Frontiers 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
4 February 2007

Danny Vaughn is arguably one of the best vocalists in the melodic rock genre of today. His albums with Waysted ("Save Your Prayers" 1986) and Tyketto ("Don't Come Easy" 1991 and "Strength In Numbers" 1994) and the From The Inside project (2004) are worthy additions to anyone's melodic rock CD collection, but the two previous albums under the name VAUGHN were a bit disappointing. Now, with a new band of British musicians called DANNY VAUGHN (okay...) backing him up, I'm glad to say that Mr. Vaughn has released an album which doesn't pale in comparison to a classic like "Don't Come Easy". Excellent production, fine performances from him and the band (Tony Marshall (Contagious) and Pat Heath (Brave New World) on guitars, Steve Mckenna (Ten) on bass and Lee Morris (Paradise Lost) on drums) and and a handful of brilliant songs make "Traveller" one of Danny's strongest albums to date.

After a couple of spins it became obvious that this is a real "feel-good" album. Some of the lyrical themes may deal with darker themes, but the overall vibe is very positive and uplifting. The soaring melodies and acoustic guitar flourishes might even be too much, too "country" for some... In fact, if some of the songs of "Traveller" were played on the country radio stations, I'm sure that Danny & the boys would make a lot of new friends. Frontiers could do an alternative printing of the album for the country market, with the band in cowboy hats on the cover! Yee-haw.

The album kicks off with the indian chants of "Miracle Days". The song itself is a good indication of things to come - it's an uplifting rocker with a nice chorus. "Badlands Rain" is a slightly darker, bluesy rocker which reminds me of... well, Badlands. The title track is another feel-good rocker with a strong Tyketto vibe, kinda similar to the likes of "Sail Away" and "Nothing But Love". One of the album highlights is definitely "Restless Blood", a terrific melodic rocker with a strong chorus and a cool "whoa-oh" section. This is bound to be a live favourite.

Next up we have the short'n sweet "That's What She Says", light-hearted pop rocker with a nice chorus and good lyrics. "The Touch Of Your Hand" is first of the ballads, and a very good one it is too. The song builds up nicely, from the soft opening notes to the more grandiose mid-section with lots of backing vocals, only to fade into the solitary notes from an acoustic guitar. "Lifted" is a very suitable track to follow "The Touch...", with its gentle piano intro, hinting that the song might be another ballad. Soon enough the band shift gears and the song turns into a highly enjoyable, acoustic-driven melodic rocker with a big chorus.

The band introduced "The Warrior's Way" at UFOR II, where it already impressed me a lot. The live version sounded very heavy, and I was wondering how well it would mix with the other material on the album. It's still the heaviest song of the album, but somehow it fits into place here, sounding like an integral part of the album. One of my favourites, no question about it!

"The Measure Of A Man" is the most obvious country-hit in the making, yet another nice acoustic-driven track with a very positive vibe. The second ballad follows, the sensitive and ethreal "Think Of Me In The Fall". It could've just as well been the closing track of the album, because the last two tracks don't really work for me. "Death Of The Tiger" is the album's "epic track", 7 minutes of Led Zeppelin-influenced heavy rocking. I'm sure that this song will find its fans, but for me it's just a bit boring, with all its oriental noodlings. "Better By Far" really isn't what its name suggests, it sounds like a bit of a throw-away, a nice enough acoustic track but ultimately quite forgettable.

I truly hope that this album will raise Danny's profile as one of the top performers of the genre. Hopefully the travellers will find their way to Finland one day...
www.dannyvaughn.com
Danny Vaughn at MySpace

UHO Production 2007
Review by Satu Reunanen
30 January 2007

There must be something in the air, that has started spreading gothic metal again in various styles from many continents. Dominia from Russia are one of those spreading the melodic and dark goth metal -message, but like most in this genre, they have something that makes them stand out from the rest. Dominia consists of six members and introduces two violin players, but that's not what makes them that unique, although Casper and Kat are credited from once playing with the St. Petersburgh symphony orchestra.

Dominia introduces a very intense and violent doomsday sound, which is very tight. Taking a breath while playing "Divine Revolution" is impossible. Anton Rosa growls out the devils from his soul with his very dark and raw vocals, but there are easier and smoother vocal parts too. All the while Dominia also sounds immense, the keyboards and violins bring in that gothic atmosphere. The band mixes good melodies and classical influences with so many other genres, and when they're rushing through the songs with a heartstopping beat and mixing in the wide symphonic atmosphere, it's all done with style and a firm professional touch.

Inside Out 2006
Review by Martien Koolen,
28 January 2007

Part 1 of this Trilogy was a rather boring acoustic album, but this new release is a truly gripping album that unites progressive rock and metal. Charlie Dominici is of course the former lead singer of Dream Theater, who did the vocal parts on their amazing debut "When dream and day unite" back in 1989!

The CD kicks off with the brilliant instrumental "The monster", a song filled with DT-like guitar riffs and lots of howling keys solos. The heavenly melodies remind me of DT’s album "Six degrees of inner turbulence", especially the strings and the piano parts. Follow-up "Nowhere to hide" again reminds me of DT as it is filled with typical prog metal riffs and a fantastic vocal performance by Charlie. "Captured" is a power ballad which stands out of the crowd due to the brilliant guitar solo. "Greed, the evil seed" again features a lot of DT riffs reminding me of their fabulous CD "Train of thoughts". "School of pain" has a balladesque intro followed by rather emotional vocals and in the end you can enjoy a couple of trashy riffs.

Inside Out 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
28 January 2007

This album was already released in 2006, but this re-release differs from the old one as it features modified artwork and booklet, plus a five track bonus disc. Two of these pieces are previously unreleased making this album even more interesting.

PRR is a fantastic rather new progressive English rock band with a unique sound featuring influences from bands like Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, The Beach Boys, Muse and Radiohead. The vocal parts and harmonies of Chloe Alper and Jon Courtney result in the absolutely unique sound of this very promising band. The opener "Aeropause" is a wonderful song with magical Pink Floyd like guitar work and a sheer gooseflesh melody. The second part of the album features the more heavy songs and these are absolutely my cup of tea. The production is top notch and the CD is filled with amazing melodies and extremely well sung harmonies.

Escape 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
24 January 2007

The ex-Grand Illusion boys (Anders Rydholm - gtr, bass, keys & Ola Af Trampe - gtr) are finally back on track with a brand new Melodic Rock platter. It's already been a few old years since we last could hear some new music (Ordinary Just Won't Do - 2004) and there's certainly been several and major changes along the way. It's time to wave goodbye to yesterday's news and say hello and welcome to the future Code of pink and fluffy rock music.

It's not quite as much over-the-top or even music executed with a pompous agenda anymore. In fact, "The Enemy Within" is a sophisticated and matured album that simply oozes of sheer and pure rock class. You could say it's a close-to-perfect mix of Scandinavian and U.S. melodies in the vein of Toto, House Of Lords, Giant, Grand Illusion. And that's also so friggin' great about Code, you can't really pin-point or nail down their sound, since it's a lovely mish-mash of all the stuff that AOR dreams are made of. It's very "progressive" at times and the interlude between Rydholm's keys and Trampe's guitar is impressive to say the least.

Code's frontman is a stage veteran from the late 70 & 80's U.S. scene and a sadly underrated vocalist in the genre of Westcoast and AOR. Not always in the spotlight of things, Sherwood Ball (Jay Graydon, Steve Lukather) would perhaps be more considered as a 'musicians musician'. Not always a household name as the wild frontfigure of a rock act either and more often recognized as the voice behind songs for tv-shows, films, and commercials (Hanging With Mr. Cooper, Mama's House, Wayne's World, 102 Dalmatians, McDonalds, Coca Cola, Toyota, Budweiser, etc). He's got a great set of pipes though and would probably end up just below the ranks of Michael Bolton and Steve Overland. No need to go further than the excellent piano ballad "How Do We Stay In Love" to find similarities to above mentioned vocal God's. By the way, Ball is responsible for all the lyrics and this song and its message goes straight to/for the heart!!!

Inside Out 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
28 January 2007

This is Neal Morse’s 5th solo album and I must say that after the truly disappointing "?" and "Cover to cover" I like this new CD called "Sola Scriptura". Although the playing time is 76 minutes the album only features 4 songs: "The door"(29:13), "The conflict"(25:00), "Heaven in my heart"(5:11) and "The conclusion"(16:35).

The super epic "The Door" is the best song on this album, full of Spock’s Beard and typical Neal Morse musical elements. The instrumental intro of 5 minutes is sheer prog rock magic, espcially the riffs, melodies and solos of Paul Gilbert are out of this world. Later on this song evolves into a classic, bombastic prog rock song with lots of solos and musical twists and turns. The second epic "The conflict" also has some rather heavy riffs and rhythms, espcially Gilbert’s guitar work makes this track heavy. In the middle of the song the listener is treated to a Spanish/Latin acoustic guitar passage and the song ends rather melodic with vocals and guitar.

The one and only misser on this CD is the piano ballad "Heaven in my heart", a song that gives me a real bad deja vu feeling. The third epic "The conclusion" is again packed with familiar Morse melodies, dramatic vocals, harmony singing and musical passages.

AOR Heaven 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
28 January 2007

Only a year or so after the release of the band's comeback album "Night Of White Rock", Mad Max have another album out. By today's standards that's quite fast, especially knowing that they released the EP "In White" in between. One might think that they were in a bit of a rush to put together the songs for this album, as there's only 10 tracks on it, with one of them being a short instrumental thing. According to our interview with guitarist/lyricist Juergen Breforth, that's not the case. Apparently all the tracks were written during a working holiday in Spain, and the songwriters Breforth and Michael Voss (vocals, guitar) felt that no extra songs were needed. However, the actual retail release of the album will contain a song called "Shine On You" (also recorded by Silver) and some video material.

"White Sands" sees the band adopting a harder edge than on their previous album, yet still retaining their melodic sensibilities. One significant thing is that there are no keyboards on any of the songs. The lyrics are still based on Christian views, but this time they are more down-to-earth and cover a wider range of subjects.

The album kicks off with "Family Of Rock", which could be called a celebration of the rock community. A good song, if not one of my favourites. It'll probably be a good live track with its' "all-together-now!" type of a chorus. The more uptempo and urgent "Little Princess" follows, and it's one of the better tracks of the album. The lyrics deal with the issue of child abuse, and they prove once and for all that Mad Max are not content on writing corny "Devil is bad, Jesus is good" lyrics. The guitar work is very cool, reminding me a bit of Gotthard, while the chorus hook is dangerously catchy.

"Heaven Is..." steals not only its title but also some of its musical ideas from Def Leppard. It's a laidback, melodic number along the lines of Leppard's "Love And Affection" or "Hysteria". "Someone Like You" starts with a powerful riff and a familiar sounding guitar melody. My wife noticed that it's very similar to the soloing in "Rock You Like A Hurricane" by the Scorpions. The song itself doesn't sound that much like the Scorps, but more like Gotthard or Bonfire.

The instrumental track "Lluvia" doesn't offer much for me, a nice enough melody, but quite forgettable. "We Fight In White" is better, a curiously familiar sounding track again, but so far I haven't figured out where I've heard that chorus before... Anyway, it sounds like something Stryper could've written back in the eighties, although their colours would have been yellow and black of course! This song could be another big live favourite, thanks to the catchy shout-along chorus.

I can't help but think of Dokken everytime I hear "Change It". The song doesn't sound like one particular Dokken track, but like a mixture of several songs from Dokken's "Back For The Attack" album. Fans of that album should like it! "Glorious Night", the big ballad of the album is also the highlight of the album, a truly fine song with great melodies, not to mention a touch of Cinderella's "Nobody's Fool" in the verses. Just a touch though... there are more obvious "quatations" elsewhere on the album!

The last two tracks aren't among the better ones. "Too Wrong" is probably the most obvious "quotation" of the album - the song is a thinly disguised tribute to "Love Gun" by Kiss, but not quite as good as the original. Finally, there's "War"... It's one of the heaviest Mad Max songs ever, but in my books, it's got to be one of the worst songs they've recorded since "Rollin' Thunder" album... it's repetitive, it's unmelodic and the "chorus" consists of vocalist Michael Voss doing his best "cookiemonster" impression, screaming "waaaaarrrrr". We'll just file this to the "Sounded Like A Good Idea At The Time"-folder, and forget about it, okay?

All in all, this might not be the killer album I was hoping for, but it's definitely a good one, and there's few songs on it which will probably become cornerstones of the Mad Max live set. Still, maybe another week or two in Spain would've resulted in a few more outstanding hard rock hits?
Mad Max website
Mad Max at MySpace

AFM Records 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
28 January 2007

This is Angra’s vocalist first solo album and he is assisted by Emppu Vuorinen (Nightwish/Brother Firetribe - guitars), Lauri Porra (Stratovarius - bass guitar) and Casey Grillo (Kamelot - drums). The music is of course closely related to Edu’s band Angra, meaning: uptempo melodic heavy metal with dominating vocals and great guitar licks, like e.g. in the amazing opener "King".

The real first musical highlight is "Forgotten land", a majestic power ballad with a gooseflesh melody, a truly addictive chorus and a heavenly sounding guitar solo. The second milestone on this CD is called "Golden empire" featuring Angra and Kamelot-like prog metal passages, filled with sheer brilliant vocals, super guitar solos and a great chorus; this is Almah at its best.

The last two songs "Box of illusion" and the title track are semi-acoustic rock songs with good vocals and a rather mystic feeling. The album revolves around a concept as it discusses our feelings/emotions. Almah is a so-called universe with a lot of different worlds, namely our feelings. So, this album is not only musically interesting but lyrically as well.

AFM Records 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
28 January 2007

This is how modern up tempo metal should sound like, pumping bass riffs, pounding double bass drums, fast heavy guitar riffs, melodies and solos and aggressive, raw, but always melodic vocal parts. Just listen to the opener "Point Of No Return" and you get all these metal ingredients.

"The King Of Fools" and "In From The Dark" are by far the two best tracks of this album. They feature excellent guitar passages, keyboard solos, screaming vocals and much more almost neo-classical characteristics. Unfortunately the band feels the need to add the obligatory ballad to this album and that song called "Save me from myself" (what a horrible title by the way) is absolutely boring and redundant.

Dockyard 1 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
28 January 2007

Dreamland is a Swedish power metal/rock band with clear influences from the eighties and nineties. Musically there is nothing wrong with this band, but it all sounds so dated and just after one listening session I already had the feeling that I heard all these songs before...

Most of the 11 tracks are up tempo songs with very familiar guitar riffs, melodies and catchy choruses. The titles of most of the songs are definitely really cliche-ish, like "Shadows of the night", "Children of tomorrow", "Forever and ever" or "Secret signs"! Dreamland is obviously influenced by bands like Hammerfall and Helloween and if you like those groups then you will probably also like this CD.

However the high-pitched vocals, the traditional guitar melodies and anthem like rock/metal songs are a bit too much of the "same old same old" to me. This is really an album to listen to while you are under the shower and scream along for the entire 43 minutes.

SMP 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
27 January 2007

Yet another reunion in 2007! Apes, Pigs & Spacemen recorded a fun debut album back in 1995 (Transfusion) and had a rather successful year at the top of the rock charts in the U.K. Not bad considering they first had to try and fight off competition from other U.K. bands such as Paradise Lost and Cathedral (both acts enjoyed major success with their releases at the time). I noticed that I have both the regular CD release and the glossy, limited, digipack of "Transfusion" in my personal collection. But... whatever happened to the band afterwards? They sort of vanished into the night and oblivion, well, at least to the public outside of the UK.

SwedMetal 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
24 January 2007

Whatever happened to top-notch sleaze, party rock, wicked guitars, silly posers, and fun sing-a-long melodies? Well, you could just say it all ended up in the backyard of Sweden and in the hands of Crazy Lixx as they've been keeping the fire burning over the years. You may have noticed them already on a 'Hollywood Hairspray' compilation, however, they've certainly never been this good in the past. D.C. Danny (vocals), Vic Zino (guitars), Luke Rivano (bass) and Joey Cirera (drums) surely must have been taking rock'n'roll steroids lately? everything is so much better, bigger, stronger, and last but not least, catchier than b4!!!

I'm actually quite stunned over the massive sleaze attakk and catchy material featured on Crazy Lixx's first CD single release at Swedmetal Records. Yep, it's (unfortunately) only a small taste of gr8er things 2 com and these pair of traxx will merely keep u wanting 4 more (contagious enuff 2 have u writing in sleaze lingo as well, I'm sure?). 1st trakk "Heroes Are Forever" is a mixx of 80's sleaze and hardrock at its finest and it'll have you shouting along to the catchy refrain in no time. "On Your Marks, Get Set, Rock" rips it up from start to finish, and it's a pure delight to sit back and listen to the wicked and raw guitarwork by Zino. Danny is a frontfigure with a voice that works perfectly for sleaze (just a small hint of Paul Stanley) and the production by Chris Laney (Zan Clan, Candlemass, Europe) kikks like a mule.

Fever Rock 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
26 January 2007

Well, first off, I guess you'd have to applaud Maloney & LeFevre, the two responsible for putting all the lost pieces back together. Can you imagine all the hard work and dedication it'd take to release a 2-CD compilation about the Lehigh Valley hardrock scene, and the "not-always-too-familiar" acts from the years of 1984 to 1994? Right on... the at the time area of Pennsylvania (Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton) could the easiest be described as a friggin' war zone of poodle perms and hairmetal wannabees. Here you have 30 tracks on double CD with 27 bands!!!

I can tell you right away that I'am indeed impressed by the whole package and the overall high standard and quality of the acts. Nope, you won't find worldwide known acts from the area such as Poison, Mr.Big, Megadeth, Lynch Mob, Alice Cooper, etc. Nonetheless, you're still going to recognize some names (well, at least yours truly did), and it's definitely a rocking good time for fans of the era. TEEZE is however one of the acts that did release music internationally and they are featured here with the song "Party Hardy". It's a fun Glam/Sleaze number which originally was released in 1985 on Roadrunner Records here in Europe (with the cheesiest frontcover ever? at least in a retrospective view - words from a proud owner of the vinyl, yes sir!).

It's difficult to name them all, however, here are some of the highlights. SWEET TEQUILA with their blues-based sound (Cinderella style) and the song "I Won't Be Crying". WASHED with two great songs (Guilty, Alone), especially the latter is a marvelous power ballad from the year of 1989. One of the greatest mysteries of the 'LV' music scene is appearently how they did NOT go onto national or even some international success. Indeed, I can merely nod and agree as these two tracks are superb. DESTROYER and the track "When Morning Comes" is excellent and dirty (raw) Glam in the vein of Wrathchild, Tigertailz, Pretty Boy Floyd. The band NASTY NASTY with "Deception" is yet another song from 1989, which you'll air-guitar your way through. IDOL THREATS and their 1992 "Find A Way" tune will remind you of both Icon and Steelheart (great!). AOR rock next with OMYNUS and the song "Don't Ever Wanna Say Goodbye" from the year of 1990. SAPIENT and "Lay Your Love On The Line" is typical Poison (Glam) rock from the year of 87. THE MOB (1989) with "Angry Young Child" is a sleazy rock version of Sacred Warrior. VICIOUS BARREKA is fun Thrash from the year of 87, KINGS CHAMBER with "Whenever I'm Near", DIRTY BLOND, etc, etc.

SwedMetal 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
26 January 2007

With a title like "Catch 22", you get this kinda psychic feeling (really?) that tells you it's going to be difficult to get a firm grip around this sucker. Indeed, Miscellany from my homeland Sweden does play a mixture of goth, opera, melodic (with just a hint of black) metal in its wildest form and structure. Yep, always with the kind of professionalism that will ensure a certain kind of commercial success, this is after all a rather nice mixture of acts such as Nightwish, Extol, and Tristania.

AFM Records 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
22 January 2007

"Aeronautics" was a fantastic album (read the review), but then vocalist Jorn Lande left and also later on drummer Uli Kusch decided to call it a day. Now, what happened, was Masterplan at its end? No way as this new fantastic CD proves! Newcomers vocalist Mike Dimeo (Riot, The Lizards) and drummer Mike Terrana (ex-Rage) are absolutely brilliant "replacements", making Masterplan an even better and tighter rock band.

"Mark 2" is the perfect melodic power metal album to start the new year with. This band pairs impressive song writing qualities with extraordinary technical skills that are absolutely beyond reproach. Just listen to magical tracks like "Warrior’s Cry" (an up tempo double bass headbanger), "Keeps Me Burning" (a driving mid tempo song) and "I’m gonna win", which is a very melodic song with a truly addictive chorus! (cannot get it out of my head for a couple of days now...)

Mike’s bluesy/hard rock voice fits in excellent with the "new" Masterplan sound and that Mike Terrana knows how to handle his drumsticks is beyond any doubt.

The best tracks for me are the the three last ones, which are at times rather heavy, but most of all they appeal to me so much because of the excellent guitar solos of Roland Grapow. I always knew that he was a great guitar player, but he really surprises me here with his excellent and rather long solos. Especially "Heart of darkness" is one of the best Masterplan songs ever. It kicks off with a string intro, followed by a heavy riff, bombastic musical parts and a sheer amazing guitar solo.

Quam Libet Records 2007
Review by Satu Reunanen
22 January 2007

This Swiss melodic dark metal band has been together since 1998 and "Between Heaven And Hell" is their third release, introducing a female singer Ludivine, who sings the clear parts beautifully, whereas St?phane does the darker parts. The band has been supporting acts such as Paul DiAnno, Impaled Nazarene and Transport League and has gotten good response to their releases, which isn't all that surprising.

Ever Since is doing something, that the Portuguese Moonspell already did over ten years ago, but with a female vocalist, strengthening the dark sound and giving it a more eerie and atmospheric sound. The band has included an electronical sound on this album, and those who normally would find the sound irritating, probably won't find it too disturbing here, as the music mostly relies on powerfully pounding metal hooks and the eerie atmosphere, where Jean-Philippe Lana's keyboards and samples play an important role.

Pivotal Rockordings 2007
Review by Petri Kautto,
22 January 2007

Sweden is pounding out melodic metal music like there’s no tomorrow. Blinded Colony, that did release an album already in 2003 is back with “Bedtime Prayers”. They are not too secretive about their influences (In Flames, The Haunted, Children of Bodom) and that’s the safe way to go, so obvious is the similarity. They’re recycling what has been done already, but the album has also some highlights which lift them above an average band.

As obvious as their talent is you don’t really feel that BC is using their full potential on this album. Songs like “Once Bitten Twice Shy” and “Aaron’s Sons” have great parts but the entity does not come together. And the same can be said about the whole album. Nothing wrong with it per se, it’s all ok but the entity lacks the daring to take the sound to the next level.

As mentioned the genre of melodic metal is a bit crowded at the moment, especially in the Nordic countries. There are a lot of good bands out there who can play well and deliver the songs, but originality and imagination in song writing is what is needed. Blinded Colony is on the right path but they are yet to find the breaking factor that would really make them stand out from the others.

Suncity Records 2006
Review by Petri Kautto,
22 January 2007

"Groovin' On The Backside" was recorded already in January 1991 but it never saw the light of day until Suncity Records released it just recently. The story is quite usual for that era: the album would have been released by Capital Records “but the Grunge invasion hit therefore having Capital dropping the boys in search of the of the next Kurt Cobain wannabe." I guess it’s as good a reason as any, but the truth is that there’s not much here to begin with. The songs are average at best and, apart from Raymond Jay Eveland’s guitar, it’s hard to find anything to praise about this album.

Now that rock music in general is more popular again it probably makes sense to dig up bands that “should have made it back in the day" and market them as treasures from the past. Raymond Jay Eveland is the only treasure on this album and he manages to save many of the mediocre songs. The most amazing saves are “Broken Heart" which is a typical ballad that was probably written because every band needed to have at least one ballad on their album, “Borrowed Time" that went from crap to filler because of him and the opener “Groovin’", that could have been a decent song if the drummer could keep a beat.

In 1991 there were so many hair bands around that you had to be spectacular in order to get your album out. Sweet Teaze was not and that fact won’t change this time around either. As much as I like to see Suncity Records take the time and the effort to find and release material from that era, unfortunately this one was a miss.

SPV 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
10 January 2007

"Mythmaker" is more or less a concept album based around the basic idea of control and mythic archetypes. It could either be about the political view of power and control (the song: "Politikil") or how religion is used as a tool by the morally bankrupt as a means of control (the song: "Ugli"). No matter what, "Mythmaker" maintains the contemporary feel Skinny Puppy explored on "The Greater Wrong Of The Right", while retaining the sonic nuances and the rather clever ideas of Ogre & Cevin Key.

Indeed, this is (still) a dark and atmospheric electronic /industrial rock album. You need to be open-minded when it comes to music as this isn't exactly easy accessible, it takes at least three or four tries before you begin to notice the material, and then another few plays before you start to like it. Some of the tracks doesn't click though, after all, this is the kind of noise that could still drive your neighbour crazy on high volume at the break of dawn. I'd especially recommend the track "Politikil" at full blast to get the best result and reaction from your surrounding [:-)].

MTM 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
9 January 2007

"Mask Of Sanity" is the latest effort by Sinner and it's also meant to be a return to their roots. Well, their roots were hardly ever meant to be all over the place, huh? Yeah, some tracks scream and wail like a fly trapped in a spider's web (really?), touching close to the familiar metal sound of the past. While others are more basic and moody (for instance: Diary Of Evil), coming across like a German Melodic Metal version of Thin Lizzy.

In fact, Sinner take a lot of their inspiration from Lynott & Co. and they've even gone as far as covering "Baby Please Don't Go" this time. Matthias Lasch aka Mat Sinner is a more than a decent shouter, but he's no real match for the late and great Brazilian/Irish rocker. But seriously, "Can't Stand The Heat" is nontheless a darn fine deadringer to Lizzy. Opening track "The Other Side" is a fine substitute to Running Wild and "Badlands" will surely work as the perfect headbanger's anthem after a beer or twenty. On the other hand, tracks like "Black", "Thunder Roar", "Revenge", "Under The Gun", etc. have no fun or even remotely exciting parts in them and it's frankly tame to the point of being lame. There's too many similar riffs and metal chords that you've heard a million times before and better executed I may add.

MetalHeaven 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
8 January 2007

Sinner again? well, not exactly the sort of thing you'd expect to hear after listening to his other recordings. This was Mat Sinner (Sinner, Primal Fear) and Armin Sabol's (Rage) first real band thing under the moniker of "Shiva" and they were originally involved in the Stuttgart metal scene between the years of 1977 and 1980. Their attempts to record a debut album back in the days ended up in the trash can though as the incomplete recording sessions were never officially released.

Fast forward to 2004, reunited for a couple of live gigs with new drummer Martin Schmidt (Atrocity, Leaves Eyes), recorded this very CD in 2006 and Metal Heaven has now decided to release it in 2007. Despite their legal rights to use the name of Shiva, the lads decided to rename the band as "Goddess Shiva" to avoid any confusion and mix up's with the UK or Swedish acts. This is definitely meat and potato hardrock in the style of the late 70's/early 80's and not quite as much "Trottel Metal" as Sinner, Rage, or Primal Fear. It shows that Sinner/Sabol are taking somewhat of a chance by not always smashing straight into the thick of the action of their "normal" acts. They are very much a 'power-trio' and inspired by the groove of Frank Marino and various 70's acts.

LionMusic 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
11 January 2007

Engine Of Pain is a new metal band from The Netherlands and "I Am Your Enemy" is their debut album. It's probably LionMusic's heaviest release to date with musical similarities to In Flames, The Haunted, and even some 80's Thrash in the vein of Violence. One thing's for sure though, they certainly throw themselves wholeheartedly into a intense cascade of Thrash and Nu-Metal riffs. It's been a while since you could experience such a vast rapid-fire like guitar work. In fact, the opening and titletrack "I Am Your Fire" is a perfect display of power riffing at its best.

However, overall, I really miss a musical vararity and several other segments such as bridges or even pre-chorus /chorus parts like the ones used for "Man Of The Year" and "At The End Of The Day". Here they have (for once, well, twice) actually bothered to look up from their instruments and swiftly move into a completely different direction through a couple of small and simple changes. Too many songs are too similar to eachother and it's all very monotonous in the long run. You could just simply quick skip the CD to find out that there's an awful lot of power riffing going on in the same 'basic' structure and arrangements.

909 Records 2006
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
10 January 2007

Not to be confused with the German Glam Rock band Shameless, this Californian band plays no-frills hard rock with only a few Glam overtones. Basically there's nothing wrong with their style or sound, it's just their songs that don't really do much for me.

Their album kicks off with two decent, straightforward rock tracks "She's So Pretty" and "Lifestyles", which remind me a bit of the likes of Hanoi Rocks and Backyard Babies. Things are looking good, but then there are a few bumps on the road... all the way to the end.

Third track "We Can Be Friends" is one the worst songs of the album, with really embarassing lyrics. "Up" is better, it starts with a riff that sounds a lot like the one in Poison's "Fallen Angel". It could use a real chorus though. "Are You Lady" continues the Glam theme, but just like the previous track, it suffers from the "no hook" syndrome. The pre-chrous build-up is nice, but the track falls on its' face when the "chorus" is merely the track's title repeated again and again.

"Bad Heart" is okay, "Knock On Wood" however... this song is just annoys the hell out of me for some reason. It might be the fact that it sounds so much like some recent hit...Smash Mouth or some pseudo-punk band like that. "Toll On Me" is more tolerable, although original it is not, a basic Guns'n Roses/Poison ballad.

Just like many of the previous tracks, "Rain" is yet another victim of the "no hook" syndrome, with a basic, monotonous one-line refrain. The last song "Do You Know" may not have a killer chorus either, but it's saved by some tasty guitar work.

The band has played a lot of gigs during the last couple of years, which leads me to believe that they might be a good live act. On record, their music doesn't really work that well. Stronger melodies and hooks, please!
909 Records
Shameless at MySpace

Inside Out, 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
11 January 2007

After the dreadful previous Pain of Salvation album "Be", I was really looking forward to their new CD. But already after the first "listening session" I was sheer disappointed, again...

What is wrong with POS, or better said, what is wrong with Daniel Gildenlow? Is there something in the water that he drinks? The new album "Scarsick" is again filled with 10 rather mediocre so-called progressive rock songs. However there is nothing new or refreshing about those tracks as all of them are actually made around a simple heavy riff, evolving into meaningless boring songs with sometimes catchy choruses and exceptionally few solos. What happened to the keyboard and piano passages, where the hell is the bass guitar and what is wrong with Daniel’s vocals?? They never sounded so dreadful and boring like on this CD.

Especially Daniel’s rap "singing", attempting to create a new sort of rap metal – like in "Spitfall" – is rather pathetic, but foremost lacks any kind of originality! Or maybe POS is trying to become the new System of a Down?

The worst song on the album is by far "Disco Queen", which is truly annoying, grating and not funny, as it sometimes sounds like a mix of George Michael, David Hasselhoff and Boney M!! "America" features a seventies/eighties-like chorus accompanied by a modern guitar sound, but it also features childish, stupid lyrics. It is really anti-American and anti-capitalist –which is acceptable if it is done right – sounding rather immature as the lyrics are almost entirely filled with simplistic cheap shots!

However, there are also 2 songs on the album which are actually okay, namely "Kingdom of loss" and the title track. The rest is in fact no step forward, a waste of money, or better said: mainstream carbage. So, I return to my question at the beginning of this review, what is wrong with POS as these guys are capable of so much more. Just listen to their first records!!

SPV 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
3 January 2007

Here they are, the dark, the gloomy, the weird, the outcast, the smelly, the poet, and last but not least, the gothic chick. Yep, the magnificent seven has once again returned to the post romantic world of Tristania. I can't say that I've been all that impressed by the Norwegians in the past, however, "Illumination" is clearly their best work up to date.

Gone are some of their most boring moments and their previous tendency to overkill the melodies with as many different musical sources as possible. New and better elements have been added to the sound and they've also worked with a string quartet for the first time, while still keeping the songs heavy. I guess that much credit must also go out to famed demon producer Waldemar Sorycha (Tiamat, The Gathering, Samael, etc.). He's been working closely together with the band and arranged the songs into a more catchy and atmospheric approach.

SPV 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
2 January 2007

I can't say that I'm a major fan of the Uli Jon Roth era of 'ze Scorpions. In fact, I find all of their 70's releases to be way too much flower-power, "hippie" music (except for the excellent 'Lovedrive' album of course) and Roth had since long already disappeared when I first discovered the band. The guitar work was a completely different story though and Uli Jon's soaring, singing, warm, guitar tone, happens to be one of the best in business.

This is indeed a mighty fine 2-CD compilation with the best of Roth since his departure from Scorpions after the "Tokyo Tapes" album. You will quickly notice why Yngwie Malmsteen quotes Roth to be one of his main inspirations and heroes as his classical work is quite outstanding. Roth's reworked versions of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" (which he wrote English lyrics to, renamed it as "Bridge To Heaven", and added smashing vocals by Tommy Heart - Fair Warning, V2), and "E Lucevan Le Stelle", THE ultimate Bach work of "Air De Bach" (yep, it's the song you'll hear in every darn classical collection commercial), Vivaldi's "War Of The Winds", Chopin and of course Mozart, do all speak of highest standard and quality. You'll be air-playing along to every single note and dreaming yourself away to a place where you're a just as good guitarist.

Die Laughing Records 2006
Review by the Bailey Brothers
2 January 2007

At last a release that captures the rawness and passion of one of the UK’s all time Glam stars GIRL. It’s a bootleg so not the best quality recording you will have ever heard but on the other hand, no over dubs or the other cheats that bands get up to in the studio and then claim the album is live! The favorite one at the moment is to record the fans and announcements live, then re-record all the album in the studio, put in the crowd reaction etc and claim it is a genuine live album. The labels have the cheek to challenge the fans for illegal downloads. Well what goes around comes around. It seems bootlegs are the only real live albums out there.

Meanwhile back at the bat cave Mick is banging his newly platted barnet to "My Number" one of his old time favorite Girl songs. It’s the sleazy, sexy "Hollywood Tease" that’s got my foot stomping as we pull the final Christmas cracker. There’s enough party songs on this bootleg to keep us both happy.

The original line up of Phil Lewis vocals, Gerry Laffy guitar, Phil Collen guitar, Simon Laffy bass and Bryson Graham drums unveil some pretty timeless gems that won the hearts of many Japanese fans as this CD demonstrates. If you would have asked Phil Collen (Def Leppard) back in 1980 if he thought he would have been playing stadiums his answer would have been YES! They thought they were stars from the off and it’s that confidence and swagger that got the band noticed. Phil Collen proved he was stadium material but the rest of the guy’s have also shown individually they are very talented. Put Girl in to the mid 80’s and who knows, maybe they would have been up there with the Motley Crue’s. The Girl party only lasted about three years but for those of us who were invited it was one we will never forget.

Die Laughing Records 2006
Review by the Bailey Brothers
2 January 2007

Girl were making videos before MTV existed. The Rare GIRL DVD collection shows the young wanna be rock stars strutting their stuff to camera, opening up the proceedings with HOLLYWOOD TEASE. Thin Lizzy influenced guitar players in Phil Collen (Def Leppard) and Gerry Laffy (Think CHINATOWN descending dual guitars). Girl are spearheaded by the babe magnet and vocalist Phil Lewis (LA GUNS) and are as comfortable in front of a camera lens as a baby in Huggie fit nappies. Before Simon Laffy spits the dummy out for not mentioning the bass player lets check out song number 2. It’s a cover of the Kiss classic DO YOU LOVE ME. Man, its so cheesy it would fit in between my Jacobs Crackers but you just got to dig Phil Collen in his Leopard skin box jacket. WHY? Because I had one just like it. Ha!. Its not got the same drive as the Kiss version and was made in an attempt to open up the American market for Girl. There’s a few live clips interspersed that look cool and the ending where Phil Lewis is singing to a load of mannequin dolls, then turns into one himself with the rest of the band is side splitting entertainment.

Next up is a bunch of Girl demos crying out to have an edit job on them. I know Gerry Laffy wanted to keep the footage raw but a band waiting around for the play back to begin just looks so naff. Thankfully the songs Take Me Dancing, You Really Got Me and My Number capture the essence of what GIRL were about. Ok the footage is relatively poor quality but the band self financed it and it helped them get a record deal. I’m not convinced there’s room for two versions of HOLLYWOOD TEASE in such a short space of time but to their credit GIRL look relaxed performing to a German TV studio audience...

Clip 9 features a more mature looking Gerry Laffy performing to his solo great Money And The Magic. He’s got a touch of Billy Idol vibe about him visually but there’s no white wedding just an invitation to a predominately black and white video. Basically its Gerry to camera in full close up with band members in the back ground, there’s the odd live and colour addition but the music is the real talking point. You forget what a good song writer Gerry was and still is until you hear this song.

Mandy is a different ball game all together. It could be Bret Michaels of Poison starting off EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN but its Gerry Laffy doing this ballad dressed in pink. It’s a bit predictable (the music not the jacket) but easy on the eye and the ear.

Sheer Greed, the band formed by Gerry Laffy is a surprise inclusion with the song No WAY OUT featured. We didn’t even know Sheer Greed did a video to this song but that’s no big surprise because neither did Mel Gabbitas and it features his brother Neil on guitar. To be honest it’s probably picked for its commercial potential but Sheer Greed wasn’t ever going to re-ignite the Laffy magic with this video.

The bonus footage features Girl in Japan and its cool to check out the bands personalities but the wavering camera can be a bit annoying. There’s an opportunity to see GIRL being interviewed which is a laugh especially as they constantly take the piss out of the people interviewing them.

Frontiers 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
2 January 2007

No, nope, no-can-do. I can't for the world figure out why the mighty House Of Lords would go on tour without a keyboard player among their ranks??? What we end up with is a live show from the fall of 2005 with backing vocals on tapes and pre-programmed keys. Yes, it's as exciting as it seems and it'll have you thinking about acts like Britney Spears and Milli Vanilli rather than a classy hardrock band of the 80's. What to do when you've already been pre-programmed to stick to a certain version of a song? I tell you what, there's absolutely nothing you can do, thus why this live outing comes down like a 747 on a wing and a prayer. Crash and burn, baby, crash and burn!!!

OK, enough already with the lame doom and gloom speech. James Christian is still a great vocalist, Lanny Cordola a superb string-bender, Chuck is always Chuck, and Ken Mary is a timekeeper supreme. You simply can't remove all the magic from such great songs as "Sahara", "Chains Of Love", "Love Don't Lie", Pleasure Palace", "The Edge Of Your Life", "I Wanna Be Loved", "Can't Find My Way Home" and "Slip Of The Tongue". Hell, a good song is always a good song, it's just that it's all a bit too sterile, too perfect, and not enough of the live feeling of everything.

Frontiers 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
2 January 2007

Frontiers 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
3 January 2007

Blimey, does the world really need another cover album? If so, is Jorn (Masterplan, Yngwie) the man to provide it? Well, the world had a quick business meeting and came up with the solid answer of both yes and no (ain't that just typical). "Unlocking The Past" is without a question the most impressive cover album in ages... but on the other hand... it's just a cover album... with some really, really, really, great songs though.

Jorn is the obvious deadringer to both Ronnie James Dio and David Coverdale (hell, he even did that 'Snakes' gig with Moody/Marsden) and tracks like "Fool For Your Loving", "Burn", and "Kill The King" are easy targets and dead-sure homeruns. However, it's actually close to goosebumps warning as "Cold Sweat" (Thin Lizzy) kicks in and you'll end up with two rather obvious conclusions. 1 - Jorn is a friggin' great vocalist. 2 - all these classic hardrock tracks are so friggin' much better than any of Jorn's daytime material. Hell, if only he could come up with songs of this caliber otherwise, but then again, no-one can, huh? at least not anymore.

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