TANIA KIKIDI – Wings Of Freedom (CD)

Greek vocal powerhouse Tania Kikidi follows up the excellent 2021 album “Rock & Roll Paradise” with a new belter of an album. The album kicks of with the rockin’ “Rise” that almost touches on classic 80s metal and bands like Riot or Metal Church, but with a more 70s sounding chorus. All the instruments, mixing and mastering are handled by the multi-talented Stavros Papadopoulos who does a killer job sounding like a whole band of different musicians. The title track continues and again I have to say vintage Riot does come to mind, and that is in my book by no means a bad thing. On the contrary, the early discography of Riot are among my favorite records. This is definitely classic metal with a new touch. “Loud And Proud” touches on 70s heavy rock and made me think of bands like Rockicks and Hydra, with Tania taking the vocal department to a whole new level. A killer track! “Broken Dreams” is a cool up-tempo classic rocker keeping the pace up going into a kickin’ cover of Sass Jordan’s “High Road Easy”. Tania and Stavros do a great job with it, but it’s almost impossible to surpass the unearthly energy and power of Sass, Brian Tichy and Stevie Salas, but a great version, nonetheless! “Heart Painted Blue” is a cool, heavy bluesy number giving the album another touch of color. “Confession” takes us into a Dio:esque landscape with a touch of Sabbaths “Heaven And Hell”, while “Breaking It Down” kicks off with riff heaven. Heavy, funky and rockin’ with Tania’s voice as the icing on the cake. “Bleed” keeps the riff machine going, while “Pain” revvs up the metal machine again, going back into vintage Riot territory.”Foolish Lover” is a cool, bluesy ballad kicking off with a killer solo from Stavros. The album finishes with the beautiful acoustic ballad “Sea Of Tears”. A very nice ending to a kick-ass album! Killer vocals, awesome playing, killer production and a cool cover to match it! Get it! 

Janne Stark

Label: Grooveyard Records

Year: 2023

Country: Greece

Link: https://grooveyardrecords.com/

Perpetual Etude - Now Is The Time (CD/LP)

 

Swedish band Perpetual Etude boasts former members of bands like Dionysus, Treasure Land, Air Raid, Nation, Stormwind etc. Musically Perpetual Etude is actually not that far from any of them (except maybe Air Raid). Opening track “I’ve Got The Power” immediately kicks off with a Strat that really sounds like Yngwie Malmsteen, but keeping in mind what Mr Malmsteen has released in the last couple of years, this sounds way more interesting. They are touching on neo-classic metal, but with a big dose of classic melodic metal/hard rock and I’d place them somewhere alongside Alkatrazz. Singer, Kristian Fyhr, is a gem with really powerful vocal cords, high pitch but with a nice raspy edge. Me like!  ”Show Me” reminds me of Graham Bonnet era Rainbow a bit, but with a bit more power under the hood. A strong touch of AOR, but without sounding sleazy. “Straight Through The Heart” starts off with some really nice guitar harmonies from the excellent shredder Magnus Mild and if Yngwie didn’t have a big dose of hybris, he would kill for a song like this. Magnus is also found in mega project Gathering Of Kings, but if I’m honest, I do prefer Perpetual Etude. Not putting GoK down, but they sometimes feel a bit scattered and unfocused while this album has a common thread and high quality all the way, both musically and performance wise. “Once We Were One” again throws in some Yngwie-souding Strat licks and it also flirts with the man musically. It does remind me quite a bit of Europe’s old “Scream Of Anger” (which was written by Marcel Jacob, hence the obvious Yngwie touch). There are similarities, yes, but it does stand on its own legs. This band’s Jens Johansson is Kaspar Dahlqvist who has previously played with prog metal band Treasure Land. On this album he sure shows his skills and there are several really nice keyboard-guitar interplays, such as in the neo-classical “Hell Fire Burn”. As if this wasn’t enough, we also find a guest appearance by former Yngwie (and many more) singer, Göran Edman in the song “Sail Away”. All in all, if you’re into classic hard rock, melodic metal with strong melodies, shredding guitar/keyboard work, solid production and some neo-classical vibes, don’t hesitate!

/Janne Stark

Year: 2021

Label: Black Lodge

Stygian Fair – Equilibrium (CD)

 

Stygian Fair from Umeå, Sweden, made their debut in 2017 with the EP ”Into The Coven” and the year after they released the debut album “Panta Rei”, followed by “Nadir” in 2019. Now they have produced their third album “Equilibrium”. I shall admit I have totally missed out on the band’s previous releases, but after having digested this album, they definitely need to be investigated! The album starts with “The Covenant”. I had my fears this could be some bland power metal, but wrong was I. Sure, you could probably file this under “power metal”, but it has a healthy dose of classic hard rock merged into it and I also got some nice vibes of early Queensrÿche in the opening track. I really like that singer Pontus Åkerlund doesn’t fall into the power metal trap with wailings and high pitch yelling. He has a really solid voice, and his way of singing is more theatrical, almost tale telling with a really nice melodic feel. He kinda made me think of Christian Liljegren of Narnia, but with less vibrato and his own touch. “Gorgon’s Eyes” continues in the same vein while “Into The Light” takes it down to both heavier and softer regions. I almost had a feel of Manilla Road meets Brocas Helm, which is fine in my book. If someone had just played me this album, I would’ve had a hard time determining when it was recorded. It may as well have been the late eighties. “Infinitum et Finis” is also quite theatrical in its sound, with nice melodies and different parts that makes a nice change. It actually made me think of US band Legend (with the album “From The Fjords”). “Dark Angel” picks up the tempo a bit and here are some nice progressive retro vibes going on. Pontus sings really well with a nice feel and powerful voice. Great stuff, indeed! “Father Of Light” takes it down again, and here I kinda got a feel of old US metal band Culprit. The production, by Nils Johansson, is really good with a nice analogue feel to it. Besides Pontus, the band features Anders Hedman on bass, Emil Holmqvist on guitar and P-O Jonsson on drums. The closing title track is a real masterpiece with some really nice changes in tempo and feel. The album contains nine tracks, and I can’t find any weak links. A really even and good album that should attract fans of bands like Manilla Road, Culprit as well as Iron Maiden and vintage Queensrÿche.

/Janne Stark

Year: 2021

Label: Sonic Age

Kardinal Sin – Victorious (CD)

I shall start by admitting I’m NOT a fan of power metal. Fast pace, double bass drums, big choirs and major scale sing-along choruses verging on the Eurovision Song Contest just isn’t my thing. The opener “Patria (Fatherland)” is dangerously close to this, but manages to avoid the worst cringeworthily pastiches. However, the just run straight into that wall, with second track “Wall Of Stone”, which sounds like something in-between Hammerfall and The Poodles. I really like the verse, but the chorus is just too much Eurovision for me. Before I go on, I must say the band does sound great! Great vocals, killer guitar playing and a fantastic mix by Fredrik Folkare ( as always). “Mastermind” starts out soft, but soon the door is kicked in. This track is a bit more theatrical in its approach and the chorus is way better than the previous tracks. This one is more my bag! The title track is also pretty cool. I really like the cool twists in the verse and this one has sort of a “Phantom Of The Opera” vibe to it. Not bad at all. “Bonaparte” sounds a bit more like the missing link between the aforementioned Hammerfall and Rhapsody. “S.I.N” takes it down a bit with its acoustic intro, but blossoms out into a powerful big ballad. Even though, as I initially stated, this is not really my cup of tea, I think the band does a great job. It’s a high-quality album and fans of power metal should definitely check it out.

Janne Stark

Label: Tramp Music

Year: 2017

Country: Sweden

RENEGADES – 84-16 (MCD 5tr)

Some bands really take their time to record. When it comes to Renegades, these songs were written back in 1985 and recorded in 2016. 29 years! Must be a record. To be honest, listening to the music, I barely notice the difference. Another proof it all moves in circles. Timesless music, indeed! Sure, lyrics like Meet Us Backstage oozes of juvenile innocence (or Steel Panther influences). The song itself sounds quite Mötley Crüe influenced. It actually sounds really good! Singer/guitarist Valentin Pecovnik was previously in the band Joke and has also been part of the internet project band Hellvalla Burn. Queen Of Pain is another nice slice of glammy 80s style melodic metal that should attract fans of bands like Poison, Crüe and Steel Panther. The band features, besides Valentin, lead guitarist Mikael Ahlqvist, bassist Per Runfors and drummer Richard Svensson. Really good, crispy, still tight production, too! Good stuff, indeed!

Janne Stark

Country: Sweden

Year: 2016

-->

Label: private

ETERNAL FEAR – Killing Time (CD)

Swedish metallurgists Eternal Fear presents their fifth release, this time mixed by Blaze Bailey guitarist Steve Ray, and I do think this is the band’s best product when it comes to the production. The band mixes influences from classic heavy metal with touches of both Manowar, Metallica, Maiden and even some Falconer. It’s heavy and crushing, but Ove Johnsson’s vocals are neither your traditional high pitch power metal style, nor the Metallica style grunting. He’s somewhere in-between, melodic enough to attract the power metal fans and rough enough to attract the metal fans. Musically it’s sort of the same thing. Heavy enough, yet melodic enough. Songs like Black Country even verges on thrash but the vocals keep it on the metal side of the border. Killing Time takes it to Trouble territory, almost a bit doomy, while Halls Of Odin screams folk metal, a bit like Falconer meets Sabaton but with good vocals. A good piece of Swedish steel that should attract fans of… well… metal!

Janne Stark

Year: 2017

Country: Sweden

Label: private