Archived Reviews: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Reviews Index
Noise 2002
02-01-17
What? Yet another compilation with Virgin Steele? Yep! Why release only one of them, when you can have twice the fun. Beats me... then again. I guess die hard fan's of this Power Metal unit! Simply can't ignore these releases. Since you'll get old songs, new songs, re-recorded songs (new versions), previously unreleased songs (but recorded years ago) and pretty much everything in between. While others may wonder if David DeFeis have been spending too much time with Gene $immon$ lately.
Are you still with me? Fine! I know, I know... this is confusing as hell. Still, try and hang in there and I'll get you through this. "The Book Of Burning" will provide you with sixteen tracks. Six of them are completely new songs, recorded last summer. I really do enjoy "Rain Of Fire", "Annihilation" and "Hellfire Woman" as they are darn fine examples of traditional power metal. Kick ass drums, s-s-screamin' guitars and power vocals. You will not be disappointed with these if you enjoyed Virgin Steele (or Manowar for that matter) in the past.
You can also find new recorded versions of: 'Don't Say Goodbye, 'Children Of The Storm', 'Minuet In G Minor', 'The Redeemer', 'I Am The One', 'Birth Through Fire', 'Guardians Of The Flame' and 'A Cry In The Night'. Some are better and some are worse than the originals. Which all can be found on previous albums. Not to forget the two previously unreleased songs, both left over from other albums. If you are only going to buy one of the two 'new' Virgin Steele albums. I would suggest this one although they kinda' leave a bitter after taste. Don't get me wrong... this is indeed good metal. Even if we've heard many of the songs already! And I'm not really sure we need a 'new recorded version' of every VS tune out there? I will leave that up to you my friend! www.noiserecords.com
Noise 2002
02-01-09
Virgin Steele has been playing their out n' out metal for some twenty years now. So I guess it's only about time for a 'Best Of' album huh? "Hymns To Victory" is the name and American Power Metal is the game. Included here are thirteen tracks, either re-mastered, previously unreleased alternate mixed, or in a new acoustic version.
You will also find two completely new songs here. Or rather left over's from previous albums. Too bad that "Noble Savage", here in a long lost early mix and "The Spirit Of Steele" redone into a lovely acoustic version. Are the only tracks included from the first three albums.
I believe that original guitarist Jack Starr is the copyright owner of the first two albums? Well, I know there's been some long-time problems going on there though. Old classics like "Invictus" (very much in the old Manowar tradition), "Kingdom Of The Fearless" (gotta' love those swords) and "A Symphony Of Steele". The latter a 'Battle Mix' containing extra lyrics and more firepower. Are all darn nice Power metal anthems! To my big surprise are one of the left over's (Saturday Night). Recorded during the sessions for the debut album. A really cheesy, melodic rocker (almost AOR) far from the macho metal VS otherwise play. While the other (The Mists Of Avalon) is a nice ballad with only Edward Pursino on guitars and David DeFeis behind the mic'. A nice collection even if there are songs missing, as always. www.noiserecords.com
Spinefarm Records 2004
Review by Jorge Antonaya, 
19 May 2004
Hailing from Suomi (Finland) here comes Virtuocity, yet another neoclassical power metal band from the land of the thousand lakes (curiously enough that’s the title of one of the tracks included on this album), much in the vein of Nightwish, Stratovarius, Sonata Artica (the design of the cover reminds you a lot of this last band), and such. Northern Twilight Symphony is their sophomore effort after their Egyptian inspired debut Secret Visions. This time their source of inspiration has been their homeland and its legends, myths, etc. I know it may not sound too appealing but anyway, this album has interesting moments, so let’s go with it.
Northern Twilight Symphony is a quite well done neoclassical melodic metal album, surely it will remind you of the bands mentioned above, and one starts to think most of the Finnish metal bands sound alike, but what one cannot discuss here is the overall good quality they have, as it’s the case with Virtuocity. The musicians here are undoubtedly skilled ones. The songwriting of Jaron Sebastian Raven (guitarist and main man of the band), yet not original is good enough to produce a more than decent album. The vocals by Peter James Goodman (these names doesn’t sound Finnish at all, maybe a case of aliases?) are one of the main attractions of the album, as he avoided the high pitched vocals ala Kotipelto that are the common rule on this kind of albums. Along the main pair we have on this album Joey Edith on drums, Tom Joens on bass and Michael Thomas on keyboards [are you trying to fool someone with the names you suomalaisia? ;-)], especially remarkable is the work of this last, as this album has plenty of gorgeous keyboards. The style here moves very little, from the Stratovarius with a more appealing voice, (at least to your truly), up-tempos Forever Young, Wheels Of Time, Wings Of Dawn, to the Yngwie-ish Flames In The Sky, or Moonlight Shadows (one of the best tracks on the album, despite the Mike Oldfield rip-off title) or the ballad Within My Heart, passing through more Nightwish oriented tracks like the mid tempo Winter Nights or Land Of A Thousand Lakes (impressive title, isn’t it?). Maybe the more “original” tracks in the album are Paradise and Shaman Beat (with its proggy sound). Finally the title track is a neoclassical instrumental. I’ve been considering lowering the rating because three songs in a row (Wings Of Dawn, Whitin My Heart and Light In The Dark) start the lyrics with the same sentence: “When I Look…” unforgiveable! But all in all the quality of the songs in here is good enough for a 7.
If you are a fan of Finnish power metal with plenty of melodies and catchy hooks, then you should give Northern Twilight Symphony a chance. After a few spins I ended up enjoying this album quite a bit, despite my initial doubts about the style. Once again nothing new under the sun, but overall good enough quality to made out of this an album you can dig a lot if you give it a chance, so, go for it!
www.thevirtuocity.com
Lion Music 2000
01-03-16
Do You need a daily dose of Scandinavian AOR / Melodic Hardrock? Here's something that will last for at least a couple of months. VISION was formed by Finland's Neo-Classic Guitar hero "LARS ERIC MATTSSON" back in 1992 as a Project for all his AOR songs. He got in Contact with the Swedish Singer "CONNY LIND" (MASI, TALK OF THE TOWN, AMAZE ME, GREAT KING RAT, STATE OF MIND, etc.) and they recorded the first album together. It was released by Roadrunner in Europe and in Japan by Apollon where it did well and 3 videos were made, but it was never released in the USA despite an agreement with Atlantic and all the problems made VISION split up a short while after the story had just begun.
Well... the story doesn't end there as MATTSSON decided to re-unite the band back in 1996. A new album was recorded a year later "Till the End of Time" but this time only as a studio project and with new vocalist RANDOLPH REYMERS. This Best Of CD is a collection with 12 tracks from the two albums and 5 new songs that have never been released on CD before.
This is pretty much what Scandinavian AOR is all about! You'll get classic songs like the uptempo tracks "Round'n'Round, Surrender to love, or Look in your eyes" with great choruses, some flashy guitar solo's and fluffy keyboards. Or sentimental Power Ballads like "Sail Away, Till the end of time" and the outstanding "Open Up Your Heart" from the first album. Add to that five new songs where "Dying to be loved" sounds a lot like something that Glenn Hughes (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath etc.) could have done and "Before the Dawn" is a superb instrumental guitar track. You can't go wrong with buying this CD even if I find some of the songs a bit boring! You can get it from www.lionmusic.com and You'll also find some more info and stuff.
Indie 2001
"When the CD comes out it's gonna turn some heads" were the words of Jason Woods multi-instrumentalist for US sensations VISION 180 when I interviewed him two years ago. And oh boy did he keep to his words with the bands fantastic debut album which has been two years in the making, and has all the record labels sitting up and listening. The buzz around VISION 180's debut album from all the press and the labels is overwhelming and it's only a matter of time before a deal is struck.
Woods is joined by singer Booby Loux and the pair are extremely talented. They have taken their time to get a top notch recording and get everything right, thus this album is the best independent release of the year. It's a beauty, Bobby's exquisite vocals will stun you, think of a mix of Perry, Chalfant, Hugo, Mark Lennon from Venice, Earl Lord and Steve Augeri. The albums kicks off with the excellent "If This Is Love" which was issued as a teaser for the album last year. This song is a simple pop/rocker that is very catchy and very effective, kinda like Hugo as is "More To Believe In" which I can't stop singing along to. Next song "I'm The One" is a superb AOR tune with a heaven sent chorus, just check out those terrific harmony vocals from Bobby. "Will You Remember Me" starts off with a lovely piano melody and is stunning ballad filled with heart drenched emotion, this is just so fantastic, I'm a sucker for ballads and this one just hit me, the atmosphere on this song will stun you, what a classic performance from Bobby, his vocals are massive and he could easily have filled the shoes of Steve Perry in Journey.This song alone should gain them a record deal, a totally inspiring song with a nice Neal Schon inspired riff from Jason in the mid section. Another great ballad which goes back to that first demo is 'One Heart' which is more melodic but just as inspiring and works so well with a decent production sound, this is a soothing slush ballad a'la Hugo with nice female background vocals.
"What We're Feeling" is a heavier song with a catchy chorus, this song reminds me of Joe Pasquale and is a state of the art AOR . "Waiting Here For You" is an enticing blend of laid back pop rock whilst "It's Always You" is what AOR is all about and is one of my favourite songs, romantic and soothing with a killer chorus once again similar to Joe Pasqaule and Tim Feehan. "You're All I Ever Need" is an uptempo AORster, whilst another classic pops up in the form of "Promises Under The Sun", again this song was on those early demos and is one of the bands best songs, great combination of laid back pop/rock which almost sounds like a soother Tyketto. "Don't Be Lonely" again is from the demo and is the another of my favourite songs which I have always found to be totally mesmerising. This is the bands most melodic track which you will be singing along to for the rest of the year, great lyrics and chorus, and one that radios could pick up on. "Take Me Where You Are" is another melodic piece of with killer Perry exquisite vocals from Loux. The last song the melodic "By Your Side Again" like the aforementioned "Will You Remember Me" is a fine piece of quality balladry, those vocals again just dripping in golden emotion. At the end of the year when the dust has settled, I bet you any money Vision 180 will be proud owners of a secure record deal and will be riding high in many journalists playlists of 2001. This is a very special album that you cannot afford to miss out on. Vision 180 are quite simply the business, get it bought. [Urban´s note: I would just like to say that I pretty much agree with everything that Nicky wrote here. A superb album! Look for an interview with the band later]
www.vision180theband.com
Nightmare Records 2003
Review by 26 Mars 2003
Wow! Here's a very plesant suprise from out of nowhere. I must admit that I've never even heard about this American band, before listening to their latest CD. The story of Visionary began in the early 90's, when a group of musicians from the west side of Salt Lake City decided to form a band. When they met all pieces fell into place and lovley music was created (or something, whatever).
Their "Strange But Familiar" album is intelligent crafted Prog-Metal, with tons of great melodies and harmonies. You could say they've taken some calmer parts of 'Empire' (Queensryche) and 'Images And Words' (Dream Theater), and turned it into their own thing. There's no endless keyboard or guitar wanking goin' on here. Instead you'll find many emotional, beautiful and dare I say... more commercial songs. It's very melodic and almost AOR-ish from time to time.
Each of the eight tracks are rather 5 than 10 minutes long and it's
really a blessing in the sky sometimes. Since many Prog-Metal bands
only adds an extra 5 minute of each track, to show off anyway. This
is the compact version of the whole genre somehow. The use of guitars
and keyboards are pretty perfect too. They are both important to the
sound and the mixture is darn nicely done. The absolute highpoint is
vocalist Tony Horstmanshoff though. What a voice and you really believe
in every word he sings. That's pretty much the ultimate proof of a great
vocalist. Obviously very influenced by Tate/LaBrie, but still with his
own style and voice. I find it difficult to name any favorite tracks
here as they are all freakin' good. "The Void" frankly screams "Empire"
though and "A Part Of Me", is perhaps the best 'Dream Theater' semi-ballad
ever. Nah. I can't single out the songs really... you'll have to trust
me here. This is the almost perfect "soft" Prog-Metal album. Listening
to "Media" is like hearing part#2, of "Jet City Woman" or something.
If you don't mind any of the above, you're in for a very plesant suprise
here. You don't have to be a Prog-Metal freak to like this either. Melodic
Rock fans will enjoy this too, I believe? The biggest question here
would be... why the hell isn't Visionary a more well known name, in
the biz??? They should be selling out arenas and tons of albums.
www.nightmare-records.com
Goimusic 2003
Review by
7 July 2003
Bombastic, symphonic music with classical arrangements and a female soprano singing with a male singer. Nightwish? Hell, you’re almost there ! I know I said earlier there’s nothing wrong with copying a band, but I never meant you had to go all the way through! I have to say I’ve never been this pissed off! What’s the point here? This Austrian band was formed in 2000 with an idea of a concept inspired by the secret of Atlantis. I say the idea came from Nightwish, who aren’t even mentioned on their “inspiration” list at their website that is also the spitten image of Nightwish’s website. Though they are mentioned as their favourite bands and they even played live with Nightwish. Whatever the connection is with these bands, I think this goes too far for even a joke.
From the first notes it’s Nightwish all over. But this one’s like the first album from Nightwish, the male vocals aren’t working and even with Nicole’s classical education her vocals aren’t anywhere near as good as Tarja’s. Credits to the band though, they’re ok. But I’m throwing up bricks here from disgust when I’m looking at the lyrics, the album cover and the font. Everything is taken from Nightwish, though the cover is made by Christian Lassen, who’s works are used in many places and not by Nightwish. The lyrics’ theme is the sea and love for it and poetic love in all it’s sadness, though nowhere near as classy, deep and emotional as Nightwish’s. ”The sea I know, my bride and my disguise, the answer to all my questions...I’m a creature of the sea..” I bet you are, in the sense of blasphemy. Sorry, but I don’t see it, following other’s success when these youngsters have the ability for writing music (they’ve added a bit of own ideas here) and playing it after all. Visions Of Atlantis might as well be a Nightwish coverband and go further with that. This much copying will only do harm, among Nightwish fans at least. And I’m a dedicated one.
V.O.A. website
POL/Naxos 2001
02-01-21
"Welcome to the party, everlasting party. Welcome to the "upper party" indeed, these Swedish soldiers under God's command, have released a nice 80's album that will have you rockin' & boppin' all through the night.
Vital Sign has actually been around since the early 90's. But their story halted as many other bands, during that awful grunge era. I believe it was actually Christian Liljegren (Narnia) who made them realize, it was time for a second shot at fame and glory. This debut album was recorded late last year, at the POL music studio.
The owner of POL studio is actually 'PO Larsson', the ex. LEVITICUS vocalist (Knights Of Heaven -1989) who is also the bass player/bg vocalist here. Lead singer is non other than 'Jens Lundvik' who in later years have had some success with B.I.G., the Christian band with Peo Thyren (Easy Action, Sha-Boom, Noice etc.) as one of the band members. Vital Sign may not bring anything remarkably fresh or new, into this genre called Melodic Hardrock, still the songs are catchy and uplifting at the same time. Actually, not that far away from the sound of the above mentioned album with 'Leviticus' or the debut album of XT. In other words, high class Swedish hardrock with a Christian message. Highlights would be: "Welcome To The Party" with some flashy keys and almost annoying chorus. "Wherever You Go" has a lovely hook, "You Died In My Place" is a wonderful Power Ballad. "Lead My Way" has a guitar riff with 'some' similarties to 'The Queen Is In Love' by Yngwie Malmsteen. And "Hallelujah" with its fanfare keyboard (nicely played by Rune Bertilsson) is yet another catchy track. Remove a couple of tracks, like the really boring "I'm A Soldier" and you're in for a nice treat. Check out http://run.to/vitalsign for more info, and where to buy this CD.
AOR Heaven 2001
02-01-31
Vital Signs huh? I wonder if there's any connection to a certain Survivor album here? You may actually remember these guys or at least the movie from the late 80's. With their song 'The Boys And Girls Are Doing It' included on its soundtrack. 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure was the name and I believe it was actor Keanu Reeves's first leading role.
It was unfortunately the only official release by the band, until they finally found a home for their debut album at AOR Heaven. The songs, as you may already have guessed, Are all from the 80's and it's back to 'pure' AOR with fluffy keys and hair to match the music.
You can even find the, at the time, mandatory Adams/Vallance track here! As the two of them wrote too many songs in the 80's than necessarily needed. Bryan Adams always made sure to keep the best ones for his own albums though, since "Play To Win" is yet another 'yes-we've-heard-it-all-before' track without any new ideas. Most of the songs written by David Notary (vocals), Dan Pasternak (keyboards) & Jimmy Zeigler (guitar) are really good though. The overall sound draws similarities to bands such as: Survivor, Autograph & Honeymoon Suite. And tracks like opener "Secret Lover", the lovely ballad "One Step Behind" which reminded me a lot of Honeymoon Suite. The superb "Ticket To Love" and "I'm Not Gonna Wait" are all winners in my book. Simply, superb AOR with catchy hooks and big vocals. A couple of fillers and the fact that it's all over after only 37 minutes. Makes this a good but not great album. And why can't we find the 'Bill&Ted' song here?
www.aorheaven.com
www.stagedude.com/vitalsigns
Tone Center 2001
Review by Endre "Bandi" Hübner
23 January 2002
Let me get it straight right away: this is not our kind of music; stay as far away from it as you can. The label Tone Center is a division of Shrapnel Records and for whatever reason they use the same press distribution as Shrapnel. Which in this case is a completely wrong decision as after the 5th (or so) release they sent us it's safe to say that Tone Center specializes in some weird instrumental jazz-fusion stuff that is extremely strange to the ears of melodic rock fans.
As for VitalTechTones, personally I find some of the drum (Steve Smith) or bass (Victor Wooten) solos interesting, however Scott Henderson's jazz-guitar approach is simply not for me. As always with jazz-fusion albums, I simply cannot hear any songs, I just hear a 7 minutes long chaotic *something*. I know the problem is with me, however to my excuse I'd say this is absolutely the wrong forum to promote the album.
The weird thing is that there's even a disclaimer on the artwork of the CD saying "file under jazz", hmmm. So surf to a jazz site if you really care for a professional opinion or look for soundbytes on the net.
Pyram-Axis Records 2003
Review by 
31 October 2003
Vixen is back. No, not *that* Vixen, and this one isn't even back really. [No, I haven't smoked rotten banana sleeves.] This Vixen is not the female-only melodic rock band you had wet dreams about in 1988 but the heavy metal outfit that only recorded 2 demos in 1981 and 1982 and had a 5-track EP in 1983, yet they achieved a sort of cult status with them. The reason of the cult status is probably the fact that this was the first band where Marty Friedman (of Megadeth-fame) showcased his talent. Now Kim La Chance the band's screaming siren decided to release all the tracks available on one CD after endless requests by fans... or so she says.
These 20-years-too-late releases usually stink and though I respect the initiative to please friends and fans my opinion is that this release is strictly for collectors, those who were in touch with the band back then. The intention of selling the disc by Friedman's name is far too obvious and though the tracks have been re-mastered to a certain extent, no studio-wizardry can correct tempo-mistakes or can turn flat songs into good ones. Plus the 13-track (50 minutes) disc features 2 multiple versions of the same songs and a rather horrible cover of the "House of the Rising Sun" (that I hate anyway, hearing the original version makes the hairs on my back stand up).
Let's face it, this is a collection of 20 years
old demos of a few youngsters. If you are a musician like many of us around
here, you may show stuff like this to your friends or to your grandchildren when
you are 60 to have something to smile about but you don't release it officially.
Those who are collectors of Marty's stuff should give it a try, but remember not
to expect what you are used to from him. The label website (that is rather a
studio) does not have any info about the release (yet?) and according to the
sleeve it will be a 2004 release. Go figure...
Pyram-Axis Records
website
AFM Records 2001
Review by
15 August 2001
A very bombastic power metal band that has a lot of bass on this album ! Two things bothered me on this album; First I didn't like the vocalist much. He reminds me of Blaze Bailey sometimes even though he's not a bad singer. Secondly the guitar sounds are weak on every song. You can find a mens' choir on every song, which is often used among this type of bands, but I found this funny a few times.
On "Days of no trust" I found something familiar, I could hear ecohes of a few Finnish bands on it like Tarot, Conquest and Stormwind. But I bet these guys don't even know those bands which are pretty highly respected in Finland. At least Tarot has always been respected.
Most of the songs on this album are powerful and fast, but there are a few exceptions too. Like "Without Compulsion" which is mid-tempo with partly these kinda evil vocals. The song after that is "The Old Brightness" which is powerful, but surprisingly has beautiful keys and vocals in the beginning. Then you can hear bongo (?) drums and acoustic guitar on "The Last Dance" and after that the song turns strongly into electrical. The chorus would be good if the singer didn't "moo" so much. Then off to typical powermetal again and the song ends with piano and sax.
On the next song "The Prediction 2001" you can hear a flute! Then BANG! it's rolling, shredding guitars and... calm again! And again shredding and screaming and so on with a point in these lyrics. Makes you think when you hear something like "whales sink down harpoons in the back" or "we can't eat money". That's the spirit! I found this song to be the best on the album with its diversity and that it doesn't fall into pieces in its' 8 and half minutes. So this is a somewhat experimental metal album with all the different instruments. But not a cacophony, nothing like that. Just power.
AFM Records 2003
Review by
24 October 2003
"The day has lost his innocence and the night spreads her wings across the sky - The shapes of the darkness creep from her craves and extending her claws toward us". Indeed, beware of the "Soulhunter" as Voice returns with their scariest album up to date. The lyrics are typical for its genre (melodic power metal) and there's a lot of devils, demons, and other evil-ish things to be found here.
The music is perhaps not that groundbreaking either by the way, but you can't help to headbang along to the music every now and then. And let's face the truth here... you can't really expect to find anything completely original or new in 2003. Everything has already been done by someone else in the past and as long as it rocks... well, let's just be "pleased" with that shall we? The production is however better then ever and the mastering by Mika Jussila (finnvox studios) adds a lot to the overall picture.
You could say that Voice continues with their "typical" German metal sound with the new CD: "Soulhunter". In fact, AFM Records have a bunch of acts with similar image and style already. Edguy, At Vance, Squealer, and Voice, are all blood brothers and into this together. I must admit that I find Voice to be the weakest link in the chain though. The material doesn't really lift off and it almost feels like they're stuck on second gear most of the time. Highlights includes "Devilish Temptation" with its uptempo beat and chorus a'la At Vance, "Firedevil" is another fine rocker, and "Where Have The Angels Disappeared" is the indispensable power ballad (every CD needs one?). It's always nice to find a song about "Valhalla" and this one works out nicely with a bombastic choir in the traditional style of German metal. However, CD's with only nine tracks included makes every dull moment twice as hard to cope with somehow. I believe that John Farnham once sang "You're The Voice Try And Understand It" or something... let's hope these chaps get it too someday.
www.afm-records.de
Brian VOLLMER: "When Pigs Fly" 8
Vollmer Records 1999
15-03-01
The singer of Helix recently made a solo album and now I finally found the time to
review it. This is heavier stuff than Helix and I really like
this. I might be too close to Helix (one of my all time favorites) but this
is a great cd. I love the first song "I'm A Live Frankenstein" (the video is
great too). Brian must have had some anger inside of him, because songs like
"Pissed Off" and "F.U.G.L.Y." are not typical stuff from him. The last song
called "Good Times Can't Get Better Than This" is just acoustic guitar and
Brian singing and this is something I really can relate to at the moment.
The rest of the songs are great too but these are my favorites.
It's good to hear the heavier side of Brian. His voice really sounds
good and he hasn't lost anything even though Helix has been around for 26
years. Any Helix fan will get into this but I hope that all the people who like
good heavy rockin' songs will give this a try. I'm proud to be Helixhead and
Toronto here I come. Brian sure knows how to rock and sing!
VON GROOVE: "Von Groove"
Review by 
This is good stuff! I was not familiar with this band's music before, but I had read a couple of reviews saying that this is a good album. And that's what this is! I was instantly reminded of such bands as Dokken, Eyes and Hardline, when I first listened to this CD.
What about the songs? Well, I was really impressed by the ballads. There are three of them, and they're all excellent. Apart from them I liked "House Of Dreams", which reminded me of Dokken at their best, as did the heavier "Sweet Pain". "Every Beat Of My Heart" is another good song, even though its' verses bear a striking similarity to those of Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer".
MTM Music 1998
Review by
I quite liked the first Von Groove album, but after hearing comments about them going a bit "grungy" with their second album (the first version) I had mixed feelings about this one. "Test Of Faith" is their third album (or is it fourth? I am bit confused with their last album), and I can tell that there isn't anything "grungy" on it! The boys have actually decided to adopt an even more melodic approach than on their first album. Think of Dokken doing a set of Journey songs...
I must admit that the first song ("Test Of Faith") got me a bit worried. It's probably the heaviest song on the album and definitely one of the weakest songs here. It is soon forgotten though, as the band goes into serious AOR mood. Yet... something is missing. There's no denying that the likes of "I Saw The Light" and "Anything For My Baby" are good songs, but I think they still lack that "something" which would have made them truly exceptional.
I must say though, that the overall quality of the album is good, except for a couple of tracks I don't really care. These songs would have been a good basis for a great album, but the lack of real highlights leaves me a bit disappointed. Still, a good album from a good band.
Z Records 2001
01-05-09
Yo! Fasten your seatbelts, ladies and gentlemen, as Mladen and the rest of the very groove boys will take you all for a bumpy ride in their brand new racer. The rumors said (as always) that the new album "The Seventh day" would be the best Von Groove release since their debut and I must say that they where (for once?) all true this time.
After a couple of weaker albums at MTM and a poor start with last years release at Z Records everything's back to "normal" again. Meaning that you´ll get one helluva melodic hardrock album here filled with catchy melodies, roaring guitars and lovely power ballads. Best of all, Von Groove have found their own identity and created their own style when it comes to melodic hardrock and that´s something not many "new" bands out there have managed to do. Not that you can really call them a new band anymore (+ 10 years in the biz) though and you can always find (if you look hard enough) some influences from the masters back in the 80´s.
Opener "Believe in the one" begins with a lovely drum-guitar intro before it explodes into a great rocker with a strong chorus. "Lily" is a mega catchy song and the chorus goin -Lily can´t stop the dance- had me up on the table, dancing like a raving mad lunatic. [Bandi: Does this mean we should call you "Lily" from now on? :-)] I would say that almost all the guitarwork and the drums remind me a lot of the sound Giant had in the early 90´s and same goes with some of the songwriting. "Oxygen" continues the same catchy path as the other tracks and my breathe of oxygen was all gone after half the song. [Bandi: Exercise more, you wimp! This is rock n' roll webzine and no bubblegum pop stuff. :-)] The title track "The Seventh day" is a great, groovy song and same goes with "Guns over London" You like slow songs you say? No worries as both "The best in me" and "Heaven knows your name" are darn fine examples of how to write a power ballad. The later has a big goosebumps warning sign written all over it! The seventh day will easily be in my top-10 list of the year when 2001 is over. Recommended indeed! www.zrecords.net
MTG 2004
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
14 June 2004
The second band singing in Finnish on this site, if I'm correct...Domestic metal and hard rock with Finnish lyrics is currently more popular than it has ever been here, with several bands enjoying tremendous success and even mainstream airplay - Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus, Kotiteollisuus and Kilpi (the very first band with Finnish lyrics reviewed on this site and Voodoo's labelmates) are very familiar to our Finnish readers I'm sure. Voodoo are the latest metal-styled band, with rumbling, low-tuned guitars, aggressive vocals and a lot of attitude. However, while they will be compared to the bands above, they do have a style of their own.
The one track on the single is well-produced, short burst of energy. The rough vocals of Marko Hartinkainen are complemented by clean, smooth backing vocals. Musically the song reminds me of a weird combination of Metallica and nineties' Alice Cooper, with heavier guitars...imagine that?
VOODOO HILL: "Voodoo Hill" 6
Frontiers/Now & Then 2000 3-11-00
"Italian
Deep Purple with Glenn Hughes on vocals". I think that it describes this
album right there. Well maybe I should tell something more... Hughes' voice
is good, the playing is good, the whole album is good but it's not the
real Deep Purple.
Here
one can really hear what the influence has been for Dario Mollo (guitar/writer/producer)
and of course when Hughes takes part of the writing, this can be expected.
Very good Purple album indeed, but it's too Purple for my liking, and
covering "Gypsy" makes it even more like a Purple Tribute without all
the Purple songs.
The
songs that I think that are the best ones here are "24" and "Spun In
Lost Wages", which really kick ass. It's Purple on acid.
Too
much like the idol band here so gets only 3 stars from me. This doesn't
do that much for me, but all the Hughes fans and Purple fans will probably
love this album.
VOODOO HILL: "Voodoo Hill"
Frontiers/Now & Then 2000
VOODOO HILL is the brainchild
of the Italian guitar hero DARIO MOLLO. Dario has worked and recorded already
with the likes of keyboard maestro DON AIREY (Rainbow, Whitesnake, Gary
Moore, Ozzy, currently with TEN) and TONY MARTIN (Black Sabbath) on THE
CAGE project last year (released in Japan by King Records and in Europe
by Dreamcatcher). Handling all vocal duties
on the record is none other than the mighty ex-DEEP PURPLE singer GLENN
HUGHES - the self proclaimed "Voice of Rock" himself - who is back singing
an entire album of smokin' hard rock music for the first time in several
years.
The album features 9 original
songs with the music written by Dario and lyrics by Glenn, along with "The
Gypsy", a Deep Purple cover, taken from the classic "Stormbringer" album. What we have here is a heavy, at times quite dense album, which sees the comeback of Mr Glenn Hughes to the
harder territories he chose to leave some years ago. And what a comeback!
From the outstanding soaring
vocals on the opener "Sensitive", till the final title track, a
song ala Rainbow/Purple with an up-to-date, modern sound, Hughes shows
he's still "the voice" of rock. And he does it led by the hand of Dario
Mollo, a guitarist with great talent for songwritting and who has delivered
the best guitar work I've listened to this year. He's got something I really
like, being a virtuoso he does not overplay and he always adds some melodic
details to his solos that work great.
This album combines the heavy
sound of tracks like "Disconnected", my fave of the album with a
great guitar solo, or "Just Another Monday", with uptempo rockers
like "Spun In Lost Wages", (a song crazy as hell), and the more
relaxed "Golden One", (a ballad with a great sound), or the mid
tempo "24". There is room for experimentation, like in "Keep It
To Yourself", a rocker with a bluesy/funky/soul feeling, where we find
Glenn on territories where we used to listen to him lately. Also the hard
rocker "Black Leather" has some experimental touches on it and Hughes'
voice get into this problem free. Finally, the cover of Deep Purple's "The
Gypsy" is worked out really well.
The production is good, brilliant
at times, like in "Golden One". The overall sound is solid and dense,
and the vocals are treated as they should, (no other way!).
The final consideration would
be, I really would like Dario Mollo and the rest of the musicians to be
the band who played with Glenn Hughes on his live appearences, as it would
be great to enjoy this sound live, (plus being able to listen to some of
this stuff). I guess it's only a wish but who knows?
This album is recommended
to all those who like great guitar work, in a hard/heavy style, with some
experimental touches here and there ... And of course to all Glenn Hughes
fans! Not recommended to purists
of AOR/melodic rock.
Frontiers 2004
Review Martien Koolen, 
9 June 2004
The story of Voodoo Hill is actually the story of songwriter/guitar player Dario Mollo. He started his musical career in 1981 with a band called Crossbones. After that Dario devoted his time to the improvement of his style and technique and he built his own recording studio. He wrote a couple of songs, teamed up again with Don Airey (Rainbow, Ozzy Osbourne, Deep Purple) and recorded an album known as “ The Cage”. This debut album, with Tony Martin (Black Sabbath) on lead vocals, was very successful with fans and critics.
He also started to work on another ambitious project, with a totally different line-up. He wanted to work with Glenn Hughes, the voice of rock, Roberto Gualdi (drums), Max Matis (bass guitar) and Dario Patti (keyboards). Frontiers records offered him a contract for the worldwide release of the new project, which was to be called Voodoo Hill. The result is simply amazing; this album really rocks and sweeps you of your feet. It is also the heaviest album on which Glenn Hughes has ever sung and his voice is just overwhelming and mind blowing; his voice gets better and better, as he grows older.
All the 11 songs on this album are heavy and some tend to turn into metal songs at certain points. Just check out the killer opener "Make Believe", a song dominated by heavy guitar riffs which remind me of Kyuss or Black Sabbath. The guitar solos by Dario Mollo in this track are out of this world and Glenn sings like a young rock God. The title track is the second highlight, a very diverse song with lots of quieter parts, but also with some serious screaming from Glenn, heavenly guitar picking and bombastic keys by Dario Patti. The last track, also the longest one, called "16 Guns" is a kind of mid tempo bluesy rock song, which is ideal for Glenn’s voice. And his singing really brings this song to another level. The songwriting, the production, the musicians, everything fits, to make all of these elements an almost perfect heavy rock album. This is definitely one of the best rock albums of 2004 I have heard so far. Glenn is God, what a voice, goose bums all over, during the complete album!!
DMV Music 2001
Review by
30 December 2001
The man behind "The V-Project" is one David Vaccaro, a talented guitarist/songwriter/producer. "Lost Demos" have been recorded during the last ten years or so, and although they are "just" demos and recorded on a rather primitive equipment according to the sleeve notes, the sound is better than some things that are sold to us as "real albums" these days. So, new bands looking for a producer who can deliver on a shoestring budget...maybe David could be your man?
Given the rather unknown status of David Vaccaro, you might be surprised to find that the vocalists on this album are everything but unknown - Robin McAuley of MSG/Far Corporation/Elements Of Friction fame handles provides lead vocals on 6 of the tunes, while James Christian (House Of Lords) adds his voice to one song. The other two singers are admittably a little less well known, Christhoper Post of Dillinger and Dennis Gresham.
The songs range from melodic and intimate AOR tracks like "Only Friend" and "I'm Feeling It Now" (both sung by McAuley) via modern "no-frills" rock of "Coup Deville" to the hard rocking of "Rattle My Cage" (James Christian on vocals). There's even a very "irish"-kinda sing-along song in there...a mixed bag for sure, but never less than enjoyable. There may be no "songs of the year" -candidates in here, but the overall quality is quite good.
The VU: "Phoenix Rising" 8+
Frontiers/Now & Then 2000 12-11-00
The VU, previously known as The View, recorded this album in the late eighties, but despite the fact that the musical climate was favourable to melodic rock back then, it was never released. That is quite weird, as the band featured an all-star line-up: Kevin Chalfant (The Storm, 707, Steelbreeze and most recently Two Fires) on vocals, Tim Gorman (The Who) on keys, guitarist Stef Burns (Y&T), former Journey bassist Ross Valory and drummer Prairie Prince. Anyway, Frontiers have dug up the tapes from the archives, and and like a Phoenix, the band rises from the ashes...Applauds to the label for good AOR Archeology work.
Just like the beetle cover art suggests, the VU play classic AOR in the vein of Journey, although with the emphasis on the uptempo tracks a bit more. The album opens with "Who You Gonna Believe" (also covered by Cher on her "Love Hurts" album), a strong AOR track, but not quite as strong as "Keys To The City". This song is The Song Of The Year for me so far, an unbelievebly brilliant track with great moody verses and a breathtaking chorus. It is not often that I want to listen to a song several times in a row, but I've done it with this one.
"One Track Mind" is a rocker with a keyboard assault that reminds me of the Scandi-AOR sound, bands such as DaVinci or Treat. "Save It For Me" is the closest thing to Journey here, an excellent AOR semi-ballad, while "Hard To Get" seems to be the band's attempt to write a real "hard rock" song. It's gritty alright, but with its' dull hook it ends up being the weakest track here.
The next few tracks are pure AOR heaven - big hooks, big keyboards and flawless performance from Mr. Chalfant. "Somewhere Here" is a bit different again, with a jazzy feel and verses that remind me of some children's song, I kid you not! Weird. The chorus is good though. The album is closed with another Journeysque ballad "So Long".
The VU: "Phoenix Rising"
Frontiers/Now & Then 2000
Finally! This recording lost
somewhere in the dust of some obscure label's warehouse and now it sees the light
of day. It's a shame it didn't make it at the right time, but better late
than never.
This album contains a nice
collection of classic AOR tunes straight from the 80's, when it was recorded.
The typical 80's production, with a good, clear sound enhances these fine
slices of AOR in the more pure degree.
The tracks are mainly keyboard
driven, like the sensational "Keys To The City" (song of the year!!!),
"If
I Had You Back", (with some great vocals by Mr Chalfant), "Walk
Though The Fire", keyboard driven track ala Survivor, "Dreaming
Your Life Away", with nice backup vocals, or the Genesis like "Somewhere
Here". There is also a Foreigner mood on tracks like "Hard To Get",
(with a really good rockin' solo), or the above mentioned "Keys To The
City". Finally some Heart reminiscences on the opener "Who You Gonna
Believe" [Bandi: actually it's more Cher than Heart I think as it was recorded by her too...], or the ballad "Save It For Me".
All in all, the album contains
some great vocals by Mr Chalfant like in "One Track Mind", great
keys all over the album and quite good backing vox, specially in "Keys
To The City" and "So Long", besides de above mentioned "Dreaming
Your Life Away". As a result, this album is
a little treasure had it been released in the 80's, it would be
classic by now. But I'm sure with the adecuate perspective some years
from now we'll think of it as that, an AOR gem. My advise, all 80's AOR fans
should have this.