Thursday, December 29, 2011

Chris OUSEY: "Rhyme & Reason"


Rating: 7 /10

Label: Escape Music 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

I'm puzzled. Heartland vocalist Chris Ousey teamed up with two well-known and respected AOR magicians for this album, yet the result isn't magical, merely just "good". Out of all the releases of 2011, I thought that this was one of the safest bets to be a killer album, with both Tommy Denander and Mike Slamer in the team. I wouldn't call it a big disappointment, but it's not quite the album I expected it to be.

The album definitely sounds excellent, the production is superb, glossy, warm and all the nice adjectives you can come up with. Ousey sings well, and if you've got people like Slamer, Denander, Neil Murray and Gregg Bissonette playing the instruments, there's not really room for improvement, is there?

The reason why this album isn't in my Top 10 of 2011 is in the heart of it all - the songs. While most of the album's tracks are good, the real killers are nowhere to be found. "Mother Of Invitation", "Bleeding Heart" and "A Chemical High" and a couple of the others are certainly very good tracks, but then there are the likes of "Motivation" and "Watch This Space", which somehow sound cold and hollow. It's as if they could've used an extra injection of melody.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

ANGELINE: "Disconnected"


Rating: 7 /10

Label: Avenue Of Allies 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Swedish melodic rock band Angeline were actually formed back in 1987, but only released their first album 2010. Now that they've got their motor running again, they didn't waste any time coming up with their second effort.

"Disconnected" is a nice slice of modern melodic rock, comparable to the recent output of Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and Europe. It's a well-produced album that sounds contemporary yet it's still easily accessible to those into more vintage melodic rock style. Especially the vocal production is excellent.

The standout tracks for me are the irrestistably energetic opener "When The Lights Go Down" and the superb power ballad "Found", with which Nickelback, Daughtry or David Cook would certainly score a massive international hit. I must also mention the title track, which is very much in the vein of Bon Jovi... there's the talkbox, a chorus with some very familiar lyrics and an air of familiarity in general. A decent track though. The Jovi connection pops up again a bit later, with "Solid Ground" which sounds like an outtake from "The Circle", complete with a Coldplay-influenced chorus that JBJ & co seem to churn out these days.

There isn't a song on the album that I'd rate as "bad", but still there are way too many songs that sound just "okay". "Disconnected" is how I feel about them indeed. When they do get it right they're onto something special, I just wish it would happen more often. Good, but not great. Yet.

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WILD WET: "Cocktail In Bloodshed"


Rating: 5 /10

Label: Indie 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Wild Wet are a young sleaze rock band from Italy. This is their first album, and it does show some promise. The next Guns'n Roses they aren't just yet, but give 'em a few years and they might evolve into something.

The band are capable of writing pretty decent hard rock tunes and have an ear for melody, but the vocals (and lyrics) might be a bit too much. "Dnl Crystal" has a really thick Italian accent and things don't improve when drummer "Matt Nyx Frye" takes over for one song. That one song ("Ashtray") is by far the weakest song of the album, strangely reminding me of the wellknown Finnish weirdos 22-Pistepirkko and their quirky, "homemade" amateur sound. Don't go there, guys...

Tracks to check out: "Before You Die", "Last Tattoo" and "Crazy Little Star". My advice for the band would to get a frontman with a better command of the english language.

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

ARENA: "The Seventh Degree Of Separation"


Rating: 9 /10

Label: Verglas Records 2011

Review by Martien Koolen

My last review of a new Arena album - "Pepper's Ghost" - was back in 2005, so it took these progressive rockers 6 years to come up with a new album, but what an album it has become! Singer Rob Sowden left the band in 2010 and he was replaced by
Paul Manzi; later on bass player Ian Salmon also left the band and he was replaced
by good "old" John Jowitt. So, this is the first album with the new vocalist and it
is again a conceptalbum dealing with the last hour here on earth and the first hour
in the after life; if there is one of course.... It is a rather morbid theme and the
booklet is also filled with dark and rather gruesome pictures, but the music is
wonderful.

The album opens with the spoken words of Manzi before "The Great Escape"
evolves into a bombastic prog rock track with some mean and lean guitar hooks by
John Mitchell. The latter being very present at this album as he upgrades this album
by his marvellous guitar licks, riffs, hooks, melodies and amazing solos.. In
"Catching The Bullet" - the longest track on the album - he plays one of his best
guitar solos ever. "One Last Au Revoir" features an amazing addictive VERY catchy
chorus, while follow up "The Ghost Walks" is again filled with very dark lyrics.
"Close Your Eyes" is a rather experimental song, while "Bed Of Nails" has
outstanding guitar melodies and wonderful vocal passages. But as I already mentioned
before, the absolute highlight is the longest track called "Catching The Bullet"
where Mitchell and Co go wild and this is what I was waiting for. I truly wished
that the entire album was like this, but the other 12 songs are really awesome neo
prog songs as well.

The weakest link is still Nick Pointer, as the other musicians Nolan (keyboard walls
all over the album), Mitchell (superb guitar playing), Jowitt (great bass player) and
new singer Manzi really kick ass! This album grows on you and it is certainly one of
the highlights of this year! Buy it, put it in your CD player and enjoy it over and
over again....

Website

Friday, December 9, 2011

WOLFSBANE: "Wolfsbane Save The World"




Rating: 8/10

Label: Self Released 2011

Review by Alan Holloway

If we’re honest, British metal hopefuls Wolfsbane never really set the World on fire, or even singed much of it, but were still admired for their full on attitude and cheeky aggression often served with tongues wedged firmly in cheeks. The music was pretty good, too, and that has helped them stay lodged firmly in many people’s memories since their last, self titled release way back in 1994.

As we all know, frontman and head Howling Mad Shithead Blaze Bayley jumped ship to have a good bash at superstardom with Iron Maiden, a move that unfortunately showed him to be a square peg in a Bruce Dickinson shaped hole. It seems that the rest of the band has finally forgiven him, as the optimistically titled “Wolfsbane Save The World” features Bayley along with original band members Jase Edwards, Jeff Hateley and Steve ‘Danger’ Ellett.

Seventeen years is a long time, and it’s fair to say that Wolfsbane have learned a few things, something that is very apparent from the sheer quality of the songwriting on the album. Whilst Blaze has been busy being as metal as a Cyberman’s cock with his own band, the Wolfsabane material isn’t half as intense, with more melody being let in as well as a hefty dose of variety. Not to say that this isn’t a metal album, cos it is, but there’s a lightness of touch that allows the songs to breath and not be swamped by fist punching and goat sacrificing. Almost a metal version of Terrorvision, Wolfsbane are the good time that wanted to be had by all.

There’s certainly several salutary songs secreted here (try saying that when you’re pissed), and in “Starlight” there’s even a ball breaking belligerent ballad. There’s your typically straightforward rockers with catchy hooks, like “Smoke & Red Light”, “Who Are You Now” or “Teacher”. Let’s be honest - Wolfsbane are at their best when they go at it full tilt, and they don’t disappoint on the new disc, which has plenty of this sort of thing. Other slower tracks go over well, although “Child Of The Sun” pops up near the end and proves to be the only track that doesn’t seem to go anywhere. “The Illusion Of Love” mixes balladry with full tilt melodic metaliciousness, though, and should be a great draw live.

The thing is, if you were ever a Wolfsbane fan you are going to love “Wolfsbane Save The World” as it’s like they never went away but got even better. Blaze sounds very good, although his voice is still instantly recognisable, and the band are tight as you like. The perfect antidote to arty modern European metal with pretty pictures on the cover, it’s great to see the HMS’s back at last. All together now… AWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

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Thursday, December 8, 2011

MINEA: "Voittaja"


Rating: 8 /10

Label: Jiffel/Noste Records 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

A couple of years ago I reviewed the first album by this band. I quite liked it and compared them to the likes of Kilpi, Stryper and The Rasmus. Now on their second album the band has taken a couple of steps towards melodic hard rock or even AOR, which should sound good to most of our readers. At least it sounds good to me, and I would say that this album is a more balanced package than the debut.

AOR as in "Album Oriented Rock" would be a really good term for this album, because it's very good from track 1 to track 10. Just about every song contains memorable melodies and fine playing, and I find it very hard to name any highlights. Still, there isn't a "song of the year" candidate here, merely just 10 good to very good songs.

A couple of things prevent me from giving this a higher rating. First of all, some of the lead vocals have been over-tweaked, and the voice of Reijo Tiitinen has gotten an annoying "robotic" tone. The other thing is the fact that two of these songs sound disturbingly familiar... "Huutaa Lujaa" borrows a lot of things from "One Love" by W.E.T., not a bad source as it is one of my favourite songs of the last few years, but anyway... even more obvious is "Tulen Talo", which lifts its' riff and verses straight from Hardline's "Takin' Me Down". The chorus is different, and a really good chorus it is too, but still... "oops?".

Despite those little "flaws", I must say that this is a very good album, and one that could appeal to many of our readers if it wasn't for the language. You can listen to samples on the band's Facebook page - those melodies are universal, even if you don't understand the lyrics...

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ELOY : "The Tides Return Forever"


Rating: 7/10

Label: Artist Station 2011

Review by Martien Koolen


This is a re-release of the album which was originally recorded back in 1994. "The
Tides Return Forever" is a classic Eloy album with some of the best songs of this
German prog rock band.

Now Eloy mastermind Frank Bornemann has managed a great remix of the title track as
a bonus song, making this album even more recommended to any prog rock fan. For me
the best songs are still "Fatal Illussions" and "Company Of Angels", featuring a
classical choir. So, if you still have not got this album, now is your chance!


Website

SOUL SECRET: "Closer To Daylight"


Rating: 8/10

Label: Galileo Records 2011

Review by Martien Koolen


About 3,5 years ago I heard some music from the Italian prog metal band Soul Secret
for the first time and later on I reviewed their debut album called "Flowing
Portraits". I really liked that album and now, finally they have released a
follow-up album with the title: "Closer To Daylight".

The new album is in line with
the debut, so musically speaking there are no great surprises, but the line up
changed and that has taken its toll on the sound of the band. Michele Serpico used
to be the singer of the band but as he was ill his vocal parts on the debut album
were sung by Mark Basile. Next singer was Arno Menses who made a guest appearance on
the epic song but the new singer actually became Fabio Manda, so can you still
follow this.... Besides changes of vocalists bass player Lucio Grill was replaced by
new comer Claudio Casaburi.

Well so far so good, how about the music? Well the sound
of singer Manda is higher and in fact he did a great job adding a real new dimension
to the sound of Soul Secret. The eight new songs can still be described as powerful
prog metal tracks with a high Dream Theater influence. But the band absolutely has a
sound of their own and I think that on this album their sound has become more
distinct and therefore I really think that this album is a lot better than their
debut.

Soul Secret invited a couple of important guest musicians like Anna
Assentato, whose voice shines in "If", Marco Stogli, who played guitar on James
Labrie's solo albums and of course singer Arno Menses, who takes care of the vocals
in the epic song "Aftermath". The latter is THE absolute highlight of this album as
it is a prog metal epic gem, clocking over 16 minutes, filled with amazing tempo
changes, solos and superb vocal passages.Other great songs are "Behind The Curtain",
"Pillars Of Sand" (really guitar oriented) and the opener "Checkmate". If you liked
their previous album and if you like Dream Theater and VandenPlas then this album is
a must for you; play at maximum volume if you can!!


Website

LEST: "Odysseus"


Rating: 4/10

Label: Artist Station 2011

Review by Martien Koolen

Lest is a French progressive rock band formed in 1995 and this album called
"Odysseus" is their debut. The group consists of Pascal Rameix (bass guitar),
Sebastian Mauve (guitars and vocals) and a guy called Kickers on drums. The first
thing that caught my attention was the horrible voice of Mauve, meaning that he
screams, his voice is rather nasal and his pronunciation is definitely not English
enough... Mauve's vocals really get on my nerves in songs like "Sir Knight" or
"Innocence & Experience" as he really sounds as if he were dying.
Therefore the best song is of course the very short "Birth", which features a nice
guitar melody.

All the songs are reasonably complex but also very chaotic as the compositinal
skills of Lest leaves much to be desired yet. Musically speaking some of the songs
sound promising but as soon as Mauve's voice enters the song it is over for me.
Also take a look at the childish cover and you know what to expect from Lest; at the
moment not very much...

MySpace

NIGHTWISH: "Imaginaerum"




Rating: 8/10

Label: Nuclear Blast 2011

Review by Alan Holloway

You have to admire the massive brass balls on Nightwish’s creative force Tuomas Holopainen, a man who refuses to sit on his laurels and rake in the cash. After the furore that was the departure of lead Diva Tarja Turunen, he escaped with just a few death threats, a first class new vocalist (Anette Olzon of Alyson Avenue) and the best album of his career in “Dark Passion Play”. This is not a man you want to be sitting at a poker table with.

Things rarely get more Gothy and up their own arse than a band called Nightwish calling an album “Imaginaerum” (a made up, pretentious word). The only way to make them seem more aloof would be to make it a concept album. They did? Oh…. Well, it had better be fucking good, is all I can say.

Okay, so that’s the background out of the way. What we have here is a concept album that at some point next year will be accompanied by a full length movie, although it has been designed to stand on it’s own two feet and should not be considered a soundtrack album. This, of course, has not stopped just about every reviewer referring to it as one, but they are fools, fools I tell you!

“Imaginaerum” is an album of quite a few layers, and is not something you’re likely to fall instantly in love with. This is deliberate, and you really should expect to slog through it a few times before you are able to appreciate what has been done here, something it has in common with lots of other concept albums. Starting off with a gentle, Finnish language and soft music intro, the first real track is the stormingly good single “Storytime”, but don’t expect a whole album like this. There are a few basic, upbeat tracks thrown in like the wonderful Celtic influenced “I Want My Tears Back” and the more power metal sty lings of “Ghost River”, rounded off by the dramatic but furiously catchy “Last Ride Of The Day”. These tracks are Nightwish barrelling along with catchy hooks and tons of attitude, really ramming home why they are sometimes referred to as “ABBA Metal”. Hey, ABBA wrote some damned catchy songs!

Elsewhere there’s a couple of good instrumentals, notably the closing title track, in which Pip Williams gives us an orchestral medley of all the previous tracks. It’s something that’s been done before, but sounds brilliant. The orchestral side on the album is pretty big this time round, and those involved get full marks for integrating it so well into the guitars, drum and bass that are the anchors of the Nightwish sound. Alongside the instrumentals and foundation stompers we also get a jazz/blues ballad (“Slow Love, Slow”) that is surprisingly effective thanks to Anette’s sultry vocals and the expected long track (“Song Of Myself” which rolls in at 12 and a half minutes) that I was hoping would equal the previous albums awesome title track but loses points because the second half of it is deep, meaningful (and depressing) spoken word stuff that is eminently skippable if you’re not in exactly the right mood (although up to then it is great). There’s also a nice pipe led ballad in the shalpe of “Turn Loose The Mermaids”, plus a longer, deeper slowie, “the Crow, The Owl and The Dove”.

Yet another journey through the twisted mind of Tuomas Holopainen, “Imaginaerum” is not the masterpiece it wants to be, yet it has a great many things in it’s favour. Best appreciated in a dark room or through earphones, it’s a grower that continually rewards the listener yet will alienate those after a quick fix. However you look at it, it’s not as good an album as “Dark Passion Play”, but it’s no less of an achievement. If you get it, I would advise getting the version with the instrumental bonus disc, as it allows you to enjoy the album over again in a different way, and it also means people still banging on about Tarja can pretend in their tiny heads that she’s singing and then go on message boards to tell people how awesome it would sound.

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

BEGGARS & THIEVES: "We Are The Brokenhearted"


Rating: 7/10

Label: Frontiers 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

Beggars & Thieves were one of the last hard rock/hair metal acts of the late eighties rock boom that got signed by a major label. Their only album for Atlantic was released in 1990 and despite its' quality, it didn't storm the charts. It earned them a cult favourite status, and finally in 1997 they followed it up with "Look What You Create" on the now-defunct MTM Music label. In 1999 they released another album for MTM, only to disappear into the night again... they re-emerged in 2010 to play at Firefest and now they're back with a new album.

There's much to like about "We Are The Brokenhearted": the band has a cool, organic sound, vocalist Louie Merlino is one of the most soulful vocalists in hard rock and the songs themselves sound like the band had poured out their hearts into them. "Hair Metal" this is not, it owes more to Bruce Springsteen than Mötley Crüe, yet it actually doesn't sound much like Springsteen at all. Ever since that 1990 debut, B & T has had their own, dark sound.

So why I am not giving this a higher rating? Well, even though I like the album, it doesn't quite grab me the way a great album would. Now that I have played it a few times, I haven't found any standout tracks that I would like to listen again anytime soon. Because of the good qualities listed above, I really wanted to like this album more than I did, but the band could have used some real "hits". You know, the kind of melodies that one would catch himself/herself humming unexpectedly.

MySpace

Saturday, December 3, 2011

ROYAL HUNT: "Show Me How To Live"


Rating: 9/10

Label: Frontiers 2011

Review by Kimmo Toivonen

So, what were the odds that Royal Hunt would come up with an album like this in 2011? The band's output for the last 10 years has been... well, it has its' merits but to be honest with you, I haven't been too excited about albums like "Collision Course" or "Paper Blood". I actually haven't even heard their previous one "X". So, despite the fact that the band recently re-united with DC Cooper, the vocalist on their biggest albums "Moving Target" and "Paradox", I didn't dare to hope that they'd record a real killer album. I thought that the days of Andre Andersen writing big, melodic choruses were over, but I was wrong. Very wrong.

"Collision Course" was said to be a sequel of the "Paradox" album, and maybe lyrically it was, but when it comes to the music, "Show Me How To Live" is much closer to it in style. It's big, orchestrated, epic and layered, but in the heart of all this there are some exceptionally catchy and melodic songs. Not to mention the voice of Mr. Cooper, who is still one of the finest singers of the genre.

The highlights for me are "Another Man Down" and "Half Past Loneliness", to name a couple. As for the weaker tracks... well, I haven't really warmed up to "An Empty Shell", but that's about it! This is one of the strongest albums of the year, and definitely the best Royal Hunt album since "Paradox". Yes folks, the Hunt is on again!


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