Showing posts with label Rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rock. Show all posts

Sunday 10 February 2019

Andy Susemihl - Elevation

Andy Susemihl

Elevation

SM Noise records

German born guitarist Andy Susemihl cut his teeth with German band Accept and
U.D.O. and success led to the supporting of Guns N' Roses on their Appetite for
Destruction tour. Unsurprisingly he knows how to get the best out of his guitars and
now prefers the freedom to play axeman, bluesman or entertainer, on his own terms.
What surprises the listener on fifth album Elevation however, is the top quality vocals
where every word can be heard.

The album has the vibe of LA. It's classic album-orientated, radio-friendly rock with a melodic vocal. The crisp audio quality is reminiscent of the tunes Paul Gambaccini
played during his eleven year tenure of presenting The Billboard US Top 30 Singles
Chart Show on a Saturday afternoon. He needs remembering for being the BBC's
wheat amongst the chaff of broadcasters.

Elevation takes me back in time to a break from an English Literature essay and
reaching for the badminton racquet (Air guitar was for beginners!), I'd bend the
strings like a pro to Van Halen, Foreigner, Aerosmith,Toto, Journey and Steely Dan.
Susemihl has extracted this DNA of mainstream American rock to write and produce a satisfying upbeat long player which ends delightfully with his own version of Personal Jesus.

NE

Saturday 29 December 2018

Nosound - Allow Yourself


Nosound
Allow Yourself
Kscope

Nosound may not be your first choice to select for your workout at the gym.  They are rather more known for their melancholy and introspection and so are better suited for making an impression on your sofa.

Giancarlo Erra’s graceful post-rock songs and articulately pronounced vocals will appeal to fans of Radiohead and Pink Floyd yet Allow Yourself shines as bright as any crazy diamond with a street spirit of its own creativity.  What distinguishes them from their influencers is the interplay of band.  The percussion of Ciro Lavorne from an almost drum n bass persuasion on the single Don’t You Dare to the piano-led My Drug punctuates the ambient keyboarding of Marco Berni.  Judicious use of jangly guitar, cello and violin add to the soundscapes whilst the percussion, vocals and pop-song length tracks (even the longest Weights is five minutes) leaves the listener craving for more.

In defiance of their name, Nosound have worked hard to produce an exceptionally imaginative symphony with a fit and lean running time of 38:44 minutes.

NE

Monday 8 October 2018

Circle of Crows - Everything Comes After Zero


Circle of Crows
Everything Comes after Zero
SaN Ltd

It's been difficult to put pen to paper for this debut from Cornish trio Circle of Crows.  Each time I play its six tracks I drop my pen and wield my air guitar instead.  It also has the charisma that will make them a household name.  How a trio can deliver such a convincing and confident sound on their first recording is remarkable.  It took Sir Paul McCartney, four albums after the split of The Beatles to hit his stride again with Band on The Run.

Everything Comes After Zero has imagination, riffs and solos, and a confident vitality of bands like Audioslave, The Datsuns, The Libertines and The Darkness.  Kyle Gormley sings of themes that resonate across the generations.  "Life goes on, Try saying that when you've lost as much as me" he opens on How to Wait For Nothing.   "I've forgotten how to dream because I've spent so long in the dark" he starts on the slower Into The Sun are anthems that will gather and hold fans like a magnet passed over iron filings.

NE


Thursday 9 August 2018

23 Acez-Embracing the Madness


23 Acez
Embracing the Madness
Freya Records

Belgian heavy rockers 23 Acez release their third album Embracing the Madness and I’ve duly obliged, playing it on repeat for days.  Contemporary riffs grab the attention but they are balanced by convincing classic rock moments of both melody and amazing lead guitar fretwork.  The band has diamonds in depth with outstanding vocals from founder and guitarist Benny “Zors” Willaertand and the pounding drums of Louis Van der Linden impress.  I was captivated by the variety of this upbeat rock album and this band deserve more recognition for their melodies, musicianship and power of their well-written songs.  Contrary to Consequence of Sound’s recent headline “Beyonce Reigns; Rock Dies: Coachella 2018”this album is ample evidence rock music continues to defy its critics and continues to evolve worldwide.

NE

Saturday 9 June 2018

Lowdrive - Roller

Lowdrive
Roller
Sea of Green Masterworks

Sheffield rockers Lowdrive present a collection of styles on their debut Roller. Riff-heavy opener The Last Stand is a song Lemmy might have loved with its throaty vocals. Title track Roller heads out to Kyuss-like territory. Fallen Saviour slows the pace before It's not Heaven leads a trio of the best tracks. Endless Rain with its psychedelic opening and involving lead guitar is my favourite. Into the Fire is pure Classic Rock with a bassline that satisfies.

Lowdrive take simple song structures and infuse them with a top-flight, hypnotic pulse. Catch them on tour in March and April as they have great potential to raise the banner of Classic Rock once more after its recent sad losses from its ranks of revered heroes. Rock will endure, provided we support the next generation.

NE

Tuesday 10 April 2018

Barbara Black - Ad Libitum - Album Review- Rock


Barbara Black
Ad Libitum




As a cloudy day, may shade a landscape, so this recording sometimes threatens to veil this rock artist.  Even so, Barbara Black valiantly battles with great verve, creativity and a tireless energy to create an absorbing debut album under her own name. 

She has a wonderful raw voice which can be best heard on the piano ballad Shiva and Non-Human Person which builds to a choir climax.  At the other end of her range she can rock with the best and on Stardust, Nice to Meet Me (about selfies), and Ghost, she performs with the assurance and passion of a certain Mr Mercury, holding onto notes with a similar ease.  The versatility of the two guitarists whether on dobro, acoustic or the fine solos is the other notable feature of this band.  A little more Spanish in the guitar and in the language, could help the band build on this arresting performance that captures the interest.

The recording felt a little flat in places (vocals and guitars need more mid-range boost) – a bit like my Nan’s Yorkshire Puddings (sorry Nan!) – plenty of taste but needing just a touch more lightness in the mix.

NE

Saturday 7 April 2018

Crematory - Live Insurrection - Review

Crematory

Live Insurrection

Steamhammer / SPV



“Gothic Rock and Roll for twenty-five years” Felix Stass proudly proclaims during this recording last year at the Bang Your Head Festival in Germany.  It’s a declaration of intent that the essential spirit of the band is forward looking in the recent recruitment of Tosse Basler on rhythm guitar and clean vocals and Rolf Munkes on lead guitar.

Their formula for success combines riffs that are a match for any metronome, the contrasting growls from Felix and vocals from Tosse, and the keyboards of Katrin Goger, who calls upon the great German keyboard lineage to add texture and embellishment to Crematory.


The album contains the strong singles Shadowmaker, Greed and Fly and the band sing in both German and English.  The stagecraft of the band apparent in the accompanying DVD, detracts from the music however.  The band are far too static and the excessive profanity from Felix was wearisome. Katrin, who with her keyboards are an integral part of the sound, needs to be brought forward and angled at 45 to 90 degrees to the audience and needs to find even more space musically between the bass and vocals.  Her valuable contribution, Tosse’s vocals and more lead from Rolf on their forthcoming album, Oblivion, can ensure the band remain in the spotlight with their likeable brand of rock.

NE

Wednesday 7 March 2018

Kiss The Gun - Nightmares - Rock Review


Kiss The Gun
Nightmares
3Ms Music Ltd

Image result for kiss the gun nightmares image 3m


Kiss The Gun is the handiwork of bassist and Salisbury scene man, Dave South.  Together with Graham Exton on rhythm guitar, they wrote the seventh track on Nightmares, Tainted Heart which was recorded, uploaded and spotted by 3Ms and put out as an EP in April 2016.  Recruiting Rob Taylor on drums and Gerry Hearn on lead guitar, left only one chamber to be filled in this five-chamber, 72°cylinder rotation revolver – i.e. that of a vocalist.

Georgian-Armenian Nadin Zakharian flew in from Tbilisi at Dave South’s request after spotting her online and you’d be hard-clicked to find a better vocalist for this melodic rock group.  Her vocals are clean and powerful, polished and controlled throughout the album, but especially on the ballad Drowning that also features consummate acoustic guitar.

Dave South has been in the music business before.  Firstly in the NWOBHM scene and more recently in a change of direction he started writing club music.  However, he has returned once more to his first love and he has galvanised Kiss The Gun through a sense of humour, his song writing and trust in each individual member of the band, (repaid in spades and then some) to record Nightmares in just five days.
The flair and energy is palpable and James Patrick has captured both the sound and the excitement in this recording.  Gerry Hearn has a freshness perhaps gained through recent spells with Jessie J and Pixie Lott adding to his experience of playing with Uriah Heep.

Nightmares is a very upbeat album, with the same instant accessibility of another of my favourite albums Metal Rendez-vous by Krokus, where it will reside alongside in my ever-expanding music collection.  

NE

Friday 2 March 2018

Rex Brown - Rock Review


Rex Brown
Smoke on This
Steamhammer/SPV



Iconic cover, kick-ass title, unexpected treasure!  Former bassist with Pantera,  Down,  and Kill Devil Hill, Rex Brown distils over forty years of life in rock music to leave a cask strength rock album.  Reinventing himself, he adds gruff vocals and driving rhythm guitar to his normal bass duties. 

I don’t think I’ve smiled as wide since hearing ZZ Top and AC/DC in their prime after Brown announces “Smoke on this..” and unleashes blues rocker Lone Rider followed by the equally catchy Crossing Lines.  Buried Alive deals with the sad loss of ex-Pantera, band-mate, Dimebag Darrell and it’s dark and deep, ranging from his acoustic to the superb lead guitar of Lance Harvill with whom he shares the song writing.  Train Song catapults the fun right back at you and I hope my grinning didn’t become gurning!  For Get Yourself Alright he commands a sitar and delivers with the swagger of Oasis and Nirvana combined.  Fault Line, his first song he tried his lead vocals on, is a slower-tempo acoustic triumph.

The second half of the album displays that his tastes can vary from “Sinatra to Slayer”.  Relax – It’s still all rock.  What Comes Around, is something Lenny Kravitz wouldn’t be ashamed to put out. Grace shows a pop-rock lighter side of the artist and So Into You is a slow burner that builds to a crescendo of riffs and lead guitar.  The penultimate Best of Me is pure Floyd, right to the fade-out, before One of These Days wraps up in style, this rather welcome return to music that doesn’t need analysis.  Play it, Hear it, Love it!  If this is too 2017, then take the artist’s advice instead which I found in the liner notes – “Live loudly and embrace your loved ones everyday”

NE

Wednesday 28 February 2018

Into The Unknown - Rock Review

Into the Unknown
Out of the Shadows
Vigilante Records

Into the Unknown’s debut release will propel this band much further than their album title suggests.  It’s a bold platter of rock solid songs that contains new wave riffs, rock fretwork and beguiling vocals from Lucie Hölzlová.  Like Siouxsie Sioux and Karen O, she creates her own musical niche.  The album opens with a cover of Don’t Pay the Ferryman, that banishes not only De Burgh’s original version into oblivion but also eclipses Lionheart’s version on their album earlier this year.  The band rock using walls of sound, fuzzy guitars, accomplished lead and engrossing vocals.  Two power ballads, Someone Like You (no, not Adele’s misery) and Breaking My Heart, are sensibly spaced apart on tracks six and nine, and the latter I discovered can also be viewed on a well-known channel, along with a short trailer for the album.  A clothed(!) cover of Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball is another highlight.  Nothing shows the ambition of the band better than the thirteen minute closer, Demons and Angels that is certain to become a crowd favourite as the band move shortly to live shows.  See you there!


NE

Monday 26 February 2018

Barb Wire Dolls

Barb Wire Dolls

Rub My Mind
Motörhead Music

Cretan female-fronted, self-styled, punk band, Barb Wire Dolls, flew to L.A at the invitation of Rodney Bingenheimer, who is credited for breaking The Ramones, The Clash, Sex Pistols and Blondie in the USA.  Motörhead’s Lemmy signed them to their label after seeing them perform at the Whisky A-Go-Go, during one of several residencies there.  I was disappointed therefore to find this album was too far removed from punk and closer to the pop of Blondie and Texas at times, especially in track two If I Fall, that interestingly has a similar howling at almost the same second minute that Roxy Music’s famous Let’s Stick Together includes. Desert Song, Gold and Fade Away are slower and have more complex arrangements and allow Queen Isis, the lead vocalist, the room to express her vocals to better effect and the guitars are much more authentic. If this band want to conquer the world, they need to either inject more venom into their sound, like they do in track ten, Contract, akin to say Penetration’s Coming Up for Air, or play to their current strengths which for me were the slower songs and arrangements which by definition, may not be punk.  They have more talent than they think and they should rely on their own instincts to guide them.


NE

Todd Anthony Joos & The Revelators

Todd Anthony Joos & The Revelators

The Burden
Cellar Records

The Burden is one of the very best Classic Rock albums in Christendom.  Try to combine for a moment, the guitars of Boston, the vocals of Journey or Kansas, the hooks of Bon Jovi and the easy listening style of The Doobie Brothers and this will get you close to the sound of Todd Anthony Joos & The Revelators.  The reality is even better.  Solid guitar playing, Hammond, acoustic prowess and the best vocals in this genre that I’ve heard in years, made me want to dash out for some denim flares such is the wonderful time and place the band’s music took me to.  The songs are credible, convincing and Christian in flavour but it didn’t stop me singing aloud ..”it ain’t over till it’s over, …devil get behind me….ashes to ashes, dust to dust..”, with the car windows down and loving every minute of this exceptional album.  It’s their fifth release in ten years and the experience gained by Joos, working as an engineer and producer for many leading bands shows in the deft production.


NE

Thursday 22 February 2018

Currents


Currents

The Place I Feel Safest

SharpTone Records

Growing up with my two brothers one of us would ask “Who wants a fight?”.
The sofa was eased back and to protect our pocket money, breakables were safely stashed behind it.  The Place I Feel Safest by Currents would have been the perfect accompaniment to the flailing limbs and the punishment we exchanged.  Coming from Connecticut, above New York, with a new vocalist in Brian Wille, and a new label in SharpTone, Currents have released an exciting dynamic djent album full of brutal riffs, aggressive vocals, perfectly weighted bass and the drums of founding member Jeff Brown.  Extreme metal may be polarising but this band impressed me with the technical brilliance of their onslaught on the ears.  Screaming vocals dominate each track for a journey through the soul of the vocalist.  Interest is maintained by the balancing of the gloomy songs with the buoyant guitars of Ryan Castaldi and Chris Wiseman.  What I liked about this band is they know how to build drama through the clever use of either melody, exquisite clean vocals or harmonies that demonstrate they possess a complexity with hints of a broader appeal than this heavy genre is sometimes criticised for.


NE

Wednesday 21 February 2018

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band


Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band

Lay It On Down
Provogue

Lay It On Down is the eighth album by the Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, six of which hit No. 1 in the US Blues Chart ( from 1995-onwards).  He is a fiercely ambitious artist, even after awards and platinum album sales- “We’re still breaking new ground”, the modern bluesman maintains.  This ambition is exemplified by the insistence on writing the greatest songs of his career for this album, many of which were written in Nashville and the storytelling does indeed strike the listener.  Shepherd himself insists that each song takes you on a different journey. Diamonds & Gold, Nothing but The Night, Lay it All Down, Hard Lesson Learned and the personal Louisiana Rain would all make strong singles in an expanding repertoire and could win the band a deservedly wider audience.
Interwoven with blues numbers for his long-standing fans, this album is going to be huge.  It’s the quality of the songcraft that elevates this good album to a great one.  The title track Lay it On Down is a melodic song about the beauty you see in someone that they can’t see themselves and crucially letting them know.
The sheer satisfaction of listening to this album is astonishing.  It makes you play it again to catch all the textures on offer.  It would be an absolute certainty to pack for any road trip – I mused absent-mindedly, whilst playing the CD merely on my commute to work.


NE

The Municipal Tip

  Following the signs for Bowels of Humanity, we descend the corkscrew of apocalypse into the cradle of filth. We are beckoned forward by a ...