned that they were joined on
stage by friends Howard Leese, (Heart/Paul Rodgers) and Kelly Hansen,
(Hurricane), for the finale. So, the band just decided to release the E.P.
“A Taste Of Heaven” to commemorate the occasion. “A Taste Of
Heaven” features 4 new songs with Paul Shortino on vocals and 4 songs
that were taken from the first Heaven & Earth CD. The tracks from the
first CD are, the instrumental “Dreams Of Desire”, “Heaven &
Earth” featuring Joe Lynn Turner on vocals, “When A Blind Man Cries”
featuring Richie Sambora on vocals and “See That My Grave Is Kept
Clean” featuring Glenn Hughes on vocals. I believe that most of you have
listened to those songs so you all know how good are they. Let me say some
things about the new songs of the band. First of all Paul Shortino is an
excellent rock singer and I like him very much. I was really enthusiastic
when I learned that he would be singing the new material of the band. The first
song “Screaming For Redemption” is a rock n’ roll mid tempo song which
has very good hooklines and a very good memorable chorus. Paul’s voice
makes the song… fantastic. “Heaven” is late 70’s – early 80’s
rocker with hammond and a good chorus. “Nasty Piece Of Work” is a
70’s rocker with a very nice guitar riff that will bring on your mind
Deep Purple. Finally “It’d Be True” is a melodic, sensitive ballad
that you are going to love! Paul’s great performance on this song will
remind you the good old days where we were listening to great ballads.
What a nostalgic feeling. Another winner on the album. Also the production
of the E.P. is just excellent and I really cannot wait to listen to the
whole album. We have to wait a few months but I believe that the final
result will make us happy. I forgot to say that the E.P. is available now
from the band’s website along with new t-shirt designs. Any fans
purchasing the EP from the website will get a $2.00 discount on the new
full length CD, “Screaming For Redemption” coming out later this year.
Heavenly are back with the second album in their carrier, which is called "Dust To Dust". If I'm not wrong this is a concept
album (since the lyrics are not include in the promo) and the idea behind it is the vampires. To be honest this theme would be perfect for a gothic band, but Heavenly done their best to approach it with success. The band plays in the known heavy/power style which is rather influenced from bands like Gamma Ray, Helloween and a little bit from Rhapsody. Although their music isn't very original the album is well written and well produced and it proves the band's passion to present something better than its debut. To be right they achieved to present a better album, but they didn't manage to avoid the
clichés that many bands of this genre have. The production is very good and powerful and the songs are very heavy and, melodic with polyphonic choruses and fast drumming. Some interesting songs are: "Evil", "Lust For Life", "Victory (Creature Of The Night)", "Illusion Part 2 (The Call Of The Wild)" and the homonymous "… Dust To Dust". The truth is that this album is very good and powerful but sometimes I caught myself wondering if I'm listening to the new Gamma Ray album! Heavenly is a good band and for sure "Dust To Dust" is better than its debut album, but I think that they have a long way ahead in order to get rid of all those inconveniently
clichés that make their music, sound sometimes so much with the big
bands' music of this genre.
“Does
humour belong in music?”, questions the press release of this album. Well,
I don’t know to be honest. I’d rather take music as a “serious” art,
but then again humour can be part of it... as long as it doesn’t ridicule
the music, rather be present in the lyrics (take Helloween or Frank Zappa
and so many other for example). Which is the case with Henning here? For
sure he doesn’t ridicule music, on the contrary he delivers some very
interesting material. But who is Henning Pauly? He is the driving force
behind the excellent group-project Frameshift, which has delivered two
astonishing albums so far. This is his second personal album, where he does
almost everything on his own. And he does it pretty well, I can say. The
music here is a kind of modern metal, in the sense that it embodies
many-many different elements to deliver a good amalgam (yet far from prog
metal and what he has done with Frameshift). My main objection is that at
times he overdoes it with the various influences... takes thing beyond the
limits (which isn’t a bad thing to do, but for my taste it doesn’t work
at all times here). Furthermore he overly uses samples and sound effects,
which makes the whole listening too electronic. Anyway it is a
worth-listening album, especially for those who can handle a mixture of nu
metal with electronic music and traditional heavy metal elements.
It might be useless to write
much about Ken Hensley. What could one say about one of the mainmans
behind Uriah Heep's legend?? He has offered numerous eternal anthems to
our music and his contribution is priceless! Having nothing else to
prove but yet being willing to satisfy his creative spirit he returns
this year with one more personal album. The listener shouldn't be
carried away by his name branding the CD and believe that the songs are
Uriah Heep-like. Ken here seems to be free from all the shadows of his
past and produces rock music but not of that epic-rock style he used to
play with Heeps. The songs are less complicated, more easy-listening and
some of them approach pop forms. As a matter of fact the songs of the
album present such a variety that one cannot argue that the CD
represents one musical style. For example on the one hand we have the
instrumental "Prelude: A Minor Life", which is close to the
Uriah Heep sound, and on the other hand "Finney's Tale", which
is pop and nostalgic. And the big question: is the album good?? Well, if
you are not stuck with Heeps and you can accept that Ken wanted to
express himself in a different way, then yes the album is good! In fact
it includes some amazing songs like "Out of my Control" and
"It's up to you". I liked the album very much and what I would
like for the end is that it has loads of quality!
“I’m sorry, my name is Hermano. I’m your unknown adopted brother Carmencita”. “Oh Hermano, and I had a serious urge to marry you soon. But now, I can’t... knowing that you have been raised by my father’s nany”... Sorry, but the name of the band reminded me of those silly latino soap operas, that have invaded Greek TV lately! Anyway, my “scenario” has nothing to do with the band’s music, which is a mixture of hard/stoner rock. The sound at times flirts with doom, others with psychedelia and others with straight hard rock. Monster Magnet, Orange Goblin, Spiritual Beggars, UFO, Black Sabbath are the main influences here. I don’t think that the album offers something really novel of extraordinary to the genre. However it might be good for fans of the sound that hunt all similar releases.
Guitar virtuoso, Tony Hernando from Spain, has released his third instrumental album, simply titled “III”. Hernando lists Yngwie Malmsteen and Joe Satriani as his rock ‘n’ roll guitar influences. Blending all of these styles together and wrapping them into a metal framework, the result is something truly creative that is in direct contrast to the simplistic title of Hernando’s third release. The CD starts out with “Into The Black,” which features a guitar riff intro that could have fit into an Ozzy-era Sabbath song. Mike Terrana, known for his work with Malmsteen and Axel Rudi Pell and of course being a member of Rage, quickly makes his presence felt with a heavy drum sound. Terrana’s power, coupled with Hernando adding an Egyptian flair to the song as it progresses, makes this an excellent opener and one of the best tracks on the album. “III” is very melodic too. Hernando moves on to display a “dreamy” atmospheric musical feel via the third track, “Dueling Waters,” along with the sixth track, “Souls Of The World pt. 1”. Hernando’s jazz influences come through during the tracks and especially in “Sci-Fi To Reality” (8th track). The track has a heavy bass guitar, with a really interesting jazz-influenced drum style and song foundation. There’s a drum solo within the song (bizarre for a solo album isn’t it?), and some of Hernando’s best solos. To sum it up, if you enjoy instrumental albums, especially those that offer more than just a bunch of blistering solos and a one-dimensional guitar approach, you owe it to yourself to check out Tony Hernando’s “III”.
Hmmm, traditional heavy metal coming from Buffalo, USA? Quite
intriguing to be honest...and it is interesting as well. It seems that american underground metal scene is boiling and is
ready to spit some really great bands. Herod seems to have the potentials to be one of them. This is the second album of
the band after “Execution Protocol” (2002), and apart from the kind of naive and common name, the music is good indeed.
Without having listened anything from them in the past, this new CD is a mixture of traditional UK heavy metal in the vein
of Iron Maiden, mixed with Megadeth, Annihilator and Pantera. As much as I keep listening to the CD I discover more and
more elements that make me like it. The game is won in the inventive lead guitars that appear throughout the whole
duration of some songs in such a way that create an amazing electrified atmosphere. The moods change rapidly from lyrical
slow tempo to thunderous outbreaks, keeping thus the listener on the edge. Great riff-ology indeed in the whole album. I
bet that riff-lovers and guitar oriented heavy-metallers will love this one. However there is a big “but”! The band must
decide what kind of music it wants to play: the sound I described above cannot match with the black metal vocals that
appear at times. In addition some extreme thrash bridges and outbreaks sound a bit “too much” to my ears. If you have
already checked Shiva, this is the second choice for pure heavy metal in the last couple of months. The irrelevant
brutal vocals and some nu-metal elements reduce the final grade.
Well, what do we have
here? The first personal album of Harem Scarem's (and Rubber's) singer and
composer, Harry Hess of course. I know that the fans of Harem Scarem and Rubber will be very glad about
that. But let's see things a little more clear. Harry presents in this album a softer side of Harem Scarem as
"Just Another Day" is closer to Rubber music. So, this album contains nine new
pop-rock songs from Harry Hess and one remake of an old Harem Scarem song
(Sentimental BLVD.), which was first released in the "Mood
Swings" album of 1993. Now if you like the pop side of Harem Scarem or if you better prefer Rubber then you will like very much
"Just Another Day". But if some of you are looking for rocker songs full of electricity then you may found this album a little bit
boring. As it concerns me a I think that songs like my favorite
semi-acoustic "Two Ways", or the opener "Look Right Through
Me", the pop rock "Everybody", the up-tempo rocker
"Why", the new version of "Sentimental BLVD." and the beautiful balladesque
"Miles Away" will appeal to the fans of Harem Scarem, Rubber and generally to the fans of melodic rock
music. It's true that Harry Hess is a very good composer and knows how to write
smart, melodic pop rock songs with strong choruses! In this point I must say that the production of the album is excellent and very
clear. Of course don't be surprised cause the producer is Harry Hess
himself! Except that he is a good singer and composer, now he shows us that he is also becoming a very good
producer. Anyway, as a resume
to all those things above, "Just Another Day", firstly is for the fans of Rubber and Harem Scarem and secondly for all those pop rock fans that want a soft rock album to listen in the summer
days.
Highlord
is an Italian band that was formed in 1996. The band, despite the many
line-up changes, has managed released three full-length albums so far, has
taken part in a cover compilation of Helloween and has also released this
and the previous album in Japan! This album has been released in 2004, but
only now came into my hands, straight through the band... As you may have
guessed the band plays power metal full of keyboards and it is very good!
The main influences of the band are: Rhapsody, Kamelot, Labyrinth and
Symphony X. The vocalist (Andrea Marchisio) has a very good voice (as most
of the Italian power metal vocalists have) and he can sing the high notes
very easy. He can also change his style in order to sound more theatrical.
Imagine that he sometimes sounds like he’s coming from an 80’s hard
rock band! The guitars (Stefano Droetto) are melodic, clever and very
heavy. The rhythm section is very good, but the instrument that grabs
anyone’s attention from the very first listen, is the synth (Alessandro
Muscio), which sounds very melodic, dramatic and ethereal sometimes! The
cover of the album, as you can see, is excellent and so is the production!
The band has a very heavy sound and every instrument sounds, as it should
be! Best tracks: “Medusa’s Coil”, “Far From The Light Of God”,
“Scarlet Tears” and “The Hand Of God”.
High On Fire seems to have a strong fan base all over the world. The band
plays a kind of stoner rock which combines elements from Motorhead and Black
Sabbath (Ozzy era) along with very few thrash influences. Although I’m not
the biggest stoner rock fan in the world I can see that behind the heavy
riffs and the “weird vocals” there are some good things for a fan of this
genre to hear. The production is muddy, heavy and not clean at all, as this
genre requires. Personally I will hardly play again this CD but that doesn’t
mean that this is necessarily a bad album. Just it’s not my piece of cake.
On the other hand just to be serious, stoner rock, or doom metal bands are
not the heaviest bands in the world because they managed to play three notes
in 10 minutes!!! Mercy me guys!! Ohh I should not forget to say that the
motto given by the label “Motorhead-meets-Slayer” is so unsuccessful! Only
for the die hard fans of the band!
What do I see
here??? The band, which can be referred to as heavy metal's Britney
Spears, is back with a new CD. I know I might create a few enemies after this
review, but I really don't see the reason for such a buzz around it's
name. It seems to me like HIM is a good marketing product, which is very well promoted to young people
(especially girls). Too much "evil" looks that doesn't convince
anyone, too much attitude without a meaning. So is their music: kind of
meaningless, unless you want it as a background for when you play Playstation or when you take a
shower. 4-5 good songs, covered in desperation, anger etc, and the rest full of
fillers. You know that I find it unfair for band like HIM to enjoy so much
success, while other glorious bands, with talent and potentials go
unheard. I don't see a reason why a metalhead should waste money on HIM, when he could buy Evergrey's last CD for
example. Anyway, those who like HIM's music, will be satisfied, as the band keeps producing the music you know and
like. Meanwhile, exactly because we here love heavy metal....
Paul
Hodson is the keyboardist of Hard Rain and Ten. It is obvious that this is
his first solo album where except the keys, he is also playing the guitars
and he is singing. The other guys who helped him during the recordings are
Vince O’Regan on the guitars and Josie Vespa on the bass. The songs of
the album are influenced mostly by his band Ten, his work on Bob
Catley’s solo album “When Empire Burns” and from Magnum and Rainbow
as well. The arrangements on the album are very good and the songs are
long and have also sometimes an epic feeling. This album is not far away
from what he has done in the past but it has some very good moments like
“This Follish World”, “Jelunda”, “The Calling”, “My Saviour”
and “The Swan”. The album also contains a good cover on Rainbow’s
“Light In The Black” and they have done it a little darker than the
original one. The production is good although I would prefer it a little
more dynamic especially on the guitars. “This Strange World” is a good
choice for the fans of Ten, Magnum and Rainbow. If you like epic hard rock
music with lots of keys and good melodies then at least listen to it.
The singer/guitarist Patrick Hemer and the drummer Krissy Friedrich formed Horizon in 1998, and "The Sky's The Limit" is the debut album of the band. In the musical part now, although (as it is logical) Horizon are searching for their own style, it is not hard to tell that they have many influences from bands like Rainbow,
Yngwie.J. Malmsteen and also if you listen to the album many times you can find some
prog-metal elements (from the Dream Theater's school). The album has some very interesting songs, such as, the heavy "Living In Danger", the excellent ballad "Don't Hide In The Shadow" (Patrick's voice will remind you all those "singer-heroes" of the 80's, the guy has a great voice!), and hard-rocker "Keep On Fighting". To tell the truth Horizon is a very promising band and "The Sky's The Limit" is a very remarkable album, which all the fans of hard rock & melodic metal should listen to. I bet that Horizon in the future will surprise us all, cause they can write very good songs. And just imagine that if "The Sky's The Limit" is their debut album how much better will be the next one! Horizon have a lot to give in the hard rock/metal music and with this album they just made a good
start!
Horned God is a fresh band from Brazil. They exist since ’98 and this is their second full-length album and their first meet with me. By just looking at the cover things get clear. They want to establish themselves in the huge pile of brutal satanic bands worldwide. Well, they actually have all the qualifications for it. They look and sound pretty fucking evil motherfuckers, the classic goat on the cover, a pentagram attached to their logo, rotten sound, a colorless vocalist, song titles like “War Goes On”, “Satan Isn’t the Enemy Of Men”, Slayer-like solos and 34 minutes of blastbeats. The songs are typical of this genre and the album couldn’t be bigger ‘cause you’d get bored. They’re good musicians, their tracks are not the prime example of inspiration but if you like Marduk, Hypocrisy (first 2 albums), Krisiun and Rabaelliun (whose ex-guitarist Fabiano Penna produced and played guitars for this album) you’ll find them really interesting.
How many of you are familiar with Honeymoon Suite? …Well is about time to find out the great music that Honeymoon Suite play. "Dream land is the new album of the band, which contains some new songs and the best songs of their last year's Canada release "Lemon Tongue". The band again is playing fantastic melodic rock, which, I think is one of the best soundtracks for the relaxing and cool days of summer. Highlights are the superb hit "Still
Lovin' You", the catchy rock "So Hard", the likable "The Way I Do", the melancholic modern rock "Undone" (it's not bad to be influenced from the modern rock of our age and from bands like Goo Goo Dolls) and the simply magnificent
"Lagavulin" with the deeply touching melodies and the emotional vocals of Johnny Dee. This ballad can become a big radio hit! So, do not spend your valuable time to find out a good and listenable melodic rock album for the summer. Honeymoon Suite released that album and it would be a pity if you missed it. No more
talkin' then: buy "Dreamland", relax and let the music play!… So here I am, lying here missing, wherever you
are… I'm still in love with you! 
Hmm this one is interesting. To be honest I don't have any information for the band, but I think this is its first effort - and it is really good!! Hard rock with guts and heavy guitars is the general approach. And you might ask: "why this is good among all those hard rock releases?". Because band's members seem to be in a good mood and like what they are doing. And this is projected in the music they produce. Another plus is that Honeytoast don't hesitate to add a few new-rock elements, smart bridges and breaks and some tricks in the production which pump the album with the needed variety to prevent it from becoming boring. Since I mentioned the production I should say that it is really a big plus for the album, as it is powerful enough, yet it lets the music breath. My only objection is on some (fortunately few) efforts of the vocalist to sound "angry". Influences from Therapy?, Harem Scarem and Radiohead are mixed here with sharp riffs to create an impressive amalgam.
The
situation with HotShot is kind of weird. Although the band started playing
in 1983, the leader/singer of the band Mike Pont never managed to release
the much-desired debut album of the band. So, this album is kind of a best
of album of the songs that Mike has recorded with HotShot and with Mike Pont
Band in the mid/late 80’s. All the songs here were written between
1986-1990 so as you can imagine the sound of the band really has that 80’s
sweet rock feeling. If you like 
“First Class” is the new album of House Of Shakira and although it was released some months ago, now it fell into my hands. The band has not changed its music style at all and once again they deliver melodic rock music with modern elements along with AOR and Journey influences. House Of Shakira has the ability to write good catchy tracks and you will understand that right away if you listen to songs like the opener “Ain’t Your Crowd”, the hit and my beloved “You Are”, the rocker “Hey Lord”, the acoustic “Black And Blue Skies (Part 1)”, the modern edged “Creep”, the catchy “State Of Grace”, the mid-tempo melodic rocker “Landing” and the acoustic emotional “Chicago Blue”. Be sure that the aforementioned songs will surely satisfy you. The production is very good and clear and the album in general is very varied… we listen to modern rock songs, up to classic AOR tunes and to acoustic tracks. I can only say that “First Class” is the most mature work of the band to date and the most encouraging thing of all is that the band can and will release something even better than this one if the future… So, follow them before it’s too late!
Glorious return of the legendary guitarist! To be honest I don’t know
what to write about a musician like Howe, who set the foundations of prog
rock with Yes back in the 70’s. To describe his skills, his unique
songwriting or his glorious history over the years? Despite the cover of
the album refers directly to Yes, the music here is not a Yes replica.
Everything that the great guitarist has offered us marches in front of our
eyes (or ears?) in a more plain and direct way. Classical moments, mix
with fusion, prog rock, latin elements, harmonies, haunting melodies...
Yes I can say that the songs here present a rather simple structure (being
also rather short), based on good melodies. Voices and lyrics are absent,
but who cares?? Howe’s guitar speaks and sings for itself! Inspiration
overwhelms this CD and I remain speechless!
Old-Glenn
must be in an artistic orgasm during the past few years. He keeps producing
records, either solo albums, or side projects. And the most amazing think is
that all of these records are great! So, after the two exceptional HTP with
Joe Lynn Turner and the really astonishing, straight rock solo album
“Songs In The Key Of Rock”, Glenn returns in 2005 with one more solo CD,
which this time is closer to the funk roots of the artist. Is well known how
Glenn fancies funk elements (something that was evident in the Deep Purple
albums he participated), so this time after having unleashed all his rock
concerns, he offers us his funkiest album since “Building Machine”.
After all it mustn’t be accidental that this time he works with Dave
Navarro and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chilli Peppers). What we get is an amazing
amalgam of rock/funk music with fuzzy bass and exceptional vocals. Solid
songs that don’t let your mind space to be distracted while listening to
the CD. I’m personally a hard rock fan, so I liked more last year’s CD,
but I have to admit that “Soul Mover” must among the most distinct ones
of the great artist.
Albums like this give me mixed feelings. First a feeling of joy floods me because it is an album that kicks ass!!! Then I get this feeling of disappointment when I think that there aren't many new artists/groups playing this kind of music anymore. It's such a shame to only receive such kind of work from the "good old boys", and not from new talents. It grieves me when I wonder where this music (pure hard rock) will be a few years later if there is no new blood in it. Anyway, enough with the bad thought! Yes, it’s time for party with this new
cd. We kinda knew what to expect, taking into account last years Hughe/Turner Project, and we are pleased to see that we were right: Hard rock, with funk elements and occasional heavy guitars. It really reminds me of Purple with Glenn in the band (MK III), but in a more modern approach and production. And what I can tell you is that Glenn is in perfect shape vocal-wise. He screams, he mellows, he sings with so much passion that even our hair pay attention!!! The opening track "In my Blood", catches me from the balls and I know that the I'm not getting away easy with that! In the introductory riff of the marvelous "Lost in the Zone" I catch myself moving my head up and down and reminds me of when I discovered Rainbow's "...Greensleeves". Ahhh nice things! What to mention then? The amazing "Higher Places" or the tripy-nostalgic "Written All Over Your Face"? With the exception of the mild "The Truth" which is outside the atmosphere of the album, the
cd is a work that we, classic rock fans long for. Bite it!
Founding out that Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner were about to release a new
album, would make one think that two dirty-old men gathered in order to remember the good old
times, create a big potato and earn some easy money. However having heard Turner's good recent album
"Slam", I thought "hey let's hear the project first, it might be
good". And I was half right, because the album is not good. It is
magnificent! No joking now guys, if this record was released under the name of
Rainbow, Whitesnake or Deep Purple, everyone would talk about "the masterpiece of the 00s",
"the best come back possible" etc. So why not say the same thing for the two talented
musicians? We are talking about a great album of British hard rock, with a variety of sounds and
influences, catchy-yet qualitative refrains, a modern production, which avoids bore us to death with retro
sounds. We are talking about a record with huge balls! The thunderous first track
"Devil's Road" doesn't leave you any chance to ignore this album and leads you to the fantastic world that the two singers have
created. Their performance is beyond criticism. I'd only like to add that the whole project brings back memories form records like
"Burn", "Come taste the band" and "Difficult to
Cure", but everything is filtered through a more modern approach. I also have to cite John
Sykes' participation in the composition of the amazing song "Heaven Is Missing an
Angel". Good to hear him too after all this time. The album cannot take anything less
than...
Last year's HTP was monumental, this year's Glenn's and Joe's albums were terrific, how could this one be bad??? No way my friends! The two musicians seem to be in orgasmic inspiration to produce such glorious albums in so little time. Those who have listened to the first HTP - those who haven't are inexcusable - know what to expect: hard/heavy rock, with blues and funk elements and with the two singers embarked into an unofficial contest between them of who will give the best performance! The two HTP's could have been released in a double CD package, as they seem to be complementary. I know that some might say that the music resembles to what the two of them have done in the past with Purple and Rainbow, but I would argue: so what? Isn't that normal?? After all the songs blow an amazing portion of fresh air and are quite modern production-wise. I really find it very difficult to outline one or two songs from the album, as all of them are great (however "Going My Way" and "Time And Time Again" are my favourite ones). Don't be miserable guys. With
HTP, their solo albums and Deep Purple's "Bananas" all classic rockers have found our paradise for 2003. Relax, go get a beer and enjoy this hard
rockin' dynamite!
Those who are familiar with Hugo from his previous bands, Valentine and Open Skyz, and also through his two previous personal albums know that his name is a guarantee. We are talking here about good melodic rock/A.O.R. music with beautiful vocals melodies. That’s exactly what Hugo offers to his fans worldwide and he did it once again as well. “Fire In The Night” balances between Hugo’s two previous albums (“Hugo” & “Time On Earth”), and that’s very logical but it also has fresh new melodic elements that gonna make the fans of Hugo like it a lot. The production is good, but it could have been better of course… maybe if a big label supported Hugo then the production matter would have been excellent and the final result would have been even better too. I have heard some Hugo’s fans that are complaining about the production matter and I wanna tell them that the production may not be the better that it could have been, but it’s not bad and let’s at least pay attention to the songs of the CD which are very good. It’s difficult for an A.O.R. fan not to like songs like “Hand In Hand”, “Fire In The Night”, “I’ll
Learn To Live Without You”, “Dawn”, (“Don’t Wanna) Say Goodbye Tonight”, “Every Time You Walk Away”, “Here I Am” and “Hold Me”. Hugo’s performance is once again excellent and listening to this album will satisfy the fans of good melodic rock music. The last thing that I wanna say is that’s a pity for such albums not to have been released through a major label but let’s hope that this will change as soon as possible. Till then visit Hugo’s official site for more info and in order to buy the CD at:
This is a half-Greek band as the vocalist and drummer come from Greece. For those not familiar with band's sound I can describe it as medieval, epic, power metal. In saying so imagine a good mixture of Running Wild, Hamerfall, Kamelot, Falconer with some Iron Maiden elements especially in the double solos in the guitars. Without bringing anything new to the genre Human Fortress sound fresh enough to impress the not-so-few fans of this metal style. After all, the approach here is delicate and nostalgic in the sense that it brings vivid visions of medieval ages, noble knights etc., make it distinct from the "bloodthirsty" bands of epic metal. The production is clear, adding one more plus to the effort. The only problem (at least for me) is that the album presents many
clichés of the genre, which is a big drawback for someone who looks for something different. It's your call if you are among those, or the fans of the specific sound that will be satisfied by this.
I bet most of you must know Jeff Scot
Soto, and especially his works with Yngwie Malmsteen (his works with Talisman are also
recommended). Well, for those who have missed him, here is his new band! You are asking if this is
good? What a question! Do you know many releases with Jeff on the vocals that are no
good? I don't. One more excellent album of melodic hard rock, which sometimes becomes hard enough to flirt with the metal
scene. Jeff's vocal melodies have the leading role here and using them as a pillar the band has created magnificent
songs. The are guitars also worth mentioning, as the riffs seem to be
"sticky", and the solos, without being virtuoso solos, match perfectly with the whole atmosphere
here. Come on, you know: fancy bridges, catchy refrains, but above all high
standards. I've said this again and I insist: thanks to releases like this we can prove that one can combine catchy songs with top quality at the same time
(it is not easy though - you need to have talent!). The most funny thing is that they have
"borrowed" Red Hot Chilly Peppers' "The Other Side" for the introduction of
"Find my way Home", to such an extent that up to the point that the song changes I thought it was a
cover....but then they turned it into a whole different song...much better according to my
opinion. Well, Jeff is here...talking is cheap!
Another album from the “glorious” label. But this time - paradoxically -
the label offers us a CD far beyond its crapy releases. Hypnos 69 is by
far the best thing I’ve heard from this label. The band here manages to
combine rock with soul and jazz successfully. The Belgian group delivers a
fusion of sounds which results to a psychedelic listening, rooted to the
70’s. You can distinguish influences from Eloy, Pink Floyd etc., but also
some kraut rock elements. What is striking is the ability to mix these
influences with wind instruments (basically sax and clarinet). The whole
thing is basically rock, but I would suggest you to give it a chance in
order to better understand the characteristic sound of the band.
The
new assault of Peter Tagtgren (vocals, guitars, composer, producer), or
else Hypocrisy, is released almost two years after the last album. The new
line-up of Peter’s band is: Andreas Holma on guitars and Reidar
‘Horgh’ Horghagen (ex-Immortal, Pain, Grimfist) on drums. The band’s
tenth album is called “Virus” and the fans of the band have been
waiting anxiously for it, because the last albums of Hypocrisy have
disappointed them... The new CD is based on familiar things for Peter:
aggressiveness, speed, clever songwriting etc... The album is full of
old-school Swedish death/thrash metal and many black metal influences. The
vocals of Peter are once again amazing and can harm your ears with his
brutal and aggressive wrath [he also sings with clean vocals on the last
track (“Living To Die”) of the album...]! The guitars are melodic and
aggressive and some parts reminded me of some old-school black metal
bands. The rhythm section (Mikael Hedlund on bass, as always...) is very
fast and I believe that Peter has found a new excellent drummer for his
band! For example, listen to the drums on the “Craving For Another
Killing” and “Blooddrenched”, and you will understand what I’m
talking about... Finally, you can listen to some atmospheric, melancholic
and wonderful keyboards in all tracks that create a more nightmarish
atmosphere... Generally, the fans of the band will be absolutely satisfied
with “Virus”! Listen to the whole album and feel the anger and the
hate obsessing you... The tracks that I could hardly pick out are:
“Warpath”, “Fearless “, “Incised Before I've Ceased” and “A
Thousand Lies”.