Category Cd Reviews

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Taste are a Swedish AOR band formed at the very end of 2009 by two brothers – Christoffer Borg on guitar and bass, and Felix Borg on drums, initiially as a side project alongside the other bands they were involved in, but it quickly developed into the main outlet for their music. Since forming they have been busy writing their debut album. Now complete, it is the first release of the year from AOR Heaven records.

Musically the album is great AOR that fans of bands such as FM, Serpentine, Survivor and White Lion are going to love. There’s a smooth and polished AOR sound to the album. The keyboards are quite prominent in the mix, the vocals are great and are nice and clear. The production is excellent with everything sounding crystal clear and sharp...

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”Walking tall” is the sixth album from German rock band Shylock. The band formed in the late 90’s and their first song was featured on the German Rock Hard sampler “Unerhört” in 2000. A few months later their debut album was released. Sinc ehten the band have undergone lineup changes, released more albums, played loads of gigs alongside bands including Bonfire, U.D.O., Shakra, Adler’s Appetite and more and in 2004 performed one of their songs (“Farewell” which was written for written for soccer star Thomas Hässler) at his farewell game for Cologne where 20,000 people watched them live with over 100,000 watching on TV.

The vocals are great, and have a very German rock/metal sound – think early Scorpions or Bonfire – that slight accent gives it the classic German rock feel...

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Swiss Hard rock band Shakra are back with the ninth studio album in their fifteen year career. The band have developed a good reputation for delivering quality albums time after time, while not changing things around too much. This latest album continues that streak of quality albums, but adds a little more variety.

Brief comments on a couple of tracks..

”Life is now” starts with a nice guitar riff that really gives the song a catchy feel, and then couples this with some great vocals that bear a resemblance ato Def Leppard, but a bit heavier. A great start to the album.

”The mask” is more of a straight up rock song of the type Shakra fans are used to.

The last song on the album, ”Too good to be true” is a nice ballad and a great end to the album.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Shakra ...

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Frederic Slama is a French producer and musician who moved to Los Angeles. Since then he has released a number of albums (including ”L.A. Reflection” and ”Dreaming of L.A.”using some top session musicians. Now he’s releasing another AOR album with an impressive list of musicians and singers.

The first thing that struck me with the album was the sheer number of people involved. For a start there are ten singers, with almost every song being sung by someone different. Add in al the guitarists, bassists, keyboard players and drummers and you’ve got a huge number of people.
As a result of each song having a different singer then that straight away gives each song a slightly different sound, so there’s plenty to keep you interested in this album...

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Despite the name, The Last Vegas don’t actually come from Las Vegas – instead they come from Chicago. The band formed in 2005 and got a big boost when Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx took interest after seeing them play in Los Angeles. Sixx released the band’s 2009 album “Whatever Gets You Off” on his label while also adding them to the two month Motley Crue tour that followed – a real boost to any band. ”It was great working with a master of rock ’n’ roll, he has similar tastes and style to ours,” said Cherry.

Right from the start, the album impresses – opening track ”Beat to hell” is a great rock song with a bit of a Motley Crue feel – it’s that late 80s hard rock sound and attitude. It’s easy to see why Nick Sixx was impressed by the band.

”It ain’t easy” is a cover version...

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Paradox are a German thrash metal band that was formed in Würzburg in 1986. They signed to Roadrunner records who released their first two albums (Product of imagination & Heresy) before the band split or went inactive for ten years. After a comeback show at the Wacken Open Air festival in 1999, they signed with AFM records and have released three albums with them (Collision course, Electrify & Riot squad). Now the band are back with their fourth album for AFM (their 6th album overall), ”Paradox”.

Germany has a record of producing world class thrash bands, with Sodom and Kreator being two of the biggest and best known, but I must admit that Paradox are a band I hadn’t come across before...

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Finnish melodic death metal band formed in 1999 and after releasing three demos in the following three years, released their debut album (Inhumanity) in 2003. ”…And death said live” is the band’s fourth album, and follows a five year gap since their last album was released. In that time the band lost both it’s guitarists and had to recruit replacements, which explains much of the delay. It also meant that many fans were concerned about how this new album would sound as major lineup changes do often tend to affect the sound of a band.

Happily though I think this album is going to allay the fears of fans – it’s exactly what they’ve come to expect from Mors Principium Est

The album kicks off with ”The Awakening” – a short intro with orchestral music growing in power and being joined by a c...

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Frederic Slama is a French producer and musician who moved to Los Angeles. Since then he has released a number of albums (including ”L.A. Reflection” and ”Dreaming of L.A.”using some top session musicians. Now he’s releasing another AOR album with an impressive list of musicians and singers.

The first thing that struck me with the album was the sheer number of people involved. For a start there are ten singers, with almost every song being sung by someone different. Add in al the guitarists, bassists, keyboard players and drummers and you’ve got a huge number of people.
As a result of each song having a different singer then that straight away gives each song a slightly different sound, so there’s plenty to keep you interested in this album...

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The name Bloodbound may conjure up thoughts of a death metal or black metal band, but in fact they are a Swedish Power Metal band. The band formed in 2004 and released their debut album Nosferatu in 2006. Since then they have released three more albums and undergone several lineup changes, most noticeably in the vocal department. Now they are releasing their fifth album – In the name of metal.

Power metal bands do have a tendency towards cheesy lyrics when they aren’t singing about dragons and other fantasy subjects, and this album from Bloodbound is no different – check out ”Metalheads unite” for a really cheesy anthem...

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”Go your own way” is the third release from French band LYS. Their debut release in 2009 was ”In my mind”, and the band followed this in 2011 with ”New way home”, and at the beginning of 2013 ”Go your own way” will be released.
They were given a boost after being spotted at a festival in 2011 by Placebo drummer Steve Hewitt who invited them to support him on his European tour.

LYS make music that is hard to categorise. My best attempt would be to say that it’s pop with a rock influence, and mixes haunting melodies and catchy tunes to make something that is very radio-friendly.

Brief comments on a couple of songs..

”In my mind” is fairly typical of the album – the guitars are fairy muted, the drums have more of a drum machine feel rather than sounding like a proper drum kit, and the voc...