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MILLION DOLLAR BEGGARS

If you like rock/ hard rock from the 80`s, the Helsinki-based band Million Dollar Beggars is definitive the right choice. They started in 2006, and they released their first four track mini CD, Gone With The Flow, late in 2006. The song Gone With The Flow, reached position 9 on the single charts in Finland. Two years later early in 2008 they returned with the single Stories, followed by a great video of the same song right after. In late 2008 they were ready with their self titled debut album. The songs were mixed by Tuomo Valtonen at Sundi Coop studios, who also has worked with such artists like Trio Niskalaukaus, Ensiferum,Wintersun and Finntroll. The album was mastered at Chartmakers (Apocalyptica, Lordi, Sonata Arctica, Evergrey) by Svante Forsbäck.

The band sounding like they come from Los Angeles, and not from Finland. The seven guys in Million Dollar Beggars have made a debut album that shows great song writing skills and a great production with a huge sound. This band has managed to create an album that include the best of hard rock influences from the 80`s, from bands like Skid Row, Mötley Crüe, Def Leppard, Cinderella, Poison, and I could have mentioned a lot more names, but I think you out there will have an idea about what this band stands for. The titletrack opens the ball, and we are directly dragged into a nice rocking song with a cool melody and a huge chorus. The guitars and the steady rhythm section sounds fantastic, and with the vocals from Micko on top they got me addicted immediately. Die At 27 is a more melodic hard rock oriented song. Cool riffing guitars and a very rememberable chorus plus some nice played keys takes this to a high level. When I hear Stories I understand why they made a video out of it, a hit if you ask me! Gone With The Flow is a more hard hitting song, the verses sounded a bit confusing the first times I heard them, but this is a song that grow much, and the chorus parts lifts this song to the top. I easily understand why this song reached position 9 on the single charts in Finland! Delirium have a good rocking drive, the song switches between calm nice balanced verses to more tougher choruses. I like the rhythm in the instrumental part and the guitar solo is great! Good/ Bad is a heavy rocking song and the vocals from Micko sounds raw in this. No One Will Love You In The End shows the more melodic rock oriented side from the band, and what a great song this is. An addictive melody and rememberable choruses. The opening riffs on Breaking The Rules will get you hooked, a hard rocking song of the finest mark. The soaring vocals lifts the song and the keys and the instrumentation in generally sounds delicate with a lot of cool details! Understand opens emotional with piano and guitar, but crackles with real life after a half minute. As many of the other songs on this album they manage to take me with the melodic perfection who is just fantastic to listen to! Fullspeed Or Nothing speaks a bit for it self, a fast track that eminently closes up this addictive rocking album from Million Dollar Beggars. Of bands in this genre the last years this band and album stands forward as one of the big highlights in my opinion, so check them out now!!! 96/100
http://www.milliondollarbeggars.com/
http://www.myspace.com/milliondollarbeggars
http://www.shadowworld.fi/

Million Dollar Beggars is:

Micko Hell: vox
Toni Bite: Guitars
Bazil Rockheart: Guitars and backing voc
Hardy Diamond: Solo Guitars+Acoustic gtr
Willie The Pimp : Bass
TT: Synths
The Beast: Drums

 

Masquerage - Moonlight Time

Masquerage was formed back in 1998 by the guitarist/vocalist Kimmo Perämäki (ex-Celesty, Athmosfear) and drummer Marko Ylä-Häkkinen. Keyboard player Mika Maunus joined in ’99 and in the same year they recorded their first demotape. Back then the band was called Unchained. In the year 2000 bassplayer Mikael Kontolampi joined the line-up and the name was changed to Masquerage. In the next four years this line-up recorded four demos, performed live inside the borders of Finland and worked hard with their music and sound. In the summer of 2004 guitarist Jukka Viitasaari (Confusion) completed the current lineup. The first full lenght album by Masquerage was recorded through out the year 2005. Supervised by VolantoBros, Masquerage laid down 12 tracks of their cheerful heavy rock music. The album was named Work-Holic-Fool. The second full lenght album by Masquerage was recorded during winter 2007 & 2008. It consists of 9 songs of the true Masquerage style . The album was named Moonlight Time and was released in May 2008.

I found this band through myspace a few weeks ago, and I immediately got interested in their work. Not so often these days to find so good bands like this in the melodic hardrock/ metal genre. Moonlight Time is the first album I have heard of the finnish band Masquerage, and with the opener We Will Never Learn they impress me! A soft, smooth start with guitar and fine vocals before the rest of the band enters the song. A mid tempo melodic hardrock song with a huge melody and a great chorus. The song speeds up at the end to a more power metal like style. The titletrack is the next tune, a fine song with good drive and I like the keyboards and the cool guitar riffs in this. The vocals from Kimmo suits the music perfectly with a voice with a wide range. I like the way the song I Don`t Believe In You, builds up to a rememberable chorus. The way the bass, the guitars and the keyboards goes is really great to listen to and sounds steady and very tight. Doctors Order is a faster track with great vocals and I like the choirs in this. Also the instrumental part with the guitar solo is worth noticing. Retired Monster is one of my favorite tracks. A classic Melodic Hardrock oriented track with the exact right ingredients. The vocals in this song is cool with Kimmo`s voice together with the monster`s voice. The Helpers is a slower song and what a great melody this song has. Fine verses leads us to some great choruses, and it didn`t take me many listenings before I whistled to the melody. Better Liar is a more up tempo song with great keys a rememberable chorus, and the twin solo on the guitars is cool! Silver Wings is a more straight forward melodic hardrock related song, and there is no doubt about that these guys can write fine songs when I hear a pearl like this. The melodic metal oriented Everlasting Good Luck is the last song on the album, and if you like quality melodic hardrock/metal you need to invest in this album! 95/100
http://www.myspace.com/masquerage
http://www.masquerage.net/

Masquerage is:

Kimmo Perämäki - Vocals, Guitar
Marko Ylä-Häkkinen - Drums
Mikael Kontolampi - Bass
Mika Maunus - Keyboards
Jukka Viitasaari - Guitar

 

MOONMADNESS - All In Between

MoonMadness is a hard rocking melodic band from Tampere, Finland. The band was established in late 2006 and they soon started working on their album containing nine MoonMadness originals. The first taste was released in May 2007 with the single “Stroke of Midnight” which charted on the Finnish Top-20. The debut All In Between, was released in Finland on May 7th 2008. The band describes their music as melodramatic heavy rock that mixes influences throughout 70´s and 80’s.

It`s always great to discover new great bands! I heard MoonMadness for the first time about a year ago, and they immediately caught my attention with their mix of melodic hardrock, classic rock and heavy metal with a taste from both the 70`s and 80`s, plus of course that they have found their own style. The well played guitar intro On The Air opens the disc and leads us to the song Stroke Of Midnight. A song that I have listened to for about a year, since it was released as the band`s first single in May 2007. I like this song much! It switches between a style of classic hardrock with strong played keys over to a more melodic hardrock oriented style with cool guitars, great drive and cool rhythm. Singer Heidi Bergbacka has a really strong voice who suits the music perfectly, and a great example of this we hear in the next song Shot Through The Wing. A more uptempo song than the first, with cool played keys and guitars. The verses leads us to some very strong rememberable choruses. This song is also the first Video from the album. Torn is a more melodic hardrock oriented song. The melody lines, the chorus and the nice vocals takes this song to big heights. I also like the fine guitarplaying throughout the song. Before It`s Too Late opens with a cool riff on the guitar and the piano that floats over gives this song a good vibe. A melodic rock oriented song with good punch a strong melody and chorus. Too Much To Lose continues a bit in the same direction. The switches between the different parts in this song is cool. Ain`t No Angel is more uptempo, and the way this song builds up to the chorus with cool details on the keys and guitar is great listening! Victims Of The Moon is the song we can call the ballad on the album. A beautiful song with great vocals, fine arranged string arrangements and verses who is easy to remember. I also like the instrumentation with fine details from all in the band. Thunder is the fastest song in a more metal oriented direction. With good drive in the verses the song builds up to some really strong chorus parts. The last song On The Edge Of Madness is my absolute favorite on the album. A more experimental song in a way that grow for each time I hear it! I like the way this song is built with the use of the different instruments, the melody, the vocals and the string arrangements is perfectly performed. 92/100
Read my interview with Heidi, Otto and Turrku here:

www.moonmadness.fi
www.myspace.com/moonmadnessband

MoonMadness is:

Heidi Bergbacka - Vocals
Otto Hallaman - Guitar
Juha Leppäharju - Bass
Turkka Vuorinen - Keyboards
Antto Nikolai Tuomainen - Drums

MINDGAMES - Actors In A Play

The history of Mindgames started back in 1997 when singer Bart Schram and bassplayer Eric Vandormael were sending each other christmas cards. The couple had played together a year before and decided to join again a start a new band. After some ads in some newspapers to recruit musicians, they were joined by drummer Benny Petak and keyboardplayer Tom Truyers. A year and a half later Benny was contacted by guitarplayer Rudy Vander Veken and he was the last guy to join Mindgames. In 1999 the band recorded a three track demo and they also began to play live. The preparation for the first album started in 2001 and the recording and mixing of International Daylight was finished and released in 2002. In 2003 the record label Musea listened to the CD, and decided to distribute it worldwide. Several concerts followed and in 2004 the band played at Flemish Progrock Festival, Prog Resiste Convention and Progfarm. In 2005 the band started preparing songs for the next album and in January 2006 Mindgames released Actors In A Play.

I received Actors In A play some weeks ago and after listening several times to the album I have become really hooked on their melodic symphonic progressive rock. The album contains six songs with a playing time for almost 70 minutes. We are right from the start dragged into a very good written song called The Benefit Of Anxiety. A song that starts with an instrumental part that last for 3 and a half minute before the fine vocals from Bart comes in. The song has both uptempo and slower tender instrumental parts with fine instrumentation from each member. The vocal parts is fine and relaxing and especially round the chorus the song lifts to its finest point! The second song Dramatis Persona tells a true story of Andreas Grassl, a German who got lost in Kent in England. The song opens with a spoken sequel and when I hear this song I get a feel from some kind of musical, its sound and symphonic style and the way the song goes make me think in that direction. Like the first song it takes us through a lot of different musical landscapes and like the first song the chorus is very rememberable and has got stuck in my head. The 16 minute long The Statue opens with a nice played church organ solo. The song has different parts with awesome instrumentation from every member. The vocals comes into the song after about 4 and a half minute and the first verse and other parts of the song reminds me about some of the old songs from Rush. Sagittarius is a beautiful song with a melancholic dreamy feel, the vocals from Bart is really nice in this song and the tender and fine instrumentation takes this song to big heights! Royalty In Jeopardy is one of the oldest songs on the album, the band played this song already on their live shows promoting their first album. Also this song has a musicalesque feel with some spoken sequels. I like the up-tempo parts in this song and the instrumental part that starts after about five minutes is really amazing! The last song, the twelve minute long Both Sides Of The Show, is one of my favorite songs on the album, a song that in a good way describes many of the styles from Mindgames. The piano playing in the prologue is nice and the uptempo sequence with a cool rhythm in the part called The pretenders part is fine listening. The song ends with a Finale and the choirs together with the vocals from Bart at the end of the song is really beautiful! If you are a fan of melodic symphonic progressive rock, you better check out Mindgames now!!!
Read my interview with the band
http://www.mindgames.be/

Mindgames is:

Eric Vandormael - Bass, bass pedals
Tom Truyers - Piano, synths and hammond
Benny Petak - Drums, percussion
Bart Schram - Vocals, acoustic 6 string & 12 string
Rudy Vander Veken - Lead guitar, rhythm guitar and acoustic 6 string

MERRYGOLD - Chokin`On The Fat Cream

The Swedish band Merrygold, was formed in the beginning of the new millennium, but then with another line-up and a different name. In 2002, drummer Andreas “Adde” Larsson and bass player Martin “Bollack” Wezowski joined the band, and it was at this time they took the name Merrygold. In May the same year the band got signed to EMI Music Publishing in Copenhagen and immediately started working on their debut album. The band entangled themselves in a kind of "Smoke On The Water-situation" when the recording studio they was working in got caught in a cross fire family feud in connection to one of the producers working there, and the studio got burned to the ground. Ten months of work was destroyed, they also in this period ended collaboration with their singer Selma Yasitli, and she was replaced with Mia Löfgren. After these unfortunate circumstances in the start of their career, they finally in fall 2005 finished the recording of their debut Chokin` On The Fat Cream.

Merrygold are at the moment looking for a label to release their debut album, and after have listened to their debut Choking On The Fat Cream I don`t think it will take them very long before they find the right label. Merrygold are a modern rock band with a powerful sound and really strong addictive songs. With the opener Lucky One we get good proof of this, a song with a catchy rhythm, fine melody and a really strong chorus that gets stuck in your head already after a few listenings. Singer Mia has a very strong melodic voice with a good strenght that lifts the songs to great heights! It continues with Getting Ready To Fly, a more pop/ rock oriented song, but the band manages to get the right power into it and like the first song, this is a hit! Happy is a bit like a power ballad with slow verses who builds up to a strong chorus. The instrumentation is good with a clear sound that sounds very natural and not overproduced. Outpost is in a way a more advanced song and not so straight forward as the first ones, but I felt the song grew the more I listened to it and the chorus in this song has become one of my favorite choruses on the album! Castles is one of the most guitar oriented songs with good heavy riffs, strong rhythm and amazing vocals! Heart`s War is a nice melodic tune, while Nothing Comes is an acoustic slow song that sounds a bit sad. Along The Wire is a harder tune, I like the rhythm in the verses, and the way the song builds up before the chorus is cool! When Nothing`s Left is another of my favorite songs, a more straight forward rock song, with a strong addictive chorus! The fast song Endless, the a bit darker song Blood and the last song, the beautiful ballad In My Shoes ends the album from Merrygold. All in all I think that Merrygold has made a strong album that takes a little step away from the masses of bands in their genre! So visit their website and check out the band there!
Read my interview with Per from Merrygold
http://www.merrygold.org/

Merrygold is:

Mia - Vocals
Per - Guitar
Staffan - Guitar
Bollack - Bass
Adde - Drums

MAD MAX - Night Of White Rock

With a demo tape recorded in their rehearsal room, Mad Max signed their first worldwide record deal with Roadrunner. In 1984 they released their debut album Rollin` Thunder, an album who today is a wanted collectors item. The band toured with Uriah Heep and Yngwie Malmsteen, before they in 1985 released their follow up album Stormchild. In 1986 they entered studio again with producer Dirk Steffens (Accept) to record their third album Night Of Passion, who was released in 1987. To promote the album they toured with Pretty Maids and Stryper. In 1989 singer and main songwriter Michael Voss left the band, and started touring with Bonfire. After this he started Casanova and beside that he has worked with the singer from MSG, Gary Barden and recorded five albums under the name Silver. The drummer in the band, Axel Kruse, joined Jaded Heart and guitarplayer Jüergen Breforth started the band Tanner. In 1999-2000 Point Music brought the band back together for just one album, Never Say Never. The album was more or less like a solo project for Jüergen and Michael. In the summer of 2005 the original line-up with Michael, Axel, Roland and Jüergen got back together again to record their fifth album, Night Of The White Rock. Michael Voss produced and wrote all the music, while guitarplayer Jüergen wrote all the lyrics for the album.

The new year starts very good with the new release from Mad Max. I personally have some of their older releases so it was a big surprise when their new album Night Of White Rock landed in my mail box some weeks ago. Musically Mad Max moves in the genre melodic hardrock with traces of AOR and metal in their music. A different thing this time is that their lyrics written by guitarplayer Jüergen isn`t typical rock’n’roll lyrics, but instead there is a christian background in the statements in the lyrics. The eleven songs on the album are all of very high quality. The album opens with To Hell And Back Again, a fast metal oriented track with a good melody and a nice chorus. The vocals by Michael are stronger than ever and I like the way he uses his voice when he switches between the softer and the harder parts in the songs. The band sounds compact in all directions with a good production and sound and with lots of great instrumental details from each member. Losin` It All is a pearl of a song, great rhythm and a melody and refrain that melts your heart! Hope To See You continues much in the same direction, and I think that if they had been given playing time on radio and TV, songs like this would become big hits! Unbelievable is a softer song and starts with piano and vocals before the rest of the band enters the song, a nice rock ballad with the exact right ingredients. Sun is more heavy with cool riffing guitars and in parts it reminds me of Bonfire. Homeless starts with a steady and tight rhythm, the song gradually builds up to a very addictive chorus. Raise Your Voice is a song I will compare with United from Judas Priest and it also is a bit like I Love Rock`n`Roll from Joan Jett, somebody like to call songs like this football songs. Upon My Soul is a straight forward rock song while Bad Day In Heaven is a more laid back song, but what a beautiful song this is, with a chorus you will find yourself singing to after some rounds in the player. The titletrack Night Of White Rock is one of the most experimental songs on the album with great instrumentation and different parts, a top song! The last, (Just A) Melody, is a short instrumental played on acoustic guitar, beautiful song that makes a fine ending to a highlight of an album in the melodic hardrock genre! HOT TIP!!!
http:// www.madmaxmusic.de/
http://www.germusica.com/

Mad Max are:

Vocals: Michael Voss
Bass: Roland Bergmann
Guitars: Jüergen Breforth
Drums: Axel Kruse

METALSTEEL - Taste The Sin

The Slovenian band Metalsteel began their career back in 2000 with the four members Beny Kic, Matej Sušnik, Jaša Bizjak and Rok Tomšic. The band early started gigging and their first performance was at School`s Out festival in Medvode, a city northwest for Ljubljana. In 2001 the band recorded their first demo called Metalsteel 1, with five songs. The demo got great feedback from the specialized press. In 2002 the band participated on a compilation album called Slo Metal Vol 1, with the song Novi Svet (New World). After this the band played at some biker meetings. In 2003 they entered studio again and recorded a new version of Novi Svet and another new song called Sadist, the last song appeared on the Slovenian Play Rock compilation. The next for the group to do was to play at some festivals, Rock Otocec, the main rock event in Slovenia. In July the band started the recording their first album, Usoda (Destiny), under label Play Records label. The release was followed by a few promotional concerts and a few with the famous Slovenian group Requiem. In 2004 the band recorded a video for the song Fobia (morbid dread). 2004 ends with a very important performance on Metacamp 2004. The band plays with metal giants like Danzig, Hypocrisy and Destruction. After this they took a break to start preparing the new album Taste The Sin.

Metalsteel keep their faith in the traditional metal genre and with Taste The Sin they convince me from the first moment with their well written and performed songs. When I sit down and listen to their album, it`s hard to not think about bands like Iron Maiden, Helloween, Saxon, Hammerfall plus many more, but anyway I think Metalsteel has managed to make a very good album with the exact right ingredients for a metal album! The album starts with The Curse Of Love, a heavy power metal oriented tune with a cool rhythm. The verses are just a kick off to very strong choruses and I`m impressed over the cool riffing on the guitars and also a very good guitarsolo. The Eye Of The Pyramid is a classic heavy metal song with good drive and rhythm, the vocals by Benjamin is strong and he handles to sing both the high notes and the lower notes perfectly with a good melodic feel. Crni raj (Black Paradise) is a more hard rock oriented tune with Slovenian lyrics, who deals about sexual fantasies. Trapped In The Nightmare is one of my favorite songs, the start of it reminds me a bit of the start on I Want Out with Helloween. Fine melodic verses and strong choruses takes the song to a high level, and the instrumental part is very solid! Heavy Metal Is Our Religion reminds me a bit about Judas Priest, it`s something with the tempo and the way that the song goes. A good proof of that it`s possible to write metal songs of the old school of high caliber! Sweet Sorrow is a beautiful ballad who lyrically talks about a man who lost all hope and committed suicide. Thermopylai talks about war between Spartians and Persians many years ago. This song is one of the more advanced songs on the album with different tempos and parts and I thought the song grew the more I listened to it! Svoboda (Freedom) Is the heaviest song on the album with a slower rhythm and darker riffs, nice melodic verses and strong choruses. The song speeds up a little at the instrumental part, but gets back again to its main rhythm. Noc strasti (Night of passions) is an uptempo hard rock n` roll song of the finest mark that needs no further description. The last song The Lonely Man`s Revenge is an epic heavy metal song who lyrically talks about a warrior whose family was killed in a war,so he takes revenge and kills the people who killed his loved ones. A good album with strong songs all the way through, and done by young talented musicians who I`m certain of that we will hear more from in the future!
Read my interview with guitarplayer Rok!
http://www.metalsteel.net/

Metalsteel is:

Beny Kic - Guitar and vocal
Matej Sušnik - Bass guitar
Jaša Bizjak - Drums
Rok Tomšic - Guitar

TONY MARTIN - Scream

Tony Martin is a well known name in the hard rock scene especially from his career in Black Sabbath. After he left Black Sabbath he didn`t want to be involved in music so much, he only participated in projects when he wanted to. He continued writing music, but in other styles than Black Sabbath. After working over thirty years with music and the last ten years with Sabbath, he always kept the Sabbath style inside and with his new soloalbum Scream he takes a step back to his darker side of writing style. Tony Martin has four children and all of them are musical in some way. On Scream, Tony is joined by his youngest son, guitarplayer Joe Harford, who plays most of the guitars and solos on the album. He`s also joined by legendary drummer Cozy Powell and keyboardist Geoff Nichols. I have always liked the Tony`s voice and on all the albums I`ve heard him sing, he always sounds like he gives a hundred percent! The first song, Raising Hell, much follow his earlier work with Sabbath, but more melodic and for people who like Deep Purple and Rainbow this will sound very pleasing. Bitter Sweet is very Sabbath oriented with its guitarsound and style, while the fourth song, I`m Gonna Live Forever, is a more melodic hardrock oriented song with cool verses and a nice chorus. Surely Love Is Dead starts with some cool keys, who you also will hear floating nicely together with the rest of the instruments throughout the song. This is one of my favorite songs with nice melody lines, some tempo changes and fine instrumental parts. The Kids Of Today has a more modern touch and sounds a bit different than the other songs, while Wherever You Go is an acoustic beautiful song with only vocals, guitar and some keys. The last song, Field Of Lies, is more back to Sabbath, but one of the best on the album in my opinion!
Check out Tony Martin`s new album Scream now!!!


http://www.tonymartin.net/
http://www.mtm-music.com/

Tony Martin – Vocals, bass, drums
Keyboards – Geoff Nicholls
Cozy Powell – drums on “Raising Hell”
Joe Harford – guitar

 

ALBUM OF THE MONTH:
November 2005

MAJESTIC VANGUARD - Beyond The Moon

The history of Majestic Vanguard goes back to the early 90`s when the brothers Andreas Andersson and Samuel Andersson joined a rock band from Falköping in Sweden. Between 1993 and 1995 they recorded some demo tapes and played some gigs with this band before they received the news that their keyboardplayer decided to leave the band. The band split up and the guys didn`t have the resources to build anything new. A few years later Samuel and Andreas met Daniel, the drummer from the first band, accidentally in Falköping. The threesome felt the passion for music and decided to start playing again. In the spring 2003 they met singer Peter Sigfridsson and the band took the name Divine Disciples. They started recording a demo in mars 2004 and after a few weeks they was really pleased with the outcome of the recordings. It was time to start contacting some record labels and Christian Rivel at Rivel Records contacted Daniel almost immediately after he received the demo. The band decided to bring in a second guitarplayer to the band with Johan Abelson, and they changed their name to Majestic Vanguard. They recorded Beyond The Moon in spring 2005 and the debut was released on the 17th of October 2005.

It`s always interesting with new great names in the music industry, and Majestic Vanguard shows with their debut Beyond The Moon that they really have something very interesting stuff to offer to us hungry metal heads! Their mix of Melodic Metal, Progressive Metal and Power Metal has impressed me much since the first time I heard the album and now I like it more and more each time I listen to it! I like their clear sound where I can easily separate each instrument and I`m a big fan of exactly this style where they perfectly mix together great melodies, different tempos, symphonic and progressive elements and make it sound like this! With the nice middle age inspired intro One Journey, we are brought to the first jewel of a song on the album, The Great Eternity. A song with a nice melody and with both progressive and melodic metal influences. You will also be impressed over the performing from each member in the band on all songs with great guitarplaying, nice floating keyboards and the really tight dynamic in the rhythm section. Vocalist Peter Sigfridson has one of the best voices I`ve heard in the metal scene this year, his clear melodic voice is just amazing to listen to! The way the songs are penned down on make them be interesting to listen to and varied in every direction is great, just listen to the fast and varied Emotions Of A Picture. The titletrack Beyond The Moon is heavier and slower than the first songs, the heavy precise riffs and the vocals are cool to listen to and the strong chorus and the instrumental part are awesome! Tears In Neverland is a more melodic power metal oriented song, with a sing a long chorus. The songs have many different parts and you will feel you are entertained all the way through and in my opinion there aren`t a dull moment at all on the album! The next song, The Angels Dance, is a beautiful instrumental song performed on acoustic guitar by John Abelson. Don`t Want To Be An Actor is one of my favorite songs, very melodic and maybe one of the most commercial songs on the album and perfect for a video shoot! Take Me Home starts like a ballad before the guitars and rhythm section breaks through, and like the last song, this is more commercial with a perfect melody and a chorus that get stuck in your head. The instrumental part will also impress you much, the guitarplaying gives me goosebumbs all over! It`s always hard to compare bands to others, but I will say that Majestic Vanguard remind me about a blend of Balance Of Power, Vanishing Point, early Dream Theater and Dragonland. The album continues with Footprints and the last and longest song Mystic Eye, from beginning till the end I really enjoy this entertaining album more and more for each day, and so far this year this turns out to be one of my favorite albums, so check out Majestic Vanguard immediately!
http://www.majesticvanguard.net/
http://www.germusica.com/
http://www.aorheaven.com/

Majestic Vanguard are:

Samuel Fredén - Keyboard
Peter Sigfridsson - Vocals
Daniel Eskilsson - Drums
Andreas Andersson - Bass
Johan Abelson - Guitar

 

MATREX - I`ll Always Remember

The band Matrex was formed in Vancouver Canada in the early 80`s, by Tony Dominelli (vocals) and Geraldo Dominelli (guitar/vocals). To complete the line-up they were joined by friends Paul Minshall (keyboards/vocals) Rob Begg (bass) and Lee Hantelmann (drums). The band quickly become popular and sold out large clubs with their great stage show and rockin` music. Bassplayer Rob Begg decided to leave the band after a while, but was soon after replaced with Jim Buckson (Renegade). The album, who now is released, contains the recordings of Matrex from the 80`s, released for the first time to a worldwide audience. It`s a bit of a mystery why great bands like this don`t get the recognition they deserve until about 25 years after they started. After listening to Matrex` songs from the 80`s, who now is released for the first time to a worldwide audience, it`s very obvious that they at the time they made and recorded these songs belonged to the elite of bands in their genre. With songs like Don`t Want Anybody, the more uptempo You Won`t See Tears and the ballad Broken Hearted Man, it`s easy to understand why this band fast became popular in their hometown Vancouver back in the early 80`s. But releases like this also today stands forward as gems and jewels who absolutely needs attention and especially if you think about that bands like this inspired many other bands with their fine melodic rock/ hardrock. The ten songs are all very good, with highlights like She`s A Stranger, Love Me Through The Night and the more pop/rock oriented Nothing Is Real. So if you`re a fan of the melodic rock and hardrock from the early 80`s you will find the release from Matrex very pleasing, so check it out!!

http://www.matrex.ca/
http://www.renegadesounds.com/

Matrex :

Tony Dominelli - Vocals
Geraldo Dominelli - guitars
Paul Minshall - Keyboards
Jim Buckshon - Bass
Rob Begg - Bass
Lee Hantelmann - Drums

 

MARY`S CREEK - Some Kind Of Hate, Demo

Mary`s Creek comes from Linköping/Sweden. The four musicians has all been active musicians in Sweden for the last 10-15 years. Mats Nilsson grounded Mary`s Creek after he decided to finish his one man project MNP. After searching a while for the right members for Mary`s Creek he was joined by Stefan, Peter and Robban. Already before releasing their first CD Bedroom Eyes in spring 2005, they had earned a reputation as a great live band and they also got nice feedback from newspapers, webzines and record labels. After listening to their last demo, Some Kind Of Hate, I`m sure this band will get their first record deal in their hands very soon! Musically Mary`s Creek play a mix of melodic hard rock and modern rock with a touch of progressive rock. The seven songs are all very strong and open with the titletrack, a song with a rough modern production where the verses is just the kick off to a cool melodic chorus. Vocalist Mats Nilsson has a nice melodic voice, who suits Mary`s Creek`s style perfectly, sometimes his voice reminds about a mix of Harry Hess from Harem Scarem and Don Dokken. The production and sound is also very pleasing and the instrumentation also sounds watertight in every direction with fine punch in the rhythm section and cool guitarplaying. The next song, Things That You Do, is a more modern oriented rock tune, while She is more melodic with both soft parts and rougher parts. I Don`t Believe is my absolute favorite! Nice heavy melodic song with a rememberable chorus and a really amazing guitarsolo! If I shall compare Mary`s Creek to other bands I think they remind of a mix between Harem Scarem, King`s-X and Dogpound. Both the two next songs Love Game and A Little Bit Of Everything is great songs with much potential and after listening to this album I think that it won`t take very long before we get the first full-length album from Mary`s Creek!

http://www.maryscreek.com/

Mary`s Creek are:

Mats - Lead Vocals & Guitar
Stefan - Drums
Peter - Guitar & Vocals
Robban - Bass

 

MORNING - Hour Of Joy

Morning was founded in the summer of 2000 by vocalist Saskia van Heugten and drummer Mauro Pi. The brothers Pol (bass) and Stijn Bannier (synths) joined the band in the autumn the same year. After releasing two demos in 2001 and 2002 with only one guitarplayer, the band decided to continue with guitarplayers Martijn Brauwers and Bas Rensen. With a complete line-up the band released a new demo-EP called Inside in august 2003. The band received great reviews from the specialized press around the world, and they also started performing live in and out of the Netherlands. Except playing at festivals like Summer Darkness, Novemberrain, Bevrijdingsfestival and Jamrock, they played about 40 live performances both in 2003 and 2004, something that is a bit unusual for an unsigned band. After this Morning signed a deal with Black Lotus Records and the debut Hour Of Joy was released 12/9-05.

I have listened a lot to Morning`s debut album lately and I have to admit it took a lot of listening to get the right grip on their music. They mix a kind of dream-metal with atmospheric pop, progressive rock and heavy fantasy metal and the result is just amazing! If you are into bands like The Gathering, Ayreon, Zed Yago, Ambeon and Lacuna Coil, I think you will love Morning`s style. Frontlady and singer Saskia van Heugten is a really great singer and throughout the album she takes us through different kinds of vocal achievements who do something with the songs and take the music to a high level. The whole band are great performers and you will notice nice details on the synths, guitars, drums and bass on every song. Hour Of Joy starts with a mystical intro who leads us to the titletrack. A song with some progressive elements, the fast riffs on the guitars and the rhythm in it makes it be special. Inside is a song from their last EP that the band decided to re-record together together with four other songs. This one is more advanced than the first, and I thought it needed some rounds in the player before I started to like it. This Unreachable Mess is a very progressive song with a cool synthsolo and guitarsolo! The Unknown Is Searching the Unfound is a very heavy song with different instrumental parts, the vocals in this song show us the capacity in Saskia`s voice. Kill The Silence starts with some folk influences and in some parts the song reminds me about a mix between Lyriel and Midnattsol. Circle Of Power is one of my favorite songs with great guitarplaying throughout the song. The vocals are very nice and melodic in this song. When Shadows Dance In Light is one of the most commercial songs on the album, a pop/ metal song with heavy riffs and a great chorus that will get stuck in your head. Captured By The Colour Of Faith is one of my favorites on the album. I like the heavy dark riffs and the synths who floats on top together with fine melodic vocals from Saskia. Perception Of Feelings has a cool intro with some nice slap playing on the bass, the switch between the melodic verses and the progressive parts in this song are nice to listen to! You`re Setting Fire is the closest we get to a ballad, but the heavy riffs and the progressive parts gives the song another direction. Stop Drawing is a really heavy song with Black Sabbath-like riffs, but that`s only in some small parts of the song. The song is advanced with great details from the players with great bassplaying and guitarplaying. The last song, a cover of Queen; The Show Must Go On, is a tough song to do a cover of, but Morning manage to do a respectable heavy version of it. All in all I think Morning scores big with this album where they manage to create something that is their own and who takes another direction than many others in their genre!
Read my interview with Synth player Stijn Bannier.
http://www.morning.nl/
http://www.black-lotus-recs.com/
http://www.tubarec.com/

Morning is:

Saskia van Heugten - Vocals
Martijn Brauwers - Guitars
Bas Rensen - Guitars
Pol Bannier - Bass
Stijn Bannier - Synths
Mauro Pi - Drums

 

ALBUM OF THE MONTH:
September 2005

MALICE IN WONDERLAND - ST

Malice in Wonderland was founded in the rainy town of Bergen, Norway, in the fall of `97, by the three original members, Chri$ Wicked (vocals), Rikki Foxx (guitar) and Eric Black (bass). The band established fast and got good reputation, and was one of the first bands to perform at Dominion Goth Club in Bergen. They also recorded some demos and the feedback was great. In winter of 2000 MIW was invited to play at Norway's oldest and biggest goth-club, Gotham Nights. The fall of 2001 and winter of 2002 was spent in the studio to record the EP Sin & Decadence. The promotion of the four track EP started in early 2003 and they soon got great reviews from the specialized press. Since the foundation of the band in 1997 the band has went through some line-up changes, and today there are only two original members left in Chris and Eric.

With the debut finally out I`m impressed over the developement the band shows since I for the first time heard them on their E.P Sin & Decadence. Musically MIW plays a mixture of melodic, dark, melancholic, catchy, glamorous rock, with inspirations from metal, pop, goth and glam. When I sit down and listen to their songs, I think MIW musically remind of a mix between The Cult, The Mission, Icon & The Black Roses and Paradise Lost. Vocalist and songwriter Chris has first of all a good relaxing voice, but he is also a good songwriter who manages to catch the listeners attention with good melodies, strong choruses and a cool image. The CD opens with Lucifer`s Town, who is an uptempo rocker with a great chorus part and a great melody line. This song is also the first Video from this album made by the band: a really great song! Devil Dance continues much in the same direction like the first, but with a bit rougher guitars. The catchy chorus is easy to remember and goes straight to your head. I also like the instrumentation from the band with cool floating keys, great riffing guitars. My Heart (Belongs To You) is a beautiful ballad with a nice mood, the song also includes piano, acoustic guitars, violin, cello and some female backing vocals. Perfect Drug is a more experimental song with a gothic feel and some nice tempo changes. The song needs some rounds in the player, but I can assure you it grows the more you listen to it. In The End contains only piano, vocals and some background synths. The song is very atmospheric and melancholic and shows another strong side of the band. Heartache Boulevard is sleazy rock n’ roll where the band show us their influences of American hard rock scene. The song is a cool rocking song with a strong chorus, I also noticed a strong guitar solo in this song. Red Rose Suicide is a song I think describes MIW`s style very good. The song is built with both a rocking side and a melancholic, gothic style, a great varied song who has become one of my favorite songs. Dancing With You is a straight forward rock song with a pop feel. I like the melodic feel in this song and the chorus part is really strong. Nightclub, Sin & Decadence, an old song made for the demo “Sin & Decadence” 2003. I liked this song from the first time I heard it and thought it was cool to hear it again, great guitars and synths! The nine minute long I Love To Sin, is a pearl of a song and really shows the depth in MIW`s songs. Experimental in a way, but at the same time they hold on to their mixture of melodic, dark, melancholic, catchy, glamorous rock, with inspirations from metal, pop, goth and glam. The song also includes some great instrumental playing on cello, violin and piano along with a choir and saxophone. All in all I think this is the best album I heard in this genre so far this year so check out MIW!!!!
Read my interview with vocalist Chris!
http://www.malice-in-wonderland.com/
http://www.karismarecords.no/
http://www.tubarec.com/

Malice In Wonderland is:

Chris Wicked - Vocals, percussion
Andy Valentine - Guitars, keys
Eric Black - Bass
Tracy Loveless - Guitars
Tommi Gun - Drums

 

ALBUM OF THE MONTH:
August 2005

MACHINE MEN - Elegies

The Finnish Heavy Metal band Machine Men was started in Autumn 1998 by four guys who had played Iron Maiden covers for a while. Antony, Jani, Eero and Jarno was joined with the fifth member guitarplayer J.V., and the band was completed. Their first demo recording took place in Watercastle studio in May 1999. During the summer of 1999 Machine Men played some gigs. A song from the first demo, Through My Tomb was chosen to Jyrki Hit Challenge semifinals as one of the 24 songs that were chosen from the 500 songs that had been submitted to the contest. Their second demo was recorded in December 1999 and was very well received by some Finnish metal mags. In the winter of 2000 three of the members were forced to join the army for six months. In the summer of 2000 the band got together again and started writing new songs and to play some live gigs. In the summer of 2001 Machine Men took part in Big Boom-band competition. The success in Big Boom gave Machine Men an opportunity to have their song Failed Trick published in a compilation CD. After this the band recorded two new songs, Behind The Wall Of Scene and Eye Of The Truth, and in March 2002 these two songs were reviewed as demo of the month in Soundi magazine in Finland. In December 2001 the band signed a deal with Dynamic Arts Records in Finland, and the band went to studio to record a five song CD. With great success with the mini CD, the band played a lot of live gigs in Finland and also received great feedback from the specialized press in the world. In June 2003 they started recording their first full-length album Scars & Wounds who was released in Finland 13.10.2003 and in the rest of Europe 16.02.2004. After the great success of the debut the band signed a deal with Century Media and recently they released their second album Elegies.

Elegies is my absolute favorite album this summer, and Machine Men really show with their second album that they belong in the elite of bands in the traditional melodic metal genre. Since I received this CD I have listened to it almost everyday, so I hadn`t any difficulties to choose Elegies as Album of the Month, August. The thing with Machine Men is that they positively are swimming in good songs from the beginning till the end, and their songwriting capacities catch many great moments from melodic metal and related from the 80`s and up until today. Vocalist Antony has a great voice with good feel and with a nice melodic sense. The band sounds watertight in every direction, and have cool sound who lets the listeners be able to separate each instrument and to hear details from every member on a pleasing way! The album opens with Falling, a fast and catchy melodic metal tune with cool rhythm guitars, a great chorus part and a nice guitarsolo. Dream & Religion is a bit heavier song with great dynamics. I like the guitarplaying in this song, especially round the refrain part the guitar floats nicely over the rest of the music and makes the song be something out of the ordinary. One of my favorites is Apathy, a song I can listen to over and over again. In this song you will notice the strength and capacity in Antony`s voice, and you will also hear that the band, especially with songs like this, has a great feel for good melodies. Back From Days is maybe one of the most traditional metal songs on the album with the exact right ingredients who make the song be very strong. The Traitor opens with a cool experimental rhythm, it kicks off onto a more traditional metal rhythm, but also this song has something that makes it be special. October is in parts a more soft song from Machine Men, the beautiful verses is just a kick off to the great chorus part in this song, you will also notice an excellent instrumental part in it: Great song! Daytime Theatre is more uptempo, at the start it sounds more modern oriented, but it changes throughout the song. great verses and catchy chorus! I like the rhythm in the next song Doors Of Resurrection! In this song I thought I could hear some small progressive tendencies in parts, also this is one of my favorite songs and maybe one that needs some rounds in the player before it get stuck in your head. From Sunrise To Sunset is the only ballad on the album, but what a great song! It gives me goosebumbs all over! The last song, Freak, is a cover of a Bruce Dickinson song, uptempo rocker with a modern touch mixed together with melodic metal of the finest mark from one of Finland`s youngest and finest bands: Check them out now!!!
http://www.machinemen.net/
http://www.centurymedia.de/

Machine Men is:

Antony - Vocals
J-V - Guitar
Jani - Guitar
Eero - Bass
Jarno - Drums

 

MORTAL LOVE – Forever will be gone

The Norwegian band MORTAL LOVE was established early in 2000. With the debut album All The Beauty, released in 2002 they started the trilogy based on a tragic love story based upon real events. The debut raised great reviews and the band also gathered a lot of fans around the world. They continued the story with the follow up album I have Lost in 2005. Now with the third album in 2006 they completes the trilogy with Forever Will Be Gone. For the third time the band recorded their album at Space Valley Studio with producer Zet.

I have followed Mortal Love from the beginning and every time they release an new album I get the same excitement that I got when I heard the band for the first time with their debut All The Beauty back in 2002. The band has developed a lot for each album and with Forever Will Be Gone, they impress me much with their goth rock/metal sound. A genre who has become very popular, especially the last five years with new bands popping up, one after the other. My opinion is that Mortal Love was one of the bands that early started mixing beautiful melodies, heavy guitars with dark lyrics and with singer Cat`s beautiful voice on top of all this I think they definetely belongs in the elite of bands in this genre.

The new album is so far their strongest release in my opinion, and by adding more male vocals this time together with Cat`s voice they take their music a step further also this time. I really enjoy listen to Mortal Love`s music who has a special mood with nice melodies with a melancholic feel , great electronic elements, cool heavy guitars and very fine vocals. All the ten melodies is of high quality with good production and sound and every song has its own identity with small details and different styles that make each song special. The first, I Make The Mistake, is a classic mid tempo Mortal Love song. The whispering male voice from Lev in the beginning takes us to some really beautiful bridges and choruses sung by Cat. The guitarsolos the slow parts and every little thing with this song is just so damn perfect from beginning to the end. It continues with Of Keeping The Fire Down, a song with a cool beat like waltz. I also like the switch between the male and female vocals in this song it gives the song a good vibe. While Everything Dies has become one of my favorite songs ever from Mortal Love. It switches between English and German language, a beautiful melody, some nice loops and awesome guitar riffs takes this song to a high level!! My Shadow Self is the nearest we comes a ballad on the album, but what a fine song this is!! In The End Decides is a bit new side from Mortal Love, a song built up with loops and samples with spoken lyrics. To Choke You Now is more an old school Mortal Love song, but has a heavy and machine-like edge with precise riffs and beautiful played keys and piano. So I Betray The Mission is a more pop-driven song with electronic elements and also this song I feel is a bit new side from the band. Still It Has Only Just Begun starts soft, but explodes in a wall of guitars. A song that takes us on a journey in different musical landscapes from light verses to heavy choruses with lots of melancholic melodies and harmonies. As We Can Not Be One is the only instrumental on the album played on piano, and it leads us to the last song that ends the trilogy. Forever Will Be Gone sums in an eminent way up many of the styles that Mortal Love has, and they couldn`t have found a more perfect ending to end the trilogy: Just perfect!!
97/100
Read my interview with Rain6 here!!
http://www.mortallove.com/

Mortal Love is:

Cat - Vocals
Damous - Drums
Lev - Bass
Rain6 - Guitars, keys, backing vocals
Mulciber - Keyboards, programming, cello

 

 

MORTAL LOVE - I Have Lost

The Norwegian band Mortal Love started as a project in late 2000 by bassplayer Lev and drummer Damous. They brought in singer Cat , guitarplayer Rain6 and guitarplayer Gabriah. Already from the first rehearsal they became a permanent band. A demo was recorded and sent out to different record companies. The band found Massacre Records as the most interesting label and they signed a five CD deal with them. The debut All The Beauty got massive press feedback and the members were blown away by the great feedback. This also led the band to play at Gothica 4 Festival in Budapest and other gigs in Croatia and Norway. In summer 2004 the band entered studio again to record their follow up album I have Lost. Massacre decided to release a single and video with the song Adoration, and the album I Have Lost was released in April this year. On both albums and when they play live, their producer Ram-zet has played the keyboards for Mortal Love, but because of his own band Ram-zet and his studiowork he couldn`t follow the band anymore. So Mortal Love found their new member in keyboardplayer Mulciber.

Mortal Love are without no doubt the leading Gothic Metal band in Norway and with All The Beauty, released back in November 2002, they impressed me with their style. Their new album I Have Lost continues in the same direction, but I think they have done a lot of improvements and the band sounds much more matured now than on their debut. Also the songs delivered on the new CD, are much stronger in every direction. There is a lot of bands in this genre at the moment, but I think Mortal Love stands out in the crowd with an own style on their songs. The new album opens with the song Existence, special at the start, but it crackles with real life when it goes off. Dark riffs, nice clear vocals by Cat, and in a way I think the music sounds more symphonic this time. Beautiful melody line, refrain and small technical instrumental details make their music very interesting to listen to. Serenity is one my favorites, cool vocallines and fine rhythm in the song, also the keyboards floats nicely together with the music. Spine is a darker song with heavy riffs. In the middle of the song we are served a nice slow instrumental part that makes great variation into the song. Adoration is a really strong song. I got totally hooked on this song after some listenings and I often find myself go hum to the beautiful melody and chorus part of the song. Therefore it`s easy to understand why Massacre Records chose to make a video and single out of this song. Senses sound a bit different compared to the other songs, it reminded me about a song of The Mission, but with a modern touch. Empathy is a more experimental song with electronic elements. I like the rhythm in it, very nice song! Reality is also one of my favorites, dark riffs, fine vocals and I felt that this song grew the more I listened to it. Sanity has these symphonic elements I talked about earlier in the review, while Identity has what I like especially good about Mortal Love, dreamy beautiful melody lines and the clear strong voice from Cat. Hope, Memory and Everything are all great songs, like the whole album. The best band from Norway in this genre and I think with such great songs like this, Mortal Love will take a big step further of their career!
Interview with Lev
HOT TIP!
http://www.mortallove.com/
http://www.massacre-records.com/

Mortal Love is:

Cat - Vocals
Damous - Drums
Lev - Bass
Rain6 - Guitar, Keys
Gabriah - Guitars
Mulciber - Keyboards, programming, cello

 

MAGIC PIE - Motions Of Desire

The Norwegian band Magic Pie was formed about three years ago. The members have been active musicians for many years, playing in different bands. In the beginning they played cover songs, but after a while they made the decision to write their own songs. The intentions was to create a Progressive Rock sound with influences from the 70`s, but also with influences from today`s Progressive Rock scene. The band says self that they make songs out from the different musical/ instrumental influences from each member and that they don`t try to copy someone else`s style.

Motions Of Desire is really great work from Magic Pie and of bands coming from Norway in this genre, this band is absolutely brilliant and stands forward as one the best! Their music is a blend of Progressive Rock, Hard Rock and Melodic Rock, with influences from the 70`s and from the today`s progressive rock scene. The album contains 8 songs and has a playing time of almost 75 minutes. After listening a few weeks to the debut, I will say that Magic Pie, with their instrumentation and songs, impress me much and they belong in the elite of bands in this genre together with Flower Kings, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Marillion and Ricocher. The album is packed with great songs with lots of different styles and opens with the twenty minute long Change. A song with the roots deep planted in the 70`s Progressive Rock; Cool vocals, nice melody lines in the verses and a great chorus. The song lasts for twenty minutes, but it feels like five. Magic Pie manages in an eminent way to entertain with a lot of different parts, both uptempo and slower parts and a lot of very nice different instrumental parts. The titletrack reminded me of a mix between Pink Floyd, Arena and Asia, a song who in my opinion has both the dreamy Pink Floyd-like style and a more progressive side, not unlike some of the songs from Arena and Asia. Full Circle Poetry is my favorite song. It gave me a feel of Celtic music at the start, then the song builds up gradually with great guitar riffs and nice played keys. The reggie rhythm in the verses are cool, the song changes direction before the chorus part to an progressive style and ends with some really nice instrumentation. The album continues with highlights like Without Knowing Why, Illusion & Reality (part 1-3) and ends with the 8 minute long Dream Vision, a song who mostly is instrumental. Here we get a chance to hear what these guys are capable of doing with their instruments. Great work!
http://www.magicpie.net/

Magic Pie is:

Kim Stenberg - Guitars
Gilbert Marshall - Keyboards, lead vocals
Eirik Hanssen - Lead vocals
Lars Petter Holstad - Bass
Jan T. Johannessen - Drums
Allan Olsen - Lead vocals

 

MOLLY HATCHET - Warriors Of The Rainbow Bridge

Molly Hatchet signed their first record deal in 1978 and sold over a million copies of their debut. The same year they toured
with Aerosmith and Bob Seeger. In 1979 was their second album, Flirtin`With Disaster, released , followed by their third
album Beatin`The Odds, who was a commercial success that sold over 2 million copies. After album number eight, Lightning
Strikes Twice in 1989, Molly Hatchet was gone for almost seven years until they returned again with Devil’s Canyon in
1996. In 1998 they released Silent Reign Of Heroes, followed by an 18 month world tour and the Kingdom of XII album.
A few weeks after the release Molly Hatchet went back on the stage again in Germany to complete their second live album
Locked And Loaded who was released in 2003.

After 25 years in the music business Molly Hatchet are now back with their new album Warriors Of The Rainbow Bridge. I
have followed Molly Hatchet since the mid 80`s and I think their new album is one of their best in many years. Molly Hatchet
is with no doubt the most hard hitting so called Southern Rock band I know about nowadays. They have held on to this style for
25 years now and haven`t changed much between each release, but I feel I`ve learned to know their style and that I have
become more and more pleased through the years in their fabulous hard hitting Southern Boogie Rock style. The album goes off
with Son Of The South, a song with a cool rhythm and good driving guitars. The vocals of Phil are easy to recognize and I like
the rusty whisky-voice, without it Molly Hatchet wouldn`t be the same. Moonlight Dancin`On The Bayou, is an uptempo
rocker with cool rockin`verses and a great chorus part. There aren`t many bands today who play this style of music like Molly
Hatchet can, so therefore it`s cool every time these guys show up with a new album, and I admire their style who they have
managed to take very good care of since they started back 1978. The two guitarists Bobby and Russ is a firework with their
playing, both in rhythm and solos they show huge skills, like on Time Keeps Slipping Away and Get In The Game. Flames
Are Burning takes the tempo down into a ballad like style, but the song builds up at the end with an great instrumental part.
The cool rockin`piano from John is another specialty in Molly Hatchet`s music and by listening to Hell Has No Fury you will
know what I mean. Of the twelve tracks on the album I can`t find a week moment at all, just pure rockin`goodies one after the
other. So if you yet haven`t discovered Molly Hatchet, you better get your boots on and get a copy of Warriors Of The
Rainbow Bridge!
http://www.mollyhatchet.com/
http://www.spv.de/

Molly Hatchet is:

Bobby Ingram - Lead and Acoustic Guitars / Bg Vocals
Phil McCormack - Lead Vocals and Harmonica
John Galvin - Keyboards / Bg Vocals
Russ Maxwell - Lead Guitar
Jerry Scott - Bass / Bg Vocals
Shawn Beamer - Drums and Percussion

 

STEFAN MORÉN - The Last Call

Stefan Morén is from Vansbro in Dalarna, Sweden. He got his first guitar at the age of ten and since then he has played in a lot
of bands through the years like Power Failure, Keen Hue, United and Fanny Adams to name some. In 1996 he built his own
studio and recorded his first soloalbum, Yippe Ya Ya. In the period 2000-04, he constantly play covergigs all over Sweden,
and in between this he also worked in his studio finishing his second album The Last Call, who was released on the 25th of
February 2005. It`s always fun to discover new great artists like Stefan and with his new soloalbum, The Last Call, he easily
gets my attention with his good written songs. The music is a mix of Melodic Hard Rock and Modern Rock of today, with nice
melodylines and great refrains. All the songs are performed , written , produced and mixed in an impressive way by Stefan, and
it is long time since I`ve heard such a good release done by one man. Until now this has been a one man project, but Stefan has
gathered some ex-Keen Hue members for a band (line-up under picture). The album starts with the song Can You see, a
modern melodic rock oriented song with great melodic verses and a cool chorus. Beside beeing a great musician and songwriter
Stefan also is a great singer, with a good clear toned voice he sings the songs in an eminent way. The titletrack The Last Call
is even better than the first song and after a few listenings I can easily remember the great melody and chorus. Try Your
Broken Wings is a bit more rockier, with cool rhythm at the verses it builds up to a nice chorus. I find it hard to compare the
music to other artists, but if you take a dose of Soundgarden and mix it together with 80`s hard rock you will come up with a
style near Stefan`s. The ballad Pick Up The Pieces shows us a bit of the strength in Stefan`s voice, with a warm tone at the
verses, and more power round the chorus. Ask You Why is one of my favorite songs, cool heavy guitar riffs, a nice chorus and
this song is a perfect description of the style of the music on this disc with both a modern side and some 80`s hardrock
influences. I like this disc better and better the more I listen to it and many of the songs are stuck in my head, like Too Many
Wasted, the cover of Sweet, Wig Wam Bam and the rocker Give It Up. A really good album that absolutely needs attention,
so check it out now!

http://www.stefanmoren.com/
http://www.swedmetal.com/label/

The band:

Stefan Morén - Guitar, vocals
Lars-Åke Nilsson - Bass, vocals
Peter Eriksson - Drums
Johnny Karlsson - Guitar, vocals

 

MIDNIGHT TRAIN - Ice People Calling

It all started on the barn at Arne Opsahl Hop`s homeplace in Vinjefjord in mid Norway in 1995, where they rehearsed for the
first year. As with a lot of other bands they had different line-up`s the first years. First in 1997 they got a complete line-up with
vocalist and guitarist Arne Opsahl Hop, bassist Vidar Bjerkelund, drummer Kai Ove Myran and Oyvind Vinje on guitar.
From this point the band started playing live and they also recorded their first Maxi-single, The Wizard. After selling out 1000
printed copies in no time the band was brought to national broadcasting channel NRK P3, they also in this period 97-98
contested in the Norwegian Championship in Rock several times, with starting point to have fun. Midnight Train continued till
2000, when they decided to close their career. In 2003 the attention round Midnight Train was brought back to frontman
Arne Opsahl Hop who worked at the booking company Nordic Agency. He was often reminded of Midnight Train. In
October 2003 Arne decided to bring Midnight Train back to life. He wrote songs and started to remind different contacts
around him about a comeback. A new band was set together and without Arne himself we find keyboardist Knut Oystein
Landsem, bassist Odd Magne Wammer and drummer Kjetil Krangsas. The debut Ice People Calling was recorded early
in 2004 and officially presented for the first time on Midnight Train`s first concert as the new and fresh Midnight Train in
May 2004.

It`s always great to write about bands who comes from my own country and especially when they are as good as this. I
discovered Midnight Train for the first time at a live club in Trondheim, Norway a while ago. I was very surprised over their
performance and thought they sounded very interesting. Their debut Ice People Calling was recorded in four days and believe
me when I say that this band doesn`t sound worse in anyway than other bands who have used much more time with recording
and production ++. A funny thing about this album is that one of the songs are inspired by the Norwegian-Swedish writer Margit
Sandemo`s bookseries "Sagaen om Isfolket"- "The saga of the Icepeople". The cover-photo is one of the main characters in the
books. I personally enjoy to hear bands like this with a very natural sound, who sound more live and real than a lot of all the
overproduced albums nowadays. The instrumentation from the band is very good and with the strong voice from Arne
Opsahl Hop, on top of the whole it sounds great. Musically the band has picked a bit of many Hard Rock related styles,
Melodic Hard Rock, Melodic Rock, traces of Power Metal, 70`s Hard Rock , Southern Rock and straight forward
Rock`n`roll. The album is very variated and entertaining all the way through, we get good proof of that with the opener Ice
People Calling. A song with strong verses, who builds up through a very good chorus part. The ballad Angel is a beautiful
calm song with strong vocals and the guitarsolos are also nicely performed with a great feel. The Man They Want Believe In
is a more Melodic Hard Rock oriented song and my absolute favorite. With good drive and rhythm the song builds up to a
strong refrain with double bass drums, you will notice the guitarsolo and keyboards who really takes the song up to a high level.
Bicycle Riding and Rock`n Roll Angels are two songs who take another direction with their more rockier style. To compare
Midnight Train with other bands is a bit hard, but I will say they sound in a mix between Cheap Trick, Glow, Molly Hatchet,
Marillion and Iron Maiden. Faithfully is the second ballad and this is even better than the first, the melody and chorus is easy to
remember and I often go hum to it. Goodbye Brain is also one of my favorite songs, this song has some traces of 70`s Hard
Rock, and it reminds me of a song from Alice Cooper from that period. Land Of The Lords is the most Metal oriented song
with a sing-a-long chorus, more tempo and more guitars. The first bands I thought of when I heard the two last songs, The
Rider and Rock My Nights Away, were the Southern Rock bands Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bad Company, and if you mix these
two bands together I think you end up very close to the style of these songs. Midnight Train is definitely one of the most
promising bands I`ve heard in Norway in a long time, so I hope that a decent record company soon discovers them and release
their music to the rest of the world.
http://www.midnight-train.no/
http://www.nordic.agency.no/

Midnight Train is:

Arne Opsahl Hop - Lead Vocal, guitar
Knut Oystein Landsem - Keyboards, Backing vocals
Odd Magne Wammer - Bass, backing vocals
Kjetil Krangsas - Drums

 

MÖTLEY CRÜE - Red, White & Crue

Mötley Crüe are back with the original line-up, so it wasn`t a bad idea of them to release an album with 37 of their classics
from 1981- 05. Red, White & Crüe sum up their career in a perfect way, but I have to admit that I only know the songs from
the first disc on this double CD. I jumped of the Crüe hysteria when Vince Neil left the band and John Corabi (The Scream)
came in. From this point the band changed their style into a more modern oriented Hard Rock style, and I thought they lost their
motive power both in musical style and their only frontman Vince Neil. Red, White & Crüe contains three new songs with the
hit single If I Die Tomorrow, ballad-like in the first minutes, then builds up to a more rockier direction and this is the best
Mötley Crüe song I`ve heard since the Dr. Feelgood album back in 1989. Sick Love Song is also more back to the real
Mötley Crüe style, while the last new song is a cover of Rolling Stones, Street Fighting Man. But the real goodies in my
opinion you find on the first disc, who is filled with twenty songs from the period 1982-89, and there`s not one bad song
amongst them! From the very first song Live Wire, the hits and rockers comes and hit you one after the other with Too Fast
For Love, Looks That Kill, Shout At The Devil, Girls, Girls, Girls, Kickstart My Heart and Dr. Feelgood. The band
are performing at Sweden Rock Festival this summer so watch out for the comeback with the original line-up of Mötley Crüe!

http://www.motley.com/
http://www.universal.no/

Mötley Crüe is:

Tommy Lee - Drums
Vince Neil - Vocals
Mick Mars - Guitars
Nikki Sixx - Bass

 

MARS HILL - Prelude EP

The American band Mars Hill was formed in 2002. It was songwriter, producer and vocalist from Stryper, Michael Sweet,
who heard some songs written by vocalist Jack Marques and guitarist Chip. Michael Sweet liked what he heard, and it was
this happening that gave Jack and Chip the idea to start Mars Hill. Soon after they decided to do their first record. Chip
recruited long time bassist and friend Chris Sutherland. Jack brought with him long time music partners Michael Aguiar
(drums) and Ruben DeMello (keys). Michael Sweet was brought in to produce their debut, Sink Or Swim, who was released late in April 2003. Now they are back again with a four track CD called Prelude and like on their debut Sink Or Swim they continue in almost the same direction with a mix of Melodic Hard Rock, Melodic Rock and Modern Rock. By listening to the songs on the new E.P, I think the style this time is a bit more influenced of Modern Rock than before. But these guys can really write good songs and all the songs on this E.P is of very high quality. Amongst other bands in their genre they have a special style and climb a step up of the average, both with the quality of songwriting and instrumentation. The first song, Stay, combines in a great way both the harder side and the softer side from the band. With nice melodic verses, who builds up with more guitars to harder refrain parts. As on their debut, the band sounds incredibly good, you will notice technical details from every member in all songs, and the vocals by Jack Marques are very strong. Nowhere is my favorite on the E.P and is also the hardest song with lots of catchy guitars and the song really kicks. Freedom Calling slows the tempo down a bit, songs like this has big potential and with more playing on radio it could been a hit of it! I`m already looking forward to the next full length album from Mars Hill after this promising E.P!
 http://www.marshilltheband.com/

Mars Hill are:

Jack Marques - Lead Vocals
Chip - Guitars
Chris Sutherland - Bass
Ruben Demello - Keyboards
Mike Aquiar - Drums

 

MY SIXTH SHADOW - Love Fading Innocence

My Sixth Shadow was formed out of another band called The Masquerade in 1999, by guitarist Victor and bassplayer
Joseph. They met singer Dave when he was performing at a club in December 1999. The line-up was soon after completed
with guitarist La Nuit and Fet drums. The band released their first promo EP in the summer of 2000. In November the same
year, keyboard player Dani joined the band. After some touring in Italy, the band started recording a five track EP called
Sacrifice in 2001. The EP was released in 2002 and got great reviews from the specialized press. In November 2002 the band
entered studio to record twelve new songs. After this they joined Darkwell as their support band, touring in Germany and
Netherlands. 10 Steps 2 You Heart was released in July 2003, with only five of the new songs + the five songs from
Sacrifice. This album was released as a preview of the real debut. After a long period with songwriting, the band enter
Subsounds Records Studios in January 2004. In summer 2004 the band terminated their old record deal and Watch Me Fall
Records signed the band. The debut Love Fading Innocence will be released on the 31. January 2005.

My Sixth Shadow comes from Italy, and play something that you can call New Wave Of Gothic Metal, which is a mix of Dark
Romantic Metal, Goth Metal with influences of Glam, Punk and Heavy Metal. I have listened many times to their album lately,
and for each time I hear it, it`s getting better and better. It is something different about My Sixth Shadow compared to other
bands in their genre, and I think they are the most diverse band I`ve heard in the Gothic genre lately. The band mix a lot of
styles, and it will take you a bit of listening to learn to know their songs, but I can promise you that you will be hooked on their
music with a bit of patience. It`s always hard to compare bands like this with other artists, because I think they have get forward
an own identity, attitude, sound and style on their music. Anyway I think you can hear a bit of everything from The Mission,
Metallica, Icon & The Black Roses, Glitz and Paradise Lost in their music. The first track Useless is a great song with a catchy
rhythm and a nice melody line and chorus. The band uses some electro sounds in their music like we hear in the next songs
Lonely Darkest Days and So Far, and together with the great heavy guitars and the nice vocals by Dave, it gives the music a
special feel. The band sounds very tight in every direction with good dynamic, precise rhythm changes and songs filled with a lot
of power. Shadows In My Love, Hate Loving Heart, Complete and Shades Of Grey are all very good songs with high
quality. The album ends with a cover of U2, With Or Without You, and it`s really fun to hear such a good cover of this song:
Perfect! All in all this is a very good debut with good varied songs, talented musicians, and a bit of new thinking in the Gothic
genre, so it will be great to follow them in the future, because I`m very sure that this is just the beginning for My Sixth Shadow.
http://www.mysixthshadow.com/
http://www.watchmefallrecords.com/
http://www.urbansound.it/

My Sixth Shadow is:

Dave - Vocals
Victor - Guitars, backing vocals
La Nuit - Guitars
Joseph - Bass
Dani - Keyboards
Fet - Drums

 

MARTIE PETERS GROUP - Mpg

After ten years in the band Push, Martie Peters from Denmark decided it was time to record an album with a sologroup. He
teamed up with his former bandmate, guitarist Martin Slott, and long time friend keyboardist, guitarist and bassplayer Anthony
Lledo. MPG “Martie Peters Group“ was recorded in Copenhagen during 2004 and mixed by no one else than Tommy
Hansen, who was recently responsible for TNT and Fate. By supporting Mike Tramp on a few shows in Denmark, Martie
Peters got the chance to presents his new songs for a big audience. For fans of Push, Martie Peters Group sound different,
and when I listen to the album I think the decision to start a sologroup came at the right time. The music is a combination of
Melodic Rock, Melodic Hard Rock, Classic Hard Rock and AOR. The eleven songs holds high quality from the beginning till
the end, and they are easy to listen to and with very rememberable melody lines and choruses. Martie Peters has a good
voice, and he is often compared to Mike Tramp (White Lion, Freak Of Nature), but I think Martie`s voice sounds much
fresher and better. The two first rockers, The Beast Inside and Riot On The 5th Floor, kicks the disc off with nice feel and
attitude. The first got great feedback when it for the first time appeared on the MTM compilation 10, and the second song, who
is a bit rougher than the first, is my absolute favorite on the album. The debut continues with different kind of songs like the
Melodic Rock oriented Number 1, to the touching ballad Takes Some Time and the more Classic Hard Rock like Take Me
over The Edge. From being member of the band Push for ten years, I think this shows that Martie Peters handles to stand on
his own in an eminent way, so check out Martie Peters Group: Release Date 31 January 2005!

http://www.martiepeters.com/
http://www.mtm-music.com/

Martie Peters Group is:

Martie Peters - Vocals
Martin Slott - Guitar
Anthony Lledo - Guitar
BJ - Bass
Jakob Schlein – Drums

 

MIDNATTSOL - Nordlys

Singer Carmen Elise Espenaes and guitarist Chris Hector founded Midnattsol in 2002. Their common ground being their mutual affection for Nordic mythology and composition. Other like-minded individuals were found in short order: drummer Chris Murzinsky, keyboardist Daniel Fischer, guitarist Daniel Droste and bassist Birgit Öllbruner. The band recorded their first self-titled demo. The band quickly gathered fans around the underground and on the internet and also gained the attention from printed magazines, soon resulting in the band’s deal with Napalm Records. The debut album “Where Twilight Dwells” is released in 2005, and is astounding result of months of hard work, taking the listener on a journey through the dark, mysterious and ultimately thought-provoking Scandinavian landscape. In 2008, Midnattsol finally return with their long-anticipated second album, “Nordlys.” A recording marathon in the process, Carmen Elise Espenaes recorded her vocals at Mastersound Studios (Leave`s Eyes, Elis) while the instruments were done with The Vision Bleak mastermind Markus Stock at Klangschmiede E Studios. Tue Madsen (Sirenia), one of Europe’s leading sound engineers, cared for the mix, and the infamous Finnvox Studios guaranteed a great mastering.

I discovered Midnattsol for the first time with their debut some years back. I immediately thought that this band had a style and sound that pleased me from the first moment of listening. They call their style Nordic Folk Metal, and for me who lives in Norway, I feel I can draw a lot of parallels to a lot of Norwegian traditional folk songs and music when listening to Midnattsol. The new album Nordlys continues with the same style as on the debut, but I think they have managed to become more varied on this album and also a bit darker and more heavy. Open Your Eyes opens the album and from the first moment of the song I get in a good mood. The fine vocals from Carmen the melody, guitars and keys are perfectly arranged and the way the song goes give me a great feel. Skogens Lengsel is a faster song with Norwegian lyrics. A varied song with up tempo parts and soft parts with only vocals. Northern Light starts soft with guitar and vocals. It goes off with great guitars and the vocal melody throughout this song is really fine listening. I also like the instrumentation in this song with the guitars and the great attacking drums and bass. The guitar that starts Konkylie is fine listening. A heavy song with a progressive experimental touch, but at the same time with a good melody and some symphonic elements that you will be hooked at after some rounds in the player. Wintertime takes the tempo down a bit at the start, but goes off with real life with a cool rhythm and great vocals. Compared to the first album I feel the songs is more varied this time and also in a way more symphonic. Race Of Time is an up tempo song with a great vocal melody throughout the song. The instrumentation from the band is great in this song and I especially noticed the solo guitar that floats together with the music throughout the song. New Horizon is a song you can dream yourself away to, and with songs like this I see a fireplace out in the woods surrounded by people and some musicians and a lady who sings this dreamy song. River Of Virgin Soil switches between the beautiful to the more aggressive and heavy. The melody lines in this song are one the strongest on the album. En Natt I Nord is inspired by the Norwegian film, Flåklypa. This is my absolute favorite on the disc and lyrically it describes the powerful, beautiful, mystical Nordic nature and the special connection to it. Also the music here is of high caliber and this song is the strongest song I`ve ever heard in the genre Nordic Folk Metal! 93/100
Read My Interview with Singer Carmen Here:
http://www.midnattsol.com/

Midnattsol is:

Carmen Elise Espenaes - Vocals
Birgit Öllbrunner - E-Bass, Acoustic Bass
Daniel Fischer - Keyboard
Christopher Merzinsky - Drums & Percussion
Daniel Droste - Guitar
Fabian Pospiech - Guitar

 

MIDNATTSOL - Where Twilight Dwells

Releasedate 31 January. 2005

Singer Carmen Elise Espenaes and guitar player Chris Hector, started the Norwegian-German band Midnattsol in 2002.
Carmen is the younger sister of Leave`s Eyes singer Liv Kristine Espenaes. Carmen and Chris had a comon interest for
Nordic mythology and composition. A band was soon put together with former Penetralia-drummer Chris Murzinsky,
keyboardist Daniel Fischer, guitarist Daniel Droste and bassist Birgit Öllbruner. Midnattsol recorded their first songs,
Desolate and Dancing In The Midnight sun, at Mastersound Studios in Germany. After only a year in the business, the band
signed their first record deal with Napalm Records. The song Desolate ended up as number one on the Metal Charts at
Downloadportals MP3.de and has since received over 4,000 hits. Midnattsol received a lot of attention from the music press
in the world, and also Carmen’s guest appearance on the Leave`s Eyes track ‘Into Your Light’ made the pages of a major
Norwegian newspaper, long before the release of the official Midnattsol debut. Carmen was also invited to join Cradle Of
Filth as a background vocalist on their 'Nymphetamine' world tour, but instead she decided to focus on finishing the debut from
Midnattsol.

Midnattsol play what they call Nordic Folk Metal, and it didn`t take many listenings to hear their Folk inspirations and to understand their interest of Nordic mythology. But you will also hear elements of Gothic Metal, Power Metal and Dark Melodic Metal in their music. The band name comes from old Norwegian tales, from a time when trolls, fairies and elves walked the earth long before the rise of man. And when the midnight sun (in Norwegian: Midnattsol) rose to bath the world in its unnatural glow, these creatures of myth and magic would rise with it, leaving their darkened caves and returning to the light. And with them came the stories that would become legend with each passing generation. Already with the opener Another Return, we get a taste of their style, and this song is a very good example, it has a bit of Folk, Gothic Metal and Melodic Dark Metal. The song is built up with a nice melody line and a great chorus, the vocals from Carmen Elise is very comfortable to listen to, and her voice is relaxing and I get a good feeling when I hear it. The next song, Lament, is in a way a bit darker and some parts are fast, but I`m thrilled by the beautiful vocal parts who give me good vibes. The band sounds very tight in all directions, and they have managed to get forward a very good sound on their instruments who suits their style perfectly. Unpayable Silence is a very nice acoustic ballad. In its first minutes with only guitar and vocals the song builds up throughout the song and it also has a very nice instrumental part at the end with a great melodic guitar solo. The song Desolation is one of my favorites, and with songs like this they without a doubt can call their music Nordic Folk Metal! In my opinion this song has these elements that you can compare with both Nordic Folk Music and Metal. Infinite Fairytale, På Leting and the mystical Dancing With The Midnight Sun, plus the last song Tapt Av Håp who has an interpretation of the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg`s ‘Solveigs Sang’. All in all I think Midnattsol has managed to make an very respectful debut, and I also think their style Nordic Folk Metal is something special. So look out for Midnattsol, I`m very sure that we will hear a lot from them in the near future!
http://www.midnattsol.com/
http://www.napalmrecords.com/

Midnattsol is:

Carmen Elise Espenaes - vocals
Daniel Fischer - keyboards
Chris Merzinsky - drums
Christian Hector - guitar, acoustic guitar, mouth harp
Birgit Öllbrunner - bass
Daniel Droste – guitar, acoustic guitar

 

MANTRA - Hard Times

In 1988 Gianluca Galli formed a band called Mad Mice with his friend Sergio Brombin on drums. After a lot of
demo recordings, concerts and many changes in the lineup, they finally found two new permanent members in 1990:
Riccardo Biliotti and Jacopo Meille. As Mad Mice they toured in Italy and recorded several demos. In 1993 they
recorded their debut in Germany at Delta Studios for Inline Music Gmbh, a member of the Warner Chappell labels.
The CD was never released as a full length album, due to some financial problems with their label. The only song who
was released was Don't call me Jesus, who was found on a sampler on the German market called Start it up! After
this the band went through some lineup-changes again, but at the end of November 1997, they recorded a new CD
titled Roots and this was the beginning of Mantra. In 2000 they finally become a permanent band with Gianluca
and Jacopo, plus bassist Andrea Castelli and drummer Senio Firmati. They signed a deal with Lucretia Records
International, for the release of the album Roots in September 2001. Now in 2004 they are back again with the
follow up album Hard Times.

Mantra takes us back in time a bit with their 70`s influenced style of Hard Rock. The first bands that I thought of
when I heard Hard Times was Led Zeppelin, plus a whole lot other bands and artists from the 70`s like Jimi Hendrix,
Free, Grand Funk, Deep Purple and the late eighties band Bonham. Mix these bands together and you come up with
something close to the style that Mantra has. They have managed to make good old Hard Rock with a bit of blues
and progressive elements in a way that they don`t directly copy any of the mentioned names. Mantra definitely has
their own style in the music scene today and there aren`t many bands who play this type of music. Their singer Jacopo
Meille has a voice who is very 70`s influenced, and he can sometimes remind of Robert Plant. What I like especially
good with Mantra is that they sound very real, all the instruments are easy to part, and they have got forward the
exactly right sound with nice drum and bass sound, and the guitars also have great sound. I thought their album Hard
Times needed some rounds in the player to get to know the songs, but I have now listened at least ten times to the
CD, and it`s getting better and better. The first track, Dark Rising, has many elements of 70`s Hard Rock, and
especially Led Zeppelin comes to my mind when I hear this song. My favorite tracks comes with Sand Cake, The
Big Wave, Still Looking Out and Kick My Mind. Mantra is a very interesting band with lot of great songs, so
for fans of 70`s Hard Rock, this is really a HOT TIP!
                                                                                                                                http://www.mantranet.it/
                                                                                                                                    http://www.horusmusic.eu/

Mantra are:

Jacopo Meille - Lead and backing vocals
Gianluca Galli - Electric and acoustic 6-12 strings guitars, mandolin, keyboards, piano
Andrea Castelli - Bass
Senio Firmati - Drums and percussion

 

MOONLIGHT COMEDY - The Life Inside

The new prog sensation from Italy, Moonlight Comedy, released a short while ago, their debut The Life Inside.
Italy has the last years really put them self on the map with new bands in the Progressive/Powermetal genre with
bands like, Empty Tremor, Mind key, Genius, Orion Riders, Luca Turilli and White Skull. Moonlight Comedy has
had things going on for some years. The band was formed in 1998 and they immediately started to write their own
material to present to the public. With the two promos ...and the moonlight dispelled a mistery in 1999, and Second
Shadow in 2001, it was time to release a debut. They signed a deal with Lion Music in Finland and with the debut
The Life Inside, they really impress me much. The band are influenced by the nineties` Progressive Metal , Power
Metal and Hard Rock, and they have managed to make an album that is really interesting to listen to. What I like about
Moonlight Comedy is that they take care of the nice melody lines in the music, and another thing I like very good is
that they don`t make their music so complicated that you don`t manage to listen to it. The musicians, production and
sound is great, and after several rounds in the CD player I like this album better and better. The first two tracks,
Oceans and Hidden Truth, take my thoughts back to Dream Theater`s debut, When Dream And Day Unite. It`s
something about the way the songs are built up and the playing style that reminds me of Dream Theater. To play music
like this it demands a lot of skills from each member, and Moonlight Comedy has in my opinion the right elements in
their music that makes it really interesting. The singer, Emiliano Germani, has a wide range with his voice, but I think
he handles much better to sing the lower notes than the more high ranged vocals. With songs like Masters Of Your
Mask, and my personal favorite Second Shadow, plus Adam`s Rib, they definitely show us their own style. Moonlight
Comedy is a new talented Italian band who absolutely deserves attention, check them out immediately!

                                                                                                                                                  http://www.moonlightcomedy.com/
                                                                                                                                    http://www.lionmusic.com/

Moonlight Comedy are:

Emiliano Germani – Vocals
Gianluigi Farina– Piano & keyboards
Simone Fiorletta – Guitars
Armando Pizzuti – Bass
Andrea Scala – Drums

 

MIND KEY - Journey Of A Rough Diamond

Mind Key started in early 1999, thanks to founding members Dario De Cicco (keyboards) and Emanuele
Colella (guitars), who decided to create a band with the precise task to melt the sound of prog metal bands like
Symphony X, Dream Theater, Elegy, Planet X, Royal Hunt with a newer, mature and more song-oriented approach.
After a year with writing songs and performing, the lineup was completed in September 1999 with Andrea Stipa
on drums, Francesco Mormile, bass and MarK Basile, vocals. With a complete lineup the band fast got a great
reputation in the club scene in their hometown Naplesi in Italy. Their first four song demo, Welcome To Another
Reality, was released in July 2000 and got great feedback from the metal press. In may 2001, bassplayer Francesco
left the band and was replaced with Lele Castaldo (ex Virgin of Graces). The band was then contacted by Frontiers
Records for the production of the debut CD, Journey Of A Rough Diamond.

So far this year there haven`t been many new Progressive Metal bands who has come up with such a high-class
release like Mind Key has done. The last years have given us many great bands in this genre and it takes a lot of
skill to climb up to the top amongst bands like Dream Theater, Vanden Plas, Pagan`s Mind, Royal Hunt and
Dreamscape . After a lot of listening to Mind Key, I think they manage to go directly into the elite of these bands
with their debut Journey Of A Rough Diamond. Their debut has been out for over a week now, and it scores big
everywhere it is reviewed, and I think it is very natural after I`ve been listening to their music, that many writers
around will give this amazing band good critics for their work. You will already after the first track, Secret Dream,
understand that we are dealing with a band that makes really good songs with a lot of tempo changes and technical
arrangements. The sound and production are very good, and with the creative hands from every member in the band
there is nothing to criticize with the instrumental performing. It`s just amazing to hear such a great band! The eight
songs has a playing time of almost an hour. To describe every song on the album from a band like this will take too
much time, but I have personally got some favorites with Waiting For The Answer, who starts with an instrumental
part called Voyager, where the band really show how good they are. The second part called The Zero Dimension
starts after about three minutes, and one of the things who is really strong with Mind Key is the change between the
progressive and the melodic elements in their music. You will also notice that singer MarK Basile really is a great
singer after songs like this. Other songs I have as favorites are Memory Calling, who is a beautiful ballad, plus the
advanced progressive song World Of Illusion. Mind Key do what Dream Theater hasn`t managed to do since
Images And Words, they hold on to the strong melodic parts, and they don`t do the things so complicated that many
listeners don`t manage to listen to it. If you like Progressive Metal with elements of Melodic Metal and Hard Rock
I can recommend this album on the strongest!
                                                                                                                                http://www.mindkey.it/
                                                                                                                                http://www.frontiers.it/

Mind Key are:

Emanuele Colella - Guitar
Andrea Stipa - Drums
MarK Basile - Vocals
Lele Castaldo - Bass
Dario De Cicco

 

MELODRAMA - Silent Storm

Melodrama started out in Valadares in Portugal with guitar players Carlos Matos and Tony Lopes and drummer
Pedro Marques in a leading role in 1997. They recorded their first four track demo, Silent Storm in 1999. After
this and before releasing their debut, they have toured a lot with bands like Tarantula, Ancient, Gonzalo Pereira,
Evidence and Nordica. Through the years there have been some lineup changes in the band and the lineup that recorded
the debut, also titled Silent Storm, is a bit changed today with a new singer, Emanuel Rocha, drummer Nuno Ferreira
and Carlos Sà as new bassplayer.

Portugal has the last few years put themselves on the map with great bands like Marvel, Icon & And The Black
Roses and many more. Melodrama is another one of these good bands and with the great debut Silent Storm they
have released a really interesting CD. Their music is a mix of melodic hardrock and metal. The twelve tracks on the
CD has a lot of variety and their mix of melodic hardrock and metal with midtempo tracks and fast tracks is great!
The melodic hardrock track Walls Of Illusion opens the album with great guitars and nice singing. Alien Hunter
takes another direction musically, with a faster tempo, the music can sometimes remind of a mix between Iron Maiden
and Helloween. The title track, Silent Storm, is a real killer song and one of my favorites on the debut. The riffs at the
start and in the song are great, I also like the melody line in the song and the refrain part is just superb! The fourth
song, Sleep, is also very nice with mid tempo at the verses and a bit more tempo round the refrain parts. One of the
strongest things with Melodrama is the guitarplaying from Carlos and Tony, you will, like I did, take notice of a lot
of nice riffs and solos who are performed on a way who takes a step up of the average of many bands today. Just
listen to songs like Red Blood, and the perfectly performed melodic songs Matter Of Time and Dreamland and
you will know what I mean. I am already looking forward to hear the follow up from this band who I think will be
even stronger than their debut!
                                                                                                                                                              http://www.melodramasite.no.sapo.pt/

Melodrama are:

Carlos Matos - Guitars
Tony Lopes - Guitars
Emanuel Rocha - Vocals
Nuno Ferreira - Drums
Carlos Sà - Bass

 

MEMORIZED DREAMS - Theater Of Life

Kee Jason founded the band Symphonica Divine in 1999. They started to play power metal, but after a while their
singer left the band and was replaced with female vocals. The style of their music also changed to a more rockish-
oriented style, but after some months with rehearsing they ended up playing a sort of progressive metal. In this period
they changed their name to Dreamscape. The musical style they had chose didn`t please all the members in the band
and they decided to go back to the power metal style they had in the beginning. Memorized Dreams was born
and they recorded their first demo, Mirror Of Life, in 2002, with Geir Rosø on vocals. In December 2002 Sound
Riot Records contacted the band and in May 2003 they signed a deal consisting three full-length albums. Right
before the recording of Theater Of Life, Geir left the band and was replaced with Terje Harøy (Divided Multitude).

It`s not very often I write about bands who comes from the same area as I do. Memorized Dreams released
Theater Of Life, the 16th of April 2004. Melodic power metal is a growing genre in Norway with bands like
High land Glory, Guardians Of Time and Scariot. Memorized Dreams place themselves musically in a place
between all the mentioned names. When it comes to the songs on the CD it goes a bit up and down. With the
opening track Cardinal Sin, who is a mid tempo power metal song, they show great skills with nice vocals and
great performing. The song changes a bit in tempo throughout the song and I noticed a great guitar solo, plus a refrain
that goes straight to your head. The next song, Haloes And Wings, is much more a straight forward melodic metal
song and it`s even stronger than the first one. Sea Of Oblivion is a very nice ballad performed with piano and vocals
from Terje with help from Nina Leirvik at the chorus parts, it`s also some great choir parts in the song. My favorite
track on the CD is the song Neverland, who is a mid tempo melodic metal song with a mid tempo at the verses and
a more power metal-like style at the refrain parts. Light Above All and Crimson Dreams ends the album. All in all
I will say that Memorized Dreams have made an album with a lot of variety, even if I think they are stronger when
the music is more mid tempo than the songs with speed. Check this band out, they have lots of great songs that will
please fans of melodic metal and power metal!
                                                                                                                                                     http://www.memorized-dreams.tk/
                                                                                                                                     http://www.soundriot.net/

Memorized Dreams are:

Frode Hovd - Guitars
Kee Jason - Guitars
Terje Haroy - Vocals
Kenneth Skarsvaag - Bass
Stian D. Rodsjo - Synth
Olav Skei - Drums
Maria Garli - Piano, synth
Guest
Olaf Hayer - Vocals

 

MIDNITE SKY - Rock The Planet

In 1990 the German band ZARDOZ was formed. They focus a lot on live-gigs, supporting bands like Bonfire and
Domain. Their first demo CD, Clink stereo typlate or what?! was released in 1996 followed by Bombastic
Plastic in 1998 and Broken Mirror in 2001. The critics of the specialized press was excited and the band reached
high scores in Europe as well as overseas. TTS MEDIA MUSIC contacted the band and offered them a deal,
and the film company 20th Century Fox prohibits them from continuing to use their name ZARDOZ, which is the
title of a 70s movie with Sean Connery. Therefore they changes their name to Midnite Sky in 2003. After 4 weeks
in Osterholz-Scharmbeck recording their new album, they released Rock The Planet, April 19.2004. Midnite Sky
are playing a mix of 80s German hardrock and 80s American melodic hardrock, and can be compared to bands like
Bonfire, Scorpions, Firehouse, Wild Frontier and Shakra. Musically they don`t come up with something new, this
is pure melodic hardrock performed by a band we can hear has a lot of experience! With highlights as Web Of
Desire, Hard As A Rock and Goodbye To Yesterday, they give us songs with high quality and great performing.
The CD misses the little extra to take it up to the top, but it`s a great start for Midnite Sky, and it will be great to
follow the band and see what they comes up with next time!

                                                                                                                                      http://www.midnitesky.de/
                                                                                                                                                  http://www.tts-media-music.com/

Midnite Sky are:

Holger Blickle - Holger Blickle - Vocals
Stefan Kreutz - Guitar
Frank Hafner - Bass
Markus Schübel - Drums
Christoph Renner - Guitar

 

MCQUEEN STREET - 2

In 1991 I bought McQueen Street`s debut album in a local record-shop here in Norway. I have listened regularly
to the it and I never thought I would be able to hear a second release from these Americans, but after twelve years
they return with McQueen Street 2. Since 1991 it hasn`t happened much musically with McQueen Street, but
they have managed to take the mid 80`s and early 90`s styled hard rock with them into the new century without
problems. Personally I think their new album is stronger than the debut. At the time they released their first album it
was a lot of bands who just released one album and disappeared, so therefore it`s great to see that they are back in
great shape. Like their first album their new one is packed with good melodies and it`s fourteen songs with a playing
time of almost 60 minutes.

Lead vocalist Derek Welsh has a voice who is easy to remember, it`s powerful, with a lot of strength and on the
first song, Scream, he shows us his qualities. McQueen Street`s music is a mix of old Skid Row, Cinderella and
Babylon A.D, but I think McQueen Street are better than all the mentioned names since none of the other bands
have come up with something interesting lately. This type of music is on it`s way back on the scene and the release
from McQueen Street is one of the best proves so far in the new century. With songs like World Machine, Some-
body Love Me and Psychosis, they give us strong and powerful melodies with great guitar work from Michael
Cummings, and the rhythm section with bassplayer Richard Hatcher and drummer Pat Bailey sounds very tight.
The great ballad What About Jane slows the tempo down a bit before we are served more goodies like No Colors,
Strange Dreams, Bad Moon and the even stronger second ballad The Last Breath. This second album from
McQueen Street is released independently, but I think after this superb release they soon will be picked up by a
record company! Check out this great band they will surprise you with their great songs!!
                                                                                                                                            http://www.mcqueenstreet.com/

McQueen Street are:

Pat Bailey - Drums, percussion
Michael Cummings - Lead guitar,guitars, backing vocals
Richard Hatcher - Bass, backing vocals
Derek Welsh - Lead vocals, guitar

 

MALICE IN WONDERLAND - Sin And Decadence

Malice in Wonderland was founded in the rainy town of Bergen in Norway in the fall of `97, by the three original
members, Chri$ Wicked (synth), Rikki Foxx (guitar) and Eric Black (bass). The band established fast and got
good reputation, and was one of the first bands to perform at Dominion Goth Club in Bergen. They also recorded
some demos and with a low budget and short recording time the feedback was great. In winter of 2000, MiW was
invited to play at Norway's oldest and biggest goth-club, Gotham Nights. They found a permanent drummer in T.Gun,
but after a while some musical differences in the band led to that their singer and guitarist left the band. A couple of
new candidates were tested, but they ended up with their own synth player Chri$ Wicked as new vocalist and front-
man. The fall of 2001 and winter 2002 was spent in the studio to record the EP Sin & Decadence. The promotion
of the four track EP started in early 2003 and they soon got great reviews from the specialized press. They also added
a new synth player, Rob Cruel, and a new guitarplayer, Andy Valentine. Musically Malice In Wonderland plays
a kind of a melancholic-dark rock/goth type of music. I personally think this band has created their own style and
originality with their music. When I sit down and listen to their songs I hear a bit of The Cure, The Damned, The Mission
and also a bit of glam rock in their music. The first track, Nightclub, Sin & Decadence is absolutely the best song on
this EP together with the ballad My Heart Belongs To You. Vocalist Chri$ Wicked is a great singer with a clear
and calm voice who is comfortable to listen to. The instruments are played with great synths and nice guitarsound who
grabs the attention to the listener. Malice In Wonderland has signed their first record deal and they will release their debut
album in August-September this year. I am really looking forward to hear their debut, because this EP was a big surprise!

                                                                                                                                                            http://www.malice-in-wonderland.com/

Malice In Wonderland are:

Chri$ Wicked - Vocals, synth, perc.
Rikki Foxx - Guitar
Rob Cruel - Synth (guitar, bass)
Andy Valentine - Guitar (bass)
Eric Black - Bass (..and only bass..)
T. Gun - Drums

 

GARY MOON - Still Moon

Gary Moon has a very long career with music. He played in his first band in 1964 called The Demons at the age of
thirteen. Later he has been involved in many bands and projects through the years, like Moonsparks, who he also
recorded his first album with. Moonsparks broke up in the late seventies and Gary teamed up with an L.A band
called Catch in 1981. After about 6 months of working with these guys, they were warm-up band for The Motels, Rick
Springfield, and they also went on tours without even having a record. Gary decided to start the Moonsparks project
again together with Chris Sparks, and they teamed up with some great players like the bass player from Cheap Trick,
Pete Cemeta and drummer Matt Sorum. When the band played a gig one night Jeff Paris walked in. He was about to
record an album on that time and he was also on search after some musicians for his band. So for a couple of years
both Gary and Matt were on the road with Jeff Paris. The next years to come he was in a band called Three Dog Night
for about a year and he later started The Pack with Matt Sorum. The Pack never released an album, but they almost
did after several negotiations with Atlantic, but the circumstances was difficult and the things on that time with the many
releases from Atlantic, turned out very negative for many bands who didn`t get any support or live playing. Night Ranger
was in this period looking for a bass player and lead singer and Gary got in contact with Kelly Keagy and Brad Gillis.
After some years with touring they finally recorded the new Night Ranger album, Feeding Of The Mojo. In 1997 Kelly
Keagy gets a call from Jack Blades about putting the original lineup of Night Ranger back together. And to say it short
the Night Ranger years for Gary Moon was over. With some time off he again started to write new songs and the
new project was Persons Unknown. Gary also teamed up again with Brad Gillis to work on Brad`s next solo CD
and they also played in a band called Two Fires, who performed at Gods Festival.

Gary Moon is one of the artists with the longest experience in music I have ever written about. His soloalbum Still Moon is really a highlight of melodic hardrock releases. The album is originally the demos recorded with the band who was fronted by Gary, called The Pack. They recorded an album that was never released, but Gary has put together eleven of these songs, remastered and released the album Still Moon as an independent release. The eleven songs are really strong and takes me back in time a bit to the early nineties.One of the things about this release is that I think it really could have been a huge album back in the nineties when it originally was recorded. But don`t misunderstand me, the album is still music with a very up to date feel and of the average of releases today this album has an high standard. With songs like Still and Heart Of Stone, who has this special nineties sound and who can remind of everything from Bon Jovi to Cinderella, you will be aware that this is really an interesting album. It`s a shame that this album hasn`t been released until now, when I hear the quality of these songs. State Of The Heart and Alayna is maybe more in the direction of Jeff Paris and Stan Bush, musically. Gary is a great singer and his voice is a mixture between Tom Keifer from Cinderella and Don Dokken`s voice. He has a bit raspy voice in songs like Queen Of The Damned and One Love, and a more clear and not so raspy voice in songs like Music Box, who originally was written for the Feeding Of The Mojo album with Night Ranger. It will be fun to see what Gary comes up when he releases something next time, Still Moon is absolutely an must for fans of Melodic rock and Hard rock . Visit Gary`s site and download some samples there, and it`s also possible to order the album there.
                                                                                                                                     http://www.garymoon.com/

 

MISTER KITE - Box Of Fear

In Southern Sweden five guys came together with different backgrounds; everything from playing with Jonas Hansson
and the Johansson Brothers to playing in warmup-bands for Bruce Dickinson and Helloween. In 2000 the dream came
true when they all had joined Mister Kite. Songs started soon to be written and they got their first record deal with
Lion Music in Finland. The album was produced by Christer Hermodsson and their first album, All In Time, was
released in the spring of 2002. The album got world wide attention with great reviews and the band was invited to join
Dio and his band on their Scandinavian tour. This tour was a great experience for the band and a big moment early in
their career. In spring 2003 they teamed up again with producer Christer Hermodsson and engineer Magnus Kristensson
and the follow up album soon started to take shape. Box Of Fear was released February 18th 2004.

Mister Kite really made a deep impression on me with their debut album All In Time from 2002. This time with Box
Of Fear I`m a bit unsure of what they have come up with. The nice progressive elements from All In Time is not so
much forward in their music this time. It seems to me that they want a change in their musical style, so they don`t copy
themselves from the first album. It`s nothing to criticize with the performances from this guys, they are incredibly good
musicians. They have also this time added a keyboardplayer in their lineup, Tomas Djurfeldt, and that is of course very
positive to get the progressive elements complete. I find it very hard to compare Mister Kite with other bands, they
have a special style who is far from bands like Dream Theater (without the cover artwork). They are more into a modern
direction with their music and leans more to bands like Threshold and I will also say that they can be compared with
Soundgarden and Audioslave, on their new album. I have listened to Box Of Fear several times now and I have some
problems to get the real grip on their songs, it`s not that the songs are bad in quality or sound, but it maybe has something
to do with the change of style. The opener From This Day On, is a killer song with huge guitar-sound and very good
singing from Alf Wemmenlind. How Long and Evil Bob is maybe the songs that reminded me most of songs from their
debut, with great refrain parts and instrumental parts that impresses me. Other songs I thought was special on the album
is Into Nothing and the balladlike Do Your worst, who is just incredible good songs. Mister Kite are without a doubt
a great band, but a little minus from me this time.
                                                                                                                                 http://www.misterkite.com/
                                                                                                                                http://www.lionmusic.com/

Mister Kite are:

Alf Wemmenlind – Lead vocals
Mats Bergentz – Drums and vocals
Anton Johansson – Bass and vocals
Magnus Kristensson – Guitars and vocals
Tomas Djurfeldt – Keyboards, rhythm guitar and vocals

 

MUSIC STATION - Shaping

It`s not everyday we are presented with new bands from Bulgaria, but here comes the band Music Station! They
started their activity with writing songs and rehearsals in Sofia in 2002. Progressive, melodic technical rock is what
they call their music. The band is set together of studio musicians who have been involved in many projects in Bulgaria
through the years. Three of the members are studying music at the moment on musical conservatories in Bulgaria. It
was Ventzi (Guitars), Bobby (Bass), Boris (Keyboards) and Jordan (Guitars) who started to play together. In the
beginning there were some changes of drummer and singer, but after a while they found their drummer in Radoslav Haralampiev and singer Pavlin Manev. The recording of the debut started in February 2003, with producer Tony
Grapes, from the technical rockband Millennium. The debut album Shaping was released the 1st of July last year.

I have to admit that this album was bit of a surprise. It took some listenings to get familiar with Music Station`s music,
but after several times in the CD player the album Shaping grows more for each time I hear it. Their music is progressive
and technical, but at the same time very melodic and sometimes symphonic. The titletrack, Shaping, is incredibly good
with many different parts and the instrumental skills from this guys is on a high level. Vocalist Pavlin is a great singer
and he sometimes reminds me of Roy Kahn from Kamelot, but he also can be compared with Geoff Tate from Queens -
ryche and James Labrie from Dream Theater. Song number three After Twilight is a bit softer than the first song. The
slow parts in this song with the guitars from Ventzi and Jordan and the keyboardplaying from Boris is beautiful and
very good performed. It`s not so often it comes new bands from Bulgaria, and I think this is the first Bulgarian band I
write about. I`m impressed over the work from Music Station, musically it`s a bit hard to compare them with other
bands, they have a special sound and the songs is built up on a way who take a step away from the masses of progressive
bands. There are of course many elements in their music, as we can get an example on with the song Alone, who has
elements from both Jazz and Fusion. Track seven, Painting Souls, opens with an instrumental sequence for about two
and a half minute before Pavlin comes inn. Besides, this is one of the most aggressive songs on the album together with
the next song Inside. The next song Night Dreams is the ballad on the album, it`s a very dreamy and relaxing song
with nice singing and great classical guitarplaying. I will recommend this album from Music Station, it`s something
about their music who I think will please many fans of progressive rock and metal.
                                                                                                                                  http://www.online.bg/ubp

Music Station are:

Radoslav Haralampiev - Drums
Boris Zashev - Keyboards
Ventzi Velev - Guitars
Pavlin Manev - Vocals
Jordan Donov - Guitars
Bobby - Bass Guitar

 

MAMA KIN - Party Time

The Swedish band Mama Kin was founded in late November 2001. Kristian (Chris Action) and Jon (Rixie)
wanted to start a band with an image like Mötley Crüe, Guns N Roses and Poison. They guys wanted to have fun and
weren`t so focused on the seriousness. Rixie took care of the bass guitar and Chris was going to sing and play
guitar. They needed a drummer and they asked Edvin (Eddie Arena) and Mama Kin was completed. They immediately
started to write songs and play covers of Aerosmith and Motley Crue. After some successful livegigs, the band decided
to record a demo. The result of the demo was very good and they decided to get serious about the band. Many live
shows and a second place in a local band competition led the band to take a break in the summer of 2002, because
they didn`have anywhere to rehearse. After all this I sit here with a new five track demo called Party Time, who was
recorded and released last year.

This five tracker has spinned many rounds in my CD player since I received it a while ago. Party Time is definitely an
album you can play at a party, the songs are fresh and it`s no doubt that these guys can write good songs. Chris Action
has a very comfortable voice and he is also a very good guitarplayer. Another thing I noticed who is very positive with
this trio, is that they have managed to get forward the exactly right sound this kind of music shall have. I like the sound
of real drums and bass guitar, and the guitar playing is also important in this music to get the real sound. So therefore
I think Mama Kin scores big in all the elements I mentioned. The music is inspired of many bands from the 80`s like
Mötley Crüe, Guns`n Roses and Poison, but there are also some influences of blues and southern rock in their songs.
The title track Party Time is an uptempo rocker, and it`s hard to sit still when I hear songs like this. I haven`t seen this
band live yet, but I am sure they have turned many places upside down on their concerts, because this is definitely
music with a high partyfactor. Of the five original tracks there aren`t a bad track at all! They all are really good songs
like Boys Night Out and my personal favorite Show You Something. I hope a record company soon will open their
eyes for this band, because I would love to hear more songs from them and I hope we will be able to hear a whole
album from this Swedish rockers in short time.
                                                                                                                               http://www.mamakin.tk/

Mama Kin are:

Chris Action - Guitars & vocals
Eddie Arena - Drums
Rixie - Bass

 

MOSTLY AUTUMN - Passengers

Mostly Autumn is a new band for me. I dumped over their website a few weeks ago, where I started to read about
them and downloaded some samples of their songs. I must say I was blown away and really impressed over their
music! I have always admired and liked bands like Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple and
Genesis, Mostly Autumn has influences of all these bands, but at the same time it seems like they have found their
own way in writing melodies with their own identity. It`s not so many bands today who playes the kind of music that
Mostly Autumn does, you have to go back to the 70`s to find bands who are more into this style. The only bands
today, who I can think of that are in the same genre are the old rockers Jethro Tull, Pendragon and Violet Hour, who
don`t exist anymore, but was the first band I thought of when I heard Mostly Autumn. They come from York in
England, and was formed about four years ago. The band has been very active with live performances since they
started, as support for Ritchie Blackmore`s Night, on their English tour in 2000, they also toured by themselves in
Germany, Belgium, France and Holland.The third album, The Last Bright Light, was released in 2001. Half The
Mountain, a song from the third album was on a CD on the front cover of Classic Rock Magazine, January/ February
Issue, 2001 (60,000 copies). After this a big tour all over Europe and Scandinavia followed, Classic Rock Productions
in England signed a contract with the band and right after a live DVD was filmed, The Story So Far. In early 2002
they released the album Music Inspired By The Lord Of The Rings. This album was written, recorded and produced
over two weeks. Passengers, their last album from this year, is my first acquaintance with Mostly Autumn.

Something In Between is the opening number, a very fine song who reminds me of Fleetwood Mac. The vocals
from Heather Findlay is great and she has a voice that take the songs up to a very high level, the best I`ve heard
in this genre. Heather and Bryan Josh is the two lead vocalists in the band and on the next tune, Pure White Light,
it`s Bryan who sings the lead vocal. He has a strong voice and like Heather, there`s something about his singing that
makes the songs to be special. The whole band seems to be of great skilled musicians, something that`s easy to hear
in their songs with flute, piano, hammond and guitarsolo`s with small details on each songs. On each song they serve
us something special and you will never be bored by their songs, they will have your full attention every second of this
masterpiece of an album. Another Life and Bitterness Burnt is two more balladlike songs with Heather on lead
vocals, and especially songs like, Bitterness Burnt has the main style that caught my attention. The first time I heard
the song I was sure it was the band Violet Hour who had come up with something new. As I said earlier each song
has it`s own identity, musically they move from pop and rock to prog rock and Celtic music and more, something who
makes this album to be one of the most interesting albums in its genre this year. Caught In A Fold, Simple Ways
and Answer The Question, is more guitar oriented songs with rougher guitars, And it`s when I hear songs like
Caught In A fold, my thoughts go to bands like Jethro Tull, it`s something about the way the song is built up on and
maybe the flute parts has something to do with it. The album ends with Pass The Clock, a song who has three parts.
The first part is a slow duet between Bryan and Heather, part two has more tempo, this song is one of my favorites
on the album, with a huge fiddle solo. Part three shows us a fine ending, a song who describe the different styles in music
Mostly Autumn move through. The guitar playing and chorus part on this song is incredibly good. I hope Mostly
Autumn takes the tour to Scandinavia this time too, because I have learned to know a new band with extremely good
songs and I would love to see this band live.
                                                                                                                                            http://www.mostly-autumn.com/

Mostly Autumn are:

Heather Findlay - Lead vocals, background vocals, bodran, tambourines
Bryan Josh - Lead vocals, lead guitars, 6-12 strings acoustic guitars
Iain Jennings - Piano, hammond organ, synth, backing vocals
Angela Goldthorpe - Flute, recorders, backing vocals
Liam Davison - Electric, acoustic guitars, slide guitar
Andy Smith - Bass guitar
Jonathan Blackmore - Drums

 

MYTHOLOGIC -Standing In Stillness

Mythologic is a new progressive outfit from the US. The two brothers Chris and Brett Rodler has been into the
music business for many years playing with several known names like Leger De Main, Andeavor, Gratto and Rh
Factor to name a few. They had cooperated in some of the projects with guitarist Steve Matusik who played
together with Chris in Andeavor, and he was brought in to play the guitar . They needed a vocalist in the band and
tried out several vocalists before Melissa Rodler decided to pick up the microphone and sing in Mythologic, she
has also wrote all the lyrics for Mythologic. The band has produced the album selves, but they brought in John
Trevethan to do the mixing & mastering, john is known for his other works with artists like Echolyn, Queensryche,
and Grey Eyed Glances.

Mythologic is a very interesting new progressive rock/metal band. I received their album Standing In Stillness a
while ago and I have listened to it for sometime now. You will be very pleased with their way to perform and write
their songs . They have influences from many other progressive bands and they have all the right elements in their music,
something that makes this album very interesting to listen to. You will hear influences from bands like Rush and Fates
Warning in their music. Melissa Rodler has a very good voice and compared to other female vocalists in this genre,
she is one of the best I have heard. Usually when bands in this genre are using female vocalists, I very often get tired
of listening to their screaming and yelling. This is not how it is with Melissa, she sings on a very comfortable, soothing
way and contributes to make this album a big surprise of new progressive bands. You will hear what I mean when you
hear songs like the opener Magic To Breathe and In Solitude. When it comes to the instrumental skills on the album
you will be impressed by huge guitar solos and rhythm parts from Steve, Chris and Brett. The songs are special
with tempo shifting and sometimes very technical, but with fine melody lines on the vocal parts, the instrumental parts
are also done in a very satisfying way and are great to listen to. The titletrack, Standing In Stillness, reminded me
of old Rush. It`s something about the guitars and bass playing that makes me think of Rush. Battled Beliefs has a
more modern touch of new prog and can remind of the Swedish band Andromeda in some parts. The nine minute long
A Dim To Dark and the last song Truth Undiscovered is beautiful examples on how good Mythologic are to
write and perform songs. You can go for this album it`s one of my favorites in the prog world this year.
                                                                                                                                    http://www.pmm-music.net/

Mythologic are:

Melissa Rodler - Vocals.
Chris Rodler - Rhythm & lead guitar, bass
Steve Matusik - Rhythm guitar & lead guitar
Brett Rodler - Drums

 

MARS HILL - Sink Or Swim

The American band Mars Hill took shape round 2002. It was songwriter, producer and vocalist of Stryper, Michael
Sweet, who heard some songs written by vocalist Jack Marques and guitarist Chip. Michael Sweet liked what he
heard. It was this happening who gave Jack and Chip the idea to start Mars Hill and they soon after decided to
do their first record. Chip recruited long time bassist and friend Chris Sutherland to play bass. Jack brought with
him long time music partners Michael Aguiar (drums) and Ruben DeMello (keys). Each of the members had
different qualities musically and on the rehearsals before the recording of their debut, they established their own sound
and their own way to write great songs. Michael Sweet was brought in to produce their debut, Sink Or Swim, who
was released late in April 2003. In this fall Mars Hill will support Stryper on their reunion tour.

Since I received Mars Hill I have listened at least ten times to their album Sink Or Swim. The songs grow the more
you listen to them and after some listenings I have become a big fan. Musically they move in a direction of melodic
hardrock, AOR , with elements of funk and new breed. To compare Mars Hill with other bands is a bit hard, they
have emerged to get an own sound and I like the way the songs are built up. The only band I can think of who reminds
me of Mars Hill, is the American band Neverland and their debut from 1991. The band sounds tight and has the right
punch and dynamic in their songs. The titletrack Sink Or Swim opens the ball, with great guitars from Chip, and I
really like Jack`s singing, he has a very strong voice who, together with a great rhythm section, give each individual
song its own character.All I Need is even stronger than the first one, it`s a bit slower, but it builds up and has a huge
refrain part and a very nice guitar solo. The third song, Birds Of Prey, is my favorite song on the album, this song has
it all with a very fine melody line. The part who comes right before the refrain has great drumming and cymbal (ride)
playing and as I said earlier, each member in Mars Hill contributes with their great instrumental skills, something who
takes this album up to a high level. Just listen to songs like Too Late, Lies They Tell, Ah Yeah and the ballad I
Remember You. I can`t find anything to criticize about this release, I like it better and better for each time I hear it,
so next time you are in a CD store, take your time and listen to Mars Hill. It`s really a great band who deserves attention.
                                                                                                                                                http://www.marshilltheband.com/

Mars Hill are:

Jack Marques - Lead Vocals
Chip - Guitars
Chris Sutherland - Bass
Ruben Demello - Keyboards
Mike Aquiar - Drums

 

MYSTERY BLUE - Metal Slaves

Mystery Blue was formed in France in 1982 by guitarist Frenzy Philippon. In 1996, after some problems in the
band, a new lineup was born with Nathalie Geyer on vocals, Dany Ohlmann, bass and Vince Koehler, drums.
Mystery Blue has through the years played with lots of bands on festivals and concerts, like Motorhead, Saxon,
Def Leppard, Vengeance, Girlschool++. Their fourth album Metal Slaves is mixed and mastered in the famous
House Of Audio Studios in Germany.

Mystery Blue is a true heavy metal band of the old school. It`s something that tells me that this kind of music is
on it`s way back. Their style is typical for the 80`s, but not so widespread and typical today with female vocals.
When I sit down and listen to their album, my thoughts go back in time to releases from Judas Priest, Iron Maiden,
Motorhead, Manowar and Savatage. The opening track, Human E.T.(Nature`s Despair), is a strange instrumental
song performed on didgeridoo by Nathalie. Slave To Blood hit the listeners as a bomb and this is real metal with
great sound and dynamic. The vocals from Nathalie is pretty good on most of the songs, but I have some problems
with her voice on some of the songs, I can`t seem to get the real grip on her voice, but that`s a matter of taste. Metal
Dream is an hard and heavy song and one of my favourite songs on the album, together with Desolation and Silent
Whisper (Bloody Bastard). This album is true metal and for fans of the 80`s metal, this album is a must,
believe me it`s true.
                                                                                                                                        http://www.mysteryblue.com/

Mystery Blue are:

Frenzy Philippon - Guitars & Backing Vocals
Nathalie Geyer - Vocals, Keyboards & Didgeridoo
Dany Ohlmann - Bass & Backing Vocals
Vince Koehler - Drums & Backing Vocals

 

MERCURY FANG - Liquid Sunshine

Yet another great band from Sweden is Mercury Fang with their first album Liquid Sunshine. They started as a
project back in 1998, by Ken Savefjord (drums) and Olle Boden (bass). The lineup in the band was in short time
completed with Fredrik Glimbrand (vocals & guitars), Håkan Granat ( guitars, backing vocals) and Jörgen
Schelander (keyboards, backing vocals). Songs started to come out of the speakers very soon and in 2001 they
played at the famous Sweden Rock Festival. Mercury Fang has also done a lot of live-gigs with bands like House
Of Shakira, Freak Kitchen and Big Elf. After a little break the band got back together in March 2002. The recordings
started in June and took five hot weeks of hard work before it was finished. Pontus Norgren and Morgan Ågren was
involved in the recording process and with their experience, this album has become really interesting and together
with the very good written songs from Mercury Fang, this album is something special.

With fourteen songs on their debut, it`s obvious that Mercury Fang has worked hard with the debut Liquid Sunshine.
Melodic Hard Rock with the feel of the 70`s and 80`s and mixing elements of all types of melodic hard rock together,
this album has become a pearl, with great sound and varieted songs who will get attention from a wide public in the
rock world. Fredrik Glimbrand has a great voice, who is very suitable for all the different styles on this album. The
steady and tight rhythmsection in the band creates a unique sound and real life to Mercury Fang`s songs. The first
song Hello/Goodbye is a classic rock song, with great riffs and small instrumental guitar parts, who took my breath
away, the refrain part is also strong. Chains Around My Heart is even stronger than the first song, it`s maybe a
bit more melodic and the first times I heard it, it reminded me of some of the songs from another Swedish band, 220
Volt. The many highlights on this album, has as individual songs got their own identity, like the Deep Purple like song
Last Son, who with its keyboard playing makes me think in that direction. Come To Me, Voice Left Unheard and
On The Moon are high class Swedish melodic hard rock, who will go high on my top ten of albums this year.
                                                                                                                                     http://www.mercuryfang.tk/

Mercury Fang are:

Ken Savefjord - Drums
Olle Boden - Bass
Fredrik Glimbrand - Vocals, guitars
Håkan Granat - Guitars
Jörgen Schelander - Keyboards

 

MAD MARGRITT - New Sensation

Mad Margritt Comes from Atlanta, Georgia. They released their debut CD, Cold Sweat, on their own label, Rock
Hard Records, in October 1997. Songs from Cold Sweat was soon picked up by radio stations and Delinquent
Records contacted Mad Margritt about a record deal. In 1999 Mad Margritt released In The Name Of Rock
on Delinquent records. Right after they started their first US tour and from 1999-2001 they toured a lot with bands
like Ratt, Warrant, Cinderella, Tesla, Skid Row, Every Mothers Nightmare +++. In this period they were voted as
Best Rock Band at the Atlanta Rock Awards and nominated for two awards at the south Florida Rock Awards.
While performing at the Ultra-Sound Music Conference, Mad Margritt got in contact with Tom Mathers from
Perris Records, they where offered a deal on Perris Records very soon. In June 2002 Mad Margritt was one
of the bands who featured on a tribute CD to Bon Scott, called Bon Apetite: A tribute To The Bon Scott Years Of

AC/DC. In November 2002 New sensation was released, for me this is the first CD I heard of Mad Margritt. I
have no problems to understand why this band has earned themselves awards and playing time on radio stations,
because this band is really great! Their music is like good old time Rock n roll, but with a more modern touch and
can be compared with The Babys, Bad Company, Hanoi Rocks, Enuff z Nuff and many more. Nothing Can Keep
Me Away is the opening track with nice riffs at the start before the song kicks of, it`s hard to sit still when I hear
songs like this. The album continues with a cover of a song written by John Waite and Jonathan Cain, Midnight
Rendevouz, it`s a really nice done cover song with strong vocals from Eddie Smith, and the rhythm section in the
band seems to be very nice and tight. Sensations is an instrumental song with nicely performed classical guitar playing
from Eddie. Can`t Get Over You is the first ballad on New Sensation, it reminds me of Skid Row and specially
round the refrain parts. The album is produced by Eddie Smith and Steve Dietrich, these two have also written
most of the songs. The songs are very strong, like the next, Someone To Love, and the second ballad, Believe.
They have also done a cover of AC/DC`s song TNT, and Mad Margritt does it with real style, that`s for sure.
Lost In The Wind ends the album perfectly, a fine ballad that gives me good feelings and nice vibes. Mad Margritt
are on the road this summer so stay tuned if they come to a place near you. This band are one of the strongest I`ve
heard from the US the last years, so watch out, they Rock!!
                                                                                                     http://www.madmargritt.com/

Mad Margritt are:

Eddie Smith - Vocals, Guitars
Steve Dietrich - Bass
Davay Ray - Guitar
Danny Belli - Drums

 

MARVEL - Everafter

Marvel from Portugal has had things going on for some years now, they released their debut, Ter A Sorte, in 2000,
and a mini album, Long Way To Go, in 2001. Just a few weeks ago, their third release, Everafter, landed in my
mail box. It got out of it`s cover very quick and headed straight into my CD player. How many times I`ve heard this
CD the last weeks, I don`t dare telling you! I have to go back a long time to find a band with such quality like Marvel
has. In the late 80`s and the beginning of the 90`s there were some bands who still are some of my favorite bands/
albums and to mention some of them I think about bands like Danger Danger(debut), Diving For Pearls, Tall Stories++.
It`s bands like this who comes to mind when I hear Marvel`s CD Everafter. Marvel has this perfect pitch I`m looking
for when I hear a new melodic hard rock band, they have the right punch and melody lines in their music.

Already from the first track I said to myself "this is a band who goes straight into my top albums when it comes to
melodic hard rock." The opening track, Fingerprintz, is a delicious piece of melodic hard rock, with nice riffs on
the guitar and magical vocals from Ivan D'Almeida. It has all the right elements a melodic rock song shall have.
Thought About The Days is one of my favorite songs on this album, with great refrain, a modern sound and crystal
clear production. This song goes straight into my top ten of best songs of melodic hard rock bands. Marvel gives us
13 strong melodies, catchy hooks, singalong refrains and melodic guitarsolos, who takes my breath away. After some
hearing of this album you will in short time walk around and sing to their melodies, just listen to songs like the ballads
I Know You Too Well and Someday, they are beautiful. The Danger Danger like song Long Way 2 Go, is also
a highlight together with Wayout, How Do You Make Me Feel+++. In my opinion there are no weak points at
all on this album, so if you like this type of music, you immediately have to check out this guys from Portugal.
                                                                                                   http://www.marvelmusic.com/

Marvel are:

Ivan D`Almeida - Vocals
João Paulo Aca - Guitars
Ricardo Fernandes - Guitars
Miquel Madeira - Bass
Jorge Roque - Drums

 

MORTAL LOVE - All the Beauty

This five piece band from Elverum, Norway, started back in 2000. After a period with songwriting and rehearsing
they recorded an 8 track demo in Space Valley Studio with producer Henning Ramseth, also known with his own
band Ram-Zet. The demo was sent out to lots of record companies and Massacre Records in Germany signed a
deal with Mortal Love, a contract with five releases. They started their studio work, also this time in Space Valley
Studio in June and their debualbum was released November 28. 2002.

All The Beauty is an concept album and the story spins around a true lovestory with all the things a lovestory should
contain, mystic, fun, sorrow, pain, tragedy, strong feelings+++. Mortal Love has written a real good story and with
their music who is in the genre goth-metal with elements of progressive rock/metal this album is really a beauty. One
of the things that makes this album so good is vocalist Cat, who with her voice lifts the music to a higher level.
I have heard this album a lot the last week and it`s really special. The songs, the singing and the music gives me a
special feeling, there are something with the melody lines that makes their songs very strong and they go straight to my
head! I often find my self singing on their songs. Musically I think Mortal Love has their own style, the band them-
selves says they are inspired by bands like The Gathering, Cradle of Filth, Him+++. The sound is very good and
clean, it seems like Mortal Love have found their right sound, with heavy guitars, fine keyboards and clear vocal
from Cat. There are 8 tracks on the album almost 50 minutes of music.

All The Beauty starts with the title track, massive guitars from Rain6 and Gabriah, dark and heavy sound and the
song is at its strongest when the refrain comes with its clear vocal from Cat. Crave Your Love is a more uptempo
song and one of my favorites on this album, this song is not a typical goth- metal song it`s more a hard rock/ metal
song and its fun to hear Cat sing this song, she changes from singing very low down to take her voice to a top at and
around the refrain. Beautiful One is the ballad on the album, a song that takes my breath away with nicely done
vocals and a great slow guitar solo. Falling For You has more tempo, it builds up with double bass drums before the
refrain comes, they have also used cello on this song, by Tord Överland Knudsen. In The Sun, a dark slow song, but
with a little piano and some tempo changes this is also a great song. Hate To Feel starts with a great guitar solo a
very fine melody line, this song also has many elements of progressive hardrock/metal. Mortal Love has used their
producer on keyboards and Henning Ramseth (Ram - Zet)does a really good job, as we can hear in the beginning of
I Want To Die. I Want To Die is the longest song on the album, nearly 10 minutes. It has some storytelling and
some slow parts. The opening riffs on Mortally Beloved reminded me of something from Dio, but it`s just at the
start. All in all this album deserves attention and I`m sure this band will do it very good in the future, so just check
out Mortal Love.

For those of you who has the opportunity, they play in their hometown, Elverum at Alexis, next Friday (March 21.).
                                                                                   http://www.mortallove.com

Mortal Love are:

CAT: Catherine Nyland - Vocals
Lev: Hans Olav Kjeljebakken - Bass
Rain6: Lars Bæk - Guitar
Gabriah: Ørjan Jacobsen - Guitar
Damous: Pål Wasa Johansen -Drums