SPV Steamhammer 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
7 November 2007

One of British best metal bands finally release their brandnew double DVD and this amazing package offers over 5 hours of playing time! The first DVD consists of 15 chapters with lots of more than interesting glimpses of Saxon's life between the two albums. So you get studio reports, the making of Wacken, scenes from release parties, the UK invasion and lots more. All of these items are really worth checking out, mainly due to the typical British black humour of Biff and Co. Most of these chapters include at least one live track, such as "Crusader", "Beyond The Grave", "Wheels Of Steel" or "Dogs Of War".

DVD 2 features the official video clips of "Let Me Feel Your Power", "Beyond The Grave", If I Was You" and "Witchfinder General". Furthermore you can enjoy the previously unreleased video of "I've Got To Rock" with guest musicians Andi Deris, Lemmy, and Angry Anderson. Further on DVD2 live shoots from the Swiss Rocksound Festival in 2006, 2 tracks from the Rock Asia event back in 2005 and last but not least a live duet by Doro and Biff, performing the Judas Priest classic "You've Got Another Thing Comin'". The sound is great, the material is awesome, so for Saxonfans this double DVD is a must! Saxon rules!!

Atlantic 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
7 November 2007

What can you possible write about Led Zeppelin that hasn't already been mentioned to death. Seriously, what the heck can you pen down without sounding like a broken record??? Ahem... well... they are kinda ancient... older than my parents and that's kinda like... waaay old (yeah, I type like a 14 year old... so what? I have the brain capacity of a 6 year old!).

Page, Plant, and that third geezer has been roaming the earth since the dino's and they're just about to reunite and play at the Stonehenge circle for a second time around (they played over there at the opening night with merely druids in the audience). All 'old' jokes aside, P&P (and that third geezer) are always going to stay young in the hearts of rock fans. The music will never grow especially 'old' and their record label will continue to release compilations CD's every other year.

Formula One Records 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
08 November 2007

I have a vague memory of purchasing BURN's debut "So Far, So Bad" from a bargain bin some months after its' release. I had read a positive review in Kerrang! I believe, recgonized the name and decided to give it a go. I can't remember much about the CD and I don't have it anymore, but as far as I recall, it wasn't too bad. Now, 14 years later and one album (1995's "Spark To A Flame") inbetween, the band has reformed and released new material. And it's good - so good in fact, that I'm thinking of kicking myself for letting go of the first album!

Burn play hard-edged AOR with a distinctively British vibe, comparable to FM, Ten, Heartland and the likes. I don't know what it is about these bands, but they just couldn't be mistaken for an US or European act... maybe it's something they put into their tea! Having said that, there's nothing wrong with sounding British.

The album kicks off with some of the band's strongest songs, including the storming opener "Shadow Of The Satellites", the big-sounding "Dangerous Times" with its' immense chorus and the sheer melodic bliss of "Down In Flames", my personal favourite. On the more melodic side of things, "Made That Way" and "Pray For Rain" are two tracks worth mentioning, as well as "Give Me Tonight", which wraps up the album nicely. Sure, inbetween these songs there are few slightly less interesting, mostly heavier tracks which are a bit bland to be honest. Thankfully the better tracks dominate the tracklisting!

If you add good production and solid performances to the description above, I guess it's fair to say that this album rates as one of the more pleasant surprises of the year. Recommended for those with a keen ear for classic melodic hard rock.
www.burn.uk.com

Reprise 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
2 November 2007

The opening track, "Last Chance" blast through my speakers like a last, dying, breathe of the summer. A warm breeze of air that will slowly caress the mind of a weary soul. "Elephant" is heavier, organic, the flesh and blood of the album and blessed with a very energetic beat.

"Wolves" is the second release by the Idiot Pilot duo: Michael Harris (vox, gtr, bass, keys, prog) and Daniel Andersson (gtr, bass, keys, prog). All drums are handled by Chris Pennie (Coheed And Cambria) with Travis Baker (ex-Blink 182) as guest drummer on above mentioned Elephant.

It's overall a f-i-n-e mixture of electronica and guitar music and I believe they've expended their influences in order to become more accessible to more people. However, it's sometimes difficult to ignore their major 'Radiohead' influence as it's almost too much to handle at times.

Their basic "emo" attitude towards music becomes eminently obvious from the start and I don't quite get the point with included something like: "Planted In The Dark". It's basically just a mish-mash of weird noises and emotional outbursts. I quickly return to the excellence of "Relina And The Sky", "In Record Shape", "Good Luck", "Cruel World Enterprice", "Theme From The Pit", they have it all, energy, emotion, and divine melodies. There's also a strong hint of Morrissey to be found among these tracks. The mix with aggressive guitars and synth gives them a perfect armour of loneliness.

AFM Records 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
5 November 2007

The Texas based Helstar are a true legend of metal as they created some of the most memorable albums in the history of heavy metal. Take for example their albums like "Burning Star"(1984) or "A Distant Thunder"(1988), which should belong to every serious metal collection. "Sins Of The Past" is a compilation of Helstar's classic tunes, re-recorded by the original line-up around the amazing vocalist James Rivera.

Most of the songs are up tempo metal tracks with classic guitar riffs, headbanging tempos, great solos and high-pitched vocals, reminding me of other great metal bands like Judas Priest or Iron Maiden. I like "Suicidal Nightmare", "Tyrannicide" and "Angel Of Death" best.

Inside Out/SPV 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
5 November 2007

"Old timers" Saga release yet another album, this one is called "10,000 Days". However it is a rather special album as it is vocalist Michael Sadler's farewell album. After 30 years, the Saga frontman/singer moves on and so the sound of Saga will change dramatically if they release a new CD in the future.

The sound on this album is ofcourse again typically Saga, featuring Gilmour's stunning keyboard melodies/solos, Crichton's heavenly guitarsolos and riffs and last but not least Sadler's very recognisable voice. The 9 new songs do not really differ from the material on previous albums like "Trust", "Network" or "Marathon". Fortunately Saga's music is always multi-dimensional, the songs have depth and although they sound "simple", they always have numerous sonic adventures.

Warner Bros 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
4 November 2007

This is the self-titled and self-produced follow-up to Avenged Sevenfold's million selling 2005 debut, "City Of Evil". You'd think the debut should have been self-titled, huh? Anyhow, the CD boasts eclectic musical influences according to frontman M Shadows.

Appearantly, they've been listening to everything from Toby Keith to T.I. (who? no, seriously, who?), finding inspiring elements from other genres to incorporate into their music. Well... full marks to resourcefulness and an constant eager to stay open minded and in touch with the world.

The final result doesn't quite match up with their original intention though. It's almost like they're trying to hard to please every rock crowd from hardcore to nu-metal, melodic rock, and even emo. It's not a pretty picture at first and lame tunes such as "Critical Acclaim", "Almost Easy" and "Scream", are now next to the excellent rock of "Afterlife", "Gunslinger", "Unbound", "Brompton Cocktail", "Lost", "A Little Piece Of Heaven" and the closing, "Dear God".

Escape 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
1 November 2007

The Bard is back with another tale of "Love & War" and what a clever little record this is during the first 5-6 tracks of the CD. It's approach of more rawk than previous solo attempt is spot on and the opening packaging will quickly have the old rocker in the mood for headbanging.

Barden (ex-MSG) and Silver partner in crime, Michael Voss, have managed to put a bit of life into a style of music that has become stale over the last couple of years. With tracks like "Creatures Of The Night" (no, not the old KISS stomper) and "Unchain Me", Gary John show he has progressed but still kept his identity and original sound. The latter even show traces of both Dio and MSG.

MusicBuyMail 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
4 November 2007

Here's yet another concept album in the progressive/metal genre of things. Liquid Horizon is a melodic, progressive, act from Germany and "Revolutions" is their sophomore release to be found at MusicBuyMail. It's basically a concept album dedicated to the memroy of revolutions and the struggle for freedom in the history of mankind.

It does sound like huge project and you can find lyrical stories about everything from Geronimo, Spartacus to Georg Elser (the man who tried to assassinate Hitler) and of course the French revolution, etc, etc. It's all very professional performed music and Oliver Kilthau does impress with a strong voice and quirky guitar play.

Ram Music 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
5 November 2007

House Of Games, a rock band from Estonia, was formed in 1994. In their biography their music is described as innovative, aggressive, melodic powerful rock. Now, with a new line-up they have written and recorded 11 new songs and they are all AOR-like songs with musical passages that remind me of Giant or Lillian Axe sometimes.

Singer Erik Meremaa really dominates this album as 90% of the music is filled with vocal parts. choruses and harmony choirs. However, as Erik's voice is not really that diverse I get bored with his rather nasal and tiresome singing after a couple of songs. If you listen to the truly disappointing ballad "Friend" you can hear his vocal limitations.

The album starts rather nice with tracks like "My Child" and "24", which are both melodic power rock songs. However with track 8 called "Sugar And Spice" the misery starts because Erik's voice really starts to get on my nerves here.

AFM Records 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
5 November 2007

German power metal rockers Axxis release their new album "Doom Of Destiny" and the band has confirmed to go on tour with Helloween and Gamma Ray! The new CD is again filled with those typical German power metal songs, meaning lots of tempo, high-pitched vocals and lots of double bass drums! The fact that female vocalist Lakonia is again used as a guest singer is something which I personally cannot understand. The songs which she is "involved in" like "Better Fate" or "She Got Nine Lifes" are rather sweet musical-like duets, which are an absolute horror to me...

The rest of the songs are, as I already mentioned, typical German power metal songs with a very high singalong calibre. Just listen to tracks like "I Hear You Cry" or "Bloodangel" and you know what I mean. It is all so very predictable and so un-innovative!

Sony/BMG/Gun 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
5 November 2007

Deja vú - dreams come true? Now seriously... I get a strange feeling of deja vú while listening to All Ends. I've been here before and quite recently too. Yep... yes... absolutely!!! Remember the 'Two Of A Kind' project at Frontiers Records earlier this year? This could just as easily have been Part:2 of the female fronted rock/metal outfit created by the former Terra Nova bloke.

Simply remove some of their most obvious 'Heart' influences and replace with a hint of later days Nightwish and voilá - welcome to part two. The song structure and writing formula of the two projects are so darn similar to each other that I constantly find myself with a silly grin on my face.

All Ends is a Swedish band created by Björn Gelotte & Jesper Strömblad of In Flames. They quickly hired two female vocalists (Tinna Karlsdotter & Emma Gelotte) to front their new project and a deal with Gun/Sony completed their task of world domination through music. Well... not quite. Several tracks are just too simple minded, childish, or watered down to the extreme. The two lead vocalists are too much 'dansband' (Swedish schlager) and not enough of raw and dirty rock'n'roll.

AFM Records 2007
Review by Martien Koolen,
5 November 2007

Crystal Ball's new album, their sixth by the way, is so predictable that I really had trouble listening to it for more than once.... Just take a look at the song titles and listen to tracks like "Dreaming Of You" or "Destiny" and you will be bored to death. Especially those two tracks are so cliche and boring that it is a sheer punishment to listen to them.

The album starts with the rather mediocre "Moondance", which features a narrative voice (how original can you be?), up tempo riffs, a catchy melody, that actually sounds like Gotthard or Shakra. The rest of the faster songs like "I will drag you down" all sound-a-like and are in fact nothing more than singalong rock anthems.

Eagle Rock 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
3 November 2007

Musically, "Love Granade" does very little for the average rocker. We all know there's a market for this type of rock though, the old school brigade that will rather listen to a mediocre Ted Nugent album than any artist post-1977. But this album is certainly not the sort of music that could even remotely be described as groundbreaking or solid schtuff. It starts out friggin' good with the titletrack, but it's sadly all worse from this point on.

Lyrically, Ted Nugent is a 11 year old kid trapped inside an old man's body. Just look at the state of his lyrics: it's all about cowboys & indians, guns, girl scouts, I'm an american and you can all kiss my ass, bad, bad, commies, etc, etc. I guess it's kinda fun... for a minute or two... but remember that some people will also find Adam Sadler to be a genius and superb comedian??? Yeah, right... the waterboy... hilarious stuff... to any 11 year old kid.

Atlantic 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
30 October 2007

Skindred are easily one of the most exciting, fun, and unique sounding acts in a very long time. Well... it's basically a wild and crazy mixture of Ska/Reggae and Rock/Metal. I have not personally heard anything quite like this in the past. However, if you look hard enough, you can find traces of everything from: 24-7 Spyz, System Of A Down, Aswad, King's X, to My Chemical Romance, and back again to Jamaica. Not to forget the early 80's U.K. Ska/Rock/Punk scene. It's frankly just insane and catchy music in the year of 2007.

I can recall hearing T-Ride for the first time and hey, even Kerrang thought them to be the next big thing. Well, I get a similar feeling while listening to "Roots Rock Riot". Benji (vocals) is a toast master that burst rhymes and Jamaican beats one minute to sing like a true metal god the next. He has quickly become one of my favourite new singers as he simply oozes of sheer class and soul.

The opening titletrack might scare away some potential buyers as it's a very intense and aggressive affair. A couple of spins and it'll start to feel like a second skin though. "Trouble" is melodic, catchy, funky, and blessed with a killer hook. You'll loudly sing-a-long to the refrain in no time. The first single, "RatRace" is like a way catchier version of 24-7 Spyz with an Jamaican flavour. "State Of Emergency", "Alright", "Rude Boy For Life", and "Killing Me", are so catchy and danceable that it should be criminal. The latter two takes the emotional vibe from My Chemical Romance and mixes it with T-Ride and Jamaica.

Cargo Records 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
30th October 2007

Back in, I think, 1985, I saw Waysted support Iron Maiden. I was pretty impressed and boughttheir “The Good the Bad The Waysted” album. Sure, the vocals from Fin were a bit on the scratchy side, but it had some good tunes. For whatever reason, Fin was replaced by new boy Danny Vaughan, and Waysted became a different beast with the AOR classic “Save Your Prayers”. After that it all went a bit quiet, then the band resurfaced in 2000 with Fin back in the fold, and seven years later they have finally got round to making a full studio album.

One of the selling points for Waysted is the man on the bass guitar, Pete Way. Although the band bears his nam, Way isn'tthat involved in the songs, co writing just two of the eleven on offer. Hell, his bass tech Jase Poole gets more writing credits than him, including one all to himself, the rollicking “Samaritan Man”. This should let you know that Waysted are in no way a vanity project for the UFO man, who seems very content to just be part of the band.

“The Harsh Reality” is a good album. There's no doubt about this. Fin still has a voice that has the edge of a cheesegrater, but nowadays it's more refined, and all the better for it. Drummer Paul Haslin and Guitarist Chris George (who has the same name as my old Geography teacher) keep everything going perfectly well, although it's not an album you put on for the extended guitar histrionics, as there aren't any. The songs are uniformly solid, with one of my favourites being “Rocking The Cliche”, in which all the lyrics are, well, cliches. Clever stuff, quite funny, but still a good tune. There's even a nice version of “Handbags & Gladrags”, the song Fin made his own when he sang it for the theme of “The Office”. Elsewhere there's a big pile of full on rock tunes, each one with it's own identity – this isn't an album full of identikit tunes. There's the strong emotion depth of “Song For Steve”, the blues of “It Wasn't Me” and the raw melancholy of “Can't Live Without Some Pain”. It's good stuff.

It doesn't really matter if you have heard Waysted before or not, as “The Harsh Reality” is simply a good collection of hard rock songs that show more depth and imagination than many other bands around at the moment. You don't have to be a UFO fan or anything, just a fan of rock music, and aren't we all guilty of that? Mind you, the “Waysted World” theme park design included in the package is just bizarre, with a 'Picnic & Dogging Area', 'Giant Yahtzee Land' and 'Robin's Gorge'. You'd think that with all this time on their hands they would have made more bleedin' albums! Trust me, when you see it for yourself you'll be scratching your head, but chuckling a bit as well. Bunch of loonies, if you ask me, but talented loonies, so we'll forgive 'em.
www.waysted.co.uk

Eagle Vision DVD 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
15th October 2007

Here's a really full package for fans of Gary Moore's blues music. Between 1990 and 2001, Moore played five times at the Montreux Jazz Festival, each time playing a pure blues set, apart from one out of place airing of “Out In The Fields”. All five complete concerts are collected here on two discs.

I've always been a fan of Gary Moore, but in all honesty I like the rock stuff. For me, Blues is Blues is Blues, ya know? Then again, the last Gary Moore DVD I saw was him supposedly rocking it up on the Monsters Of Rock Tour, and it was abundantly obvious that his voice just can't handle the ol' heavy rock these days. The Blues, however, he can handle just fine, and it's obvious that this is also where his heart lies. As we lost Ritchie Blackmore to lutes and middle ages madness, Gary Moore will in all likelihood never again rock our socks off.

Eagle Vision have certainly decided that the way to go here is value for money, as the five sets total almost four and a half hours. The amazing thing is that not one song is duplicated, giving you 42 different live tracks. Although it may not be my thing, it's an incredibly good value DVD. I still like to hear such songs as “Walking By Myself” and “Too Tired”, whilst “Still Got The Blues” shows Moore at his bluesy best. There's a shitload of cool guitar throughout, and all I can really say is that if you like Gary Moore playing the blues then this is pretty much essential.
www.garymoore.com

Universal 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
30th October 2007

When this dropped through the letterbox I couldn't help thinking I'd heard of them before, but because they're named after a Neil Young song it could be just that. After listening to the album several times I'm still not sure which it is, but at this point I don't really care much, 'cos I like it regardless.

Powderfinger are big in Australia. No, wait, that should be BIG in Australia. They've sold millions of albums and received enough Australian Music Awards to fill several mantelpieces each. This album has been out in their homeland for a few months now, but will be winging it's way to the UK and Europe in early December. If you're desperate, just get it on import. Although not as feted as previous albums, it's still received award nominations, but this time those scamps Silverchair stole all the trophies.

I'm coming into the band as a complete newbie here, and as well as the obvious Neil Young influences there's a lot of the likes of Soul Asylum in the album, as well as a smattering of The Crash Test Dummies. Richard Fanning has a nice deep voice that suits the laid back tunes well, although he's not required to stretch his vocal chords at any point. “Dream Days At The Hotel Existence” is one of those albums that are invariably labeled 'Driving Rock', sticking steadfastly to the middle of the road without garnering any real excitement despite delivering consistently good tunes. It's an album that will delight you when you listen to it, but is unlikely to stick in your head and have you humming the tunes the next day at breakfast. It's by no means a bad album, but perhaps it's a bit too 'nice' for it's own good sometimes.

If you're fan of Neil Young and Soul Asylum then Powderfinger should be of some interest to you. Check them out on MySpace or YouTube or whatever the kids are doing these days (Man, I feel old saying that). For myself, I like this album, but I don't think I could ever love it.
www.powderfinger.com

Frontiers 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
29 October 2007

Richie Kotzen always sounds like he should have been making records 35+ years ago along with Clapton, Allman Brothers, and the hordes of other musicians who all decided to form their own band after discovering the blues. The thing is, even though the, "Return Of The Mother Head's Family Reunion" (gee, what a long and boring title) is a rather decent effort, you've heard it all before and with better result.

I really don't know what to think about this CD. Obviously, it's not the classic blues record that I'd love to think Kotzen is capable of recording. It's got its moments like the raunchy opener, "Go Faster", and the excellent and smooth blues/soul of "Faith", but most of it just flows from my loud speakers, leaving no lasting impression to talk about really.

Poko Records 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
28 October 2007

I really didn't know what to expect of this album. The only information about iRonica (damn that spelling!) I had was from the label's press releases, where the band was described as female-fronted "melodic, aggressive speedmetal" or something like that. I just hoped that it would be something more melodic than Arch Enemy and the likes.

My initial fears were washed away as soon as the lively keyboard-intro of the opening track "Consequences" began. Not bad at all, and quite melodic indeed. The first single "All That I Drain" is a bit heavier, faster and more aggressive, yet still retaining the melodic edge. "My Own Solution" sounds even better, very uptempo again, but carrying a rather good hook. All three songs make me think that iRonica could be the female-fronted Sonata Arctica, thanks to several similarities. Vocalist Elina Iron pronounces the words somewhat similary to Tony Kakko and both bands have a bit of a progressive vibe.

"Make Me Whole Again" represents the most melodic output of the band, and it's no wonder why it was released as the second single. Unfortunately, with the next couple of songs the band throws most of their melodic sensibilities out of the window. The ultra-aggressive approach with the occasional "Ms. Cookie Monster" shriek and growl could almost be the work of another band.

The rest of the album is more melodic again, as if the band had exorcised their demons with the two aggressive numbers. Interestingly, the last few songs seem to have a gothic touch to them, something that wasn't quite as evident on the earlier tracks. You've got the eerie, melancholic keyboards, vocals in low register, brooding tempos... never mind HIM, let's talk about HER?

All this might sound like a bit of a mish-mash and a delibrate attempt to capture everything that's hot in Finnish Metal right now, but it's not. The band may have taken influences from the scene, but they're original enough. As this is their debut, they've got time to perfect their delivery. Hopefully on their next album they bring out even sharper hooks and leave the cookie monster to the closet.
www.ironicarocks.com
www.myspace.com/ironicarocks

MetalHeaven 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
23 October 2007

Neon Leon Goewie and the rest of the gang - live during the 'Back In The Ring' tour of 2006. What else to expect than one helluva' attitude and lots of sweaty rock'n'roll??? Goewie's vocals huff and puff like a deranged wolf outside your door throughout the entire concert, indicating that there could be an opening place at the local zoo for the geezer. That whiskey-stained voice of his is the result of being in a rock'n'roll band with a serious Acca Dacca agenda.

Vengeance does feature some of their toughest and coolest riffs here and they've even included the old hit, "Arabia". This being more "progressive" and out-there, than their latter days AC/DC approach, will also work as a nice breather from the Young/Young inspired rock. However, I definitely prefer the raunchy rock in favour of their complicity - complication. Uptempo numbers such as: "Take It Or Leave It", "Back In The Ring", "No Mercy", gets the all thumbs up feedback from any old fan of Krokus, Dokken, AC/DC, Vengeance. Simply check out "May Heaven Strike Me Down" for a nice slice of the Dokken rokk.

Warner Music 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
23 October 2007

Confession time: Lionel Richie's "Hello" and Dire Straits "Brothers In Arms", are two of my all-time favourite slow songs. Add other classics such as: "We Don't Need Another Hero" (Tina Turner), "Broken Wings" (Mr.Mister), "I Just Died In Your Arms" (Cutting Crew), "Rebel Yell" (Billy Idol), "Ashes To Ashes" (David Bowie), "Sledgehammer" (Peter Gabriel), "Don't Bring Me Down" (ELO), "In The Air Tonight" (Phil Collins), "Creep" (Radiohead), and you'll quickly understand why I find this cover project to be something out of the ordinary.

Northern Kings is a Finnish (what else?) metal project featuring the four horsemen and lead vocalists: Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica), Marco Hietiela (Nightwish, Tarot), JP Leppäluoto (Charon) and J.Ahola (Teräsbetoni). The latter is a new experience as his main band plays metal sung in Finnish only and I don't understand a word of their language (moi!). He's one of those vocalists that can hit the really high notes and most importantly, there's no thick, eastern, accent to be found.

The closing Sopranos melody, "Don't Stop Believin", now re-arranged into a Stratovarius vs. Journey kind of tune with... believe it or not, even more bombastic keys than its original, works out ok, even if there's no real repeat of the title line. "We Don't Need Another Hero" is now bombastic filmscore Metal at its best (eat your heart out Rhapsody). "Broken Wings" is a slightly beefed up version that still sounds very AOR-ish.

"Rebel Yell" is perhaps the song that has been re-worked the most as it's now more Type O'Negative than idol (great stuff). "I Just Died In Your Arms" has been superbly recorded without losing its original formula and "Sledgehammer" will hit ya' on the head like a... ehh... Sledgehammer? Goosebumps warning during "Hello" and this will prove, once and for all, that a great song is always a great song, no matter what.

LNJ Rec. 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
21 October 2007

"Independence Day" is the third and latest CD by the all-star project, Liberty N' Justice. It features as always a bunch of 80's rockers and vocalists that you're all familiar with and know of since their hair-days. First up to bat: John Corabi of Mötley Crue, Union, Ratt, Scream, and the smoothing rock of "Doubting Thomas". Most songs are co-/written by project leader: Justin Murr and the material has slightly improved with each release. I find this to be the most interesting and best L N' J release so far.

"Monkey Dance" is sung by Jack Russell (Great White) and it's a lovely, semi-ballad, that walks along the lines of Skid Row and Holy Soldier. Russell sings in the style of Sebastian Bach and it's all very 'sleazy' and fine. Kelly Keagy (Night Ranger) and Mark Slaughter (Slaughter) next with a duet peformance, "Soldier". Again, a nice semi-rocker in the vein of Kingdom Come vs. Nickelback. They're using the acoustic rock approach to its fullest and it's way more, 'Great White', than the Jack Russel tune.

The rather poor ballad, "My Sacrifice" is sung by Shawn Pelata of Line Of Fire and it's better left unwritten really. Pete 'Trixter' Loran with "Phoenix" is yet another take at the mid-tempo rock. The titletrack features Kelly Keeling (Baton Rouge) on lead vocals and the song was originally performed and written by White Heart on their 1990 release, "Power House". Next player to bat, Tony Mills of TNT/Shy fame and "Meet My Monster". This is a great and rather modern rock song with a catchy hook and thought worthy lyric.

"Praying For A Miracle" with Danger Danger vocalist, Ted Poley, can only be described as a semi-ballad in the classic AOR field. "Fade" is yet another mid-tempo song with Guardian, AdrianGale, vocalist: Jamie Rowe. The same goes for "Bullet, Train, Breakdown" (Jamie St.James - Black'N' Blue), "Snake Eat Snake" (D.R.Reeves - Neon Cross), and "A Little BIt Of Love" (M&S Hovland). "Addiction" is a nice ballad with Jani Lane of Warrant and "Wake The Dead" features Ez Gomer Of Jet Circus and Tony Carey of Rainbow and solo fame.

MasterMind 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
21 October 2007

Hey! It's Sweden's KENT with a brand new release in the English language??? Nope, it's Finland's Stanley (Paul or the smelly geezer from Life, Sex & Death?) with their latest single "Kill The Dawn", including the previously unreleased, "Revolt". Yep, it's a slick if generic stab at the sing-a-long friendly rock 'ala Kent and Radiohead. No-nonsense or b.s. whatsoever as these Finns are very serious about their image and music.

Escape 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
19 October 2007

"Magazine" kicks off the proceedings and it's dino-rock from the word go. Not necessarily a bad thing either as Chris Ousey (vocals) and Steve Morris (guitars) sounds more and more like: 'Bob The Cat & Tony The Hat' aka Magnum with each new release. The opening number will remind you of their shout-out to the world: I Ain't Ready For No "Rockin' Chair", but alas, not quite as good or impressive.

"Mind Your Head" is their 10th studio album and it's business as usual for the two U.K. lads. It's safe and rather plodding rock, but yet with a curious easy listening appeal at the very beginning of the disc. "For Pity's Sake" continues on the Magnum path and Heartland would probably be the perfect opening act to the Birmingham band.

LionMusic 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
19 October 2007

Geordieland? Neat Records? NWOBHM, fish & chips, doomy and gloomy mid-80's skies under the constant reign of The Iron Lady??? Blimey, it's a retro/new U.K. Metal attack with dodgy vocals, ditto production, and tin can drums. Yeah, you'll quickly notice that "Tyranny Of Minority" has been produced by their lead guitarist/vocalist: Edward Box (two solo albums at LionMusic), since everything else (apart from gtr & vox) had to take two steps back in the soundpicture.

The mission was, according to the info-sheet, set to make an album of classic metal anthems, one that would capture the essence of the music that had driven these men since their youths in the rain swept hills of Cumbria and the industrial wastes of the North East of England.

Espectaculos 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
19 October 2007

The comeback? I thought you needed to achieve something before you embark on an successful return and comeback album? Anyhow, it's appearently time to throw the Gauntlet and head for the Spanish border. This is primitive and groovy metal in the mid-tempo formula and you're already fed up with the music as track two (A Sheep In Wolf's Clothing) blast through my loudspeakers.

Eagle Vision DVD 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
15th October 2007

Some people (you know who you are), will look at the band calling itself Foreigner these days and scoff that it's just not the band that they used to know and love. The only familiar face these days is the man who started it all, Mick Jones, now joined by the likes of Jeff Pilson, Jason Bonham, and Kelly Hansen on lead vocals. Bear in mind, however, that there are twenty other people besides the legendary Lou Gramm who can put 'Ex-Foreigner' on their CVs, so I guess when it's put like that, this version of the band is as valid as any other, right?

The show on this DVD is from the 2006 Bang Your Head festival in Germany, so we don't unfortunately, get a full set from the band. The nine songs here include all your favorites such as “Urgent”, “Cold As Ice”, “Hot Blooded” and “Juke Box Hero”, with the latter combining with “Whole Lotta Love”, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. For old fans they even bring out the brilliant “Starrider” from the debut way back in 1977, allowing Jones to show that he can still sing his own songs when he has to. It's actually quite refreshing that they don't bother with "I Want To Know What Love Is" at all - quite sensible at a festival called Bang Your Head, I suppose...

For me, the most impressive part of this is ex Hurricane singer Hansen, who was a bit of an unknown to me before I watched this. He handles himself superbly on stage, moving well with a real sense of enjoyment. Perhaps most importantly he's also never fazed by the challenge of living up to one of the best rock vocalists of the last 30 years, hitting every note as well as Gramm ever did at his peak. As a band, they are very tight, with no weak links to be found. Even the instrumental piece featuring Bonham and keyboard player Jeff Jacobs is entertaining.

Although in daylight, the show still rocks, with the talent and the great songs carrying it through the lack of any real stage decoration or lighting to speak of. After 30 years and more than 70 million (!) albums, Foreigner are still taking the world by storm, and if you're a fan this really is worth picking up. Man, I so wanna go and see them in concert now, and if nothing else that means that this DVD serves it's purpose.

Extras are interviews with Mick Jones, Kelly Hansen and Jason Bonham (24 mins) and a short fan doc at the festival (6 mins).
www.foreigneronline.com

Music Buy Mail / Artist Service 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
18 October 2007

"Devotion" is the fourth album from German melodic hard rock band Shylock. Their music is firmly rooted in the European hard rock heritage of Scorpions, Bonfire and Gotthard, but it seems that on this new album, the guys have discovered their pop sensibilities too. And before you ask, it's not a bad thing! There are hundreds of bands playing basic hard rock, and one needs something to stand out from the rest. In Shylock's case, it's their knack of writing a contemporary pop hook.

The first few tracks of the album didn't really blow me away, as they were more standard hard rock material. Solid stuff, not bad at all, but there are better things to come. First one of them is "U Feel", a dark, catchy midtempo rock track that manages to mix the band's core hard rock sound with more contemporary influences. I'm thinking about the likes of The Rasmus - modern rock bands with strong hooks.

The next highlight is "Ocean". This is the kind of song that I can imagine a stadium full of fans bouncing along to, and singing the chorus in unison. A hit to be discovered. Same goes for the highly melodic "Again", which is a song tailormade for airwaves and music video channels. In the hands of of a major label and an artist with mass appeal, this could very well explode all over the world. Unfortunately, Shylock are not signed to a major and they may not have the image to become the next MTV darlings... so these great songs will probably only make waves in our little melodic rock community.

If we skip the rather dull "Hunting High And Low" (no, it's not a cover of that song... or that other song...), we'll get to the last five songs, which are all really decent tracks. They are more traditional melodic hard rock with less pop flavours, but work better than the ones earlier in the tracklisting. The guitar riffs are simple yet effective, and the vocal melodies are catchy. The balladic "New Attraction" would be another hit contender, and "Anybody Out There?" will surely be a live favourite.

The band consists of capable musicians, no-one overshadowing the others, although I must say that the keyboard player Oliver Thiergärtner doesn't seem to have too much work in his hands, merely providing some textures here and there. Vocalist and songwriter Matthias Schenk is the star of the show with his pleasant "Steve Lee meets Michael Voss"-like vocals.

"Devotion" is an album with potential to raise Shylock to the elite of the genre. The reason why it doesn't get a higher rating from me is the fact that it's just too long for its' own good - by trimming away a couple of the lesser tracks, this would have been a tighter package. I'm repeating myself, but quality over quantity, please!
www.shylockmusic.de

Metal Heaven 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
18th October 2007

Sometimes I just like to lob on a new CD without even glancing at the accompanying biography, just to have an unbiased view on what assaults my aural receptors (that's a posh phrase for ears – stick it in yer dictionary). I volunteered to review Road To Ruin's debut purely because I had nothing better to do, and it only took a couple of songs to have me scurrying to the biography. You see, I used to be a fan of Brit rockers Jagged Edge, and straight from the off this album reminded me of them. No surprise, then, that the singer is none other than Matti Alfonzetti, who also fronted his own band, producing the excellent “Ready” album. Road To Ruin, however, is the brainchild of guitarist Lars Chriss and Bassist Sampo Axelsson of Lion's Share. In case the proliferation of double S's hasn't given the game away, they are of Swedish extraction, and found themselves writing songs that just didn't fit in with the heavy metal style of their band. Alfonzetti was roped in to help out with finishing an albums worth of songs and to lend his vocals to the project, and the result is a very competent melodic rock album.

Road To Ruin is an album influenced heavily by classic rock acts like Rainbow, Whitesnake and even Led Zeppellin, although to be honest most bands seem to be influenced by Zep in some way or another. There's keyboards from Axelsson that don't intrude but evoke a very Deep Purpley vibe at times (notably on “Until I See The Sun”), whilst Chriss can widdle on a six string like Blackmore when he has to. Alfonzetti doesn't disappoint with some soaring vocals, bringing the songs to life and complimenting his bandmates perfectly. Even though opening track “The Only One” could easuily have come from an Alfonzetti or Jagged Edge album, much of the album seems more influenced by the late Seventies, only occasionally slipping forwards a few years to the more poppy sounds of the Eighties. This isn't to say that the album should be dismissed as a throwback. Far from it, Road To Ruin have made something that takes the style of the classic rock bands and makes it their own.

Whilst die hard Lions Share fans may not get along with it, Road To Ruin is a fine album for fans of melodic hard rock, with plenty of good, hard songs and excellent performances. If you've been missing Matti Alfonzetti you are guaranteed to love this, and it comes recommended to all lovers of hard rock with a solid blues base.
www.roadtoruin.org

Frontiers 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
15 October 2007

While Ted Poley is again fronting the semi-legendary Danger Danger, he's keeping himself busy doing his own thing as well. "Smile" is his second solo album, and it's probably the most AOR-oriented of his work outside of Danger Danger. It might also be the best one out of them, as the likes of Melodica and Bone Machine left a lot to be desired. "Smile" on the other hand, it may not be the best album of the year, but it's still a solid melodic rock album with a handful of really nice songs.

Compared to the tongue-in-cheek approach of most of the Danger Danger material, "Smile" showcases a more sensitive Ted. The aspects of love are the subject matter of most of these songs, and there's no "Monkey Business" here... musically we're still talking about melodic rock, but closer to Journeyesque AOR than the party-hard rock of "D2".

Frontiers' current favourite songwriters Tom and James Martin have been involved in the songwriting, as has been Vic Rivera (AdrianGale). Production has been taken care of JK Northrup and Ted himself, and they've done a decent job indeed. Ted seems to be in fine form vocally, and the musicianship is faultless, including performances not only by the aforementioned Rivera and Northrup, but also from Gary Corbett, Dan Zoid and Eric Ragno, all craftsmen of the finest order.

"Waiting Line" is a good opener, with loads of melodies and layered background vocals. "Going Blind" is a little more subdued, but a good song anyway. My favourite track of the album is the title track "Smile", an easy-going rocker with strong hooks and nice, pulsating keyboard work. The breezy "What If She Knew" is another feel-good track with a bit of a Bon Jovi-vibe. It kind of reminds me of Danny Vaughn's songs too. "More Than Goodbye" is a good ballad, but I prefer the other balladic track, the majestic "Where It Ends". "If I Can't Change Your Heart (Then Let Me Blow Your Mind)" is one of the Martin Bros. tracks, and while I like the cool verses, I keep expecting the chorus to kick in... but it doesn't.

Out of the remaining tracks, "Will Ya" gets my vote, but others are somewhat unremarkable. Well, the bouncy "Why Can't We Pretend That It's Over" does feature a scorching solo from JK Northrup.

During the LP era, the "first side" would have spent more time in the turntable than the flipside, but all in all, a solid album!
www.tedpoley.com

Metal Heaven 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
15th October 2007

Steve Grimmett has been recording for a while now, starting in 1984 with the first of 4 Grim Reaper albums, stopping off with Onslaught for their best effort, “In Search Of Sanity”, then making a good go of it with 4 studio albums under the Lionsheart banner. After a three year hiatus, he's back with his own band, finally trading under his own name, a name that many in the metal world still respect, and rightfully so. This album follows on from a strange advert he did in the US for Garmin, a GPS manufacturer, writing a horribly trad metal song and appearing in an abysmally bad video advertising the product that aired during this years Superbowl. Seriously, just type 'Steve Grimmett Grab Your Garmin' into your search engine for a good chuckle.

Thankfully, “Personal Crisis”, whilst full of unashamedly heavy metal tracks, doesn't take the piss. Opening track “Karma” blows any cobwebs away that may have been gathering in your speakers, belting along at a nice pace and heavy as fuck. Thankfully, Grimmett recognizes the importance of melody as well as muscle, and the result is the sort of metal that should appeal to fans of old school bands such as Judas Priest. It doesn't hurt that Grimmet at full scream is eerily like Rob Halford, although in no way is he a copycat singer. Sensibly, he has gathered about him some top musicians, most notably Ian Nash, who supplies some memorable solos and riffs throughout the album. Mind you, Bassist Richie Walker and Drummer Pete Newdeck are certainly no slouches, with Newdeck also producing the album (and doing a bloody good job as well). All three toured with Grimmett under the Grim Reaper banner in 2006 (with Nash & Newdeck also popping up in Lionsheart previously), although it seems sensible to drop that name for the album to allow a fresh approach.

Steve Grimmett and co have delivered an unashamedly aggressive and melodic heavy metal masterpiece with “Personal Crisis|”, surpassing anything he has done in the past in terms of songwriting and performance. Existing fans of his earlier bands should get a real kick out of the songs on offer, whilst those who haven't tried him out will find an exciting talent to explore. Check out his MySpace site for some song snippets and tell me I'm wrong! Definitely one of my favourite melodic metal albums so far this year.
www.stevegrimmett.co.uk

Dirty Penny Music 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
15th October 2007

Is Glam making a comeback? Hell, did it ever go away? The answer to these questions could be 'Yes', 'No' or 'Bananas' for all I care, because right now, at this very second, Glam is alive and kicking, courtesy of California's Dirty Penny, a band who are getting more and more press with the release of this, their debut album. It doesn't hurt that everyone's favourite Bon Jovi clone Johnny Lima is on production duties, doing a great job as would be expected.

Whereas the undisputed kings of Noughties Glam, Wig Wam, have taken the Bon Jovi melodic approach to their music, Dirty Penny have immersed themselves in the Motley Crue back catalogue and taken out the good bits. They even have a song called “Scream & Shout”, and although it's not a Crue cover you can definitely imagine the Crue banging it out in their heyday. The comparisons between the two bands are pretty unavoidable, mainly because singer Binge Daniels sounds pretty much like Vince Neil, the band play riffs that belong in the early Eighties, and to top it off their hair and make up look like they were arranged by a bunch of blind hedgehogs. In a bag.

Like any good Glam/Sleaze album, “Take It Sleezy” is very hard to dislike. Every one of the twelve tracks is designed to make you jump about with a big shit eating grin on your face, playing air guitar and singing along to the choruses. The choruses themselves are disarmingly simple and catchy as VD at a roman orgy. For example, the chorus to “Vendetta” is the word Vendetta, repeated six times. This may sound stupid, but I guarantee you will be singing along the very first time you hear it. It's not the best album of it's kind, falling a little short of Tokyo Dragons, but that doesn't mean it's not well worth a listen. If you miss the days when a new Crue album would put a smile on your face and you think Zodiac Mindwarp was a musical genius, then Dirty Penny will brighten up your day considerably.
www.dirtypennysucks.com

STC Recordings 2007
Review by Alan Holloway,
18th October 2007

Just as Brit legends Thunder warm up for their forthcoming tour, it seems appropriate to give the fans a few new tracks to savour as they wait for the next album to emerge. In light of this, Thunder have delivered 'Six of One', a mix of three new tracks and three live recordings from last November to keep us going.

The three new tracks, which I assume will be exclusive to this CD, should keep any Thunder fan happy for 12 minutes. Then again, they can play them over and over again and be happy for as long as they want, I suppose. The quality of the songs certainly encourages repeat listening, as they are all solid Thunder rockers that hopefully will get a live airing during the tour. “Chain Reaction”, “Yesterdays News” and “Midlife Crisis” all show that Thunder are a long way from running out of any kind of steam, with that opinion just reinforced by the live tracks. Recorded at Glasgow last year, you get “Dirty Dream”, “What A Beautiful Day” and “A Million Faces” (oddly called “A Million Face” on the cover), all from the recent (and excellent) “Robert Johnson's Tombstone” album. A great little package that all Thunder fans should pick up.
www.thunderonline.com

Frontiers 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
11 October 2007

Jaded Heart seem to be a band that's determined to survive, no matter what. First there was the much-publicized break-up with Michael Bormann, the band's former vocalist and main songwriter. Against all odds, the band came up with a strong album in "Helluva Time" on their own. The next blow was the departure of guitarist Barish Kepic, responsible for a lion's share of the "Helluva Time" material. Again, the band didn't seem to worry about this, and continued as usual. After a headlining tour in Germany, they confirmed that the tour guitarist Peter Östros would continue in the band as their official member. "Sinister Mind" is the first recorded collaboration of the new line-up, and even though the songwriters may have changed, it's just as good as "Helluva Time", possibly even better!

The overall sound of the band is today a bit heavier than before, and there are all sorts of new elements in their music. At times they are veering into the direction of Queensrÿche ("Mindcrime/Empire" era), while some songs remind me of Lillian Axe's mixture of sleaze and sophistication. New axeman Östros really steps up to the plate and provides some excellent guitar work, and vocalist Johan Fahlberg matches his fine performance on the previous album. Henning Wenner's keyboards take the backseat on many of the songs, but I guess that goes with the new, heavier approach. The rhythm section of Michael Müller and Axel Kruse is solid as ever. A special mention must go to the background vocal work, which is just terrific. All this and a superb production (by the band and Chris Lausmann and Michael Voss) is a winning combination with the right songs, and I'm glad to say that most of these songs are just right indeed.

The album kicks off with a strong trio of songs: the anthemic opener "Hero", the excellent "Justice Is Deserved" and my favourite track of the album, the title track with its gigantic chorus. "Going Under" is a tad repetetive but still somehow likeable, while "See The Light" is one the songs that remind me of Lillian Axe, especially during the verses. A good one, just like "Open Your Eyes", which features cool guitarwork and huge backing vocals. I just wonder how they can pull them off live!

The 'rÿche influences pop up on "My Eager's Red", but I don't really like the chorus. "Always On My Mind" is one of the lighter numbers, with a nice chorus, but it's missing that magic ingredient to turn it into a real AOR classic. Still, a good song, no doubt. "Heavenly Devotion" is a groovy, hard rocking track that reminds me of Shark Island's or Babylon A.D.'s finest moments. The hook is dangerously sharp.

"To Please And Give In" is the album's weakest track for me, but I guess it's groovy swagger might work for some. I just can't stand it. "Hallucinate" is much better, and it's one of the more keyboard driven tracks. The show is closed with "Crush That Fear", another excellent track that has a bit of a Queensrÿche-vibe.

If there's one thing missing from the album, it's the ballads. A bit strange, since the ballad "Without You" is the most popular track on "Helluva Time", according to the poll on the band's site, and during the Bormann-era, each album had it's fair share of slower songs. Maybe the band is trying to distance themselves from the past, but I would have happily traded one of the weaker songs to a good ballad. But... even without "a tearjerker", this album is a Top 10 contender for this year.
www.jadedheart.de

LionMusic 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
9 October 2007

Mind's Eye are definitely a bunch of talanted songwriters and musicians, relying on more than just a ten minute long tune with a handful of solos to create a fine sounding Prog/Symphonic album. It's actually a full-on, frontal, Prog attack, featuring soaring vocals by Andreas Novak and nicely served keyboards by "drummer", Daniel Flores.

"A Gentleman's Hurricane" is a rather complex concept story about an former ice cold assassin, Adam Evangelista, his struggle against growing guilt, which eventually leads to 'spilling the beans' for a priest in a attempt to receive absolution and confess his sins. OK, I guess we're dealing with some kind of mix of the PC/Playstation game "Hitman", and the dodgy cinema picture (???) featuring: Sylvester Stallone and the Spanish bloke, Bandana... ehh... Bandera... whatever (nope, I can't recall the title of the movie and I can't be bothered to google it, you'll have to fly solo on this mission).

Poko Records 2007
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
10 October 2007

This is the first single from the new Finnish metal band When The Empire Falls. Their promo leaflet labels them as being "melodic metal", and while it's essentially true (they're melodic and metal!), don't expect yet another Helloween/Stratovarius clone.

As the title track blasted out of my headphones for the first time, I wasn't sure whether this would be something I'd like. The band threw in some wicked riffs that reminded me of the pioneering thrash bands such as Anthrax and Death Angel - not really my cup of tea. Thankfully, as the vocals kicked in, things started to sound much better. Vocalist Tommy proved to be an excellent shouter, possessing the aggression to match the furious guitars, yet keeping it all very melodic. And what do you know, guitarists Rami and Markus managed to add some tasty melodic elements to the song too. And while I'm at it, the song itself is excellent, with a very cool pre-chorus and chorus.

The second song "Machines" might make this single a collector's item, as it won't be on the band's debut album, to be released in 2008. The song itself sounds like a hybrid of Metallica and Iron Maiden, and pretty damn decent at that. The guys must have huge stock of songs, if they can leave something as good this off the album...
www.wtef.info

TFD 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
10 October 2007

Quirky, perky, and darn catchy. Yes, it's once again time for some excellent Finn-rock. Not quite the Goth and Metal as of lately as this is modern Pop/Rock of high standard. The Friend are Anders Vourimaa (vocals/guitar), Mikko Koskinen (guitars), Jaakko Kaján (bass) and Antti Siniranta (drums). They claim to play melodic indierock and to be honest it's hard to pick them out as each track on this EP is different from the next.

"Sports" kicks off at the halfway line with "Streets Call", which is basically a slab of power playing with an interesting break and a fun, danceable beat. Track two, "Blood In Your Eyes", features some friggin' cool guitar work that dates back to the days of The Jam and The Smiths. The melody itself is very perky and up-to-date and more in the vein of a modern day 'The Cure'. Check out the impressive vocal harmonies and "falsetto" work by Vourimaa as this is (finnish) brit-rock at its very best.

Pivotal 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
7 October 2007

"Infamy And The Breed" is a bowl of chaos mixed with just a hint of intelligence and finess. It's literally music that doesn't seem to hold together and vocals that sometimes goes way over the top. Zonaria are playing the Swedish Death Metal to the extreme (Unleashed, Arch Enemy) with matching shoe-laces and all. Well, you may also add a lot of Norwegian 'Dimmu Borgir' influences within these tracks.

Lots of demonic chords and heavy riffs adorning well written and well worked material though. They're bridging the gap between the two Scandinavian countries and it's a all a very intense experience. The surprisingly melodic harmonies and ominous synth lines are a nice change to the rather montonious vocals by Simon Berglund. It's not like he's constantly trying to sound dull, but after 4 or 5 tracks, it's all a blur really.

LionMusic 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
7 October 2007

You know, Dogpound might just suffer from wrong name syndrome. No 'release the hounds' moment whatsoever really, hardly a barking mad puppy, and certainly no Cujo. According to the press release, "III", are supposed to be heavier than previous attempts and to be seen as a natural progress in the evolution of the band. I guess it all depends on who or whom you compare with as this is plain and simple rock.

This is an album of unsettling, yet at times entertaining music. I believe I did a major mistake at first as I put a lot of concentration on the guitar work and the sound of the amp? (well, some acts doesn't use 'em in the studio anymore). Anyhow, they are using this studio effect that smothers its surrounding with dist, dist, and more dist. It's actually quite annoying in the long run and became darn difficult to ignore, once it was brought to my notice.

Transubstance 2007
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
10 October 2007

Groovy, dude!!! Seriously, this is far-out, dude. Free form improvisation, dude. Look, dude, you need to chill out, you know, smell the flowers. Hey, so what if we can't remember which key to play in... dude... it really doesn't matter, you know. This is free form, dude!!! We can play whatever we want - when we want - and noone could tell the difference anyhow. Excellent!!! High-five all around and pass the bong.

Yes sir indeed, it's the return of Oresund Space Collective and they're just as good (or bad) as previous album. I tried to get our resident "hippie" to review this, but it's clearly too far-out even for the acid rocker of the past. "The Black Tomato" is a journey consisting of three parts, "Rumble" (38:35 minutes), "The Black Tomato" (32:05), and the shorter section, "Viking Cleaner" (6:28). Well, I can now honestly say that I've been to hell and back again. I have experienced stuff I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Believe me, I can appreciate jamming and getting into a serious groove. Thus why it's actually fun to play free form jazz as a drummer, but pure hell for any poor bastard in the audience. Ditto with the music of The Collective, only ten times worse and on ACID!!!