ANGELINE – Rhythm Of One (CD)

ANGELINE – Rhythm Of One (CD)

Swedish melodic rockers Angeline are something of an institution. I kinda compare them to House of Shakira. They do their thing, and they are dependable, they have a personal sound and touch, and the quality is always high. Both bands are musically quite close, too – classic high quality melodic hard rock/AOR. “Rhythm of Love” offers no unpleasant surprises, on the contrary, it’s, as usual, a high-class melodic rock product. Dynamic, powerful yet tight production. “Peace, Love & You”, I would have though was named “You live and you learn”, as this is how the chorus goes. Classic melodic rock, just as previously described. “Got Me Running” on the other hand offers some edgy and cool up-tempo riffing with a chorus that goes heavy. Great solos from Jan-Erik Arkengren. What I also like about singer Joachim Nilsson is that he has that typically bluesy British vibe that you hear in singers like Steve Overland or Pete Godfrey, which I really like. “Something’s Gotta Give” and “Now You See Me” are both a bit more traditional light-weight AOR, while ”Hope, Love & Everything” rocks it out a bit more with a great edgy vibe to it. It’s songs like this one I really appreciate with this band and stuff I think sets them apart a bit. This also applies to the title track with the rough edged neck pick-up Strat-intro and its cool hard rocking vibe with interesting rhythmical twists that I love when they do. A KILLER track, indeed! “Can’t Get Enough” is another heavier hard rocking track, with a classic 80s AC/DC-ish guitar riff. Phat and nice chorus choirs almost with a Def Leppard touch. “When We Were Young” takes us back to AOR land, with a strong vintage Bryan Adams vibe to it. “Heal” also offers up some solid hard edged melodic rock with great vocals from Joachim. Album closer “Til The Bitter End” is a straight-ahead, no frills party rocker. Nothing new under the sun, maybe, but when the sun shines, we do like it anyway. A solid album!

Country: Sweden

Label: private

Year: 2025

Eynomia – Sea Of Tears (CD)

Eynomia – Sea Of Tears (CD)

US melodic metal band Eynomia released their debut album “Break Free” in 2018. Seven years later the follow-up is here. The album kicks off with “To The End” which I guess could be placed somewhere between power metal and prog metal. A cool and energetic up-tempo track with killer vocals from Phyllis Rutter. A great quirky guest solo from Michael Abdow. “Jekyll And Hyde” keeps the pace high and something I pointed out when I reviewed the band’s first album, is that I shall admit I’m not a huge fan of power metal, but this band manages to keep it on the right side of power metal, much more interesting and proggy enough to make me a believer and I’m also a big fan of Phyllis who has a raspy quality to her voice that sets her apart from most other female power metal singers, something I really like. Great guitar solo from Chris Bickley in this one, too! “Mask Of Vengeance” takes it down in tempo and adds a heavy melancholic touch that almost reminds me a bit of Evergrey, which I really like. Here they also add the guest vocal talents of Mike Vescera, which gives it a new dimension. I shall however point out I’m however not 100 % happy with the mix of the album. It sounds a bit dense, overpowering and compact and listening to the entire album in one go gets you a bit of auditory fatigue. The title track does offer a short bit of relief with its soft start. “Reborn” is another cool melodic proggy tune with stellar vocals from Phyllis. “The Demon Inside” is another killer track with a heavy vibe with a sort of medieval melodic touch to the chorus. “The One” takes it all in a different more straight-ahead melodic direction which offers a nice new vibe. This one I would actually label power metal with its sing-along chorus, but Eynomia still manage to keep it interesting. “Time Will Come” takes us back into the heavier melancholic sphere. A power number, indeed! The album finishes on an up-tempo note with “Set Back”, a proggy metal number with lots of cool twists and turns and Phyllis getting all bluesy and raw in the mid section – love it!. Conclusion – a splendid album that should attract fans of both melodic metal, power metal and more proggy stuff. Highly recommended!

Country: USA

Label: self-released

Year: 2025

Moon Dog - Time Is The Fire (LP/CD)

Moon Dog  - Time Is The Fire (LP/CD)

Danish hard rockers Moon Dog finally follows up their debut 7” single with a full album. The single showed much promise, and the album does not disappoint. Opening track “Jaguar” is a cool mix of classic seventies sounding hard rock with a touch of early Styx.  Styx really comes to mind also in the opening choir parts of next track “Beautiful Women”, while the riff part has a heavier vibe, but it changes pace 180 degrees into a soft jazzy vibe which really comes as a surprise. A really quirky and cool track with a ton of different flavors. Singer Fjeder Stavnstrup has a past in hard rockers Hero and he also sings in Glam Gang MooreLizzy, Stuff Upper Lip and previously fronted Queen tribute band Queen of Denmark. “War, The War” continues in a heavier and darker vibe and shows the versatility of the band. “Bitch” takes us on yet another journey. It almost has a hint of old classic melodic quirky rockers City Boy. Here Rikke Holst Johansen handles the lead vocals which gives the album yet another flavor. Cool guitar solo from Fjeder as well. “My Black Soul” starts out like a left over from Deep Purple’s “Perfect Strangers” with some distorted Hammond from Lars Rahbek, while the chorus has a progressive twist to it. A really cool track, indeed! “Sow A Letter” is another dark and quirky track with some really cool twists and turns, while next track “Escape” is a happier funky melodic rocker that even features a piano solo. I also must say I really like the dynamic, dry and in-your-face mix of the album. Side two of the vinyl finishes with the title track,  another cool and pretty heavy number with a touch of Deep Purple but a bit more soft-progressive, almost a bit Magnum-inspired it sounds like. A killer track to end the album! The CD-version (included with the vinyl) features four more non-vinyl tracks. Really nice looking artwork, great production and mastering and an album I’d highly recommend you to check out!

Country: Denmark

Label: Supersonic CPH

Year: 2025