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German Power Metal legends Helloween are back with their fourteenth studio album.

The first track on the album (and indeed the first single – check out the video on Youtube) is Nabatea. A departure from the typical subjects of rock and metal songs, this seven minute epic tells the tale of Nabatea (a real place). The first real democracy over 3000 years ago, almost nothing remains of this peaceful kingdom in the desert, but one of it’s cities does remain and is well known – the hidden city of Petra with it’s buildings carved out of the rock (if you’ve watched films including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade you’ll have seen it). Petra was only re-discovered 200 years ago (in 1812)...

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Greek singer/musician Tatiana Manolidou comes from a musical family, and has studied piano,vocal and theory of music from an early age. She has composed music for the Greek theatre and TV, as well performing many concerts across Greece and Cyprus. She provided vocals for the album ”Matricide” by Prog rockers La Tulipe Noire. Now she’s unveiled her latest work – Tatiana’s NIOVI – ”Breath of light”. Most of the lyrics were written by Cindy L Spear, a poet and lyricist who has written for Iona and Karnataka.

Brief comments on a few of the tracks…

The album opens with ”Intro: Breath of life” which is a lovely Celtic sounding track.

The album then moves quickly into ”When I’m lost” which is a rock song, but still quite delicate at the same time...

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It’s been a long time since Wintersun released their debut album – eight years in fact. Jari Mäenpää appears to subscribe to the Axl Rose school of album making to take that long over an eagerly awaited album. So after eight years it would be reasonable to expect a superb album, but what Wintersun have delivered is somewhat surprising.
You get a whole five tracks – yes you read that right, just five tracks. It gets worse – two of those are basically intros (one four minutes long, and the other just over two minutes), so it’s down to just three proper songs...

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”Lights out” is the follow up to 2011’s successful album ”Hisingen Blues” Since the release of that album they’ve seen their popularity soar and have toured and played festivals to capitalise on the album’s success. Expectations then for this new album, their third, are high.

The band’s sound is still heavily influenced by 70s hard rock, and stoner rock influences are also apparent. The music feels darker and a bit heavier than Hisingen Blues, but apart from that, little significant has changed between the releases – after all whan you’ve got a winning formula it would be madness to change too much.

Brief comments on a couple of tracks…

”The Suits, the Law & the Uniforms” has a real Deep Purple sound with a bit of sstoner rock thrown into the mix...

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SPV/Playground

Legendary US metal band VICIOUS RUMORS has definitely not kicked the bucket. 14 live and studio albums on they still soldier on. Some might say that their heyday passed after albums like “Soldiers of the Night” and “Digital Dictator”, which was back in the second half of the eighties, others like me prefer the early nineties and albums like “S/T” and “Welcome to the Ball” etc. But the band has sure struck back with the triumphant “Razorback killers” in 2011. Guitarist Geoff Thorpe has been around since 1979 and drummer Larry Howe more or less since 1986. Bassist Stephen Goodwin came aboard in 2006, vocalist Brian Allen in 2009 and guitarist Bob Capka as late as 2012...

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VAN Records/Sound Pollution

The three Dutchmen behind the moniker VANDERBUYST are probably never going to be as hip as now. As the word “fun” is more restricted than ever pure fun and hedonism guys guitarist Willem Vanderbuyst, drummer Barry Van Esbroek and bassist/vocalist Jochem Jonkman are the answers to most boring issues. Because this band are probably above such backlashes as the EU finances, government restrictions and general Western Europe Decline. Not with an opener like “Frivolous Franny”! The band has opened for SAXON and shared stage with the likes of BLACK COUNTY COMMUNION and DREAM THEATER, where will this end?

Opener “Frivolous Franny” can´t really go wrong, and the even classically tinged riff of “Waiting in the Wings” is an homage to the early heavy metal of the ...

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Road Show Productions

This French lot dates back to 1982, and debuted on vinyl for Axe Killer Records in 1984. Or rather guitarist Frenzy Philippon did. In 1989 the band disintegrated but, as is soon customary, Philippon revived the band in 1996 bringing in lead vocalist Nathalie Greyer and drummer Vince Kohler, who are still in. The bass side has been more turbulent and it was only 2011 that Hungarian bass player Matt Gabnai came aboard. Will 2012 be the year of MYSTERY BLUE?

It is soon apparent that the major influences are those of most heavy metal fans (in alphabetical order); ACCEPT, JUDAS PRIEST and RUNNING WILD. The drums courtesy of Vince are really some of the most triggered of 2012, which may or may not please your ears as Ms. Greyer has an almost metallic voice...

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Frontiers/BAM

SOLEIL MOON is a duo consisting of Larry King of MICHAEL THOMPSON BAND and well travelled keyboard player John Blasucci, who has played with most of the pop rock world stars. They debuted in 1999 with “Worlds Apart”, and became a name in Adult Contemporary rock. Apparently the new single “History Repeats Its Pages” so this project band is to be taken seriously.

The single is the opening track, and it is a well-arranged soft melodic piece with many instrumental layers and a slight MICHAL BOLTON-vibe. The band specialty is really soft and engaging songs that are augmented by really lingering refrains and supreme musicians, like MICHAEL THOMPSON, being involved...

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Frontiers/BAM

Ever since the release of the classic “Dawn Patrol” in 1982 NIGHT RANGER have been top of their game. I discovered them when I heard “Rock in America” on the Swedish Radio Show “Rockbox” in the mid eighties, and most people have some fond memories to their music. This album is nevertheless a celebration of the 30th Anniversary of their debut album, but also features many other hits. Original guitarist Jeff Watson has pursued a solo career, and is replaced by Joel Hoekstra and Eric Levy handles keys and piano since 2011. Let’s see if they can create magic without electricity.

To their credit NIGHT RANGER of 2012 includes quite a few songs off their latest “Somewhere in California”...

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Napalm/Sound Pollution

Paragon was founded back in 1990 by guitarist Martin Christian, and debuted in 1994 with “World of Sin”. Since then they have released nine more albums and a couple of EPs etc. Vocalist Andreas Babuschkin has been around since 1990, bassist Jan Bunning since 1997, and drummer Christian Gripp has been in the band since 2006. They seem a solid lineup and for this album they have decided on Piet Sielck (IRON SAVIOR) to produce.

This is an album in all simplicity gifted with a solid basic beat and some repetitive refrains that will keep sales at a healthy level...