Dirty Dave Osti – Midnight Mojo Man (CD)

Dirty Dave Osti has four more CDs out on Grooveyard Records and they’ve all been pretty solid in my book. For some reason this one really hit home with me. Not sure what it is, but the riffs seem more solid and I like the groove a bit more. Stylewise, Dave, reminds me a bit of Michael Katon. Solid, heavy, guitar driven blues rock with both feet deep in the ground. “Be The Love” has a really cool 70s sounding classic riff that carries the song. The only thing that pissed me off was that Dave recorded an outstanding cover of “Walk Before You Run” by Savoy Brown. Why? Because I had planned to record it. Love that sone. But, since you did such a kick-ass version, you’re forgiven, Dave ;-). Another outstanding favorite track on this album is “Rebel Run”, a kick-ass riff rocker with some killer drumming. The instrumental “Spacewolf” sticks out a bit as well with its cool funky groove. All in all, a really solid album that should attract fans of classic, riff-oriented hard edged blues rock.

Janne Stark

Year: 2018

Country: USA

Label: Grooveyard Records

Eddings – Cornelius – All The Madness (CD)

The artwork didn’t really impress, I must say, and the name Eddings-Cornelius didn’t say much. Steve Eddings: vocals and Larry Cornelius: all instruments. What could this be? Well, opening track “Down We Go” kicked off in a very promising way with its up-tempo southern rock vibe. “Burnin’ My Bridges” keeps the southern vibe up and adds some cool slide guitar as well. My only complaint would be the programmed drums, which don’t sound that exciting. The production is overall quite “cheap”, but it does have a certain charm to it. “Tooth And Nail” mixes the southern vibe and some classic 70s hard rock and they sometime makes me think of 70s bands like Hydra and Earl Slick Band. Larry has some pretty cool guitar chops and Steve’s vocals fit the music very well. The album is pretty solid, but there are a couple of tracks that are way too pop/country for me, such as “Eileen” and “Make Me Fit”.

Janne Stark

Year: 2014

Label: Private

Country: USA

We Could Build An Empire – In This Place (CD)

For being quite a small country and on the brink of collapse (at least according to Fox news… I haven’t seen it and I live here) we do squeeze out quite an impressive number of bands and records per year. So, here’s another name to add to the list – We Could Build An Empire. Musically they are really hard to box in. “All In This Together” sounds very Ghost influenced, while “Worry Of The Heart” has a heavier edge. “Red III” is quite proggy and quirky. I find it really hard to pin down this band, I must say. Musically they blend in elements of U2 (which I hate, but they kinda make it sound good), Ghost, King Crimson, Katatonia, Opeth, at times with proggy elements, and at times, as in “In This Place” with an almost gothy feel. “The Rise And The Fall” is another killer track that needs to be mentioned. The band features Marcus Pehrsson (ex-Last Laugh): lead vocals and bass, Pat Wallin (ex-Last Laugh): guitar and Michael Ohsson on drums. This is one of those albums I find highly intriguing. At first I can’t decide if I like it or not, I listen to it like watching an accident waiting to happen, can’t look away, can’t turn it off, and in the end I can’t stop listening to it. A really great album, indeed!

Janne Stark

Year: 2018

Country: Sweden

Label: Mighty Music