Century Media 2006
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
22 June 2006

The previous Hotwire album "Middle Of Nowhere" (2001) was a nice enough collection of melodic rock songs, and that very same thing could be said of their new album. One can easily find similarities to bands like Gotthard, Firehouse and Bonfire, meaning that the band relies on nice, melodic choruses and crunchy, but not too crunchy guitar riffs.

The album gets a flying start with two strong numbers, "Waterfalls" and "Devil In Disguise". I'm not that fond of the verses of the first track actually, but the nicely flowing chorus with big harmony vocals lifts the song to another level. The title track bears a strong resemblance to Firehouse, and just like the previous track it features a highly melodic refrain.

"Hot Love" is a cover of a Marc Bolan song from the seventies, but this time given a total Def Leppard production style, á la "Pour Some Sugar On Me". In fact, this is how the Leps could have done their seventies covers... "Wonderland" is the bands' semi-balladic AOR track, reminding me of cult AOR hero Hugo's solo material. Good, but not necessarily one of the highlights. "Ride The Night Away" is another very AOR styled track (and a very good one), and it's the second cover of the album. The orginal version was recorded by Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes.

The acoustic ballad "Feelings" has to be ranked among the highlights. It may not be that different from about thousand acoustic ballads, but it has that all-important "something" which makes it quite special. It is followed by a Gotthard-like hard rocker "Skytrain", which sees the band toughening their sound. The chorus is a bit disappointing though, this energetic song could have used a stronger hook.

The next two tracks are quite lightweight pop rockers compared to the hard rocking tracks surrounding them. "I Know" has a good chorus, but again the verses are quite unmemorable. The ballad "Here I Am" doesn't move me in any way I'm afraid.

Placed after two lighter tracks, the riff-heavy "Escaping" sounds pretty good. I like it, but I must admit that I thought that Andy Urbeck sang "As Clay Burns" during the chorus...the lyrics didn't make too much sense! The Firehouse comparison raises its' head during the last track "Everytime You Want It", which sounds like it could have been taken from one of the most recent Firehouse releases.

As good as this album is, without a real killer track (or few) it might not get too much "airtime" in our household. Still, if you're a die-hard Gotthard, Bonfire or Firehouse fan , do check out this band... you'll hardly be disappointed.

Last but not least, I must hand it out to producer Chris Lausmann, his work is excellent. I was already impressed by his work with Jaded Heart, and now with this album under his belt too, he is really becoming one of the hot hard rock producers in Europe.
www.hotwire-rock.de

Frontiers 2006
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner
22 June 2006

I never really liked any of the Kiss "Alive" albums because they weren't really "live". Why do I mention that here? Because the new "live" album from Jim Peterik and Toby Hitchcock's Pride of Lions is even less live than those. Take a live recording of a festival with a much bigger audience than the band would normally draw, select the songs that sounded the best during the show, leave the others out, fade the crowd noise out after a few songs and in before a few others (it breaks the natural flow of the show but on the other hand it gives you the chance to leave those songs out which you don't need for the record), correct vocal and guitar tracks in the studio, add some extra crowd noises where it is quite obvious you'd need them (what's that if not a blasphemy?!), and there you go, you have a "live" album. Gotta wonder if there's still anybody out there who won't recognize all that cheat from a million miles away.

Anyway this "live" album is a fine piece of craftsmanship both from the musicians and the post-engineers, it includes all the necessary POL songs as well as the obvious Survivor and World Stage plugs, just what a Jim Peterik fan would expect. The 14 tracks of the "live" recording fills a CD, and you get a bonus disc with seven studio tracks. Again why seven?! Didn't they have enough for a regular studio album? However the studio tracks are all of great quality, a bit heavy on the ballad-side, but what else did you expect anyway?

Eagle 2006
Review by Martien Koolen
18 June 2006

I always have been and always will be a HUGE Thin Lizzy fan. I have all their albums and their special sound, due to the remarkable voice of Lynott and the twin guitars, is second to none. On 19 August 2005, on what would have been the eve of his 56th birthday, s statue of Phil Lynott was unveiled in Dublin’s Grafton Street by his mother. There to witness the event were members of Thin Lizzy from throughout the amazing band’s career. The following evening they joined forces under the leadership of Gary Moore for a concert that paid tribute to Phil Lynott’s memory. The core band of Moore, Jethro Tull bass player Jonathan Noyce and Thin Lizzy’s one and only drummer Brian Downey were joined by the stellar guitar talents Brian Robertson, Scott Gorham and Eric Bell. Together they played a set of Lizzy and Gary Moore classics, making this DVD one of the best I have seen this year, so far.

If you look at the setlist you know that you are in for a real treat. Just enjoy the Lizzy classics „Jailbreak”, Don’t Believe A Word”, „Emerald” and „Still In Love With You”(both with Brian Robertson), „Black Rose”, „Cowboy Song” and „The Boys Are Back In Town”(all three with Gorham) and last but not least „Whiskey In The Jar”(of course with Eric Bell). These songs are just sheer magic and the twin guitar solos and melodies, especially in „Black Rose”, almost make me want to cry...The Gary Moore classics „Walking By Myself”, „Old Town” and the fantastic instrumental „Parisienne Walkways” are the icing on the cake actually, making this DVD even more special.

Century Media 2006
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
16 June 2006

Greek Metal band Firewind have gone through some changes since the last time I heard their material. I believe it was actually their first album which I reviewed a few years ago... Now, "Allegiance" is their fourth one, and only the main man Gus G. (guitars) remains of the first album's line-up. Apollo Papathanasio is the band's third vocalist and Mark Cross their third drummer, while bassist Petros Christo and keyboardist Bob Katsionis have been around for a bit longer now.

I've missed the band's two previous albums so I can't really talk much about their musical evolution. Compared to the first album, I think the band has dropped some of their "Euro-Metal" leanings, and replaced them with influences from classic metal/hard rock acts such as Whitesnake and Dio. I guess some of the "blame" has to go towards vocalist Apollo P., who sounds like a mix of David Coverdale, R.J.Dio and Kal Swan (of Lion/Bad Moon Rising).

The album opens with the title track, a powerful DIO like track, but with a chorus that reminds me strongly of Kamelot. "Insanity" follows the same path, a classic melodic metal track with a very strong chorus. "Falling To Pieces" adopts a bit more modern vibe, and oddly enough, it sounds to me like HIM with a traditional metal vocalist! Interesting...

"Ready To Strike" shows the bands' influences maybe a bit too obviously, as the chorus bears a striking resemblance to that of "Children Of The Night" by Whitesnake. "Breaking The Silence" is one of the most interesting and impressive tracks of the album, featuring a duet between Apollo and Swedish-based vocalist Tara. Her vocals remind me a bit of Shakira's "yodeling" vocal style but thankfully she's not quite as annoying. Actually, her fragile style suits the song.

The balladic "Deliverance" and the Lion-like "Till The End Of Time" are both good tracks, but I'm not that fond of the heavy rocker "Dreamchaser", which has a bit of a dull chorus. The nice and mellow instrumental "Before The Storm" doesn't do much for me, but it works okay as a introduction to the last two songs. "The Essence" and "Where Do We Go From Here?" represent the more melodic and catchy side of Firewind, and they are both absolutely fantastic songs with killer hooklines and melodies!

I doesn't happen often, but this time I had to raise my rating after writing most of this review. There's no reason to deny the "9" from this album - it's well produced, almost filler-free and on top of everything, it contains some of the finest melodic metal tracks of recent months.
www.firewind.gr

Dockyard 2006
Review by Martien Koolen
18 June 2006

This is Mannhai’s fourth album and the band’s first release with singer Pasi Koskinen. The ex-Amorphis shouter joined Mannhai in the middle of the 2005 European Tour, after they had “fired” Pasi’s predecessor. The new singer leads Mannhai back to their musical roots and therefore this album rocks and grooves like none of their other three albums.

“Hellroad Caravan” is filled with heavy sounds, wild grooves, catchy melodies and explosive rock and roll passages. You hear obvious influences from bands like Black Sabbath, Guns N’ Roses, Warrior Soul, Krux and even Monster Magnet. All the 11 songs sound very “explosive” and dynamic and are therefore extremely suitable as live material.

SPV 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
10 June 2006

Bassist Tom Petersson made the following comment recently, "This new record has all the best elements of our entire catalogue. It's by far our best work yet". Really? by far your best work? well, do not all bands try and create a massive overkill and hype for each new CD release? Sure they do, I'm not too sure they always believe in themselves and what they're actually saying though. However, this time I'm almost willing to agree with above speaker!!! "Rockford" is one helluva' record in the old school of power-pop-rock and it's difficult to find many or any negative things to write about.

I haven't been too impressed with the Trick-sters lately and not old enough to be a fan during the 70's. Sure, I got the classics in a retrospective buy-up, but I guess it's never quite the same as being there since day one. I had my serious doubts about this CD when first hearing that Linda Perry (Pink, Kelly Osbourne, Christina Aguilera) would be involved (especially since I didn't enjoy a single note of her "4-Non Blondes"). She even co-wrote the first single "Perfect Stranger", no need to worry though, this is the classic CH sound and a song that hasn't been this sharp since the 80's. In fact, the first five tracks are simply outstanding and had me thinking: it's perhaps time for a first perfect 10 rating after all???

"Welcome To The World" is a short (too short) opener with a bubble-gum happy approach. "Perfect Stranger" is the perfect radio song and should be at the top of the charts (you know, with any justice in the world). "If It Takes A Lifetime" is a great semi-ballad of the past with some tasty keyboards in the background. You can tell what "Come On Come On Come On" is all about... just by reading the title. It's a fun uptempo rocker and the Status Quo version of Cheap Trick. "O' Claire" is a marvelous Beatlesque ballad with a Robin Zander at his very best. Marvelous harmonies and you'll soon be humming along to the line of "just between the two of us", with a silly hi-pitch voice and a big smile on yer face. Folks familiar with their back catalogue may recall the two titles, "Come On Come On" (In Color - 1977) and "Oh Claire" (Heaven Tonight - 1978). No need to worry, they may have reused titles (why?), but the songs are all brand new and not similar to eachother.

Frontiers 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
5 June 2006

"Music For The Divine" is a complex compact disc that you need to spin several times and then spin a couple of times extra. I must confess it didn't cause or attract much noice at first... and simply grew into this semi monster release of its kind. It's really not about hooks and radio friendly tunes, the mixture of funky guitars, hardrock songs, string arrangements, and various R&B influences, will demand your full and only attention (PS. the R&B of long gone days, not the crap you can find on MTV).

The opening song (The Valiant Denial) and the opening line, "you've been mislead by the thoughts in your head", will instantly grab the listener by his/her throat. It's a real epic song that ticks in at 6:50 minutes and a nice showcase of the essence of the voice. The long guitar intro had me puzzled at first though and I almost expected something in the vein of Judas Priest. Hughes has continued to work on the success of previous solo albums and especially the style of "Soul Mover". He has also continued with the important task of adding former Red Hot Chilipepper members as studio musicians. Both drummer Chad Smith and guitarist John Frusciante, provide experience and ideas to the album this time. JJ Marsh, the Swede and ex-Spellbound member in the 80's, will still take care of all lead guitars though.

Perris 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
10 June 2006

Should I be enjoying the music of Sweet Cheater as much as I do? I had to ask myself this rather important and also lame question before writing down the review of their "Eatin' Ain't Cheatin" CD. I tell you, a large part of my rarely used brain is screaming out words such as: "cheesy, wimpy, been there, done that", (and much worse I'm sure). The other part (of my rarely used brain) will simply ignore all attempts at looking at this with common sense and starts headbanging along to the music.

I can't help it, the music of "Eatin Ain't Cheatin" is like a weird rollercoaster ride of mixed emotions. It's easy-going, dumb, fun, Sleaze/Glam rock straight out of the 80's. So what if there's hardly a single note of originality on this CD? It doesn't matter in the end as long as they write catchy and fun melodies such as opener "All Fired Up", "Summer" and "One Love". The RATT sounding "Romina" will take you back to the days of lipstick, make-up, and Dancing Undercover. Mike Chappel even sings like Stephen Pearcy mixed with some of the clueless approach of Stevie Rachelle (Tuff).

Universal 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
9 June 2006

Covers? Yeah! Yeah??? Hell No!!! We've been waiting four long years for Def Leppard to deliver the goods and they bring us this? It's kindly said a waste of time, waste of money, and also a waste of many fine songwriters. The Leppard's are all capable of penning down their own material, and not a single track here is even remotely close to being as good as the original. In fact, you will only piss off your fans if you spend 2-3 years in the studio to produce a cover album. It's been told they recorded this to get rid of their US record deal. Still, it's only more bad news as this probably means another 3-4 years wait until next CD.

"20th Century Boy" (T-Rex) is a song that everybody has already done to death. "Rock On" (David Essex) is a poor number in the first place and Elliott's whispering approach add little or nada to the outcome. "Hanging On The Telephone" (Blondie) is definitely my favourite, simply because it was originally done by a girlie (Debbie Harry), male vocals is at least something new and different and it's catchy tune. Then you have everything from utter crap versions, "Hellraiser" (Sweet), 10538 Overture (ELO), "The Golden Age Of Rock'N'Roll" (Mott The Hoople), "No Matter What" (Badfinger), He's Gonna Step On You Again (John Kongos), "Don't Believe A Word" (Thin Lizzy), to the plain average rock of "Waterloo Sunset" (The Kinks), "Street Life (Roxy Music), Drive In Saturday (David Bowie), "Little Bit Of Love" (Free), and "Stay With Me" (The Faces). The latter with Phil Collin behind the mike, doing his best impression to sound like Rod Stewart (not "quite" there yet though).

SPV 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
10 June 2006

Dio's "Angry Machines" was originally released back in 1996 and former WWIII lead guitarist Tracy.G (real lastname: Grijalva) took one helluva public beating here. Everybody pretty much blamed him for creating the worst melodies ever in the history of Dio. People said he coudn't play his own stuff, nor the solos of prior Dio guitarplayers, and he single handely ruined the classic sound of Dio.

Ehem, really? OK, this is a rather "dark" affair with tons of depressive interludes and passages. But honestly... it's not *that* much a difference between this and what Black Sabbath & R.J. Dio tried to create with "Dehumanizer". I'm neither too crazy about that particular Sabbath album for that matter... but you simply can't blame everything on the lead guitarist. This is after all Ronnine James Dio's band and his comment about this album follows next - "Angry Machines proved to be a much more transitional than anything we had done before. It was more rhythmically slanted and more lyrically and musically 'angry' than any Dio album that preceded it. Listen to it with an attitude. That's the way we made it".

SPV 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
9 June 2006

Dio's "Inferno - The Last In Live" was originally released in 1998 and feature the not-so-loved-among-Dio-fans, guitarist: Tracy G. C'mon... it's not like he's a complete low-brow and not even capable of playing the six-string, you know, like the early days of C.C. Deville or anyone much worse [ouch ;-)]. He's neither the best string-bender in the history of hardrock and definitely the "worst" of all Dio guitarists. But hey, it's not a easy task following into the footsteps of Viv Campbell and Craig Goldy, and Tracy's doing an "ok" impression on this live recording. Nothing out-of-ordinary or sensational perhaps and you can even understand why RJD decided to replace him in the end.

Eagle 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
10 June 2006

They played their instruments until they basically fell asleep on stage during the 70's Rainbow concert. How about an 14.39 minutes long version of "Man On The Silver Mountain", why not catch a nap during the 17.31 minutes of "Catch The Rainbow". Had enough already? no? you can microwave your dinner, drive down to the local titty bar, spend a fortune, buy next weeks' dinner, have a crap, and still be able to catch the ending of the 25.16 minutes long version of "Still I'm Sad". Blimey, and you thought Prog-Rock acts were silly in their endless quest for the ultimate ego kick.

By the way, I believe I've figured out the answer to why they're still sad. They're all now thinking, if only we didn't mess around that much on stage back then, we could have enjoyed more than eight (yes, merely 8) tracks on a double release (2-CD) in the year of 2006. "Live In Munich 1977" is indeed a 2-CD display of the superb Ronnie James Dio at the top of his lungs, the endless widdeling of Ritchie Blackmore, a solid Bob Daisley, Dave Stone on the keys, last but not least, Cozy Powell behind the drums (R.I.P.).

MTM 2006
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner
8 June 2006

The only really notable difference between the fifth Street Talk and its predecessors is that the "-tion" ending is gone from the album title. Now with absolutely seriousness: "V" is the typical, perfect Street Talk album with not one single weak song, with the signature Bergh sound, and the usual fantastic vocal performance from Göran Edman.

The album opens up with "Responsible" a great uptempo track with really good lyrics, decent guitar-work from Sven Larsson and a damn catchy refrain filled with hooks and thick choirs. The album follows in the same grand fashion till track 4 "At the End of the Day", the first slower track, a moody midtempo balladesque number with interesting lyrics. By the way lyrics, this time there is no "Energizer Bunny" (damn, I miss it, that was a hilarious song!) and the overall mood of the lyrics is kind of "grown-up" and somewhat more serious than before. A prime example of that would be the highly cynical and generally critical approach of "Something's Gotta Give", a great song in which the rather lively Street Talk songwriting meets a politically critical approach of the lyrics resulting in a interesting mixture. There's some tongue in the cheek stuff in "Sniper" while my personal favorite, the "real" ballad "Groundhog Day" brings all the typical Edman melodies and choirs, reminding me of the sound of the Crossfade album.

MTM 2006
Review by Endre 'Bandi' Hübner
24 May 2006

Deacon Street is the current assembly line product from Tommy Denander with the usual factory worker line-up. Probably there are more 'workers' on a Tommy Denander album than in a Chinese factory; it would take a separate review to list them all song by song [just to name a few: Reb Beach, Steve Morse, Marty Friedman, Bill Leverty, Bruce Gaitsch, Tony Franklin, etc.] Anyway sticking to the assembly line comparison, Tommy being the head of both the design and quality check departments assumes high quality stuff, and it isn't any different this time either.

Deacon Street is somewhat more melodic than the other all-star project Radioactive, and this time mostly Scandinavian vocalists are at the helm delivering decent performances. Stan Bush is an odd-one-out here but his song "Now We Cry For You" does not differ all that much from the natural flow of the album. The entire album is contemporary Scandinavian melodic rock in the vein of Street Talk, T'Bell, Grand Illusion, Talk of the Town, and the likes, without any downsides or actual highlights, just decent songs with decent performances and a production of fine craftsmanship.

Frontiers 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
31 May 2006

Joseph Williams, the former singer of TOTO (Fahrenheit, The Seventh One) has returned to the scene of the crime with yet another fine AOR platter. Not entirelly "former" though as he actually guest appears on the latest Toto album and sings lead on the single and best track: "Bottom Of Your Soul". Williams' voice is rougher than in the past and he almost roars like a hungry lion during the verses of "Picking Up The Pieces". Nontheless, the overall song material is quite uplifting, perky, and will quickly have the late 80's AOR and Toto fan in a joyful mood.

Ehem, the artwork provider should bow his/her head in shame though! Take a look at the picture and then try to convince any potential buyer at the local CD store (not already familiar with Vertigo) to splash out some cash. There's not a shred of evidence here that would imply of any creative lust whatsoever. This particular piece of art will definitely not end up as a poster on your wall (hell, send me the $$$ next time and I'll come up with a better frontcover). Good thing that people can read and find out things about Vertigo on the web though, since there's absolutely nothing wrong about the music of "2". You could however wish for a more solid production as the work of Fabrizio V.Zee Grossi, does appear to be "hollow" and not "fat" enough with it comes to drum and bass section.

MTM Music 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
31 May 2006

"Acca Dacca - Acca Dacca". Here's a blast from the past and probably also a complete surprise to many and most. "Back In The Ring" is the comeback album of the close to legendary Dutch hardrock band, Vengeance (well, they are sort of legends in their own homeland). They were originally signed to CBS back in 1983, recorded the debut album the following year, and haven't really been heard of for the last 15 years or so (give or take a year).

Nope, it's not a new album by the Young bros. and co. (at least not according to the label), however, opening and title track, "Back In The Ring", sure could have fooled me. It's tons of loud guitars, pounding drums, and a barbwire eating Leon Goewie at the top of his lungs. It's very much the sound of AC/DC and the enchanting refrain will only leave you wanting for more. I feel that I also need to mention that the overall material of "Back In The Ring" rocks harder than anything Vengeance's ever done in the past. Gone are most of the old Dokken influences and instead we get raunchy rock in the vein of Krokus, Dirty Looks and AC/DC. "Mind Over Metal" opens up with a Accept riff from the mid-80's and continues with a catchy and melodic refrain. "Captain Moonlight" is a fine semi-ballad with the classic sound of previous albums.

Frontiers 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
30 May 2006

John West's "Long Time... No Sing" is supposed to be a more melodic and song oriented album than previous solo outings. One thing's for sure, this isn't just the same old progressive music of Royal Hunt and Artension. A very positive remark in my humble opinion, since I never quite understood the point with releasing solo albums that merely come out sounding like your "normal" band thing.

Whyn not try something different... but not "too" different, huh? I believe it's the old music phenomenon and rule of: "damned if you do, damned if you don't", that suddenly appears once again. Nevermind as many of the songs do belong to the category of late 70's rock with all of its ingredients. "Give Me A Sign" could as easily have been a Glenn Hughes song and the same goes with the laidback, bluesy approach of "Highway To Rappongi". Actually, the latter song would fit nicely in with the material of the Coverdale/Hughes fronted Deep Purple in the mid-70's. "The One That Got Away", and "Falling Down", will also remind you of Glenn Hughes and his solo albums during this century. Surely West must have been listening to the work of his fellow label mate lately???

SPV 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
30 May 2006

Attention! - don't let the misleading title fool you as this is merely a SPV 2-CD compilation with the excellent band: Saga. You'll get songs from the SPV studio album releases: "Full Circle", "House Of Cards", "Marathon", "Network" (a total of 14 tracks), the rest are all live versions taken off the two SPV live albums: "Detours" and "The Chapters" (a total of 10 tracks).

Metal Heaven 2006
Review by Martien Koolen,
29 May 2006

This Scandinavian metal band was founded in 2001 and released their debut album in 2005. The CD got good reviews, but I am sure that this new album will get raving reviews as it is a true masterpiece of sheer power metal. You will find NO ballads on this album, only catchy power metal songs of the highest quality filled with intricate melodies, effective choruses, distinctive keys, crunchy guitars, tempo shifts, ominous rhythms and most of all an awesome production!

The album kicks off with “Shapeshifter” filled with pounding drums, a bombastic sound and a nice guitar solo. Follow-up “Shadowland” is one of the highlights; an excellent track with staccato rhythms, a melodic catchy chorus, fabulous vocals and a thrilling sparkling guitar solo. The sound and the music of Cloudscape definitely reminds me of Masterplan, Lion’s Share, At Vance, Pagan’s Mind, Kamelot and older bands like Elegy and Conception. The truly remarkable vocal performance of singer Mike Andersson (who also sang on the last Marcel Coenen album) has obvious similarities with the voice of Russell Allan.

Locomotive Records 2006
Review by Martien Koolen,
29 May 2006

The Prowlers started as a Iron Maiden tribute band in 1996 and of course that influence can still be heard in their music. The twin guitar solos, the melodies, the rhythms and even singer Fabio Minchillo sounds like Bruce Dickinson or Blaze once in a while. Right from the opener “Alone in the Dark” you think that you are listening to a Maiden clone, but fortunately this Italian metal band also has a sound of its own, although they do not sound very original, of course….

However I can enjoy songs like “YTT”(which starts with a “Baba O Riley” kind of intro), “Alone In The Dark” and the title track, divided into three parts. These songs are filled with lots of guitar solos, classic hard rock riffs, lots of melody and excellent sing a long choruses.

MTM 2006
Review by Martien Koolen,
29 May 2006

Back in 1988 Danny Martinez, Rob and Joe Marone and Anthony Trujillo formed a band called Caught In The Act. After a promising debut and a follow-up album guitar player Trujillo left the band and because there was already a band with the name CITA they changed their name to Guild Of Ages in 1998. The band however was rather unsuccessful and vanished into thin air…..

In 2003 Martinez and the brothers Marone decided to start again and together with guitar player Brian Mesa they founded a new band under the name Relapsed. “Into A Former State” is their debut album and it consists of 11 new aor/rock songs and one cover. “Welcome To My Life” opens this CD and it is a mainstream rock track, rather catchy and melodic, reminding me of famous bands like Giant, Harem Scarem and Lillian Axe. However if you listen more carefully then you will notice that the compositions of Relapsed are inferior to those of the earlier mentioned bands. In fact if you go through the songs then you will notice that they all sound a like too much. There is not enough variety as the build-up of the songs is almost the same. Do net get me wrong, these guys can play and the songs sound rather addictive, but I miss that certain feeling that makes an album exceptional.

Metal Heaven 2006
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
3 May 2006

Winter's Bane offer us Power Metal done in the American Way. While their European counterparts rely on sing-along melodies and fantasy lyrics, Winter's Bane rely on sharp riffs and a more serious, aggressive attitude. Their music should appeal to the fans of Judas Priest, Annihilator and Metallica, but for someone like me who's more into the melodic side of metal, their non-compromising sonic assault doesn't offer that much to enjoy.

Although I've played the album a few times, none of the songs really stand out. The opening track "Seal The Light" sounded promising and is probably the best track of the album, along with "Burning Bridges". That song had a rather cool riff which temporarily made me pay attention to the album again.

The bio that was sent with the album states that the band has "created some of the most memorable heavy metal songs ever written". If that's the case, they are certainly not on this album. It's a shame, since I have no doubt that this band could evolve into something special if they managed to add some memorable melodies and hooks into their songs. There's plenty of talent in the band, as the CV's of the members prove. Still, who am I to speak anyway, I'm merely a "false metal" fan...if you're a true metal fan and think that Judas Priest is the greatest band ever, I think you might really enjoy this album.
www.wintersbane.net

Playground 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
22 May 2006

The Swedish band Pax was formed by the Fridh brothers Michael (vocals/bass) and Christian (guitars). The two of them started playing together in a band called Excalibur back in 1989. The band appearantly had its peak in 1991, when they also played at the famous "Hultfreds Festival" in Sweden. The Fridh bros. has mostly been working as hired guns and session musicians in almost every genre possible. They've been touring Sweden and singing backup on several productions during the last 15 years or so.

They finally decided a couple of years ago that it was time to do their own thing again. The idea of Pax came together after calling on their longtime friends, SG Peterson (keyboards), Stefan Eldevall (guitars), and famed drummer Jamie Salazar (Bad Habit, Last Tribe, Midnight Sun, etc).

Eagle Records 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
22 May 2006

The best thing about George Thorogood and the Destroyers? You already know what kind of music to expect before you've spun the darn CD. The worst thing? well, you already know what kind of music to expect before you've spun the darn CD. This is after all the man that wrote, "Bad To The Bone", some 25 years ago and has since never slowed down for a red light. The unmistakeable slide-guitar-stoked, blues rock has been their trademark since the 70's and why stop now?

"The Hard Stuff" is a 15-track CD with a couple of really dodgey covers such as: "Drifter's Escape" (Bob Dylan) and "Hello Josephine" (Fats Domino). Honestly, I have no idea why they consist to include these songs, especially since their own material rocks so much harder and better. Sure, "Give Me Back My Wig" and "Rock Party" are indeed a couple of fun covers. Not to mention that "Huckle Up Baby" (John Lee Hooker) has been given the ultimate kick-ass treatment in the studio. The latter actually sound more like ZZ Top than Hooker now, excellent!

Nightmare 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
20 May 2006

Shining Star is a Brazilian band with roots deeply buried into the ground of 80's Melodic and Neo-Classical Hardrock. "Enter Eternity" is their latest attempt at total world domination and it's actually a nice surprise out of nowhere. They have added power house vocalist Lance King (Balance Of Power) among their ranks and needless to say, King's excellent performance adds another dimension to the material.

Band leader, songwriter, and lead guitarist Fabio Rocha is quite a little Ronaldinho of the six-string. His compositions and arrangements are filled with catchy and cleaver tricks in the advanced school of Yngwie Malmsteen and Tony MacAlpine. Extra kudos for not shredding like a mechanical maniac all of the time, you will find tons of melodic passages and melodies here.

Frontiers 2006
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
22 May 2006

This is without a doubt a fine DVD release from Frontiers Records. Not quite up to the standard of the excellent 2-disc Talisman release the other year, but hey, it's way above average. It's Lana Lane's 10th anniversary as a recording artist and she celebrated the whole she-bang with a concert in Japan. Recorded live in Tokyo on the 30th of June 2005 you will find songs from every CD Lana has made in the last 10 years (a total of 19 songs during the full concert).

Duration ends up at approx 2 hours, the format is NTSC (region: 0), stereo and/or 5.1 surround audio. Bonus features is a video tour diary that includes material from the 2005 European tour and a special performance of "Someone To Believe" from the Sweden Rock Festival. On top of that you also get a bonus audio CD that contains 17 of the 19 songs featured on the DVD concert (tracks 3-19). The opening two tracks (Astrology Prelude & Secrets Of Astrology), are not included due to space limitations (you simply can't add the entire DVD concert on a CD).

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