ERIC GALES - Transformation (CD)

Eric Gales stunned me back in 1991 when he made his debut with the self-titled The Eric Gales Band CD. He was a young and innocent guitarist with an incredibly explosive guitar style, like a re-born Hendrix on steroids. Much have happened since, numerous albums and a long personal journey. Eric is quite fresh out of prison for drug charges, where he starts the album by claiming his innocence in the song Railroaded. He talks about being framed. If it’s true story, well, what do I know. If it’s so, it of course sucks, but what really matters is that he once again delivers 100 % guitar magic! He has, on some of the previous albums, strayed away a bit and tried using loops, some more jazzy bits, some more traditional blues, some almost poppy stuff, but Transformation is Eric in the zone. Just check out killer riffage á la carte stuff like Tortured Mind, Railroaded, the heavy funkster Altered Destiny, the slightly ZZ Top:ish I Pity The Fool and the heavy rockers Catchin’ Up With The Past and closing track I Wouldn’t Treat A Dog That Way. Even though Eric’s work on the latest 2-3 albums has been pretty consistent, I think this is his best album in years. His guitar-playing has that perfect mix of feel and edge. At times you can almost see the sparks flying. His vocals are like always pretty laid back, but it fits the songs, so I won’t complain. I also must mention his outstanding backing musicians who really help ignite the sparks: bass player Aaron Haggerty and drummer Steve Evans, to guys who really play a big part in making this rocker roll!
Janne Stark
Label: Provogue/Shrapnel
Year: 2011
Country: USA

CAPTAIN BLACK BEARD - Captain Black Beard (CD)

I can’t say the name really excites me, but luckily enough the music does. The album kicks off with a couple of high class party oriented mood raisers. High octane major scale straight ahead hard rock ‘n roll. Third track Rock Is My Life kicks the ball in a whole different direction bringing in some very pop-oriented touches in the verse, with a highly AOR-oriented bridge and chorus. American Dream continues in the same direction and I do feel a little bit confused about what type of the band these boys aim to be. Concrete Jungle also features a lot of pop-oriented melodies, but here in a bit more modern way. Singer Sakaria has a clear, clean and really good voice which fits the style perfectly. By Ex-Convict the picture is now quite clear Captain Black Beard is actually more of a pop-oriented melodic rock band than a bunch of party rockers. The first two tracks fooled me a bit there. They do have a highly personal touch to their sound and music and I can’t really say they remind me of any other band. I do get some vibes of long lost band Superfly 69 in some places, like in No Worries, but apart from that I’m a bit lost for comparisons. True Love has some really nice heavy guitar playing, but the vocal melodies screams summer pop. The album ends like it started with some straight ahead party rock in Rockin’ Body. The verse riff gives it a sleazy metal feel, but apart from that it doesn’t really fit the genre. This is actually good, but I can’t really figure out where to place the band. The hard rock approach mixed with the very poppy melodies does confuse me a bit at times. My absolute favourite tracks are the two opening tracks and I sort of wish they would have kept that spirit up a bit more.
Janne Stark
Label: Self-released
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011

BEARDFISH - Mammoth (CD+DVD)

This band is definitely as weird as the name inclines. And, it’s not a bad thing at all. I’ve actually had something of a time-out when it comes to prog as I got tired of staring at my own navel (or at least listening to bands who were). I’ve however discovered some new bands that have made me get into prog mode again. Beardfish is one band that really intrigues me. They have quite an unconventional sound, with a singer that is not just an excuse for having someone wail over some disrhythmic complex musical patterns. Rikard Sjöblom is a damn good singer for starters. The music draws from lots of different areas, but the foundation is firmly based in the aura of the seventies. There’s some touches of Anekdoten meets The Flowerkings, or Gentle Giant meets King Crimson for that matter, in songs like the instrumental And The Stone Said – If I Could Speak, while there are some more heavy rock overtones in opener The Platform. The boys really mix it up which shows in third track Tightrope which sounds more like a re-visited late 60s pop-tune with touches of Camel and some jazzy passages. Green Waves showcases some pretty cool heavy and intense riffing with more of a heavy rock attitude, while next track Oustide/Inside is a short almost classical piano piece. Akakabotu enters a more jazz-fusion oriented landscape and reminds me a bit of Swedish progsters Fläsket Brinner meets Samla Mammas Manna, mixing distorted Hammond organ and saxophone. Album closer Without Saying Anything on the other hand starts off sounding quite a lot like vintage Kansas mixed with more current band Magellan, but when the vocals come in I instantly come to think of Swedish seventies band Blåkulla. This is truly an interesting musical journey I will most likely embark many more times. The bonus-DVD contains the traditional “The making of…” as well as seven tracks recorded live in De Boerderij in Holland of outstanding quality both sound and picture. I’d go for the deluxe edition, it’s worth it!
Janne Stark
Label: InsideOut
Year: 2011

TWINS CREW - Judgement Night (CD)

Swedish melodic power metal band Twins Crew (featuring twins David and Dennis Janglöv on guitars) have previously released two EPs in 2008 and 2009. Both releases have been quite promising, however slightly lacking in production. Now the band has taken it to the next step by releasing a full album in a digipack with really nice artwork. The band has also taken it to the next step when it comes to both production and music. The previous releases were really good, but already in the opener Eternal Nights the buys show they mean business. This track is more in the vein of vintage Queensryche. This is also the first time I’ve really noticed what an awesome singer Andreas Larsson is. He has a bit of Geoff Tate in the higher register, but a lot more power in the lower ones, more in the vein of Russell Allen. The guitar work is also more well-composed and feels like it has elevated to a new level. Furthermore, the song material has also been taken to a whole new level. The previous more traditional power metal has changed more into slightly progressive heavy metal with a powerful touch, a bit like Nevermore or Iced Earth (but better) mixed with vintage Queensryche and with a tad Maiden:esque riffing and some Helloweenian melodies here and there. One track, Light, however take it in a different direction, pushing the pedal to the metal and sounds very much like Dragonforce. This is the stuff I don’t really enjoy, to be honest. It’s melodic and all, but I’m not really into this type of speed-twiddle-sing-along stuff. Impressive guitar-playing, though, I must admit. The songs are well-arranged and the production, by Nicko DiMarino and the band, is really good. Definitely an album well worth checking out for fans of melodic heavy metal.

Janne Stark
Label: self released
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.twinscrewband.com/

DEATHDESTRUCTION - Deathdestruction (CD)

Brutal! To be honest this is not 100 % what I’m into. Still I can really get into the heavy groove and the riffs. Deathdestruction reminds me quite a bit of Pantera in their later days. The vocals by Jimmie Strimmel sound highly inspired by Phil Anselmo, especially in songs like Fuck Yeah and Kill It! You will probably recognize Jimmie’s name from bands like Dead By April, Nightrage and Cipher System. The other members are boys of great musical breeding as well. Guitarist Henrik Danhage, drummer Jonas Ekdahl and bass player Fredrik Larsson are all ex-Evergrey. Fredrik Larsson is of course also found in Hammerfall. Deathdestruction is nothing even remotely close to their former employers. The album is angry! It will bite you in the ass if you put it on and turn your back on it. It will shred your speakers and leave your sub woofer gasping for air. It sounds like they have taken Pantera’s sound and put a turbo charger on it. It’s heavier, fatter and with way more balls to the drum sound. The band made their debut with a live-EP and to be honest this album does sound very stripped down and live as well. No unnecessary overdubs, no wimpy harmony vocals. This is raw, this is brutal, and surprisingly enough I really find myself getting into this. It’s nothing for the faint hearted though – it’s Deathdestruction!
Janne Stark
Label: Sony Music
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Link: http://deathdestruction.com/

EVERGREY - Glorious Collision (CD)

With a new line-up and a new label Göteborg melancholy progsters Evergrey return in glory. Well, I’m not just trying to be witty, it IS a really great album! Evergrey sure have had their dark moments, and that melancholy, slightly dark touch has become their trademark. With Glorious Collision they of course haven’t adopted any streaks of Monty Python humour or any major chords for that matter. However, the album does feel a bit more uplifting. New guitarist Marcus Jidell (Royal Hunt/The Ring) has added a bit more guitar harmonies, which feels refreshing, at least I haven’t really noticed them in the past in the same way. I must say, despite 3/5 of the band being new guys, only Tom Englund and keyboardist Rikard Zander remain from the previous album, it sounds very Evergrey.Old fans will not be disappointed. The new people them who are they? Guitars are handled by the aforementioned Marcus Jidell, bass is now played by former Mind’s Eye/Therion bassist Johann Niemann and the drums by Hannes van Dahl. From the first note you feel like this bunch has been playing together for years. It’s solid and it glues really well together. The song material is quite varied going to a variety of places, both in moods and tempos, even though the lower mid-tempo region still prevails. I’m glad to hear some more up-tempo stuff such as Free and Restoring The Loss, the cool balladry in songs like The Phantom Letters, The Disease… and album closer …And The Distance, which takes us from a really soft intro to a heavy chugging finale. I also really love the heavy riff-oriented stuff like I’m Drowning Alone. No weak spots as far as I can hear. A solid, consistent effort which again confirms Evergrey’s high position on the prog-oriented metal map.
Janne Stark
Label: SPV
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.evergrey.net/

ELECTRIC EARTH - Touching The Void (CD digi)

Electric Earth have been quiet for a while, but now they are back again. It’s been four years since the last release “Vol II – Words Unspoken”, which was a pretty good release. When listening to “Touching The Void” I do hear some development in the style. It’s a bit less post-grungy and a bit more seventies, but also a bit darker and heavier. Tracks like “Collision With A Sun” and “Touching The Void” offer some cool retro-vibes, at times with a stonery touch. They do however offer some great melodies among the heavy riffing, like the chorus of "Free Fall” and the slightly poppy “Need This Time”. One track that really sticks out is the almost punky, “Black Butterfly”. The stonerish overtones shine through in songs like “Sugartooth”. I also hear some touches of Black Label Society in songs like “Harvest Time”, “Bird Of Phoenix” and “Skinstretched”, where the chorus however goes in a totally unexpected, very melodic direction. An album well worth waiting for and checking out!

Janne Stark
Label: TYSS Music
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Link: http://www.electricearth1.com/

THE QUILL - Full Circle (CD digi)

Holy crap! The Quill is back, and they are BACK with a vengeance with a capital V! I’ve always been a fan, but when things were all changing in the line-up and my favourite singer Magnus left the ranks I was a bit worried. Well, I needn’t be. Magnus Ekwall was replaced by Magnus (Arnar) and this guy sure fills his predecessor’s shoes to the fullest. Arnar has previously recorded with heavy rockers Ground Mower, where he did a great job, as well. He actually has some vocal overtones which reminds me of the band’s previous frontman. He does however put his own stamp on it, and that’s good. So, songs then? Well, some of the stuff on this album, the title track being one prime example, is among the strongest I’ve heard the band produce ever! Period! Crap, there are riffs that give me a mental hard-on here! The current line-up features Arnar on vocals, Christian Carlsson on guitar, Jolle Atlagic on drums and new bass player Rob Triches, who also does a great job laying down some killer heavy bass riffs! The album was produced by the band and Petter Diamant and the sound is really killer! Heavy, fat and organic - me like! In some moments I hear stuff that reminds me of Grand Magus in their best moments, which I haven’t heard before, and that’s not a bad thing. Conny Bloom (Jolle’s formed Hanoi Rocks colleague and Electric Boys' frontman) guests on some citar in “Black Star”, another really cool rocker. These boys sure have swagger and groove as well, where “Bring It On” is one helluva groover. This album has tons of great riffs, stuff that may not be a reinvention of the wheel, but they work and nothing feels like rehashing of old stuff, but they are fresh in a cool retro-way. No, I haven’t been smoking herbs, I promise! I’ve been looking, but I can’t find one single weak track on this album. A killer! Highly recommended!

Janne Stark
Label: Metalville
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.thequill.se/

EVILSEVE - Don't Fall Asleep ....It's (CD)

Sweden has produced a whole armada of retro metal bands lately, mostly ranging from the vaults of the seventies to the eighties. In the eighties department we find names like Steelwings, Enforcer, Helvetets Port etc. Add Evilseve. Not really sure about the seriousness of these boys, though. Judging by some of the song titles it seems like it’s pretty tongue in cheek. Well, judge for yourselves: what does titles like “Mosquito Balls”, “Rapist With A Blowtorch” and “Spank Me!” tell you? Musically, and lyrically, I find a lot of parallels with Göteborg metal clan Dream Evil. Just listen to a song like “Incompetence Is Bliss” where singer “Puss Peckard” (yeah, right…) sounds very much like Dream Evil’s high pitch god Niklas Isfeldt, which is great in my book. “Puss” is actually a damn fine singer (and I know he does appear in other bands as well). If Evilseve would’ve had the same big and fat production as the aforementioned this album would have been elevated a couple of steps. It’s by no means badly produced, I just wish…. Anyway, the songs are classic metal straight out of the book of heavy metal, and I like it! The band does it really well. It’s well-played, the musicians are great, the songs are really good and I can take a bit of humour in metal, no problem. I actually enjoy this album, I do. One thing I miss is the wigs. Boys, you could either take it all the way like Steel Panther, or go serious. You are great enough to go serious, that’s for sure. I’d go for the Steel Panther road as there MUST me more groupies there!

Janne Stark
Label: Manora
Year: 2010
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.evilseve.com/

THE GLORIA STORY - Shades Of White (CD)

OK, I’m not sure if it’s a bit charming or if I get pretty annoyed. But, come on, the opener “Valentino” is such a Thin Lizzy rip-off it makes my skin crawl. Opening phrase “Valentino’s got a friend or two” may as well have been “Valentino’s got a booky shop”, both melody and phrasing, “waiting for me honey” may well have been “waiting for an alibi” – plagiarism or tribute, it’s a bloody fine line. Well, the band does step out of the ”tribute” corner and prooves to be more original than that. However, the album shows quite a lot of influences, such as the guitar harmonies and the way they are recorded, the Phil Lynott influences in the vocals. But, they do find their own ways in the songs. Tracks like When Hearts Cease To Bloom and Highway sounds like if you’s thrown Lizzy, The Hellacopters and Swedish glam-poppers The Ark into a blender. The Gloria Story has a strong pop oriented side, which becomes a bit too much for me. What they do, they do good, though. A decent enough album that should attract fans of the aforementioned bands as well as fans of vintage Kiss, T Rex and even Bowie in his more rocking 70s outfit.
Janne Stark
Label: Rambo Music
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.thegloriastory.com/

BADMOUTH - Heavy Metal Parkinglot (CD)

Now we’re talking major shape-up here! The band’s self-titled debut received a highly lukewarm review from yours truly. The only song that made some type of impact was album closer “Supersassy baby”, which is quite a lame result. Furthermore, the mix by Paul Sabu was anything but powerful and didn’t do the band’s sleazy hard rock any favours whatsoever. Undynamic and weak. Forget that, all is now forgiven. Sator main man Chips Kisbye understands how great rock ’n roll is supposed to sound. Fat and with the perfect punch. The pick-up also applies to the song material. Badmouth still produces straight ahead, no frills sleazy hard rock, but this time they have found the right hooks and songs that really stick. There’s also little production details that elevates it all, such as the nice upper harmonies in “Silver Lining”. Detials, but oh so important. I also complained about Randy’s untight guitar solos. Even here – great improvement! Sure, the dude hasn’t become a shredder, bu the doesn’t do more than he can handle and what he does he does really well. Even the vocal department has got a slight facelift, even if the prerequisites were there before. It all glues together perfectly and I’m happy to say, this is an album that will pay visit to my CD player several times again. Well done, boys!
Janne Stark
Label: Rambo Music
Year: 2011
Country: Sweden
Link: http://www.badmouththeband.com/

GORDON FIGHTS - Gordon Fights (CD)

The album starts off with a slight nod to Black Sabbath’s “Warpigs” in the drum intro but then takes it in an entirely different direction, to suddenly slow the tempo down and get into a heavy riff, which then smoothes out and we are lead into a really soft, almost 60s influenced verse. The song then goes back and forth between heavy 70s riffs and smooth 60s psychedelica with some cool backwards guitars. Interesting indeed! Funnily enough the subsequent track, "Birds & Flowers", starts off very close to AC/DCs “Have A Drink On Me”, but like the the first track these guys are just pulling our legs (or ears) and we head off elsewhere. Here they go all boogie instead. Here they actually remind me a bit of The Hellacopters at times, in a good way. “Dance Quite Well” has some really killer southern style bluesy riffing going on and draws my mind to bands like Preacher Stone, Cry Of Love or Lynyrd Skynyrd in their heavier moments. A killer track indeed. This is a pretty versatile album in all its simplicity, I must say. The sound is quite clean, but still really heavy and with great dynamics. These guys sometimes sounds like they were at their height way back even before they were born. Very authentic indeed and I really like it! Singer Viktor Balkewitsch Persson has a cool voice, quite clean but still a bit gritty when he needs to. A prefect fit for the music. I think this will definitely attract fans of bands like Graveyard, Witchcraft etc as well. Back to the songs, Gordon Fights also do a really killer, southern acoustic porch style blues in “Brothers And Sisters” with some great female gospel style backing vocals giving it an even more authentic feel. I tell you, when these boys bring out guns like “No Rope Around Me” it’s damn well impossible to sit still. These guys rock and they groove! With a capital G! After having let this platter spin a few times I tell you, there’s not one single weak track on this album! It’s all a perfect match, the music, the songs, the sound, the vocals and the musicians. Together with the new The Quill album, they are at the top of my “Best Of The Month” list. I just can’t make any sense of the name,  but that’s another story.
Janne Stark
Label: Transubstans
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Link:  http://gordonfights.se/
 

RAWBURT - Tropheus (CDR 7tr)

Rawburt is a pretty new Göteborg (Gothenburg) metal unit lead by former Human Race guitarist Robert Hansson. The band also features bass player Jörgen Raneström and drummer Jörgen Tjusling. On the first, outstanding, demo the vocals were handled by Björn Larsson (Two Rocks, Ride The Sky etc), but on this effort Robert has brought back his old Human Race colleague Stefano Marchesini. I really loved Björn’s vocals and was at first a bit worried how Stefan would fit this instalment, which is a bit more metal than his previous work with Robert. Well, after having heard the opening bass crusher In For The Kill, my worries were totally shattered. Stefano does a killer job! In the verse of second track Burning he actually reminds me a bit of Jorn Lande. Holy crap, that song has some devastatingly heavy riffs! The cool thing is that the verses are really smooth. I don’t know what band to really compare to, it’s more that Rawburt (not so convinced when it comes to the band name though…) has picked some bits and pieces from here and there. There’s a bit of Zakk Wylde in some guitar parts, some Jorn in other parts, a bit of Primal Fear in some more metal moments, a touch of Rammstein in one song, but there are also some parts I can’t really place. The songs aren’t complicated or extremely unique, BUT holy crap – they ROCK! The song material is top notch and in combination with the outstanding mix of Solan Gundersen (who?? – this guy should be a star!) this could be one hell of an album! So, my tip of the day – let Stefano re-record the vocals of the first tracks and release this as the album of the year! Yes, it IS that good! …and I want a ManDelKubb amplifier if they all sound this good!
Janne Stark
Label: private
Country: Sweden
Year: 2011
Link:http://www.rawburt.com

DREAMCATCHER - Souldesign (CD)

Man, it was actually a while since I heard any new interesting prog metal bands with the classic old Queensryche touch, but Dreamcatcher was a really refreshing acquaintance with a nod to the old school! The guys and girl however do look quite young. I must say this is a really classy production, both sound-wise and visually, for being a private release. This is something I would expect to see on a label like AFM or Massacre. Dreamcatcher fall in somewhere between bands like Symphony X, Andromeda and old school Queensryche, but with a strong touch of modern melodic bands like Within Temptation and Nightwish. The big difference being that Dreamcatcher are equipped with male singer Lucas Jackson, who reminds me a bit of Geoff Tate (back when he could actually sing well) and Midnight (R.I.P). What also makes me think of these bands are the way the keyboards are used, to create an ambient wall of sound more than the Rudess, Johansson style twiddling. The production is quite big and rich, where my only complaint would be the heavily trigged drums (which has more to do with me being an old school analogue fart). The songs are really good, well-written and flawlessly performed without feeling too technical or pretentious. This is a really good album I must say! Highly recommended for prog metal fans!
Janne Stark
Country: UK
Label: Private
Link: www.dreamcatcherofficial.com