Category Cd Reviews

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Market Square/Border

Gull Records may not have a ring these days, but they were an interesting indie company in the seventies. If I say that JUDAS PRIEST was on their roster things might clear up. In 1972 vocalist/keyboards/synth etc man Ken Elliott hooked up with drummer/percussionist/xylophonist etc. Kieran O ´Connor. Their aim was to form a band featuring only tangents and drums, no more personnel and no touring. Their focus is very clear from the instrumental opener “Sky Scraper” onwards on their 1974 debut. Ken was then, as well as now, a session musician and a score maker, but the lust to create music was too strong. In the approximately four years the band existed the number of musicians involved grew steadily, from two up to eleven on the follow up “psi-fi”...

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Roadrunner/Warner

RUSH is a time machine! Few bands have been around for so long in intact form. Save one drummer change in 1974, the band has always been around Geddy Lee, bass/vocals, Alex Lifeson, guitars and Neil Peart, drums. Their influence on a wide variety of bands, from virtuosos like DREAM THEATER to METALLICA, has been universally known for long. I wonder if they had the faintest idea of the magnitude they were to achieve when they were still struggling in the early seventies...

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This mini-album features seven cover versions plus a couple of acoustic versions of songs from Houston’s debut album. The CD inlay seems to imply that its a 7 song mini album with two ”bonus” tracks as the acoustic songs are credited separately which seems kind of pointless to be honest, but it’s not a big deal.

The cover versions are:

Runaway – originally recorded by Dakota
Carrie – originally recorded by Michael Bolton
Brief Encounter – originally recorded by Airrace and featuring Airrace’s Laurie Mansworth on guest guitar
Don’t You Know What Love Is (originally recorded by Touch and featuring Touch keyboard player Mark Mangold on guest vocals
Don’t Ever Wanna Lose You – originally recorded by New England
Didn’t We Almost Win It All – originally recorded by the late Laura Branigan...

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This is the special edition of Amaranthe’s debut album, released several months after the original release of the album. So what’s the difference between this and the standard edition? Well for a start there are two extra songs on this version, and secondly there is a DVD included with music videos, behind the scenes footage and a tour documentary.

If you havent heard anything by Amaranthe yet then you’ve definitely been missing out. A quick glance at the photo on the cover might give the impression that this is a typical female fronted band, but nothing could be further from the truth. Amaranthe are probably unique in having three lead vocalists – two lead singers doing clean vocals – one male and one female, with another male singer doing the screams and growls...

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Limb/Sound Pollution

New York guitarist Jack Starr first rose to fame with VIRGIN STEELE. But his spell with them was not to last for more than two albums, the self titled debut and “Guardians of the Flame”. Jack stuck to his guns releasing a solo album plus four more under the BURNING STARR moniker between 1985 and 1989. Time passed and not until 2009 came the band´s return with “Defiance”. This time Jack´s back, backed by long time bass player Ned Meloni, drummer Rhino, of MANOWAR fame, and vocalist Todd Hall. Guests on the album are Ross the Boss and David Shankle, adding to the MANOWAR touch, plus Marta Gabriel of CRYSTAL VIPER. Are we in for a delightful trip in the time machine?

The title track opens with a spoken voice, welcoming me to the land of the dead...

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Music Buy Mail/Sound Pollution

1992 marked the start of CAGE, in the heyday of grunge. But the band now release album number six, proving everybody wrong. CAGE hovers in the classic age of metal sound-wise, but both the NWOBHM and more modern touches are incorporated. Today the band consists of vocalist Sean “The Hell Destroyer” Peck, guitarist Dave “Conan” Garcia, drummer Norm “The Legend” Leggio (PSYCHOTIC WALTZ), and bass player Pete “Hands of” Stone. This seems to be a high priority release, is it that good?

The foundation of US heavy metal, Venom-like NWOBHM, JUDAS PRIEST and, to some extent, KING DIAMOND is omnipresent. CAGE is not trendy, and they go for the throat already in opener “Bloodsteel”...

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Lion/Warner

Italians MASTERCASTLE seems to become hotter by the day. They debuted in 2009 with the neoclassical “The Phoenix”, returned with the more straightforward “Last Desire” and now they apparently aim to combine the two with their third outing. The driving force behind the band seems to be guitarist Pier Gonella, bass player Steve Vawamas and drummer Alessandro Bissa. They chose vocalist Giorgia Gueglio to crown their efforts with her quite exceptional voice. The topics in the lyrics are very varied, everything from an Italian painter to the harsh lives of fishermen is included here. Is this their best yet?

The dynamically melodic “Another Flower” says they´re doing alright, no more. The refrain is a big vague, but the sound, especially the guitar, is great...

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Ännu osignade men efter denna recension officiellt accepterade Göteborgsbandet PshycoBrew släppte i höstas nytt med EP’n Alcohol Zombies. En 8 låtar lång trash/metal skildring med tydliga referenser i göteborgsmetal-sound hos band som bla Entombed om än (!) med tydligare drag av hardcore än just metal …
Med ett elakt sound och en illa fördold mask av avsky, vrålar sångaren Simon Hansson sig igenom hela plattan och lyckas stundom med att låta riktigt ond. Bra där, det behövs för att inte trilla ner i det för två år sedan så populära pojk-hardcorebandsträsket.

Vad jag gillar med plattan är att sångaren får sin rättmätiga plats och inte överröstas av resten av de mycket samspelta bandmedlemmarna...

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Massacre/Sound Pollution

Fresh-faced thrash quartet DIABOLUS DUST debuts with Massacre. Formed in 2006, the seminal line up of Jurgen Dachl, vocals, Roland Zehrer, bass, Stefan Fessert, drums, and Anton H. Lini concatenated in 2008. Old school is the aim, and thrash says the info sheet. Well, fire away.

They open with the title track, very old school in the first place. The old METALLICa fare works most of the time, they steer clear of latter day outings from Hetfield & co. The song thunders along but lacks a bit in the refrain department. Unfortunately DIABOLUS DUST lose their grip with songs 2-4. There might be echoes of everyone from ZAKK WYLDE to CLOVEN HOOF, but the refrains are not discernable from the verses in any way...

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Frontiers/BAM

Amanda Somerville has made quite a name for herself, both in metal circles and as a vocal coach. Of US decent, but has relocated to Germany/Holland, to be where the action seems to be. Faithful to her previous career moves she is back with a rock/metal hybrid, involving the duo of Sascha Paeth and Miro (KAMELOT, AVANTASIA etc), handling guitars, bass, keys, drums and arrangements and keyboards respectively. The info claims the material to be in the vein of a mix of Annie Lennox, DORO, ROB ZOMBIE and Sade…what?

Odd, odd, odd. Opener “Machine Gun” can´t be described as a straight rocker. The production and mixing of the voice and the guitars seem strange for the genre. There are operatic parts, rock, pop, but also beautiful slow and steamy moments...