ASTEROID - II (CD)

Fuzzorama Records. The name kinda says it all! They have proved the validity of the name with a range of fuzz-oriented releases by bands like The Durango Riot, Truckfighers and Blowback. Asteroid made their debut album in 2006, following a spilt with Blowback. When listening to the band’s new album much of the fuzz is actually placed in the backseat. I however assure you it’s not less heavy because of this, oh no. Take a listen to the old Black Sabbath and Zeppelin albums and you’ll notice that most of the heaviness doesn’t actually lie in the fuzzy guitars, but in the sound and the way the bass and drums sound and interact. Take a listen to the solo section of second track “Disappear” and you will immediately feel the Ward/Butler vibes hitting you like a ton of bricks, while the guitar is really clean and slightly pushed to the side. That’s ambience people! This is a really cool album where the songs build up to a crushing crescendo, such as the track “Karma” which just keeps building, adding layers, fatness, intensity and pushing up the level until it bursts like a volcano with the lava rolling down the hill eating up everything in its way. In the subsequent “Edge” you also hear most of the heaviness in the riff lies in the crunching distorted bass, while the guitar builds on top adding clarity to the riff. I also really like Robin Hirse’s vocals which remind me quite a lot of a young Bobby Liebling (Pentagram) with an interesting late 60s vibe to it. There’s few tracks in the second half that don’t hit me that hard, such as the up-tempo shuffle “Lady” and the slightly too spaced out “River”. All in all an interesting album well worth checking out!

/Janne

Category: Stones/70s heavy rock

Label: Fuzzorama

Year: 2010

Country: Sweden

Website: http://www.asteroid.se/

OBLIVIOUS - Goons And Masters (CD)

Transubstans Records’ modus operandi is too release bands with a strong seventies vibe. They also showcase the great variety that actually existed in this blessed era, from the psychedelica, the acid rock to the heavy riff oriented hard rock. My favourites are of course the latter. The label’s latest combatants go under the collected name of Oblivious and their debut album is entitled “Goons And Masters”. If you played opener “Ego Boy” not telling me the release year and nationality of the band, I don’t think the answer would have been 2010 and Sweden, but more likely late seventies and USA. Ok, they don’t sound too way off from some of the other current stoner bands, but they do have some really nice personal qualities that I dig. Especially the cool harmony vocals and the great variations of “Red Eye Goon”, at times with a touch of Bigelf. This band really stands its ground in comparison with Swedish colleagues like Dozer, Witchcraft, Graveyard etc. Oblivious are a bit heavier and more riff-driven. I also really dig Iska’s vocals, which is not your average stoner singer, even though he has a pretty low down and gritty touch to his voice. One track that sounds a bit more like your run of the mill up-tempo stoner is “Kickin’ And Screamin”, but it fits well into the rest of the material. “Bring It On Me” reminds me a bit of early Grand Magus, which is great in my book. The variety of the album also shows in tracks like the long and at times folk-influenced “Dead End Night” which spans over a wide variety of styles and sounds. A killer track, indeed!! This track also showcases the bands ability to really crush! I really love the mix of this album! There are hints of vintage Sabbath, touches of Bigelf, a bit of Grand Magus, but the mix becomes quite their own. It’s brutal but still ambient and quite analogue. Just take the guitar sound on “Blind Faith” which would scrape the skin off your face if you stood too close to the speaker. One of my favourite Transubstans releases, I must say!

/Janne Stark

Genre: 70s hard rock/Stoner

Label: Transubstans

Year: 2010

Country: Sweden

Website: http://www.myspace.com/oblivionlkpg

SUBTOPIA - In What Do We Trust (CD)

In the steps of modern melodic American acts like Hoobastank, Nickleback, Shinedown and Swedish colleagues like Blindside and Takida there has developed a new line of interesting domestic acts. Subtopia is one example of a new Swedish name to check out. Ok, they have a lot of “modern” overtones, but in tracks like “Feed Your Mind” there are traces of Metallica, as well as Avengend Sevenfold, while “Squinch” actually reminds me a bit of Black Sabbath’s “Am I Going Insane” in its half-note elevation. The songs are quite varied without losing the theme. It’s melodic and modern, yet not too slippery or ass-kissing, which should make these guys interesting even for fans of traditional metal. The song material is really good, not earthshaking (which doesn’t happen that often), but it’s really promising! The production by Jonas Ekström and singer Antz is really strong for an indie production. A great band with great promise for the future!
/Janne Stark

Genre: Modern melodic metal
Label: private press
Country: Sweden
Year: 2009
Website: wwwsubtopiamusic.com

MUZL - Unspoken (CD)

Denmark isn’t exactly overexploited when it comes to classy hard rock bands, but once something happens in our sister country, well, then it really happens! Of course bands worth mentioning when it comes to great Danes (excuse the pun) are Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, Blindstone, Pretty Maids, Baal and Zoser Mez. I made acquaintance with the Danish trio Muzl when I found them on MySpace (if my memory serves me right) and their debut EP really put a smile on my face. This was in 2005. In 2006 they produced another high quality demo but then it went all quiet. However, lo and behold, without any warning whatsoever – here comes the band’s new album! It does include some of the songs from the previous “releases” and the rest of the material is in the same high quality. I’m not really sure who to compare the band to, but at times they remind me of Norwegian band Jack In The Box (who I’m sure everybody knows…) and at times there’s a touch of Freak Kitchen. Experimental, slightly quirky hard rock with outstanding vocals, great melodies and great songs. The sound is really ambient with a crushingly heavy guitar sound. An original band, something you don’t find every day in this day and age.

/Janne Stark

Genre: Quirky melodic hard rock

Country: Denmark

Year: 2010

Website: http://www.muzl.com/

W.E.T - W.E.T (CD)

Melodic hard rock projects are nice and all, but sometimes the pieces just fall into place. W.E.T is a brilliant example. Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, Robert Säll (Work Of Art) on guitars and Eclipse’s Erik Mårtensson on bass, keyboards and backing vocals. The name comes from the members’ respective bands’ initials Work Of Art – Eclipse – Talisman och musically the band just about sounds like a combination of these (please note that there's also another Swedish band called W.E.T that have made three CDs... erhmmm). Guitar dominated, well-arranged hard rock where the choruses hit you like a ton of bricks. Ok, I shall admit it does almost get a bit too poppy for my delicate hard rock ears in “Brothers In Arms”, but if it’s good, it’s good! What I like about a lot of the tracks is that they can initially seem pretty timid, like “Comes Down Like Rain”, but suddenly there’s this driving heavy section with a flashing guitar solo, here signed Magnus Henriksson (Eclipse). One of my favourite tracks is the rocking “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is”, which reminds me a bit about Talisman. Here’s a bunch of really nice rockers where “Just Go” is another prime example. Even if the whole affair smells like a rotten skunk, I’m actually happy Soto didn’t end up in Journey-land. He has a way too personal voice not to use it in a more personal situation, as solo artist, or in a project like this. Here he also has no frames to have to adjust to and no preconceptions to have to live up to. Now that the Talisman saga sadly is at an end station, this band is a nice way to take the melodic rock into new grounds, with Jeff’s voice as the guiding light. Also worth mentioning is the excellent drummer Robert Bäck, whom I’ve had the pleasure of recording in the band BALLS and who is also the drummer of Eclipse. On a further note a DVD is included in the W.E.T package, featuring interiews with the band and probably the last videos with the late Marcel Jacob (R.I.P).

/Janne Stark

Genre: Melodic rock

Label: Frontiers

Year: 2009

Country: USA/Sweden

POINT BLANK - Fight On! (CD)

Anybody remembers vintage southern rockers Point Blank? Yepp, thought so. After way too many years of absence they finally re-united and entered the stage of Sweden Rock Festival last year. When watching the band deliver classic rockers like “Uncle Ned”, “Bad Bees”, “Back In The Alley” and “Nasty Notions” my smile just wouldn’t stop growing. A tour followed and now the band has finally released a new studio album. My favourite period of the band was the first four albums; “Point Blank”, “Second Season”, “Airplay” and “The Hard Way” after which they became a bit too slick and mainstream for my liking. I’m happy to say the return of the southern gentlemen is closer to the early years than the later. Ok, it may not be as dirty and rough as the vintage stuff, but that also has to do with the recording qualities of today etc. The edge is still there in tracks like “Down Not Dead”, “Fight On!”, “Hit The Bottom”, “Deep Ellum Women”, “Out Of Darkness”, “Big White Horse”, “Undercover Lover” and “Short Stack Of Blues” (which makes it most of the tracks, right?), while they show the softer side in tracks like “Made Of Stone”, the sweet instrumental “My Soul Cries Out” with its great guitar harmonies and acoustic soloing and my least favourite on the album, the sugar sweet “Cold Day In Hell”. Even there are no riffs that give classics like “Uncle Ned” or “Nasty Notions” a run for their money, the song material is consistent and it’s really good. It’s an easy listening album, very melodic but still with a nice rough edge to it. It should appeal to both long lost fans and a new crowd of southern rock fans. It’s great to hear O’Daniel still sings southern rock the way it’s supposed to be sung. He still has enough cohones and bluesy feel to pull it off with pride. The same can be said about Rusty Burns guitar playing. He plays with the same conviction, feel and power as ever! Old guitarists don’t fade away they just get longer beards! A nice return from a band I had almost given up on!

/Janne Stark

Genre: Southern rock

Label: Dixie Frog

Country: USA

Year: 2009

Website: http://www.pointblanksouthernrock.com/

BADMOUTH - Badmouth (CD)

Badmouth is a new Swedish band that boasts having been produced by Paul Sabu. To be completely honest I’m not sure people really know what being/having a real producer means. I’m not gonna put any judgement on these guys, but being a producer means you actually get involved in the process already at the song-writing stage, throughout the recording process, and even keeping the eye on the overall financial situation etc. The CD was recorded by Peter Tuthill and HG Hogström in Stockholm and later MIXED by Paul Sabu. There’s a vast difference between mixing and producing, guys. Quite honestly, as much as I like Paul Sabu’s music, he ain’t that hot a sound engineer. The album sounds decent, but much like any standard rate Swedish garage-metal band. I lack the dynamics, real punch in the drums, the fat bass and the rawness of guitars I feel is needed in this type of music. I lack the punch in the face (musically speaking, that is)! Why he had to copy Lars Ulrich’s horrible snare sound from “St. Anguish” in some of the tracks is a mystery though. The song material is decent, lots of clichés both musically and lyrically, but quite standard and lacks real cow-tippers. Mindless, no nonsense hard rock ‘n roll with a touch of punkish attitude, sleaze if you will, sometimes quite close in style to early Shotgun Messiah, Zan Clan or Nasty Idols, but without the perms and lipstick. Tom Pearson is slightly limited vocally, sounding a bit strained at times, but it works ok. I however can’t really say I’m a fan of Randy Joy’s guitar solos, which often sound quite sloppy and untight. Better stick to what works within your limitations, which worked fine for Ace Frehley. There’s actually one song I really like on the album, and it’s another mystery why they decided to let it end the album, “Supersassy Baby”. Great rock ‘n roller, indeed, with a catchy sleaze-chorus. Gimme another round of beer!

/Janne Stark

Genre: Sleaze

Label: Romulus X

Year: 2009

Country: Sweden

Year: 2008

Website: http://www.badmouththeband.com/

Short And Sweet Tips

JOE BONAMASSA - Black Rock (2o10 Provogue)
- If you look up the work "prolific" in a dictionary, you'll find a picture of Joe Bonamassa. What surprises me is that this dude manages to keep such a high standard. Actually, this album contains some of his best and heaviest stuff ever! This is heavy, crunchy blues rock played the right way! www.joebonamassa.com

CRAIG ERICKSON - New Earth Blues (2010 Grooveyard Records)
- Craig is one helluva blues rock guitarist. The band manages to produce record after record with high quality material. If you're into cats like Bonamassa, Philip Sayes, Michael Katon etc. Check this out! www.grooveyardrecords.com

HORISONT - Två sidor av horisonten (2009 Crusher)
- A new Swedish band sounding like they had been shaped in the same mould as seventies rockers November and Cactus. Bluesy, riffy and analogue sounding 70s style hard rock! Highly recommended for fans of bands like Granicus, Jukin' Bone, Blackwater Park, Epitaph etc. http://www.crusherrecords.com/

C. B MURDOC - Two In One (2009 private)
- OK, this may not be what I generally listen to, but the energy of this band is overwhelming! This is hardcore oriented technical death metal, but with a precision and energy that is mind boggling! Well worth checking out for the broad minded! www.myspace.com/cbmurdoc

COLDSPELL - Infinite Stargaze (CD)

Coldspell is a Swedish band that I’ve followed closely since their highly promising demos. Since the demos have only had a few tracks it’s always interesting to see if a band can keep it up for an entire album. “Infinite Stargaze” kicks off with an instantaneous seventies oriented big phat kick in the private parts with opener “Keep On Believin”. But, does it stop there? The answer is an equally big and phat – NO! The train keeps a rolling. It’s great to hear a band that can keep the pace and quality at a high level track after track. This reminds me a bit of The Quill on their earlier stuff before they went more stoner, but it feels like Coldspell have done what The Quill never did, which is to refine the sound, the songs and style to perfection instead of switching musical track. Singer Magnus Swedentorp actually reminds me a bit of The Quill’s Magnus Ekwall mixed with former, long lost, Fifth Angel front man (now dentist) Ted Pilot, as he also has the same type of clean and penetrating voice. It fits perfectly to the guitar/keyboard driven wall of sound the band delivers. Tracks like the outstandingly heavy and riff-oriented “Eye Of The Storm” at times reminds me a bit of a heavier Led Zeppelin, especially in the vocal arrangements. Michael Larsson is a great bluesy, yet technical guitar player fitting the style perfectly. In “Straight Things Out” they take on a more southern tinged eighties touch, a bit like vintage Tesla or Tattoo Rodeo. This album also takes me back a bit to all those outstanding bands and albums that were shelved only because a certain trio from Seattle made the business decide melodic heavy rock was to be cast out, killed and extinguished. Well, fuck ‘em, Coldspell brings back the long lost glory of bands that should have been, like Black Bambi, Arti Tisi etc. (even though I doubt these guys have even heard of said bands). I also came to think a bit of the 1987 Whitesnake in tracks like “Surrounded”, but properly updated and fixed to the personal Coldspell perfection. Another band that came to mind a bit in this track and in some other spots is vintage TNT. This is starting to sound like a list of some of my favourite bands. Did I mention this is one hell of a great band? Debut of the year, no doubt about it!

/Janne Stark

Genre: Classic 70/80s hard rock

Label: Escape

Released: 2009

Country: Sweden

Website: http://www.coldspell.se/

NEONDAZE - Neondaze (CD)

Anyone remember a Swedish band that released a couple of albums in the nineties, called Pole Position? If you do, their guitarist Lars Boquist, a highly underrated one I might add, is now back in action walking the same old path he once created. Neondaze truly sounds like a Pole Position of the new millennium. Stylewise, soundwise and even the new singer Marcus Lundgren sounds very similar to Pole Position vocalist Jonas Blum. Dated? Nope. Some may also remember Lars from his melodic power metal band Reptilian, and even if there are some minor similarities, this is much better in my book. Besides Lars and Marcus, Neondaze consists of Jesper Malm on bass and Hampus Landin on drums. There are some outstanding heavy hitters on this album, such as the slightly Def Leppard-goes-heavy sounding “Livin” with Lars’ guitar slicing the air like a giant razor. Not to forget the subsequent stomper “Stop Crying” and album opener “Intoxicated”, which could be added to the “Highway Soundtrack #1” compilation. However, just like TNT, with whom they also have some similarities, just listen to “Evil In Mind”, there are a few songs that just won’t stick. “Critical Mass” is one I just can’t get a grip of and the ballads “Caroline” and album closer “Oullbemi Vampire” just won’t do it for me. Nice to see Mr Boquist back in action, and great to hear he’s still got the chops. A CD well worth checking out.

/Janne Stark

Genre: Melodi metal

Label: Music Buy mail

Country: Sweden

Year: 2008

Website: http://www.neondaze.net/

SKY HIGH - Download (CD)

Holy shit! Yngström & Co kicks off the new album with a point blank ball buster of a blues rocker. “Rok U” is a highly fitting title on this opening rawker. The subsequent “Lo-Rider” has some immediate good old, and quite rare, ZZ Top vibes the boogie way. The highly weird guitar solo probably Billy Gibbons wouldn’t even have dared doing. Clas does, and me likey – ugly and wicked! Then Clas’ guitar playing has always been slippery, rough and loaded with feeling. Even if I’ve always been a fan of Sky High I’ve never really gone around pining for a new album, but having listened to the new album quite a few times I feel maybe I should have. This is without doubt the best album Sky High has released since “Freezin’ Hot”. I really did like the album “Freedom”, released a few years ago, but I feel “Download” is the winner of the two. Clas of course shows his Hendrixy sides and here one of the cooler things is entitled “Better Place” Another track that kinda sticks out from the traditional Sky High template, is “out Of Time & Out Of Mind” with its cool verse and straight, driving and loud chorus. That Clas’ lyrics often are filled with his personal opinions is a well known fact, and here people in general get a slap in the face in the rock n rolling “People Like Crap”, a song that opens with the foreplay “Touched” where Rockis and James run amok. The album also includes two covers; Free’s old “Stealer” and Johnny Winter’s “Easy Life Rider”. Whoever thought Sky High was down for the cound has made a worse calculating error than the American real estate business. Up the blues horns!

/Janne Stark

Genre: Blues rock

Label: Pike

Year: 2008

Country: Sweden

Website: http://www.skyhighblues.com/

TIME CODE ALPHA - Freakshow (CD)

While waiting for ACT to get their thumbs out and release a follow up to the appropriately entitled “Silence”, please welcome Time Code Alpha. Ok, in all honesty, Time Code Alpha shall be seen as no substitute for ACT, we are talking a new highly interesting band with its own sound but in the same genre here. Time Code Alpha features the undisputed talents of former Biscaya singer Mads Clausen, guitarist Peter Lazar and bass player Ken Sandin who has been seen in bands like Alien, DaVinci, Transport League etc. One of the reasons I compare the band to ACT is because they share the same type of theatrical side to their progressive/symphonic music. We’re talking musical drama here, people. This album is like a movie, with each song going through phases, building up tensions and releasing them. I’m quite impressed with the intriguing arrangements and the way the each song is going through so many different moods and motions. I do hear some vintage Yes in places, but it’s all very much updated. In the dark and heavy “Face The Ground” they build up the same type of melancholia as Evergrey, with Mads even sounding a bit reminiscent of Tom Englund. At times they move in the same terrain as dark prog-masters Pain Of Salvation, like in the, at times, almost dissonant “You Have To Understand” and the totally outstanding and powerful “Illusion”, which also features some small almost Saga-esque titbits. Just when you’re almost drowning in darkness and heavy emotions, in comes the uplifting (at least musically) “Do We Care At All” like a light in the dark. Despite all its chewy musical complexities, the album does have something of a hit in the hum-along-chorus-rocker “Driving My Car”. The production by the band and mix by Andy Laroque are impeccable with a clear, ambient and yet very heavy sound, plus all nice and well incorporated effects that fly by when you least expect it. This is nothing short of a progressive masterpiece by a band I’m already looking forward to hearing more of.
Besides the above musicians the album features a number of guests such as drummer Svetlan Råket (Zello), lead guitarists Andy LaRoque, Johan Randén, Mattias Moberg, Patrik Hansson, singers Angelica Olausson and Fredrika Clausen.
/Janne Stark

Genre: Progressive hard rock
Label: Spinfox
Country: Sweden
Year: 2009
Website: http://www.timecodealpha.com/

THREE MINUTE MADNESS - Disgraceful (CD)

Sometimes I hate trying to label music. Swedish Umeå-based rockers Three Minute Madness is one band I have a hard time describing without using words that may scare some potential listeners away. Ok, it’s modern, it’s quite heavy and it’s melodic. No, there’s no rap and there’s no aggro vocals. I totally love this album. The guys have found a nice mix of modern melodic rock adding little touches of Guns ‘N Roses and even the odd piece that reminds me of later days Europe. The guitar solo in “Open Eyes” definitely has a strong Slash vibe to it. Yes, the album does have classic guitar solos! Here are hints of Foo Fighters, a touch of Creed and a post-grunge touch. They actually remind me of a Swedish band probably no one remembers, called Downstroke. But, never mind the genres and comparisons, this band definitely stands on its own ten legs, strong and proud. Singer Fredrik Norman is one helluva strong part of the bands sound, but without the catchy, well arranged and strong songs he would be singing for deaf ears. This is definitely a band effort where all the pieces fit perfectly together. Great sound, great songs, well played and sung with conviction and feel. So, quit reading this and check out their MySpace to listen for yourself.

/Janne Stark

Genre: Modern melodic hard rock

Label: Mondo Nuevo

Release: 2009

Country: Sweden

Weblink: http://www.myspace.com/threeminutemadness