Antithesis - Antithesis

Antithesis hit me like a ton of bricks, with their very intense power metal. Coming across with a very positive attitude, this Ohio based 5-some delivers a very powerful piece of metal, with a lot of progressive influences. First thing that hit me was the very clean production, next thing was Ty's clean vocals - he does a magnificent job on this album. The twin axe attack on this Mother of an album is also very impressive with some very cool solos and great riffs. Overall a very promising debut album from a band to be reckon with in the years to come....

"Dead Electric Nightmares" is Danish band Aurora (formerly known as Aurora Borealis) 4th full length album. Musically they aren't the easiest band to describe - playing their own kind of progressive death metal. And add some things like gothic and black metal and you have Aurora. Musically they are very interesting, playing some very groovy kind of metal, but I still don't like a growling vocalist, so that's my biggest objective to this album. I can clearly see why many compare them with Opeth, because they use a lot a melodic metal riffs topped with death metal vocals. The technical standard is very high and the album has a clean production, great songs and should surprise a lot people out there, so if you are into bands like In Flames, Opeth and Amorphis then this is an album you shouldn't miss out on. I really like their music, but can't stand the vocals... sorry....!!!

Just back from the Jailhouse Studio in Horsens, Denmark, where Beyond Twilight (formerly Twilight) currently are laying down the drum & vocal tracks for their as yet untitled forthcoming album. Keyboard, bass & guitar tracks have been recorded in two different Copenhagen studios.

As I arrive at the studio, the band has had some problems with the recorded vocal tracks being accidentally deleted and the breakdown of a computer. This means that the vocals have to be laid down all over again by Jørn Lande (Ark, Vagabond, Uli Jon Roth, Modanus Imperium & The Snakes) who is handling the vocal duties for this album. Due to the technical problems, I get the opportunity to listen to just one track with vocals, however, this one track sounds awesome!

The concept of the album revolves around a man's search for the truth which sees him travelling in time, searching for his own identity and a lost love. Beyond Twilight is offering the listener a real cyber-story, putting question marks on the mechanisms of religion, computers and society.

Suggested titles at the time of writing: "The Devil's Hall of Fame" (possibly the title track), "Pre-funeral", "Mary Ann", "Sector 6" plus two as yet untitled tunes. All tracks are clicking in at the eight or nine
minute mark...

Musically, the album combines very heavy and dark music with nice and smooth melodic pieces. If you should be familiar with Twilight's two first albums ("Eye For An Eye" and "The Edge") you will be surprised at the heaviness of the new album...and when I say heavy, I mean HEAVY!

On top of that, you can add Jørn's great voice which reminiscences Black Sabbath of the Tony Martin era. Of course, the Twilight trademarks are still there, for example Finn Zierlers fantastic keyboard interludes. This time keyboard wizard Zierler has been joined by drummer Thomas Fredén (Destiny), bass player Anders Lindgren (Valinors Tree), 21-year-old, brilliant Swedish guitarist-talent Anders Ericson as well as Jørn Lande.

Beyond Twilight is produces the album in cooperation with Tommy Hansen who will also do the mixing. Hopefully, the album will be released in time for Prog Power 2000 in November.

Report by: Kenn Jensen, July 23, 2000

"Welcome to your own brain" - that's how the story begins... a computer genius logs into his own brain. From the word go we have an intense, dark, progressive, heavy and symphonic piece of metal. This collaboration  of Scandinavian musicians have made the best concept album in some time.... The brain behind it all Finn Zierler has managed to bring together some very talented musicians and make a brilliant album as a joint force. And a force to be reckoned with, if they get out on the road and get the support they surely deserve. This album simply reeks of sheer talent and brilliance - at times I am lost for words, but I have put my thoughts on paper....
The album is one the most intense album I have ever heard - the comparison with Digital Ruin isn't that far off the mark - this is just MUCH better.... Off course the great production does much to make this album intense - the keyboards on this masterpiece is so well produced, that it's almost frightening. Anders Lindgren on bass is also very present in the production and so is Thomas Fréden on the drums - Tommy Hansen has given Beyond Twilight a very clear and transparent sound and has done his best job ever. OK that was the basics, on top of that you have to add Finn's keyboards, which at times are influenced by soundtrack sounds - he is the one setting the mood on each track. Next you'll add the young and very talented guitar player Anders Ericson, who delivers crunchy licks, when needed, and melodic licks when they are needed, and above that he does some very interesting soli, that suits the music perfectly. But to make an album perfect you need an extraordinary vocalist and on this album Jorn Lande delivers the goods almost to perfection! What he does on this album is absolutely awesome, all the way up there with vocal Gods like Dio, Geoff Tate and Zak Stevens! No question about what brings this album over the top: Jorn contribution. But what about the songs you might ask...? Being a concept lyrically you can judge the album as a whole - and I haven't been able to find one weak spot at all. The 8 tracks are mostly long epics, but there have also been room for 2 instrumental tracks. The first "The Devil's Waltz" being an eerie and weird keyboards/guitar piece, the second "Closing The Circle" a classical interlude. The rest is 6 over the top metal pieces, each very strong. If I had to pick my favorite track off the album, then I would pick: "Crying" a beautiful power metal tune with a great chorus, great leads and very melodic. This album has grown on me and keeps getting better and better, and I have no doubt that it will end in my Top 3 of 2001. So my recommendation to all: Don't miss out on this great album! If you are planning only to buy 3 albums this Year, then make sure this one is on your list!

Centurion - Non Plus Untra

This is Centurion’s 3^rd album, the band was founded in 1994 and made two demo tapes, before they were picked up by Scarlet Records. The first album "Arise Of The Empire" was power metal, while the second album "Hyper Martyrium" was more thrash metal. On "Non Plus Ultra" it's a mix of power metal and thrash and it’s pretty damn good, imagine a mix of Judas Priest, Testament & Slayer and you got Centurion. But the singer Germano Quintaba just ruins it all, he is probably the worst singer I have ever heard, even worse then Blaze Bayley. If they had Rob Halford as singer I would have given them 80/100, but they don’t.

David T. Chastain - Rock Solid Guitar

David T. Chastain is one of the most productive artists on the metal scene, both as a soloartist (like here) with his band Chastain and on various projects, as well as work as producer. On this new CD we get treated with 9 instrumental songs from him and he is surely very skillful and has also done a great job producing this album, but again my main concern is that it get's boring after a few tracks - I am really not into all instrumental music - and I must admit that I get bored and loose interest very quickly! Thankfully there is a lot of fans of this type of music around and I bet many think this is great. So if you like his older stuff, is a guitar player or is just interested in an album with nice, well played, structured guitar music, then you should look into this album, because it has a lot of quality!

Diabolical - Synergy

Diabolical is a aggressive thrash metal act playing some nice old school thrash metal. But sadly enough the vocalist is doing nothing for me - he's might be good, but I can't stand him (sorry). So my overall rating is that they are a very talented band, not too original with a bad vocalist. But that said I must admit that I like the music and fans of (old) Kreator and Gothenburg death metal should look into this band.

Elsephere - Blind Leading The Blind

"Blind Leading The Blind" is the debut CD from the Swedish band Elsephere, and they serve a great mixture of doom and power metal. The basics are very dark, but there's a lot of melody as well as progressive influences. They remind of a strange brew between Hexenhaus (progressive), Momento Mori (doom) and Tad Morose (power).  It all ends up being a cool journey thru' dark progressive pathways with a lot of interesting breaks - just listen to a track like: "Hole Inside My Head"  with it's great riffs, moody and dark, but still very melodic. I my opinion the album has 4 really strong tracks: "Hole Inside My Head", "Blind Leading The Blind", "Seasons In Hell" (the highlight of the album!) and the surprising acoustic ballad "Requim For A Dream" - the rest do not have the same standard. If you are a fan of Swedish power metal then don't miss out of these talented bunch of lads....

Eterna - Papyrus

Eterna hails from Brazil and they serve us some nice melodic power-metal with 2 different vocalists sharing the duties nicely between them. Both having their strong and weak points, but generally doing a good job. Musically their influences are clearly from the European scene with some Gamma Ray, Helloween & Stratovarius and add a bit Dream Theater and then you have a good idea of Eterna. My favorite tracks are "Mary's Son" - a great slightly progressive tune with a strong chorus, a very cool ballad called "The War Is Over" and the title track, which shows great promise for the future... Overall a promising start for all fans of the before mentioned bands.

fi5th reas0n - Within Or Without

Fifth Reason's second album is easy as strange as their first one, with some very straight forward metal combined with some progressive and psychedelic influences. Most of the material is still very doomy, technical and melodic metal that borders to power metal. This "all-star" band from Sweden combines the above mentioned influences great and serves a great treat for all metal fans. The whole album is very riff-oriented with great leads and some groovy rhythms, but also very melodic - just listen to the "Only Angels Know" ballad. Best tracks are the riff-monster "Mourning Glory" and the great opener "Nighttime Wishes. Check this band out if you are into Swedish power metal... and who's isn't...?

Hatesphere - Bloodred Hatred

"Bloodred Hatred" is Danish based Hatesphere's 2nd album, and like their first we are served a nice dish of death thrash. After a short intro it's full-blown thrashing all the way with some decent melodic soli thrown in. Musically this is inspired by good old Bay Area thrash  - Dark Angel springs to mind and Swedish death metal (In Flames, The Haunted & Dark Tranquility), crunching riffs full speed ahead. Tommy Hansen has done a great job as always with this production, so why the bad rating...? I am not a fan of growlers at all, so my rating has a lot to do with me disliking the vocals on this CD. I am sure this is a great album for fans of this genre, but in my ears it's not so pleasing. But if you are into death thrash metal, then you shouldn't miss this one..... 

Heimdall - The Almighty

This is the third album from Heimdall, and it features new vocalist Giacomo Mercaldo, who by the way are doing a pretty good job. The first two albums "Lord Of The Sky" & "The Temple Of Theil", both sold over 10.000 copies, and had a mix between Helloween and typical Italian power metal, while the new one is more a mix of Helloween, Iron Maiden and Warlord. While the two first albums was concept albums, this one has story to every track. "Last Journey" is about the Nordic god Baldr and "The Search" is about the holy Graal, and there are song’s about warrior’s and pilgrim’s, so typical power metal lyrics.
There are some pretty good songs here, like "Return To The Fatherland, an epic tune with great choirs.
"Last Journey" is very symphonic, with great melodies and stunning riffs. I would say that Heimdall are in the group of bands right after Rhapsody, Domine, Doomsword & Thy Majestie, in the Italian metal jungle.

Mantra - Roots

Good old, fun loving hard rock like Mötley Crüe (Dr. Feelgood), Georgia Satellites and Black Crowes is what Italian band Mantra offers... This is their first release even though they have been around since 1988 (formerly known as Mad Mice and releasing no less than 10 demo tapes). It's nice to hear a band believing in their roots, not following any trends and playing with a lot of joy, acoustic-, slide- and crunchy guitar, a cool bass player, a set of drums and vocalist - what more do you need to make good and solid hard rock? No 10 layers of keyboards or synthesizers here, just clean mean rock. Surely they use some extra effects, but only to suit the music. So if you are looking for some refreshing hard rock - look no further and give these guys a chance....
One thing in mind it'll surely help if you like the hard rock scene of the 70's because it's clearly there their roots lies, add a good production, some guys that knows their instruments and a lot of enthusiasm for rock, and you end up with: Mantra.

Manticora - Dead End Solution

Danish based Manticora's first sign of life is this MCD, which is a very promising start, but could do with a better production. The vocals are OK considering the circumstances (the former vocalist left just before they were going into the studio), but the talent is clearly there. They play some very good power metal, speedy at times, but never overdoing it....

Manticora - Roots Of Eternity

Manticora's first full-length release shows a very matured band playing some very good power metal. They have improved in every area since their MCD "Dead End Solution" and have with this album made a huge step forward. Blistering guitar runs and pounding drums combined nicely with melodic pieces and add a great sounding vocalist on top of that, then you have Manticora. We get some great leads and harmonies, and the bass is also right where he should be in the mix. So the production is good and they can play, but can they write songs? Hell yeah - from the very first straight forward power metal tune: "When Forever Ends", thru' the great ballad: "Beyond The Walls Of Sleep" till the end with the epic title track you get everything you can ask for in a power metal album! Don't miss this great album from one of Denmark's finest.

Manticora - Darkness With Tales To Tell

Manticora's 2nd album sees them in a much improved and matured way, both musically and lyrically. They are still playing straight forward fast and furious power metal with references to the German school of power metal, but to their credit they have a very unique sound and are NOT your typical copycat band - they have their own trademarks and uses them to the fullest. The thing I have noticed that has improved the most is their use of keyboards, which on this album is top notch! Great work! Overall they have improved a lot, better sound, better vocals and the guitar department has also improved a lot.... only thing I can't comment on is the bass - since it, like on most power metal releases, isn't that apparent in the production. If the band gets the promotion their last Record Company failed to give them, then this could (should?) be their big chance? I certainly believe they deserves it! (Hey can you write a bad review if you are thanked in the "Thank you" list...? LOL). So if you aren't convinced yet just take a listen to the 9 minutes long epic " Dragon's Mist" - this single track is worth the whole album - awesome! But not that there is any bad tracks on this great album! So all you power metal fans out there - get this album, you won't be disappointed.

Manticora - Hyperion

New full-length album from Manticora is, as some might have guessed, based on Dan Simmons science fiction novel by the same name. To those who are familiar with their earlier material know, we are talking complex and atmospheric power metal here, take some Blind Guardian, some Iron Maiden add some dark and thrashy influences and you end up somewhere in the Manticora universe. The music has evolved enormously since their last effort, and the album is filled with great music, with great melody-lines, riffs, vocals, choruses, keyboards and a very tight rhythm-section. This time around they have also incorporated some very cool female-vocals and this only adds the great dish of metal this has ended up being! The production is crisp and clear with enough room for everyone to show just how skillful they are. The guitar is more up front this time, and the keyboards isn't so dominant, so this album ends up being very guitar-oriented (a positive choice I might add), and a track like "Keeper Of Time - Eternal Champion" is carried by one killer riff after another, where the semi-ballad "At The Keep" is a very emotional and almost beautiful track, but my favorite track is: "A Long Farewell" - a full speed ahead smasher with some awesome twin-leads. Once more I strongly recommend this strong release from my fellow Danish metal heads.

Meduza - Now And Forever

Some might say: "Yet another Scandinavian power metal band".... and Yes there is much truth in that sentence, but there is much more than meets the eye! Soon they'll be named along great Scandinavian bands like Majestic, Sonata Artica & Stratovarius simply because this album reeks of talent and good musicianship. Mainman behind this is Stefan Berg - a very gifted guitarist, which he displays all over the album. Apollo (Majestic) lays down some serious vocallines. The rhythm section is tight (Jonas Edström (b) & Ola Grönlund (dr)) and topping it all is well played keyboards by Jan Larsson. Like the mentioned bands Meduza plays melodic power metal with some neo-classical influences. Just to keep the Swedish connection complete they recorded the album in Andy La Rocque's Los Angered Studios with Mike Wead at the helms. All 11 tracks are great - no fillers here, but to me a few stands out: "Twilight On My Mind" - the heaviest track on the album, "Sleep" - a great ballad and "Holy Ground" - a fast and furious neoclassical smasher.... I can only recommend this album, the best debut album so far this Year!

Ruud Cooty - Aftermath

OK, this is one of the most boring albums I have heard in a long time! No tracks stands out, they are all the same kind of southern blues rock done by Stephen Fredrich (of Kenziner fame) on vocals, David T. Chastain on guitars, Steven Taylor on bass and Mike Haid on drums. The album has 12 almost identical tracks played uninspired and without any drive. I really like Stephen on his other projects, but this is just plain dull. But if you like southern blues rock with a metal edge, then you might like this - I don't! The production is fine, and Mr. Chastain does some fine solo stuff also, but it simply isn't enough.... sorry!

Shaman - Ritual

Andre Matos is back - and with a great album! The split from Angra has done wonders to his music, imagine Angra's "Holy Land", add a lot of Brazilian style and the mix ends up being great over the top power metal with cool flavor. Shaman is one of the best debut albums in a long time, displaying sheer talent, great musicianship and is worth a trip to the local music store.... Just try and listen to the duet with Tobias Sammet (Edguy) on "Pride" - awesome. All tracks are great, so I won't pinpoint one out, they are all smashers - just this great CD - NOW!!!

Sinphonia - When The Tide Breaks (Demo CD)

This Demo CD from this young promising Danish outfit hailing from Aarhus, shows that there is room for a metal band in between The Gathering and Nightwish... Sinphonia plays a great mixture of progressive metal and gothic with a female vocalist. The music is very powerful with some nice touches of gothic and even dark metal thrown in... Monika is vocally somewhere between Anneke (The Gahering) and Christina (Lacuna Coil), and with a better production I am sure she'll show her real class. Production wise this demo is OK for a demo and with a good budget I am sure their complex music style will shine and please a lot of metal heads out there.... So if you are looking for a progressive, yet powerful metal band with female vocals, then I can only urge you to give this band a chance... I think they are looking at a bright future, because they fit nicely into the little niche that metal with a female vocalist still is....

Sinphonia - When The Tide Breaks (Full Length CD)

The full length CD from Sinphonia offers us the 5 tracks from the MCD plus 3 new ones. The whole CD is a clear statement of that there is room for another progressive metal band with a female vocalist. Starting it all off is a new great tune called "Medusa" - an instrumental progressive and gothic piece with a lot of time changes. Then we get the 5 tracks from the MCD - "Lost" a hard hitting powerful metal tune with Monika's great voice fitting the song perfectly.
"Moonstruck" is a bit more mellow with a slow beginning, building to great leads in the middle, before ending with a Dream Theater drum-outro... "Blear The Hideous" is another progressive tune carried by Monika's great voice, the guitar work on this track is a bit uninspired to me, but some interesting keyboard sounds does make the track intriguing. "Beyond The Clouds" is another power metal track with some gothic influences, yet again it's Monika all over the place and she has the pipes to handle this great track as well. "Path Of Life" is again a hard hitting progressive metal tune with some slow parts. "Odyssey" is another instrumental that displays that we have some very talented musicians at work here... Finishing off this great album is "Now And Forever" - a great progressive and powerful tune with a cool lead.
Overall I can only suggest everyone into METAL to check this great first sign of life out. But that said - if you don't like female vocals, then this is nothing for you... because this album lives thru' Monika's great vocal, and the comparisons to Anneke is bound to be made by every reviewer... and in my book she (Monika) doesn't fall short - that contest is a draw!

Spiral Architect - A Sceptic's Universe

This first full length album from Norway's Prog.metal kings Spiral Architect is one of the toughest albums to get into.....but if you take the time you'll get one of the finest pieces of very technical prog.metal ever released! My first thoughts was that this was very similar to Atheist and Cynic without the death grunts.....but listening to some more I found out that there's much more to this than just that! Take a listen to "Insect" - this mother of a track has more breaks than some whole albums do have! It has fast turned into my favorite technical track EVER! We are in the same league as Watchtower once were...
Not since Watchtower's 2nd album have we seen such skilled musicians doing music that actually works and becomes great metal tunes....
If you are into very technical and progressive metal you shouldn't miss out on this great album.....

Joe Stump - 2001: A Shred Odyssey

Well the title says it all - what we have here is a journey thru' Joe Stump's universe. He is clearly of of the best and most talented shredders around, and this CD he displays his skills and it's 10 tracks of showing off. Not being a guitarist myself, I am not able to tell if it's played correctly, but in my not so trained ears, he surely sounds great. But it all ends up being about shredding, shredding and once more shredding and over the length of an album it gets boring. Not being a huge fan of instrumental albums either, this ends up being a bit hard on my listening ears, so this isn't an album I listen to often, not that it's bad. So if you are looking for a great guitarist that has the skills to compete with the best, then look no further, because Joe is top ranked and worth listening to, if you are into instrumental albums that is ALL about showing off..... I am not so my overall rating displays that!

Time Machine - Evil (Liber Primus)

"Evil (Liber Primus) sees one of the forefathers of New Wave Of Italian Power Metal returning with a vengeance..... A the return sees them moving back to their roots, with the focus turned to their strongpoint's - melodic metal with a progressive edge, complex songs with strong choruses. This time abound they are moving into much more safe waters, they are not as experimental any longer - they have taken a more symphonic approach to things and the result is worth checking out. The album consists of 10 tracks (3 instrumentals) and one track is the simply outstanding: "Where Is My Heaven?" a tremendous metal tune with the essence to be a hit! Just listen to the chorus....
The one thing that struck me the first time I heard this album was that the keyboards are more prolific than before.... and it suits their style great! Production wise it's all top notch. So if you loved "Act II: Galileo" (their best album until the release of "Evil (Liber Primus)"), then you will love this album even more....

Thoten - Beyond The Tomorrow

OK how do you write anything good about a disc where a bad combination of a bad production and a bad singer ruins almost everything? Well the setup is actually very promising - melodic power metal with a touch of progressive metal. It's not all bad - there is a lot of talent in both the guitar- and rhythm-department, but it all get a bit muddy in the bad production. In the end I can only suggest you to take a listen yourself - maybe you does like this kind of metal-vocalists (I don't) and tracks like "Christened By Flame" and "Wild Life" shows that the talent is there, and with a better production (should do the vocalist good as well) next they might have the goods to do good.....

Thy Majestie - Hastings 1066

The new album (their second) from Thy Majestie just blew me away, their mix of epic power metal & big choirs, are only done better by Rhapsody. The first album had a poor production, this time it’s a lot better, not at Rhapsody or Blind Guardian level, but not many bands seem to have the money for those kind of productions, but if the record labels would cut down on bands (it seems like every band with a high pitch singer can get a contract) it would be a lot easier for all the metal freaks in the world, to find some quality metal, and there would be more money for the productions. Back to the music, this is one of the best albums to come out of Italy, the mix of Latin choirs, medieval parts & classical epic metal are simply stunning.
If you like bands like Rhapsody, Domine, Blind Guardian or Adramelch it’s buy or die!

Twilight - The Edge

This is the first sign of life from Twilight. Why it was never released is beyond me, but it's a shame because this album features the great Anders Engberg on vocals, and as usual he's great. Musically it's clear that this album is the predecessor to "Eye For An Eye".....
The first 6 tracks is back from '92 - and damn what an impact they could have made if released back then.....great melodic powerful metal with great song structures.... 
For those who doesn't know Twilight I might mention that it's the brainchild of Finn Zierler (keyboards), who writes almost all the music himself....and therefore is the keyboard much up front, but hell if it's done with so much conviction as this, then who cares....? NOT ME!
All 7 tracks is small masterpiece with great guitar work, Finn's cool keyboards, an awesome production and above all Anders Engberg.....OK I do have one complaint - why isn't the "The Black Manifest (recorded in '94) a "real" song - if they had used "real" vocals instead of spoken words, then this would have been a total mother of a song, now it ends up "only" being awesome...hehe
So over all I must say that it's a bit sad that we had to wait sooo long for this mother of an album to see the light of day - get it if you are into power metal with a progressive edge.....

Wuthering Heights - Within

Hey, what's this? Another brilliant release from a Danish band! The first few times I listened to this awesome album 2 bands came to mind: Symphony X & Shadow Gallery. Progressive metal at it's best....
Wuthering Heights aren't as symphonic as those 2 bands, but still manage to display their huge talents to write and play great metal. And everything fits like a hand in a glove, a superb production by Jacob Hansen, great melody lines, catchy riffs, a strong and tight rhythm section and above all: a brilliant vocalist! Throw in a bit of folklore (flute & violin) and you end up with this masterpiece.....
Tracks like the 13 minutes epic: "Dreamwalker" is sheer brilliance in progressive metal performance, or take my personal favorite the symphonic masterpiece: "Sorrow In Memoriam" (I just love how they use the violin!), or: "Too Great Thy Gift" - a great almost straight forward metal tune with a great solo by Eric Ravn. For all fans of progressive metal there's only one thing to do: Get this album!

Wuthering Heights - To Travel Forevermore

I have had this awesome CD for almost 6 months now (bought an US-version), and it made my Top 10 last Year at # 6. But because of various things the CD hasn't been released in Europe until now, so now it time to do a review. Wuthering Heights first album: "Within" was one my favorite albums back in 1999. Therefore I had very high expectations to their second release, and I can only say that with this album they have set the standard even higher, improving in every area, but especially the songwriting has improved immensely. Still delivering some of the best progressive and symphonic metal in Europe, I can't understand why they don't get the recognition I believe they deserve, but that's just typical, so much talent is often overlooked! Back to the CD - after a short intro we get maybe the best track off this album: "The Nevershining Stones" and melodic, progressive epic with great twin-leads, hard driven riffs and a cool chorus, a great melodic piano middle part and Krille's awesome vocal. An other highlight are "A Sinner's Confession" - a 9 minutes epic divided into 4 parts, but this CD does not have a weak spot at all, so I can only urge you to at least check this CD out. Once more I have to compliment Tommy Hansen on his excellent production, he does miracles in his little "cottage" in Horsens! And the package is completed by a great artwork and a nice digipack.

ZooL - ZooL

ZooL arose from the ashes of Swedish cult power metal band: Moahni Moahna. But ZooL is taking another direction playing classic hard rock with a lot of energy. 3 names come to mind when listening to ZooL: Rainbow (melodic guitar riffs), Dio (Martin's vocal is very inspired by the master himself) and Black Sabbath (the "Tyr" and "The Headless Cross" period has had a huge influence on them). This is real TRUE METAL in it's true sense, high energy, great melodic guitars, a really tight rhythm section and a great singer with a very powerful vocal. I really dig this cool piece of Scandinavian metal, so if you are in search of good old melodic hard rock, then ZooL (strange name!) is THE band to check out, the musical skills in this band is outstanding and it shows....
One of the best classic hard rock albums since "The Headless Cross" in my opinion. Great production, good clean vocals, superb guitar riffs and soli and an overall convincing album!