Rock Blog #46: Timson AOR, Destiny Calls, Heaven's Reign, Brother Firetribe

 Okay, let’s check out some recent or not-so-recent releases. 

TIMSON AOR is a British project that plays post-apocalyptic progressive glamcore… no, as you might guess, they’re an AOR band! I’m not sure why it has to be underlined, maybe there’s another Timson and they want to avoid confusion. The band consists of Mark Timson (guitar, keys, bass) and Lukky S. (vocals, guitar, bass, keys) and ”The Next Level” (RRR) is their second album. It’s smooth melodic rock in the vein of early FM and Shy, but not on the same level. I keep thinking that if this had been released in 1988, it might not have been a hit but it would have gotten a cult album status among the AOR community. Something like Walk On Fire, Beau Geste and other obscurities. My favourite track is ”Be True To Yourself”, which is a bit more intense than the rest of the songs. Besides, stabbing staccato keys almost always win me over!

DESTINY CALLS hails from Greece, and they play edgy melodic hard rock with AOR overtones. Their sound takes me back to the eighties, and if I was told thet this is an unearthed tape from 1986 I’d be inclined to believe. As far as I know, ”Alive” (RRRr) is a brand new release though.

The album’s songs are very keyboard-heavy, yet the hard-edged guitars and gritty vocals by Aggeliki Rossolatou keep the overall vibe quite metallic. Think Frontline’s first album, early Jaded Heart and the likes, but with female vocals. For me, the album really starts after the first two songs, which aren’t among my favourites. ”Out Of Love” and ”Into The Night” are, so maybe check them out first. 

UK’s newcomers HEAVEN’S REIGN have been praised as the next big thing in hard rock genre. The debut album ”Northern Lights” (RRRr) is a solid effort, an exceptionally good sounding album indeed. The album starts with a trio of heavy rockers which don’t really have enough hooks to catch me. ”Lady Of The Night” is another heavy rocker, but with a sharper hook. 

With ”Born To Fly” the band lighten up a little, and move into the Tyketto territory. The following ”Northern Lights” and ”Listen To Your Heart”are probably the most AOR¨ish things on the album, both decent tunes indeed. ”Bad Boys” sound strangely like a mixture of Heaven’s Edge and Nickelback, if you can imagine that… and I like it! ”The Good Die Young” is what we call ”a plodder” - a mid tempo track with a dull chorus, but the closing track ”Never Again” makes up for it, a sharp melodic rocker with a cool chorus. It might just be my favourite song here.

Heaven’s Reign might not be the saviors of melodic rock yet, but I’ll be watching how they progress.

BROTHER FIRETRIBE are one of my favourite bands, I’ll happily admit that. Then again, if they started releasing sub-standard material, I wouldn’t hesitate to say so. Fortunately, their new EP ”Number One” (RRRRr) is as far from ”sub-standard” as anything can be.  The only reason I won’t give it the full 5 R’s is the fact that it’s a bit short, and the acoustic version of ”Bring On The Rain” is kind of a filler. 

The EP includes the four singles released after the band’s latest full album ”Feel The Heat”, two new tracks and the aforementioned acoustic version. ”Number One” and ”How Long Until Tomorrow” are the new songs, and they are both very good. ”Number One” takes me back to the second album ”Heart Full Of Fire”, it has that kind of intensity, while ”How Long…” has a bit of a ”Sunbound” vibe, a laid-back summertime anthem.

The previously released singles are all good, and 3 out of 4 made it to my ”Best of BFT” playlist (as did both of the new tracks). ”Thunder Rising” didn’t make it but it was a close call…