The glory long-haired days when Michael Kiske was part of Helloween suddenly seem so far away. Frontiers, a record label well rooted in the Classic sphere of Rock and Metal have organised this collaboration between Kiske and Amanda Somerville. For those oblivious on the identity of the latter, Somerville is a singer who’s accumulated an enviable curriculum of collaborations, including Epica, Kamelot, Avantasia, Dan McCafferty (Nazareth) and Bobby Kimball (Toto). Interestingly, “Kiske-Somerville” was produced by Matt Sinner (Primal Fear, Sinner), who also wrote/co-wrote most of the album’s songs.

As suggested, nor is this album ‘Heavy Metal’ (as the press-sheet describes it) and neither is it groundbreaking by any stretch. In fact it’s pretty much a collection of Melodic Rock songs that stand a very good chance of appealing to listeners alien to Metal. Taken for what it is, “Kiske-Somerville” is quite a decent album with an abundance of catchy melodies and Bluesy-Rock solos plus, as one would expect, a couple of standard ballads.

If until now this review hasn’t put you off the album, then this Kiske-Somerville collaboration is one release you’ll almost certainly enjoy.