Teaze – Rev Your Engines (CD)

When old heros from the 70s return some 30-40 years after their prime there’s always a fear that they won’t live up to the expectations. There have been many examples of re-unions and returns that have fallen flat on their faces. However, having seen my old 70s heros, in this case Canadian melodic hard rockers Teaze, playing live in Sweden I was confident this wouldn’t be a face-faller. When the title track kicks off the album it’s instead a 100% face-hitter! These guys don’t mess around! This is Teaze sounding like they just picked up where ”One Night Stands” left off (Yeah, I know ”Body Shots” was their last studio release, but it was a more poppy release). ”Man Of Vision” starts out in a soft vein but soon builds up and rocks out in an epic way! Brian Danter sure has kept his voice perfectly intact! Not a sign of weakness or lack of power! The production is powerful and crisp. ”Turning The Night Away” is another  semi-heavy dynamic AOR:ish rocker with a powerful 80s sounding chorus. ”Gotta Rock” does what it advertises! This can become a true live anthem with its up-tempo hard rockin’ vibe. Some cool bluesy guitar licks from original guitar player Mark Bradac and Charlie Lambrick, who has been with the band since the reunion. Original drummer Mike Kozak has been replaced by Jim Bonventre who is a groovy powerhouse, which he really proves with his bass drum shuffle groove in ”Gotta Rock” (which wasn’t on the original demo version), “Let Me Go” kicks into a phat cool mid-tempo groove, while “We Are One” takes it down a few notches, starting out as a ballad but continues in a melodic mid-tempo number. Next up is quite a surprising cover, I must say! It takes a lot of balls to dig into the old Rainbow classic “Man On The Silver Mountain”! I'm happy to say they do get away with it. They have put their own mark (no pun intended) on it, and it blends in well with the rest of the album, plus Danter’s voice gives it a Teaze-touch. Also, there's a cool sneaky riff at the end. Next up is “Wonder”, a solid melodic rocker which sounds like Teaze but also not, which is kinda interesting. “Can’t Stop Loving You”, penned by Danter and Lambrick is an out-and-out classic AOR number with a chorus that sticks like glue. “City Of Roses” ends the album with a crushing wall of guitars. A crunchy, chugging rocker! The CD features a bonus track; a re-recording of the piano ballad “Sweet Misery” from “On The Loose”. A nice touch. This is truly a stellar album, a glorious return if you will, from a band I didn’t expect to ever see live and didn’t expect to return with a new studio album. This album should definitely appeal both to the old fans, but also to the current melodic rock crowd. Teaze rocks!

Janne Stark

Year: 2026

Label: Escape Music

VANITY INSANITY - Insanity Fair (CD)

 

I remember when I first came in touch with Vanity Insanity at the very cool and sadly missed Rock Out Wild festival in Sorsele, Sweden back in 2011. They showed great potential already back then with singer Viggo being quite the power-screamer! Today’s line-up features Viggo Svanberg Hanssen on lead vocals and guitar, Benjamin Bagge on guitar, Fredrik Bergström on bass and Johan Andersson on drums.

After a short intro, the title track kicks off in a powerful, hard driving classic sleasy vein. The mid-tempo Hider offers a bit more heavy riffing. I really like the fat and powerful production and the classic Marshall sounding guitar tone. Wheel Of Misfortune and Hold On offer some more classic sounding heavy riffing, with a strong late 70s/early 80s hard rock touch. Fake It ’Til You Make it draws a bit more from the classic era of Mötley Crüe and Ratt, at least before they go all Motörhead… and, aha, I see what you did there! The song if of course an ode to the band’s own influences. Any fans of the first two bands should definitely check this out! The album continues with yet another cool riff rocker in See Me Coming. Hell yeah! Slow, sleazy and stonery! Love it! Work, East, Sleep, Repeat starts off with an almost Rush-like rhythmic pattern, but soon enters into heavy, crunky sleaze-chugging territory, while the chorus is almost thrash-ish and may as well have been nicked off a F.K.Ü song. The album ends with Volountary Enslavement Of The Mind which sends the album off with another classic sounding sleazy hard rock offering. If you’re a fan of classic, melodic, sleazy hard rock with great musicians, high quality vocals and killer production, this one’s definitely for you! Well done, lads!

Janne Stark

Label: Vain Music

Year: 2026

Country: Sweden

Janne Stark's Top 10 of 2025

Janne Stark Top 10 2025

Here's my Top 10 of 2025, plus some honorable mentions!

1. A.C.T: Eternal Winter – The proggy Swedes never disappoint! Another stellar album! A quirky and melodic musical journey that should attract both prog and AOR fans. Always and still top-notch song writing and performance! 

2. The Mind Palace: Birthrite – Outstanding Swedish melodic hard rock with a unique singer, great songs and great production!

3. Danko Jones – Leo Rising – Danko Jones never fails. Yet another great rockin’ release from these raw rocking Canadians! Riffs meet garage with a punk attitude. Tight and rockin’! Love it!

4. Wytch Hazel: V: Lamentations – I just love these druid rockers, and even more after seeing them live in Sweden. Quirky retro hard rockers that may as well have released this album in the late 70s. Stellar stuff!

5. Inglorious: V – After some years of confusion Inglorious returns with a stellar riff monster. They are definitely back with a vengeance!

6. Warlung: The Poison Touch – Another stellar release by these retro heavy rockers mixing doomy riffs with solid melodic vocals and stellar harmonies. Their best album? Possibly! 

7. Dusty Rose Gang: A-one From Day One – I had to check several times to make sure this wasn’t a hidden previously unreleased early/mid seventies heavy rock album. The sound and style are so authentic it’s scary! If it was recorded in 1972 it would have been up there with Stray Dog, Captain Beyond and Sir Lord Baltimore.

8. Bone Church: Deliverance – The third album mixing the sounds of stoner rock, NWoBHM and classic 70s heavy rock into a perfect musical blend. The killers in a row!

9. Coheed & Cambria: Vaxis III: The Father Of Make Believe – C&C are back with a vengeance! Killer album in the vein of their best album “Good Apollo”. Melodic, proggy, quirky and with great songs! 

10. Armellino: Heritage Blend – Outstanding classic 70s sounding French hard rocker! Bluesy hard rock with swagger!

Honrable mentions:

Anthony Gomes: Praise The Loud – Current kick azz blues rocker with riffs that rock and a voice laced with barb wire! 

Arkado: Open Sea – A solid melodic hard rocker well worth an honorary mention. A stellar heavy AOR rocker with high class vocals and musical delivery. Solid song writing and great production, too!

Angeline: Rhythm Of One – With a load of albums under their belt these Swedish melodic hard rockers continue to deliver high-class guitar driven melodic rock. 

Harem Scarem: Chasing Euphoria – These Canadian melodic rockers are more of an institution by now. Can’t say they’ve ever released a bad album, even if there are some I like more than others. “Chasing Euphoria” is still another solid melodic rock release from the band. 

MoonDog: Time Is The Fire - Solid Danish hard rocker with a 70s touch!

A.C.T – Eternal Winter (CD)

 

A.C.T is and has in my opinion always been one of Sweden’s top rate progressive bands. It’s rare that a band doesn’t have at least one low in their career, but these guys have been on a high since day one. So, is it about to change? The short answer is – No! The band’s new, seventh, full length album kicks off with the track “The Family” in the classic A.C.T mode. Melodic, quirky and slightly proggy, not over the top. This is classic A.C.T material, ranging from soft keyboard parts to happy, up-tempo melodic quirkiness. “A New Beginning” starts off as a cool melodic poppy ballad, going into some heavier chord changes, still keeping the melodies of course. Really nice arrangement with lots of cool little surprises and some Saga-esque guitar/keyboard melodic soloing. A great track, indeed! “When Snow Was Magic” also starts off very soft and tender and then turns into a waltz type almost musical kind of number with a Christmas theme shining through. A beautiful song with Herman almost roaring in the third verse. Fantastic choirs, too! The start of “Waiting For The Sun” takes us back into classic A.C.T proginess with some cool funky guitars found in the verse, too. Another quite poppy number, it turns out, but with some heavy proggy riffing thrown in, and a cool up-tempo solo parts with keyboards and guitar. A nice blend, indeed! ”This Special Day” kicks off with some really cool heavy guitars and Styx-style keyboards, moving into a very poppy verse, a crushing heavy bridge. This one has turned into one of my absolute favorites on the album. Love the vibe and the quirkiness (yes, I use that word a lot when it comes to this band). Lots of stuff happen in this one! Moving on to “Signs” which also starts out pretty mellow with keyboards and vocals, but it still has a feeling of heaviness lurking in the shadows, and yes, there it is! The next verse moves into a cool up-tempo vibe, then into half-tempo heaviness. As usual we don’t know what to expect next, and the songs moves through a lot of different vibes and motions. Another killer song, indeed! “Home” kicks off in high gear, moves into half-tempo and then into slow mode. And that’s just the first 20 seconds! Soft, melodic and cool verse, but of course it doesn’t end there. The song floats in and out of different textures and vibes, but with that traditional A.CT ease and without feeling forced. Another cool guitar/keyboard interplay solo and a cool heavy section breaking it off, going into the guitar solo, back into another keyboard/guitar interplay that just gives you goosebumps. I change my mind, THIS is actually my favorite song. The album finishes with “The Big Parade” which could have been an old, resurrected show number, or something Freddy Mercury might have come up with. A cool way to end the album, totally unexpected! 

Janne Stark

Label: Actworld

Year: 2025

Country: Sweden

TEAZE – Live At Liege (CD)

TEAZE – Live At Liege

Back in 1980 when we started up my old heavy metal band Overdrive, I had a soft spot for Canadian hard rock. I was a big fan of bands like Rush, Triumph, Max Webster, Goddo, Mahogany Rush, and of course Teaze. So much that we even did a cover of Teaze’s “Rockin’ With The Music” as one of the first songs we played together. I then had the great pleasure of finally seeing the band live in 2023 and I was totally blown away by the power and vitality that flew off the stage! Before the show I saw in Sweden the band had also played at the Golden Age Rock festival in Belgium, and they had the good taste of recording the show. The live CD, entitled “Live At Liege” perfectly brings back the memories of seeing the band at the Time To Rock Festival in Sweden. The power is perfectly captured even on CD, with Brian Danter’s powerful vocals, the intense drumming from Mike Kozak and the biting guitar work from Marc Bradac and the band’s only new member Charlie Lambrick. It’s like time stood still. The song selection shows the band’s musical width ranging from classic rockers like “Gonna Have A Good Time Tonight”, “Back In Action”, “Young And reckless”, "On The Loose", “Come On, Hold On” to more melodic stuff like “I’m Not Gonna Cry Anymore”, “Roses And Chrome”, “Heartless World” and the perfect power ballad “Touch The Wind”. One of my favorites is the back-beat power rocker from the band’s self-titled debut album, “Flames Keep Growing”, a kick-ass tune, indeed.  A killer set-list and the mix is in your face, hot and powerful and makes me want to see the band live, again, like NOW! 

Country: Canada

Year: 2024

Label: Self-released

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