ANTON JOHANSSON – GALAHAD SUITE

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Out now on Lion Music

Described as “Epic storytelling with an all-star cast make Anton Johansson’s Galahad Suite one of the best concept albums you will hear in 2013” is rather a bold claim by label by Lion Music and you’d be right for being sceptical with such fanfare, for starters I imagine few have heard of Anton Johansson who played with Mister Kite a few years back, but delve deeper and you’ll discover the fanfare might not be so wide of the mark after all.

With a sound that runs across progressive rock/metal, melodic and hard rock grounds with equal measure, “Galahad Suite” is the result of an idea that has been in the head of former Mister Kite member Anton Johansson for almost 30 years and features an array of talented musicians including Linus Abrahamson (guitar and bass), Carl Lindquist (vocals), Mats Bergentz (Drums), Sebastian Berglund (Keyboards), Anna Forsvall Lundmark (Cello) and backing vocal by Evelina Andersson, Ellen Abrahamson and Mikael Cederhag.  Is this the all-star cast mentioned previously? Well no, aside from Lindquist most names are new to me, but then we get onto the guest list.

Ready?

How about guitarists Mattias IA Eklundh (Freak Kitchen, Freak Guitar), Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear, Allen/Lande, Starbreaker), Jonas Hansson (Silver Mountain), Dennis Post (Star*Rats) and Magnus Kristensson (Mister Kite, Planet); along with keyboards by Jens Johansson (Stratovarius, Yngwie Malmsteen, Dio) and Lalle Larsson (Karmakanic, Agents of Mercy, Electrocution 250) and additional vocals by Alf Wemmenlind (Mister Kite, Fifty Grand Suicide), not too shabby eh!

But of course names are nothing without a decent end product and boy has Anton conjured up something rather special.  As someone sick to death of overblown pompous epics  (Timo Tolkki’s Avalon anyone?) this is understated, it has very  good songs, a strong story running through and the guest spots are used to enhance the end product, not be the only reason for buying.  Production is excellent, strong, powerful and with a crisp mix.

10 tracks which take us from opener “The Hope” to closer “The Man”, each track represents a step in Sir Galahad’s quest, corny? Maybe, but Wemmenlind and Lindquist deliver the lyrics with so much passion and emotion it’s hard to not get caught up in it.  The other musicians are uniformly excellent whether its on the mid-tempo opener to the up-tempo and melodic delight that is “The Quest” to  the musicality of “The Incident” (Dream Theater fans will love this one) and its breakdown with a superb keyboard solo from Sebastian Berglund.  Each track has something to offer new on each subsequent listen and I can see this album staying in frequent rotation for a long time to come.

Overall, a very pleasant surpise from Lion Music and congratulations to Anton Johansson, the 30 year wait has been worth it.  Check out ASAP (note digital release only).

Rating – 95%

HEADLESS – GROWING APART

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Out now on Lion Music

Headless were a band that were kicking around in the late 1990’s, they disbanded in 2000 but have seen fit to reform under the watchful eye of guitar duo Walter Cianciusi and Dario Parente, making up the core of the band is vocalist Goran Edman, he of some of the finest pipes to have come out of Scandinavia.  Completing the lineup is guest drummer Scott Rockenfield of Queensryche fame for the bands come back “Growing Apart”.

Stylistically Growing Apart sits somewhere between straight metal and hard melodic rock mixed with some progressive elements, all tracks are listenable and accessible from the first spin and to be honest this is a very good collection of songs with good performances from all involved. 

The promo literature states that the music was built around the drum rhythms of Rockenfield, fortunately this doesn’t sound like musicians trying to lay down music to drum rhythms, instead its well written, focused and with good arrangements.  Edman contributes strong vocals and melodies and throws down some interesting vocal harmonies on the likes of “Primetime”, “The Backstabbers Around Us” and the title track. Cianciusi and Parente prove themselves to be more than capable guitarists, who also know the art of restraint when it comes to lead time too.

Overall, a good album worth checking out.

Rating – 83%

ARTLANTICA – ACROSS THE SEVEN SEAS

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Out now on SPV/Steamhammer

Artlantica are a new outfit from Artension members guitarist Roger Staffelbach and vocalist John West, along with keyboardist Mistheria, drummer John Macaluso and guests – Steve DiGiorgio [Bass], Dani Löble [Drums] and Chris Caffery [Guitars].   The observant amongst you will notice half the line-up is that from Staffelbach’s previous outfit Angel Of Eden who released the strong album  “The End Of Never” a few years ago.

Stylistically Artlantica straddle the same musical ground as Angel of Eden and Artension, on occasions to the point that some of the tracks do sound like blantant rewrites (Fight For The Light and Demon In My Mind particularly) , I’d also question why this wasn’t released under the Angel Of Eden moniker too.

Ultimately what we get on “Across The Seventh Seas” though is rather, dare I say it, “safe” melodic neo-classically tinted power metal.  Expect plenty of guitar chugging and appropriately timed synth hits from Maestro Mistheria and double bass hits. It all sounds meticulously constructed and therein lays the issue that it all comes across as too pre-planned and lacking in a spontaneous edge.

Granted, John West can still belt out a tune when he wants too and Staffelbach is as prestigious as ever on guitar but you do get the feeling the band are in their comfort zone a lot of the time with the material missing the energy and zeal of early Artension.

So overall a mixed bag of strong musical performances mixed with an average set of songs.  The production is powerful and all instruments are mixed well, but when its all said and done I really wanted to like this album, yet I feel somewhat disappointed by the end product.

Rating – 70%

WHITESNAKE – MADE IN JAPAN

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Out now on Frontiers

Another live offering from Whitesnake, and whilst there is no denying the strong recent studio output one does question the seemingly endless live releases of late (and with the prospect of more to come!).

So does “Made In Japan” offer up anything different than what’s come before? Aside from new cuts from the rather good ‘Forever More’ and dedicated solo spots one has to say no unless you count the acoustic versions and rehearsal tracks on disc 2.

Other than that this is rather dispensable, Coverdale’s vocals have certainly seen MUCH better days in the upper registers, and even the band downtuning cannot mask this fact.  The album also suffers from one clusterfuck of a bottom end mix, being overly distorted and bass heavy making this rather a piss-poor listen.  Did Elsie place mics in front the PA bass bins and record that one wonders?

Disc 2’s clearer sound only goes to highlight the poor sound on disc 1 and is by far more enjoyable.

As a long time Whitesnake fan I have to say I am rather disappointed. We’d suggest you look into Whitesnake axeman Doug Aldrich’s new Burning Rain album Epic Obsession instead.

Rating – 50%

OPPOSING MOTION – LAWS OF MOTION

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Out now on Lion Music

New to the Lion Music roster and a new name for us, Opposing Motion represent everything we’ve come to expect from Lion now .e.g progressive metal that’s well played and written.  “Laws Of Motion” ticks all the boxes and isn’t a million miles away in approach from label mates Seventh Wonder yet the band have enough of their own hallmarks to keep them sounding original.

Melody is high on the Opposing Motion list of traits with a strong leaning towards memorable melodic  vocal motifs from Ludovic Desa, yet these tend to remain at the more aggressive end of the spectrum.  The Deplanche brothers (David and Kevin) form a rock solid rhythm backdrop for guitarist Joe McGurk to lay down strong riffs and lead work over. This is definitely intelligent metal and you get the impression is all comes sickeningly easily for the band such is the confidence displayed in the material.

After several spins “Forever’s Edge” is the pick of the bunch song wise, yet the closing epic title track runs a close second.

Areas of improvement? The production is quite wet with a lot of reverb, something which does take away a little power and see some intricacies get lost in the mix but otherwise its all strong stuff and another good find by Lion Music.

Rating – 85%

BURNING RAIN – EPIC OBSESSION

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Out now on Frontiers

Burning Rain was always my favourite of Doug Aldrich‘s bands, with its high octane approach on both albums. After more than 10 years, Burning Rain is back with a brand new album.

Let me start off with the negative : it’s less intense than the first two. That doesn’t mean it’s a snoozefest like so many reunion albums turn out to be. It just lacks some of the mania of the older material.

And… that’s it as far as negatives are concerned. This is a great album with quite a big Zeppelin and Whitesnake influence. Doug’s killer guitar playing pervades every song and the band is tight as ever. The slightly more old school approach suits Keith St John’s voice very well.

No complaints about production either.

Highly recommended.

Rating – 90%
Review by Sancho, suffering from some pleasure burns.

ANVIL – HOPE IN HELL

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Released 27th May 2013 on SPV

“Anvil – The Movie” reinvigorated Anvil’s career both commercially and musically. Bigger budgets brought better production along with renewed inspiration.

New album “Hope In Hell” continues to benefit. The slow, pounding title track may be an odd choice for album opener, but things fall into place from second track “Eat Your Words” on, which hints at classics like “Motormouth”. From there on in, it’s typical Anvil fare : old school metal with plenty of manic drumming, manic guitars and Lips’ distinctive voice. “The Fight Is Never Won” sounds like another track off classic album “Forged In Fire”. Come to think of it, the entire album gives me the same chills I got when I heard FIF for the first time.

Production is up to snuff, crisp and open yet powerful.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Anvil, and their decline was painful for me to witness. It’s good to see them enjoying some much deserved popularity these days.

Their best album in many a year, no self respecting metalhead should be without.

Rating – 92%
Review by Sancho

UDO – STEELHAMMER

 

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Released 24th May 2013 on AFM Records

Writing an UDO review can be as easy as copy/pasting your last review, really.  Some albums have more of an Accept vibe, others are slightly more contemporary, but basically you know what to expect. Does their latest release break the pattern?

“Steelhammer” is a fairly safe release, with some keyboards thrown in for added flavour and some excellent guitar playing. Unfortunately, precious few of the songs manage to ignite the spark. After the strong opening salvo of the title track, things start going downhill. “Metal Machine” is as pedestrian as metal gets and they manage to follow it up with the even more groan-inducing “Basta Ya”… Fortunately there’s tracks like “Death Ride” to even things out a bit. The second half of the album is actually better than the first.

It doesn’t help that Udo’s voice is starting to show serious signs of wear (ballad “Heavy Rain” is painful), or that the guitars sound very synthetic.

Personally, I liked predecessor “Rev-Raptor” a lot better, as that one sounded far more inspired.

If you’re an UDO fan, chances are this album won’t disappoint. If you’re looking for an introduction to the band, you’d be better off checking some other releases first.

Rating – 78%
Review by Sancho

FAIR WARNING – SUNDANCER

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Released 24 May 2013 on SPV / Steamhammer

After the unpleasant taste left in the mouth by Axel Rudi Pell’s latest live offering , Fair Warning deliver the perfect teutonic tonic.  Hopefully this band should need no introduction to our readers, classy melodic hard rock performed by truly great musicians in Tommy Heart (vocals), Helge Engelke (guitar), Ule Ritgen (bass) and CC Behrens (drums).  Sundancer marks the bands 11th album and once again yields high dividends in the songwriting department.

Tommy Heart is a wonderful vocalist, powerful with great melody  and pitch whilst guitarist Helge Engelke’s  guitar work with is A1 as ever, the guy knows how to utilise a variety of amps and guitars to build textures within tracks and his fluid lead work is as awe-inspiring as ever – think a rockier Uli Jon Roth.  Bassist Ule Ritgen (formely of Roth’s Electric Sun) is again his busy yet solid self and it’s a delight to hear his flowing bass lines combins with CC Behrens hard hitting style.

Highlights come from most tracks but the punchy opener “Troubled Love”, “Jealous Heart” and the anthemic “Living On The Street” all combine soaring melodies with punchy riffs and commercial hooks.

Well produced (as ever) with good artwork  (a nod to the bands classic Rainmaker album), Sundancer sees the band get close to the quarter of a century mark with fine apblomb.  If you haven’t heard this band before this is as good a place to start as any.

Rating – 89%

AXEL RUDI PELL – LIVE ON FIRE

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Out now on SPV / Steamhammer

German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell releases his 3rd live album (to my knowledge) in a career spanning 20+ years.  You probably know the drill by now, great band, great vocalist in Johnny Gioeli and a good set of songs, all ruined when it comes to Pell’s “solo antics”. I find it quite amazing that in his extended career he’s never learnt to bend a string to pitch or develop a vibrato that sounds anything other than hack, both key elements of Blackmore’s style he failed to rip off. Kirk Hammett and Axel really should join forces.

I know the majority of Pell’s fan are not musicians and do not have such a keen ear for technique, and to be fair he can pen a good song in the classic Rainbow/Purple/RJD era Sabbath vein but if it weren’t for his band holding it all together then would anyone really be giving this guy props?

Plus points, running time is decent, good sound and it looks like the accompanying DVD is well shot.

Long term Pell fans will buy this.  Newbie’s should probably stick to a studio album and guitarists with a keen ear for pitch and taste will avoid like the plague.  I want to like this. Alas I can’t.

If you ignore the solos – 78%
Overall rating – 40%