ZERO ILLUSIONS - Oblivion (CD)

I was actually quite blown away by this band’s first effort. The boys sure haven’t disappointed me this time around either. This is good! No, I take it back – this is bloody great! If Zakk Wylde and Biff Byford would ever team up (no I won’t say “and make a baby” coz that would sure be an ugly bastard) I think the result could very well be something like this. Musically Zero Illusions plays great sounding powerful and heavy metal with hints of classic Saxon metal, as well as the detuned Black Label/Ozzy style stuff with the pinched harmonics and all. These boys previously went under the name Pain And Passion and then had a slightly more melodic touch. I’m glad they changed, even though I did like their earlier work. When listening to crushingly heavy stuff like “Who You Are”, this is where it’s at! I’m quite surprised no bigger label has picked this band up yet. This is great stuff! It’s modern without selling out, it’s heavy without being cliché, it’s melodic without being wimpy. Besides sounding great, the song material is great. Great variation, no fillers, ready to be shipped out. Come and get it! This mother rocks!
Janne Stark

Label: private
Year: 2010
Country: Sweden
Website: http://www.zeroillusions.com

ELECTRIC BOYS - And Them Boys Done Swang (CD)

To be honest I’m not really sure what my expectations were for this reunion album from the Swedish funk ‘o metal combo, but they sure as hell were exceede! The boys sure prove they mean business already in rock-out-smash-in-your-face rocker opener Reeferlord. Man, this band ROCKS!! Halfway through the song the add some of the old heavy riff funk vibe to the mix as well. The good old funky vibe continues in second track “My Heart’s Not For Sale”. Man, this is really really good! The great heavy and fat production helps elevate it even further. Of course the Beatlesquey vibe previously heard in songs like “Mary In The Mystery World” makes an entrance here as well. This one has an equally dope induced title “Father Popcorn’s Magic Oysters”. Sure they were oysters? Not mushrooms? The track sure has some hit potential without being wimpy. Another one is “Ten Thousand Times Goodbye”, which is more of a ballad type song with a strong Beatles vibe. It’s however when they rock out my feet get going. One prime example is the Zeppelin meets Aerosmith with a strong funky vibe rocker “The House Is Rockin”. Showcasing drummer Sigevall’s Bonham style drumming. The band is tight and well-oiled, and they do swing! Another outstanding funky rocker with a simple, heavy and crushing riff is “Welcome To The High Times”, a track that you just can’t sit still to! Killer!! “Sometimes U Gotta Go Look For The Car” would be a perfect soundtrack, but here it feels a bit more like a filler. Nice riff, but the car doesn’t really take you anywhere. I just LOVE the cool intro/verse guitar riff in “The Days The Gypsies Came To Town”. The song has a really cool late 60s/early 70s bluesy vibe with some cool bass playing from Crystell. Cool vibe, indeed! “Rollin’ Down The Road” is another prime example of the E Boys delivering strong, fat and effective riffs, adding a great melodic chorus. Sometimes bands put the weakest songs in the end. What about this one? Nope, the boys don’t disappoint. The album ends at really high note with up-tempo rocker “A Mother Of A Love Story”, which has a truly Kiss-inspired half-tempo chorus. One fine rocker indeed! All in all this is a really killer album, proving that the boys don’t get older, some just lose their curls or at least cut them a bit shorter. The power’s not in the hair, that’s for sure! Them boys done swang, yes indeed!

Janne Stark

Label: Supernova

Year: 2011

Country: Sweden

Web: www.electricboys.com

JOHN PERINBAM - Knightfall (CD)

John Perinbam may not be a name you know, but this album should definitely change this. John has previously recorded two albums with Canadian metal band Ivory Knight. The second album was produced by Annihilator guitarist Jeff Waters, and even though the albums were pretty good they didn’t hit me all that much. Now John’s going solo, and he’s doing it with the aforementioned Waters handling guitars and bass on the album. Some additional vocals are added by fellow Annihilator member Dave Padden and ex-Exciter Dan Beehler, while former Ivory Knight colleague Rob Gravelle plays guitar. A great combination of people indeed. It feels like all the pieces have come together perfectly this time. John has a great powerful voice which fits the music like a glove and he switches seamlessly between clean and melodic vocals to a harsh and rough vocal persona. John’s solo debut is filled to the brim with great powerful, yet quite catchy metal. Stylewise I’d place the album in the same category as Megadeth on “Countdown To Extinction” (their best album in my opinion), Annihilator or Riot in their more metal era. The mix is really dry and tight and the guitars are in your face, but without overpowering. I really love that. Some songs like “Away” and “Not Enough Too Much” are actually quite melodic and should even have a mainstream appeal, while stuff like “The Shepherd” or “Inferno 2008” are full on riff metal at its best. This is a highly recommended piece of killer Canadian metal (even though John was born in Scotland).

Janne Stark

Country: Canada

Year: 2009

Label: private

Buy it here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/perinbam

FAITHEALER - Welcome To The Edge Of The World (CD)

Ivan Gunn, former keyboard player of UK’s melodic semi prog unit Balance Of Power and melodic band Pride, is back in action with his new melodic union – Faithealer. This time he is co-operating with phenomenal singer Jason Marks (Forever, S.I.N). There’s definitely a touch of Balance of Power, but with much better sounding drums and a more AOR-oriented vibe. There’s really an array of strong choruses on this album, starting with opener “Who Will Stop The Rain” and continuing with the outstanding “Stronger”, which actually reminded me a bit of long lost AOR-gods Touch. The layers of voices in the chorus must have taken up half the ProTools tracks. Fat and juicy indeed. Despite Ivan foremost being a keyboard player, there’s still lots of guitars, solos provided by the excellent melodic shredder Chris Green, formerly of Pride and now found in the outstanding heavies Furyon. “Welcome To The Edge Of The World” is actually a bit more than your ordinary AOR-album, I’d actually place it in the rarely used category “pomp”, together with classic bands like Boston, Styx and the aforementioned band Touch, where there’s a bit more than just a catchy chorus and simple chorus patterns. There’s definitely a twist to it without being progressive, great arrangements which builds the songs up nicely and brings the listener through different phases and moods. This is definitely an album to check out – a great piece of melodic rock!
Janne Stark
Label: private
Country: UK
Year: 2010
Link: http://www.myspace.com/faithealerocks

CELLOUT - Superstar Prototype (CD)

Cellout is a Swedish combo I’ve followed since their demo days. Finally their debut has hit the streets and I’m not disappointed. Modern, heavy and melodic. This may sound like a general description of quite a few of today’s heavy/nu oriented bands. Well, to be honest, Cellout don’t differ so much from much of what the American recording market gives us today with bands like Sevendust, Trapt, Alter Bridge, Nickelback etc. But, nevertheless, I really like this. Cellout do what they do and they do it really well. Unlike Trapt, who are a carbon copy of Nickelback, Cellout at least give it their own stamp and in some tracks they add a heavier edge to the package. They stretch the boundaries a bit. For instance “All My Demons Inside” almost has a touch of “Dark Tranquillity” in some of the guitar rhythm parts, and “Set Things Straight” is a helluva battering ram. The mix, by Ulrich Wild (Seething, Pantera), is really fat and heavy, yet quite ambient at times. “The Gift” for instance shows some great layers in the verse part, before the detuned guitars crush all barriers in the melodic chorus. Highly recommended!
By: Janne Stark
Label: Nuerra Records
Year: 2010

SPIDERS - Spiders (10" MLP)

It’s pretty ballsy to make a debut as a 10” vinyl! Spiders look vinyl and they sound vinyl, too, so maybe it’s not that far fetched. The band consists of singer Ann-Sofi Hoyles, Witchcraft guitarist John Hoyles, Midwest bass player Matteo Gambacorta and Graveyard drummer Axel Sjöberg. The style is quite different from their former musical treats and offers more of a garagy vibe. One band I immediately came to think of (and probably noones even heard of) was Suffrajett, both the style, sound and Ann-Sofi’s rough edged vocals. I shall be honest and admit this is not 100 % up my musical alley, but they still appeal to me in some way. I really like the vibe and they also have a pretty cool twist on songs like Nothing Like You and High Society.

By: Janne Stark

Label: Crusher Records

Year: 2011

New reviews coming

Hi y'all!
Just a short note to tell you there's a bunch of reviews coming! I have, among others, reviewed:
Yngwie Malmsteen - Relentless
Coldspell - Out From The Cold
Last Autumns Dream

Stay tuned!
Janne