SPV 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
1 October 2007

Being a true fan of the Flower KIngs I was really looking forward to their new album. Especially beacuse I was a bit disappointed about their previous album called "Paradox Hotel". "The Sum Of No Evil" fortunately again is an almost perfect example of timeless prog rock music, or in other words: Flokis to the max! This album is pure prog and real hard core symphonic rock and to accomplish this the band worked in a studio that specialises on sixties and seventies vintage recording equipment. Furthermore the band used a lot of "Old" analogue keyboards, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer, Rhodes, grand pianos and lots of mini moogs and old tube amplifiers for the guitars. Being a massive fan of early seventies prog I really love this new Flokis album.

The real Flokis musical characteristics are all there, melodies, the mix of intricate, busy prog fusion and the sheer brilliant majestic symphonic pieces. The album has some hints of their classic albums "Stardust We Are' and "Flower Power", but it also has a lot of ideas from the Transatlantic albums.

The CD starts with the multi-layered "One More Time", a very Yes-like track with lots of organ parts/melodies and many guitar solos that really sound like the good old seventies. The epic song (more than 25 minutes!!) "Love Is The Only Answer", is the absolute highlight of this CD. It is a true eventful journey throught the history of prog rock, filled with familiar melodies, psychedelic passages, heavenly guitar parts. duo vocals by Roine and Hasse, and even a great sounding sax solo in the middle.

"The Sum Of No Reason" is again a guitar dominated track with lots of wah wah solos and a grand musical duel between Roine (guitar) and Thomas (keyboards). "Life In Motion" also features some Yes-like melodies and some really cool guitar solos.

Fourth Chord Records 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
2nd October 2007

Doesn't time fly! This is Quo's 33rd album, and there can't be many of you out there who haven't owned at least one Quo album or single. When I was a youngster I was a bit of a Quo fan, but in the last fifteen years or so I haven't touched them with a barge pole, or even any other sort of pole. I think it was the abysmal cheesiness of the likes of “Burning Bridges” or “The Anniversary Waltz” (shudder) that convinced me that the safest place to be a Quo fan was in the past. “In Search Of The Fourth Chord” has been getting some very positive notices, so I decided to rustle up copy to find out for myself if Quo had become worth listening to again.

Both the album title and cartoonish Indiana Jones-ish cover art show that Quo have yet to lose their sense of humour. The package is a nice one, given that it's been released under their own label, Fourth Chord Records. From the off, it's big sigh of relief time, as I can guarantee you will be singing along to “Beginning Of the End” before it's even half way over. It's followed by the equally Quo-esque “Alright”, and both are spot on examples of why this band have endured for so long. “Pennsylvania Blues Tonight” completes a memorable opening hat trick , taking the tempo down a little but remaining a catchy memorable song nonetheless. “I Don't Wanna Hurt You Anymore” could be the best track on the album, purely because it is stuffed full of the very essence of Quo, with the old twelve bar boogie riffs and horrendously catchy tune taking no prisoners. This would slip in easily on any of their classic albums.

“In Search of The Fourth Chord” is the best Status Quo album for many a year, and if you're a lapsed fan like me you'll get a huge kick out of the old school approach. The whole thing, with the exception of the rather duff “Tongue Tied” is a toe tapping riot or happy, energetic songs that give you a real lift inside. Welcome back, boys, now let's burn all existing copies of “The Anniversary Waltz” and make the world a better place...
www.statusquo.co.uk

AFM Records 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
24 September 2007

I really do not understand why these Swedish Poodles are so successful, as their music is just a modern mix of old glam rock bands like Poison, Ratt, Motley Crue and Cinderella. The sound of their music is ok but their songs are so cliche and Spinal Tap-like that I sometimes think that this is a joke........

Take for e.g. song titles like "Flesh And Blood", "Walk The Line" or "Without You", which are all so true cliches that I cannot take these guys seriously... However that would not be a problem if the music would be good and original but here the Poodles really take the piss as all of the 12 tracks are so packed with rock/pop cliches that after three songs I was already so fed up with this album that I had trouble in listening to it in one take.

Their music is a total rip off of the already mentioned bands and if you listen carefully to a song like "Thunderball" you hear a definite AC/DC intro. Of course there are also the obligatory ballads like "We Are One" (super cliche song), "Without You"(a pop ballad, very tiresome) and "Shine" (a piano ballad which almost makes me want to puke...)

In the biography is written that this is the best record of the last years from Scandinavia, which is absolute rubbish and they also say that this is pure sugar for every melodic rock and metal fan???? I can tell you that if you are a metal fan that you do not want to hear this album as "Sweet Trade" has nothing to do with metal whatsoever!!

RCA/Sony 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
25 September 2007

Foo Fighters, not all too moody and depressive in the year of 2007. Some of the tracks are more Classic Rock and others Power-Pop, than ever before. I quite like the opening single, "The Pretender". They have moved the long-gone Seattle sound into a more happy, go-easy, direction and style. This is catchy modern rock with a retro twist.

In fact, "Long Road To Ruin", could be their take on Tom Petty and Nelson-twins melodies of the early 90's and it works out remarkably well. "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" is a rather suitable title indeed. There's a variety of music and styles created by Grohl and the band is thankfuly versatile enough to go along with his ideas. It's a bit too much at times though and I'm not sure why the last five tracks are all softies???

The closing three are actually closer to the sound of Paul McCartney and The Wings. Simply switch lead vocalists and voilá, "Statues", "But Honestly", and the piano ballad, "Home", could all have been the work of the 70's Macca. Well, ok, you obviously need a bit of imagination when it comes to the latter. "Summer's End" is a sweet and sour mix of Beatles, Petty, and Foo melodies of the past. A future hit, I'm sure, and it proves once and for all that Foo no longer feel a need to over-do or complicate things. Simplicity works the best and all you really need is a hook.

SPV Steamhammer 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
24 September 2007

Back in 1998 Iced Earth released an album called "Something Wicked This Way Comes". The final twenty minutes of that CD featured the debut of the "Something Wicked" trilogy, a 3-part epic overview of a story written and created by Jon Schaffer. Now, nine years later, after years of hard work Jon has delivered the first part of what will become Iced earth's magnum opus. This new CD is the first of two albums weaving a thrilling science fiction tale of mankind's invasion of earth (sounds familiar??), the planet occupied by the direct descendants of the grand architect of the universe. These people called The Setians, are the earth's most ancient culture, and they are the wisest and most peaceful race in existence. It is a fascinating tale and the entire story is told through the music, the lyrics and the album artwork as well.

The CD starts with a rather classical intro filled with percussion, violins, guitars and a choir, followed by a typical Iced Earth song. "Something wicked part 1" is a great metal song with Ripper screaming at the top of his mighty lungs. Then we have the "Invasion"(sounds of machine guns and lasers), "Motivation of Man" (grunting vocals and heavy riffs) and another typical IE song, full of screaming vocals and guitar work. The first real musical highlight is "Order of the Rose", a true bombastic metal anthem with two speedy, melodic guitar solos from Jon and Trov.

The second killer track is called "The Clouding",an epic song clocking over 9 minutes, presenting an acoustic guitar intro, followed by great vocal parts, a fantastic slide guitar solo and some killer guitar riffs and hooks. "The Domino Decree" is a Judas Priest-like metal song with high pitched vocals, headbanging riffs and even an organ solo. This album ends with "The Awakening", featuring a female voice, a choir and a narrative voice, making it all very mysterious...

Sony/J Records 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
24 September 2007

Into The Wild? a more appropriate title would clearly have read: 'Into The Void'. There's a lot of space and territory to be found among these tracks as Eddie Vedder goes for a very laidback approach. Not quite a proper solo album though as this is a movie soundtrack and most, if not all of the songs, are likely to have been written for a specific moment and scene.

It's apperantly a Sean Peen film, based around the book written by Jon Krakauer about some honor student who donates all his money, leaves what he thinks is a sick society, and eventually dies of starvation... gee... sounds like fun. Reading quickly through the lyrics and you'll notice that it's mostly about leaving society behind and walking into the great wide open.

It's mellow, acoustic, guitar music with a hint of folk-rock and the occasional banjo. In fact, "Rise", could have been left over from the Bruce Springsteen folk-rock project. Yep, do not expected to find much or any aggressive rock or electric guitars within the walls. Merely opener, "Setting Forth", the Indio cover, "Hard Sun", and "Far Behind", bare resemblance to his daytime job with Pearl Jam. The rest are all trying to creating a rather sad and depressive context about a person that finally dies of starvation.

Demolition 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
24 September 2007

Very heavy, very metal, very average. "Dominator" is business as usual when it comes to W.A.S.P. and it's certainly like all their other CD's as of lately. That's probably also my biggest issue, it seems like Lawless has basically run out of ideas. The album simply lacks of memorable moments and not even a handful of the tracks included are keepers in my book.

This is supposed to be a typical album in the grand, old, tradition of 80's metal. It's a concept album in a way that it deals with topics such as terrorist, US goverment issues, and some more or less critical views against the Bush goverment. Ok, I definitely need to halt this "story" now as it's really up to the listener to decide what it's all about. It's very post 9/11 though.

Frontiers 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
25 September 2007

Jorn is a Nordic vocal God. He's got the power Of Thor and the wisdom of Odin within those lungs of his. If he could just remove some of his most obvious Coverdale influences, he could easily become a legend of his own trade. This won't happen that easily though, especially since there's a +17 minute long Whitesnake medley included on this live platter.

Well, ok, let's be honest here, most of his own material are deeply rooted into the 'Whitesnake' (Dio, Deep Purple) sound and there's simply no escape while listening to tracks like: "Duke Of Love" and "Out To Every Nation". And really, who gives a damn if he's just a "copycat" as long as he's belting out top-quality songs like the ones above.

Omnibus Press 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
25 September 2007

Freelance writer Neil Daniels, who writes for Record Collector and Fireworks magazines among others, has chosen Judas Priest as the subject of his first book. Despite the lack of co-operation from the band members, he has put together a very thorough and detailed book about these legends of Heavy Metal. One could probably compile a book worth reading out of the hundreds of magazine interviews and articles on the band, but Daniels hasn't settled on that. He has put a lot of time and effort into tracking down childhood friends, co-workers, journalists and other people involved in the Judas Priest story. By doing this, he has gathered a lot of interesting material.

Even though Daniels is obviously a fan of the band, he's not afraid to criticize the band and some of the decisions they have made. I believe that without the band's participation, this story may actually be a bit more closer to the truth than what it might have been, if the band members would have been involved.

One of the most interesting parts of the book for me were Daniels' informative album reviews. Since I've been merely a casual listener of Judas Priest, I haven't paid that much attention to many of their albums. After reading this book and the reviews, I do intend to check out some of those early eighties albums and possibly re-visit some of the others too. If renewing the reader's interest is one of the main motives of a rock book, then this book has succeeded in it. Not to mention that it's alltogether a very entertaining read and one that I went through in record time. I was actually quite disappointed when the actual story was told, even though there seemed to be at least one third of the pages left! They were just appendices, including discographies, tour dates... and I was just getting warmed up!

Tramper Records 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
20th September 2007

The problem with a band name like Good Grief is that when you search for it online you get an awful lot of Charlie Brown sites but not many band sites. Round headed kids aside, Good Grief are that backbone of the British music scene, a bunch of hard working musicians just trying to get their stuff out to people. For a self produced debut, “In Your Own Time” certainly shows a lot of promise. Vocalist Tramper Price seems to have graduated with honours from the Paul Rodgers school of singing, emerging with a sweat stained diploma and a voice that could take a womans clothes off at thirty paces. It’s no surprise to learn he has performed with the likes of Slash and Ronnie Wood.

Opener “Baby Etc” is a cool slice of blues rock, overusing the “B” word like Skin on a bad day but working nicely all the same. Harmonicas come into play for the soulful “Mike Soma”, followed by keyboards and strings on “Forevermore”. It’s so easy to stick to a rigid formula, and many bands do this without a problem, but Good Grief seem to be intent on twisting that formula of “Bluesy Rock” a bit with each song. It’s all recognisably from the same stable, but each tune tries it’s best to be a horse of a different colour. There’s a bit of funk thrown in, a couple of ballads and a whole lotta fun to be had.

“In Your Own Time” is a good, honest slice of the London music scene that serves as an example to all aspiring rock bands. They may not be world famous, but Good Grief have made themselves an album of undeniable quality. Come on over to the Smoke and see them live in a pub somewhere, as I think they might just blow your socks off.
www.myspace.com/goodgriefonline

BLP 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
17 September 2007

MOZKOVITCH!!! Bless you! ... and kindly wipe your nose. But seriously, it does sound like something you might say while sneezing, no? Anyhow, the average age of this Swedish band is merely seventeen (17), yet they sound like a bunch of 55 year old geezers. What's up with that? Well, their music is quite ancient and could just as easily have been the work of seventeen year olds in the year of 1970.

So if you thought the early 70's rock was long dead and gone, think again. The mixture is clearly rock solid and wholly suitable to their inspiration from acts such as Blue Cheer, Mountain, Bloodrock, Hendrix, Sabbath, Cream, Lizzy, etc. Similary, ultra heavy guitars blends nicely with raunchy vocals, creating a fine and high chemistry of the long gone days... and daze for that matter.

AFM 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
16 September 2007

The biggest problem with Eden's Curse is all too obvious. They've got no real material, no songs, just bits and pieces of things that could have been. In fact, there's a million of bits and pieces all over the place and one can't help to wonder who or whom shattered this particular puzzle? Pick them all up and get all the pieces back together again and they'd still have merely two or three decent tunes.

Chocolate F 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
19 September 2007

I'm a huge admirer of Fish ever since I first discovered Marillion in the mid 90's. Fish is clearly not the best singer of the animals (fish & hog), but he was in possession of top notch songwriting, witty lyrics, and sheer devotion for his cause. His solo career started out grand with "Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors", but let's be honest here, there hasn't been too much to write home about for the last decade.

AmBeCa 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
16 September 2007

Where to draw the line between progressive rock and simply just weird stuff??? Well, this is where I'll have to put my foot down and say that Band Of Rain have clearly passed the point of no return. "Arts & Allurements" is indeed a complex album with many layers and depths, however, it's just too 'hippie' and 'out there' to become really interesting in the long run.

Lead vocalist Sharon Leslie is an interesting character though. There's a lot of thoughts and ideas behind her lyrics and the music is set to work as the soundtrack of your dreams. Ehem, well, not really. I'am however a major fan of Kate Bush and it's not like I can't stand a female vocalist with many different ideas about how music should be performed. Sharon is nontheless too much of a hippie child in my opinion and the haunting ghost of The Doors (one of the worst bands ever!!!) is sadly present throughout the album. Add bits of Bjork and early 70's prog and you're even closer to the core of BOR.

Megaforce/Silvercat 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
19 September 2007

Yikes!!! Look what the cat dragged in. Now... major Kiss fan here and I'am aware of Peter's background and his love for big-band, swing, jazz, and all that. Still, this is so utterly disappointing that I can barely play the entire CD without bursting into tears. Ehem, well, not quite, but you get the picture.

To be frank, the main ingredients here are borderline and strickly off key vocals and poor songwriting. It's elevator music that will force the listener to rush up the stairs in a desperate attempt to avoid a panic attack. In fact, I haven't noticed such a insidious and sly packaging since the latest Gene $immons CD. Well, c'mon, the artwork pays tribute to 9/11 and it sure looks like rock'n'roll to me. No such luck though.

BRR 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
20 September 2007

"Live On Fire" is the latest offering by the Italian rocker... ehh... Bruno Kraler. Yep, Brunorock is the name and melodic rock is still his favourite game. I have absolutely no information about when or how this live platter was done/recorded. He shouts out classy teutonic phrases such as 'Guten Abend' and 'Danke' in between songs, so my guess would be Germany.

Seriously, the info-sheet merely gives away other facts such as: mixed by Bobby Altvater at Sky Studios and the two bonus studio tracks were mixed by Michael Wagener. Half of the packaging is very professional and superbly done though. Smashing artwork throughout the entire booklet by Mattias Norén @progart, plus the usual song credit and line-up presentation of course. However, it would have been nice to have some more meat on the bones.

The overall sound is surprisingly honest and upfront with Brunorock's vocals as the centre of attention. OK, it does sound a bit too good at times, and hey, let's not kid ourselves, all "live" albums have been touched up and re-done in a studio afterwards. Tracks like "Castaway" and "Take The Trophy", have clearly come alive though and you can watch.. ehh.. hear them from a different angle and point of view. There's only two tracks (Born Winner, Two Hearts One Weapon) from his "X-Over" release and sadly none of his funkier tunes.

Frontiers 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
13 September 2007

Pink Cream 69-frontman David Readman is one of the best hard rock vocalists to emerge during the nineties. He has made a lot of friends with his excellent performances not only on the PC69 albums and gigs, but also as the vocalist on two Adagio albums and in the rock opera Missa Mercuria. Now he has realized one of his longtime dreams, a solo album.

For those of you who have enjoyed Readman's output in PC69 this album is a safe bet. It's superbly produced by his bandmate Dennis Ward, and at times the style of the music isn't that far from Pink Cream 69. While some of the songs wouldn't sound out of place on a PC69 album, the overall vibe of this album is a bit less metallic, almost AOR'ish. The musicians on the album are of the highest calibre, incl. Alex Beyrodt, Tommy Denander, Eric Ragno and Paul Logue, just to name a few.

One couldn't really ask for a stronger opener than "Without You", a guitar-driven, highly melodic rocker with a strong chorus and some tastefully placed keyboards. I don't have the info who's playing what and where, but the guitarists on this track throw in some very cool textures. A superb song and one of the highlights of 2007. Next up is "Evil Combination", one of the heaviest songs of the album. The grandiose intro in the vein of House Of Lords or Giant promises good things, and a decent track it is, but the chorus doesn't win me over.

Readman's Whitesnake influences show up heavily on "Take These Tears", which borrows heavily from Whitesnake's hit "Is This Love". He must really like that song, as it'll pop up later again... An interesting sidenote: there's a track called "Take Those Tears" on the first PC69 album - nothing like this song and Readman wasn't in the band back then, but it's still an odd coincidence.

"Don't Slip Away" sounds like a mixture of Pink Cream and AOR, and as messy as that might sound, it's quite delicious. Somehow the song manages to sound laid back and urgent at the same time. I'm not too fond of the heavy and pounding "No Peace For The Wicked", which again sounds a bit like Whitesnake ("Judgement Day" perhaps), but the catchy "Long Way To Heaven" gets a thumbs up. A familiar sounding AOR groove, but very good nevertheless.

The pace is picked up with the furious "Wild In The City". The white snake raises its' head again, as this time Readman has taken an idea or two from 'Snake's "Bad Boys". Still, the song seriously rocks and the guitarists are on fire. A more melodic number would be a good one to follow it, and that's what we get with the excellent "Gentle Touch". This semi-ballad is definitely one of my favourites and pure melodic bliss from start to finish.

The uptempo "Prisoner Of Shame" is another winner and one that will surely appeal to the PC69 fans. Can't say the same for "New Messiah", which is one half of the "let's go acoustic" section. The chorus is just irritating, and the song seems a bit repetetive to me. The other half is "Over The Ocean", which is better, a kind of a Danny Vaughn-like "campfire singalong song".

The majestic ballad "Love In Vain" closes the album... well, majestically. The Whitesnake connection shows up once again, with some familiar lyrics here'n there, although musically this track is more Readman than Coverdale. You may find some musical similarities to the Readman-penned PC69-ballad "That Was Yesterday".

Although I could've done without a couple of the tracks, the remaining 10 make up for them, and the overall quality displayed here deserves to be applauded. With this one and "In10sity" below his belt, mr. Readman is most likely to walk away with the title of "The Vocalist Of The Year 2007".
www.readman.pandomas.de

Sanctuary Records 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
22nd August 2007

Here’s a nice little exclusive for us. Fortune Drive are a talented up and coming young band from Bristol, England, who, with a little luck, could make a big splash in the British rock pool. "A Modern Question” is their first album, although they have made videos for a few songs that can easily be found on YouTube.

Fortune Drive make music that could be dismissed as just another bit of Brit Indie, but look deeper and there’s more here than you’ll find on an album by, say, The Kaiser Chiefs. Opening track "Said It All" is a good, mid paced britrock track that serves as a nice introduction to the band. They have a good sense of melody and pace, with songs that seem to weld together elements of The Smiths (not the miserable stuff), The Arctic Monkeys and U2, with perhaps the rock sensibilities of the likes of Everclear.

Singer/guitarist Bobby Anderson unsurprisingly dominates proceedings, especially on the three minutes plus instrumental section of "To The Rye". Elsewhere, his unpolished but tuneful vocals carry songs like "My Girlfriend’s An Arsonist" away from potential novelty and into serious rock territory. His guitars continuously twang away in the background, straddling the line between indie and stadium rock.

"A Modern Question" will either be a very big album or an unnoticed footnote in rock history. Either way, those who own it will be happy, as it’s a top slice of British rock music that deserves to be heard.
www.fortunedrive.com

Frontiers 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
13 September 2007

Having been let down by most of these "comeback" albums by the eighties hard rock bands, I wasn't expecting too much of this either. The first two tracks did almost make me fell out of my chair - they've got the hooks, the energy and the band sounds like they mean it! Seriously good stuff, and better than anything I remember hearing from them since... well, 1989 I guess. It all goes a bit downhill from there, as the rest of the album never really reaches the same level, and it's mostly bluesy, balladic kind of stuff.

Out of the remaining tracks, the highlights are the ballads, which have always been one the band's strengths. "How Far Is Heaven", "Play On" and "Just Yesterday" are all good songs, maybe not quite as good as classic GW ballads like "Save Your Love", but then again, few ballads are. The rockier tracks aren't quite as interesting, "okay" at best, and very uninspired at worst. If "Back To The Rhythm" made me believe the lyrics ("I'm on the top, and back to the rhythm again"), with "Still Hungry" they couldn't fool anyone to feed them... the song tries to recycle the vibe of "Lady Redlight", but fails miserably, and the hook sounds really forced. I also wonder whether the GW original "Cold World" which is on the US version of the album is better than the rather dull cover of Humble Pie's "30 Days In The Hole"... It doesn't have to be a much of a song for that.

Looking at the overall picture, the album has enough good moments not to be called a let-down. Everything is exceptionally well executed, and the voice of Jack Russell is still among the best. Maybe it's the sign of the times, as back in the eighties the band could have released this as a nine- or ten-track album, and it would have made a better impression without the weaker tracks. Quality over quantity.
www.mistabone.com

Rusto-Osiris 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
14 September 2007

"Slothful & Vile" is the debut release from Finnish band AHMA, and I don't really know what to make of it. Their brand of aggressive rock/metal isn't something that I'd usually care to listen to, but I have to give them credit for coming up with a very professional package. The sound is suitably grinding and uncompromising, with some modern touches, the artwork is suitably disturbing and the songs fit into the package as well. They range from the Motorhead-like opener "Serpent Tongue" to the thrash-influenced barrage of noise called "Dyed Red", with all kinds of elements in between. Frankly, apart from the surprisingly melodic hook of the opener, there's very little for me to enjoy. I am not sure whether majority of our readers would care for this kind of music either.

Coincidentally, the two songs mentioned can be checked out on the bands' MySpace page, so if you're in the mood from some modern, aggressive rock/metal, you might like Ahma's sound. I didn't, but I don't really think that I'm in their target audience.
www.ahmametal.com
Ahma at MySpace

Frontiers 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
6 September 2007

Primal Fear, now at Frontiers Records and with a title that reads "New Religion". Blimey, well, they did release that Meldrum CD and Rob Halford compilation quite recently too. Excellent move and who cares about which kind of hardrock genre they're "supposed" to release as long as it's quality CD's such as these. I haven't been too impressed by the other Mat Sinner projects as of lately, however, the new Primal Fear is probably his best trackrecord ever??? Well, Primal Fear has always been my favourite act of all the Sinner's.

Opener "Sign Of Fear" takes off slowly like a fat, old, spider (straight out of the comics), but only too soon will the listener find themselves trapped and tangled in its web. The lead vocals by Ralf Scheepers (ex-Gamma Ray) are out-of-this-world and completely over-the-top. It's the sort of demonic, high-pitched, performance, that a certain Rob Halford used to do in the past.. but I'm not even sure he's capable of doing these screams anymore. "Face The Emptiness" is a bombastic and very melodic rocker that comes through like a number from the Allen/Lande project.

"Everytime It Rains" is a duet with Simone Simons (Epica) and it's definitely a brand new chapter in the book of Primal Fear. It's orchestration and almost gothic approach works magic as it's a winner in the field of female fronted Goth vs. German power metal. The title track, "New Religion" is rather typical, teutonic, rocker. Go figure, huh? darn catchy though. Next up is the magnum opus of all Primal Fear compositions. "Fighting The Darkness" is epic metal at its best and you'll quickly notice how the Swedish Metal/Rock sound is all over this track. It's a nine-minute long composition in three parts where the second one is an orchestration interlude with a grande finale and everything (aka crescendo). Very bombastic, very catchy, and with a great work by Ronald Prent (Manowar, Rammstein, Def Leppard) behind the desk.

"Blood On Your Hands" and "The Curse Of Sharon", are two powerful rockers where Ralf gets to shine the most. Especially the latter where guitarists Stefan Leibing and the returning son of Henny Wolter, play out some massive riffing to accomplish another homerun for the Germans. "Psycho" is such a simple yet fun metal number, "World On Fire" features both double bass drumming and a catchy refrain, and closing track, "The Man (That I Don't Know) is a bombastic, James Bond goes metal kind of song.

Lion Music 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
30 August 2007

Joop Wolters is a Dutch guitar player who has been releasing albums since 1995; maybe the bands Arabesque or Elysion are familiar to you... "Out Of Order" is his third solo album and on the album are 16 new instrumental guitar tracks, ranging from metal, rock, jazz, funk and even fusion. The first two songs are really metal-like; a bit of Friedman, Becker and Moore; meaning rather heavy riffs, hooks and up tempo melodies. "Anthem" is Joop's interpretation of the Dutch national anthem called "Wilhelmus", which really turned out well.

One of my favourites on this album is called "Divide And Conquer", which features magical arpeggios, ferocious solos, staccatto riffs and out of this world melodies. This is probably one of the best guitar songs I have heard in a long time. "Bleed" is a Satch/Zaza/Urso-like ballad. loaded with amazing melodies and goose flesh solos. "When Little Angels" is another very melodic ballad with again truly amazing guitar picking.

Fueled By Ramen 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
22 August 2007

Paramore return for what can essentially be considered more of the same after their debut “All We Know Is Falling” was lapped up by teenage girls on the lookout for a positive role model in rock music. So is more of the same a good thing? Of course it is!

By now you should have heard the first single, the superbly catchy “Misery Business”, and perhaps the follow up “Hallelujah”, and trust me, if you like these two then this is an album that will definitely float your boat. Hayley Williams is a great singer, not perhaps the greatest in the world, but she works incredibly well with this sort of disenfranchised poppy punk stuff, putting a weary edge into some intelligent lyrics. Paramore don't go over the top with the metal attitude, stopping short of being proper punk, seemingly happy to be a pop band with guitars and attitude. There's even a couple of cool slowies on here that both work well.

“Riot” is a surprisingly good album, considering that in all honesty the debut felt a bit flat to me. This time around the songwriting has been sharpened and the result is an album full of catchy hooks snagged onto good songs. Have a listen to the singles, and if you like them this comes seriously recoommended.
www.paramore.net

Lion Music 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
30 August 2007

Tomorrow Eve's first two albums "The Unexpected World" and "Mirror Of Creation" were very successful. After that the line up of the band changed considerably and with some new guys the third CD called "Mirror Of Creation 2" was recorded and released in 2006.

This mini album consists of two new songs("The Tower" and "Remember") which will also be on the new upcoming album and two special treats, being new versions of "Success"and "Not From This World". "The Tower" is a prog metal song with brutal vocals, very bombastic and some really heavy passages; a killer track. "Remember" has an acoustic guitar intro with piano and after 2:30 the tempo changes and the band really comes to live again. This song has a real powerful chorus which is very addictive.

Perris 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
6 September 2007

Backwash, huh? Well... I enjoyed this. It's actually quite primitive and basic meat and potato stuff from the yodeling land of Switzerland. It's neither too fancy nor over the top. It's also rather contagious and overall lethal performed "sleaze" in the vein of early Backyard Babies and Junkyard. In fact, Backwash come over surprisingly easy on the ear and their debut album "Kick Ass" indeed.

Opening number, "Legless", sets the pace and attitude of the entire album. Thundering drums, screaming guitars, and a fine shouter in the form of Bob the vocalist. Throw in sleazy and melodic bursts, here in the shape of tracks like: "My Good & Bad", "No Gun No Fun", "No More Favours", "Tell My Line", which all have a lot of bite and hook, and you're all set to go.

Sanctuary Records 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
22 August 2007

Putting together a Glenn Hughes anthology must be a hard job, as the man has never shied away from work, releasing numerous solo albums as well as collaborating with everyone and his dog over the years. Mind you, at least you’re not going to come out with a bad collection of songs, such is the wealth of material on offer.

“This Time Around” gives us 29 tracks, with the first CD mainly concentrating on Trapeze, Deep Purple and the likes of Hughes/Thrall and Gary Moore, as well as a track from his work with Tony Iommi, “No Stranger To Love” from the Sabbath album that wasn’t really a Sabbath album “Seventh Star”. The second CD is all solo stuff, from the funky “Coffee & Vanilla” and the lounge lizard cool of “Double Life” to the more rocky overtures of “Midnight Meditated” and “Dopamine”. There’s also a previously unreleased demo, “Justine” and a live version of “This Time Around” for completitsts.

You can’t really go wrong with an album like this, as it’s stuffed full of quality tracks that ably demonstrate why Hughes is so deified by sections of the rock fraternity. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s a fine introduction to a rare talent, featuring a real historical mixture of styles and songs.
www.glennhughes.com

Lion Music 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
30 August 2007

Simone Fiorletta is the guitar player of the Italian metal band Moonlight Comedy. "My Secret Diary" is his second solo album and this CD shows again Simone's technical and soulful way of guitar playing. The album offers you 10 songs which could all be described as neo classical prog rock; so if you are more into metal then this album will probably not be to your liking. The CD kicks off with a song called "A Day In California". The song has a couple of nice, melodic guitar solos which sound a bit like Satch or Firkins. The music is not only guitar oriented as the keys also play a dominant part in most of the songs.

Escape 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
4 September 2007

Now this is an appropriately ruff-n-tuff piece of guitar driven rock with strong 80's metal undertones, from this Swedish based five-piece. Jet Trail is the name and "Edge Of Existence" is the game, which is clearly characterised by commanding and strong female vocals by Carolina Lindwall and biting work by former Promotion (pre-Grand Illusion) guitarist, Jon Stavert (Mikael Rickfors, Mats Ronander, etc).

The steady rhythm section in the form of Johan Holst and former Promotion, Grand Illusion drummer Christian Sundell, completes the Swedish line-up. Don't expect this to be anything like any of the above mentioned acts though. This is definitely more basic hardrock/metal of the 80's than AOR and not at all that pink and fluffy.

Opener, "War Zone", is a loud and proud shout-out to the 80's metal and acts like Lee Aaron, Crystal Pride and Doro. The groovy approach of "Killing Ghosts", veers more towards the gentler, more melodic side of metal, while "Can't You Hear Me Calling" is blessed with a pure AOR chorus part (á la Dante Fox, Alyson Avenue), the verse is slightly heavier though and filled with biting guitarwork by Stavert. "Gorham's Cave" flirts with the sound of Blackmore's Knight and medival folk music. "Holy Ground" will take you briefly back to the sound of Crystal Pride and their mid-80's metal. "Never Say Never" starts out with a riffing attack in the vein of early Lee Aaron with a hint of KISS á la Gene Simmons.

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

"Venom & Tears" is the bitter result of a few line-up changes and overall difficulties. Simply check out lead track, "Holy Roller" for ample evidence that they know all about the necessity of being aggressively outrageous. Throwdown mixes a recipe made up of Pantera, early Metallica, Biohazard, Slayer, Sepultura with slightly disturbed lyrics to decent effect. Hardly the most original sounding platter in the history of metal, but it sure gets your blood pumping.

"Day Of The Dog" is a stomping metal tune with typical Biohazard hardcore gang-vocals and everything. Mark Choiniere is a six-string bender possessed by a demon and the main riff of "DOTD" is heavier than thou. I can't say that I enjoy the furious metal of "S.C.U.M." as it's simply too much 'hardcore' for my personal taste. Not to mention that the melody is utterly boring and too much of the mid-90's scene. The same could be said about the following track, "Americana".

Perris 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
2 September 2007

Straight to the point, "Destination Destiny" fail to reveal any real passion and devotion. Not metal, nor rock'n'roll, nor sleaze, this all-Swedish outfit are an ankward combination of watered-down melodic rock. It's just not good enough to praise and neither bad enough to completely throw out with the yesterday's news. It's just so darn safe, so been-there, done that, and even if tracks like "Silhouette", "Talk Of The Town", which also sounds like something they could have done, and the highlight of the album, "Fire And Ice", are way too classy to be ignored, the overall impression will still have to be quite average.

This is Blind Alley's third album and maybe they should just brace themselves for the next devolepment. It's perhaps time to break the bounderies of melodic rock and take a look outside of the box for a change. It's like they've been living a sheltered life for the last twenty years and missed out on a lot of great influences and music. You can still make a decent melodic rock of today with a bit of this and that from other genres.

MTM Music 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
29 August 2007

Tribuzy is a Brazilian heavy metal band featuring frontman Renato Tribuzy. In 2005 they released their debut album called "Execution". Now two years later a live album has been produced. This "new" CD features guest musicians like Bruce Dickinson, Ralf Scheepers, Roland Grapow, Kiko Loureiro and Mat Sinner.

There are 11 songs on this live album all filled with high pitched vocals, very familiar guitar riffs, classic up tempo rhythms and well-known guitar solos. So, it is as if you are being set back into the late eighties, very Spinal Tap like metal, so to speak. No surprises, just plain metal cliches for more than 60 minutes. The music brings back memories of the good old days of bands like Judas Priest, Primal Fear and Helloween. Even the wo-wo-wo choruses can be found on this rather redundant live album.