Mood Swings

Archive for the ‘3 stars’ Category

Images of Eden was born in 1999 when main man Gordon Tittsworth went into the studio to record the debut album.

The band play a mixture of progressive metal and traditional heavy metal. Early on in the CD, for example, when listening to the opening track, ‘Crosses In The Sand’, especially when the vocals kick in all I could think of was Iron Maiden, as on the faster tracks Gordon sounds a lot like Bruce Dickenson. However, later on I noted other influences such as Rush, Dream Theater, Queensryche and Fates Warning.

As expected with this style of music, there are plenty of twists and turns. And talking of twists, one twist to my usual listening habits when reviewing this album was the fact that I became really interested in listening to the lyrics, particularly on tracks like ‘My Stigmata’. I’m not sure if they are Christian, but they certainly do have a spiritual vibe to them. Checking back on the bio at their website I note that there has been a consistent lyrical theme to their albums focused on isolation from the negative aspects of the world.

Given what I have said already it isn’t surprising that the band work themselves up to closing the album with a melodic progressive metal 12 min epic called ‘Sunlight of the Spirit part iv: Images Of Eden’. This turns out to be the track that I think is the strongest on the album. It is a fitting end to an interesting album.

This is the third album from this Swedish band. I haven’t come across these guys before and given that they are Swedish, it is a bit of surprise when the opening track, ‘Idiot’, comes across like a punk version of Molly Hatchet - maybe Molly Hatchet meets Motörhead would be a better description.  Going back and checking on their earlier albums I see that Southern Metal that been the description given.

As the album progresses, I note down descriptions such a blues, blues boogie,  southern rock, but these guys combine a mixtures of styles that makes it quite hard to pin a definite label on them.

Getting the negative out of the way to start with, I found the duo of ‘Stand’ and ‘No Love’, verging on the annoying. Not sure what it is that irks me about them, but in the case of ‘No Love’, it is a uptempo track that never really goes anywhere.

These are followed by ‘Wheel Of Fortune’ which has the band taking things easier and hitting a groove not dissimilar to ZZ Top. Later on ‘The King of Diesel’ is a good uptempo track that reminds me again of Molly Hatchet, or maybe even Nazareth or Gillan doing ‘New Orleans’. Keeping up the momentum, the band close the album with a mixture of blues, funk and Southern Rock on ‘Out Of Here’, finishing on a high note.

The Citadel are new name to me, but it turns out the band was formed in 2002 and released their debut album, ‘Brothers in Grief’, in 2007. This 5 track mini-album is the follow up.

‘A Voice Within’ kicks off the album in a Doom laden fashion and melodic rock fans might begin to wonder what there is here for them. In fact, they need to stick with it, as by the time the chorus kicks it is clear these guys have sense of melody. On ‘Demon’s Eye’ the vocals do have a bit of a death growl going on at times, but do manage to keep a sense of melody as well. It was while listening to 3rd track, ‘Heaven’, that it hit me who these guys reminded me of. Maybe it is just because I’ve also been reviewed their new album, but I detect hints of Ten going on here. Imagine if Ten were mixed with a Doom outfit such a Candlemass (a random name pulled from my somewhat limited knowledge of the genre), then the result might sound like this. ‘The Storm Begins’ and ‘7′ complete the album maintaining the standard of the previous progressive power metal tracks. Maybe it is just my imagination, but I think the chorus’s get stronger as the album progresses.

This is an album that is better than the sum if it’s part. There aren’t any really stunning tracks here, but somehow they all seem to gel together in a neat little package. The result is a bit of surprise for me, as despite the doom elements in the background, I ended up quite enjoying this album.

Rating: 3 stars

I remember when Ten first starred out, it was exciting having a UK band flying the flag for melodic rock. The debut album was lightweight AOR, whereas the second album, ‘The Name Of The Rose’, helped to define the Ten style which is a mixture of Magnum and Whitesnake. However, at some point along the way, my interest in Ten waned and I stopped buying their albums, mainly because the albums all started to sound very similar and later albums didn’t add anything new to the mix. I think many other people must have felt the same way because the band never really achieved the success that the initial vibe about the band would have suggested. Eventually the band called in quits.

However, in the grand tradition that is melodic rock, Ten have reformed and released ‘Stormwarning’. And so ‘Endless Symphony’ slowly emerges from a long intro and we have Ten back. It is a grandiose, yet retrained, start to the album which feels like it lasts 7min, not because it needs  to, but simply because it can. The next couple of tracks, ‘Centre of my Universe’ and ‘Kingdom Come’, are solid Ten fare, with ‘Kingdom Come’ holding my interest from a lyrical viewpoint rather than a musical one.

‘Book of Secrets’ is just plain weird as Ten attempt sleaze rock! Lyrically and musically a low point for the album that I hope Ten avoid in future. The title track and ‘Invisible’ see the band return to more familiar, but hardly inspiring, Ten territory.

Just when I think Ten are a spent force, ‘Love Song’ seems to recapture the AOR magic that made the debut album so appealing. Next track, ‘The Hourglass and The Landslide’, continues the revival with a slice of catchy melodic rock. Now that I’m in a more positive frame of mind, ‘Destiny’, also seems to hit a sweet spot before ‘The Wave’ closes the album with a syrupy ballad.

It is good to have Ten back again and fans will appreciate this album, but the band are going to have to work harder if they are to come up with an album to rival gems like ‘The Name of the Rose’.

Rating: 3 stars

I have to admit that I didn’t know that much about Benedictum going into this review, apart from what was written in the press release.

The band formed in 2005 and after getting noticed by Craig Goldy released ‘Uncreation’ in 2006. ‘Seasons of Tragedy’ followed in 2008. Jeff Pilson and Craig Goldy, who made appearances on the first two albums, also appear here, along with Rudy Sarzo for guest musician duties. Along with guitarist Pete Wells and vocalist Veronica Freeman, the other members are Chris Shrum on bass, Mike Ramone on drums and Tony Diaz on keyboards.

If like me you were expecting some sort of goth opera metal sound when the first song kicks in then you’re in for a shock. I actually had to go back and check that the band had female vocals because the sound I was hearing was more male. Instead of airy fairy vocals floating around on top of the music, Veronica’s vocals are right in there in the thick of it with the other instruments and she’s holding her own. This girl can do melody as proved on bonus track ‘Sanctuary’, but a more metal approach in the lower registers is the normal style.

I’ve got to say that I hadn’t listened to the album that much before starting to write this review and the trad/power metal of the album didn’t really do much for me on initial listens. It isn’t until half way through the album and the melodic guitar of ‘Beautiful Pain’ that I tend to start paying attention. It fits in well with the following track, ‘Dark Heart’, which somehow seems more accessible that earlier tracks. This is followed by the funky metal of ‘Bang’, which is verging on catchy!

For me the band reach their peak on the final normal track, ‘Epsilon’, which is a 9 minute epic where a few progressive elements sit very well with the band.

The first bonus track is the aforementioned ‘Sanctuary’ and the second a cover of Rush’s ‘Overture/Temple of Syrinx’. Having covered Accept’s ‘Balls to the Wall’ and Sabbath’s ‘Heaven & Hell’ on previous albums, it is clear that the band don’t fight shy of a challenge. As with their previous endeavours, the band emerge after their encounter with Rush, with their reputation intact.

So after a negative start to the review, the last few songs have convinced me that Benedictum do have something too offer, especially if you are a bit of a metal head.

Rating: 3 stars

Ralf Scheepers is best known as the lead vocalist with Primal Fear. His career in metal started with Tyran’s Pace in 1883, moved onto Gamma Ray for their first three albums, at which point he formed Primal Fear along with Mat Sinner in 1997.

During his time with Primal Fear Ralf has written some tracks that didn’t quite fit in with the band’s style and in this project, which started life back in 2007, he gets the chance to air these tracks.

I’m a bit of a late comer to Primal Fear, as I only bought my first album when they came to my attention by signing to Frontiers. That album, plus the couple that have followed have got me familiar with what Primal Fear have to offer. Indeed on this album it is apparent that Ralf is pretty happy with Primal Fear’s output, as he doesn’t feel the need to depart from it too much.

I guess the main variation is that some of the tracks adopt a more metal stance more akin to Judas Priest. That isn’t surprising as we have a cover of Priest’s ‘Before the Dawn’, Metal Mike from Halford plays guitar on ‘Locked in the Dungeon’ and Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens dueting on ‘Remission of Sin’.

Bearing in mind that this is a melodic rock site and not a metal site, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the highlights are the less metallic tracks such as ‘The Fall’ and ‘Playing with Fire’, which is the track probably closest to Primal Fear. I also liked ‘Pain of the Accused, which is a slower, longer, almost progressive track and the closing acoustic ‘Compassion’. Bucking this trend is the heaviest track, ‘Dynasty’, that is also the most radical departure from Primal Fear.

Given this man’s history, it is no surprise that he has delivered a good solo album, which will appeal especially to those who like their metal to be heavy.

Rating: 3 stars

I first came across The Poodles when I bought their Seven Seas album a few years ago. I like the album, but to be honest, it has always been overshadowed by Brother Firetribe’s “Hearts on Fire” album which I bought the same day.  The Poodles have released 3 studio albums and whenever this album was released it was meant to be a stop gap until the new album was released. However, this one has been in my in-tray for a while and that new studio album, “Performocracy”, will actually be released very shortly.

On this live album the band prove that thye can deliver in a live scenario. In terms of the method used to create a live album, this one goes for music and singing to the fore, with the crowd noise religated very definitely to the background.

Obviously the songs from “Seven Seas” are the ones that made the initial impression on me, but the other tracks all work equally well. Quite often a live album by a band that I’m not that familiar with will put me off investigating them further. With album, that is not ehe case. “Metal Will Stand Tall” and now “Performocracy” are still on my must investigate further list. So, overall a slid release, that does what it is meant to. If you are really into these guys, there is a live DVD which is probably worth checking out.

Rating: 3 Stars

www.poodles.se , www.frontiers.it

It is not often that I get a pure old style AOR album to review. With Prime Suspect that is definitely the case. In terms of heritage, we’ve got Daniele Liverani, Tommy Ermolli and Dario Ciccioni from Khymera, Olaf Senkbeil from Dreamtide, with Mauro Catellani completing the line-up. On the songwriting front we have got mainly Liverani plus Christian Wolff contributing a couple of songs.

The album is very much an AOR album, but with a bit of Westcoast thrown in to increase the pink and fluffy factor. Khymera are an obvious point of reference, as well as Last Autumn’s Dream.

This is one of the those albums which whenever it comes up in my iPod playlist I think, “Oh, what is playing now, it is good”. Quite a few of the songs on this album, hit a sweet plot for me. For example, the first three songs all got above average ratings from me. Then, the ballad, “I Never Knew”, hits a bit a low point and I find myself getting bored towards the end of this overly long song. Having lost my interest, the album struggles to impress with a batch of songs which I have simply tagged ‘pleasant listening’. Penultimate track, “So Strange”, captures my interest again. The album closes with the Rainbow-ish “Watch Me”.

This is an album on which Prime Suspect show a lot of promise, but somehow don’t quite deliver. It is one of those albums that you think is quite good when you are listening to it, but doesn’t have enough memorable songs to make it anything other than an occassional visitor to your HiFi speakers.

Rating: 3 Stars

www.myspace.com/liverani

I’m a bit surprised by this release. I was expecting the next time I would hear from John Taglieri was the next installment of the Lives project. Instead, he has formed a band and as well as re-recording some material from the first Lives EP, has written some new songs. The band includes Brad Whitley, Tom Darby, Dave Willard and Rob Jackson.

After listening to this album for while, I realised that John has moved on from the time I reviewed his ‘Leap Of Faith’ album. It is now more correct to describe his music as modern rock. I should be talking about bands like Sister Hazel etc rather than Bon Jovi or Springsteen. A fact that didn’t quite hit me when I was reviewing his first Lives EP.

Talking of the Lives EP, obviously the new versions of those songs are the ones that are most familiar to me. I still find myself maybe listening too much to the lyrics and not paying enough attention to the music. “After Farewell” gets the album off to a good start and the album moves along nicely. Most of the songs are mid-tempo modern rock tracks in which a hint of John’s past shows through. Depending on my mood I find the rockabilly “Ghost” and the circus meets new wave “Ferris Wheel” irk me sometimes and I skip them. All credit to the guys for doing something a little different and I may be in the minority here as a few other reviewers have singled these tracks out as album highlights. For me that award goes to the catchy “Lives Of Splattered Flies”.

One interesting little side note is that the kids asked about this album when I was playing it in the car whereas they usually dismiss my music as ‘people screaming’ and prefer me switch on the radio. So it looks like TAG get a thumbs up not only from this old metalhead, but also the next generation in my household.

Rating: 3 stars

www.tagtheband.com, http://www.leapdogmusic.com/