Serious Black - 'As Daylight Breaks' CD Review (AFM Records)

Serious Black is a new six-piece band formed by Roland Grapow (Masterplan, x-Helloween) and the rest of the band’s lineup is a ‘who’s who’ of European power metal. The band lineup is comprised of Roland Grapow, Thomen Stauch (ex-Blind Guardian), Mario Lochert (ex-Visions Of Atlantis), Dominik Sebastian (Edenbridge), Jan Vacik (ex-Dreamscape) and the golden voice of Urban Breed (ex-Tad Morose, ex-Bloodbound).

The band’s debut CD, As Daylight Breaks, comes out January 20th (US) on AFM Records and the initial pressing includes three bonus tracks: “Someone Else’s Life”, “Fly On” and a cover of Genesis’ “No Son of Mine”. In the band’s press release, they want to make it clear that Serious Black is more than a studio project as every member of the band was involved in songwriting and recording and the band will be touring next year in support of Hammerfall.

The disc starts off with “I Seek No Other Life” which showcases the band’s core power metal sound. This song features big guitar riffs along with a nice, melodic solo, upfront vocals and breakneck drumming. While the band’s power metal sound is a constant, underlying core, the band expands on this core by shading the edges with elements of prog rock, symphonic metal and AOR/arena rock and there is also a middle-eastern flair on some of the songs toward the middle of the disc.

Jan Vacik’s keyboard and piano come into prominence with “High and Low” and “Sealing My Fate”. “High and Low” opens with a proggy keyboard run and the melodic guitar riffing is balanced with the keys. “Sealing My Fate” is a mellow, mid-tempo number with flairs of AOR which starts with a piano opening and slowly gets harder edged, adding big power metal riffs, as the song goes on. “Temple of the Sun” is an atmospheric/symphonic instrumental with a middle-eastern flare which serves as a lead-in to “Akhenaton” and “Akhenaton” keeps the middle-eastern vibe but layers around it a melodic, late-70’s hard rock sound.

Some of the other stand-out tracks are “As Daylight Breaks”, which opens with Vacik’s piano and builds a symphonic base beneath Breed’s soaring vocals. “Listen to the Storm” follows in this same symphonic vein but is a hard-rock number with a dark opening. The disc closes with “Older and Wiser” which sounds a bit like early Judas Priest with its big drum sound, low-end bass chug and melodic shredding and riffing.



Serious Black Tour Dates
Jan 16 — Aladin, Bremen, Germany
Jan 17 — Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, Germany
Jan 18 — Essigfabrik, Cologne, Germany
Jan 19 — O13, Tilburg, Netherlands
Jan 20 — Trix, Antwerp, Belgium
Jan 22 — Longhorn, Stuttgart, Germany
Jan 23 — All Karthalle, Kaufbeuren, Germany
Jan 24 — Z7 Pratteln, Switzerland
Jan 25 — Z7 Pratteln, Switzerland
Jan 26 — Backstage, Munich, Germany
Jan 28 — Live Club, Milan, Italy
Jan 29 — Ninkasi Kao, Lyon, France
Jan 30 — Razzmatazz 2, Barcelona, Spain
Jan 31 — Shoko, Madrid, Spain

Links:
Serious Black

Brainstorm - 'Firestorm' CD Review (AFM Records)

While German power metalers Brainstorm’s tenth disc, Firesoul (AFM Records), came out earlier this year, I never got a chance to put my thoughts about the disc on ‘paper’. After the local Judas Priest show, I was reflecting that Brainstorm’s new disc captures a lot of the elements that were missing on Judas Priest’s most recent release so I thought I should finally sit down and knock out a review.

Brainstorm’s core sound falls solidly into the power metal genre but the band extends this sound to include elements of NWOBHM with the down-tuned dual lead guitars of Torsten Ihlenfeld and Milan Loncaric, light orchestral elements along with a little bit of prog, which includes clean, technical guitar solos. Adding to this, Andy B. Franck’s raspy but melodic vocals are directly comparable to artists like Rob Halford or Bruce Dickenson though Franck never goes for the high-end scream.

The disc starts with “Erased By the Dark”, which is an old-school power metal number that is powered by some breakneck drumming and the band just picks up the pace from here. The title track, “Firesoul”, is the next cut and this track is a bit more aggressive. This number focuses around driving guitar riffs and dual NWOBHM guitar leads and the vocals match this intensity.



One of the many standout numbers is “Entering Solitude”, which is a slower number than the disc openers. This track has a ‘classic rock’/AOR feel centered around clean melodic guitar lines, soaring vocals on the chorus and a melodic guitar solo toward the back-half of the song. This number is followed by “Recall The Real”, which really changes up the pace with its Gregorian choral intro and outro. After this ethereal opening, this slow burning number kicks into high-gear with staccato guitar riffs which are accompanied by soaring vocals and meaty, melodic choruses.

Looking at some of the other tracks, “Feed Me Lies” is a return to the aggressive and driving sounds of the disc’s opener and this track is the one that stuck with me after a few spins of the disc. “The Chosen” is the closest that Brainstorm comes to ‘traditional’ power metal as the keys are higher in the mix for this number and the riffs are downplayed in favor of orchestral flourishes. The soaring choruses are a notable standout along with the very clean guitar lines, which include a technical power-prog solo. The disc wraps up with “…And I Wonder”, which is another AOR rocker and the minimal instrumentation allows this number to be powered by Franck’s vocals.

Links:
Brainstorm

Words of Farewell (Melodic Death Metal) - 'The Black Wild Yonder' CD Review (AFM Records)

German death metal band Words of Farwell dropped their sophomore disc, The Black Wild Yonder, earlier this year and this disc is one of the more intriguing albums that I’ve listened to in a long time. With some past reviews, I’ve started to feel like I’ve ‘been there / done that’ after listening to too many bands that want to sound just like (i.e.) Black Sabbath, play generic crush-and-grind generic death metal, etc. Words of Farewell play aggressive, yet very melodic, death metal with a very light symphonic touch thrown in the mix.

Words of Farewell formed in the German Ruhr District in early 2007. After releasing some very limited edition early recordings, the band signed AFM Records, who released the band’s debut disc, Immersion, in 2012. Immersion was recorded at Metallurgy Studios to which the band returned to in mid-2013 to record their follow-up, The Black Wild Yonder.

The eleven tracks on this new disc run for 60 minutes and each of these songs combines immediately noticeable clean, melodic guitar lines with atmospheric synths and swirling keyboards that underlay the guitar riffs, sometime rising to the surface to provide a transitional bridge. The underlying musical elements are dissonant and almost prog/classical in nature but The Black Wild Yonder is a long way from being a prog album as each song contains aggressive, buzzsaw guitar riffs and vocalist Alexander Otto adds in hoarse but very understandable growled vocals. Crystal-clear production highlights the combined light and dark elements within the band’s sound.

One of the nice thing about this disc is that all of the songs ‘go somewhere’ – the builds lead to an explosion of sound and the slow passages give the listener a brief respite. While the band doesn’t stray from their core sound of combining melody and atmosphere with dissonance and aggression, each songs has unique flourishes and melodies that allow it to stand on its own. One of the strongest tracks on the disc is “Damaged Beyond Repair”. This song starts out with atmospheric and dark keyboards to which an intricate percussion and bass line is added before the song kicks into high gear. Mid-song, Words of Farewell add to the atmospheric by briefly stopping their sonic attack for whispered vocals over a light piano.





Links:
Words of Farewell

Sinbreed - 'Shadows' CD Review (German Power Metal - AFM Records)

Sinbreed, a five-piece German power metal outfit, released its sophomore disc, Shadows, earlier this year on AFM Records. The phase ‘German power metal’ tells you almost everything you need to know – Sinbreed’s music is a mix of speed and power metal that is powered by two lead guitarists that alternate between NWOBHM soaring leads and shredding riffs, double-bass pounding speed metal drumming, gritty vocals and melodic, anthemic choruses. It should come as no surprise that Sinbreed includes Frederik Ehmke and Marcus Siepen from Blind Guardian along with vocalist Herbie Langhans, from the like-minded band Seventh Avenue.

The majority of the songs come pummeling out of the gate and the disc doesn’t stray far from its aggressive core. While a number of power metal bands seem to prefer vocalist with a high-pitched scream, Herbie Langhans is a growler (rather than a screamer) and his muscular, raspy vocals are comparable to Udo or Buce Dickinson at their lower ranges or current Accept vocalist Mark Tornillo.

Give a listen to “Bleed” (below) as this is a good indication of the sound of the rest of the disc. This isn’t to say that the disc sounds one dimensional as most of the songs clock in around the five minute mark which gives the band ample opportunity to vary the structures within each of the songs. The only deviation from this core sound is on “Broken Wings”, where the band uses an acoustic guitar intro and outro to bookend this seven minute number.



Links:
Sinbreed

Mat Sinner - 'Touch of Sin 2' Interview with BrooklynRocks, Oct. '13

German bassist/vocalist Mat Sinner isn’t exactly a household name in the States but he is a big draw in Europe as Sinner (the band) was formed in 1980 and has over a dozen full-length albums under their belt. Sinner’s style of music is melodic, guitar-driven hard rock and points of reference are U.D.O., Accept and Saxon. Sinner’s newest disc, Touch of Sin 2 (AFM Records), came out on Sept. 10th and is comprised of 11 re-recorded tracks from Sinner’s predominately out-of-print back catalog, a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Don’t Believe a Word” along with two new songs. Here is a link to a review of Sinner's Touch of Sin 2 disc that I posted last month.

Mike from BrooklynRocks talked with Mat earlier this month about the new disc and the impetus behind it. They also talked about Mat's upcoming projects - a forthcoming Primal Fear disc, which will be followed by a US tour next year, and the 2014 edition of Mat's annual Rock Meets Classic tour which features vocalists Alice Cooper, Joe Lynn Turner and Kim Wilde.

Primal Fear 2014 US Tour Dates
April 29, 2014 -- Baltimore - Soundstage
April 30, 2014 -- New York - Stage 48 (Tickets are $20 and there is a VIP ticket (early admission, meet-and-greet, etc.) available for $50)
May 01, 2014 -- Quebec - Le Cercle
May 02, 2014 -- Montreal - Petit Campus
May 03, 2014 -- Toronto - MOD Club
May 04, 2014 -- Cleveland - Agora Theater
May 06, 2014 -- Joliet, Illinois - Mojoes
May 07, 2014 -- Lawrence, Kansas - Granada Theater
May 08, 2014 -- Denver - Bluebird Theater
May 10, 2014 -- Seattle - El Corazon
May 11, 2014 -- Vancouver - The Venue
May 12, 2014 -- Portland - Hawthorne Theater
May 14, 2014 -- San Francisco - DNA Lounge
May 15, 2014 -- Anaheim California - The Grove
May 16, 2014 -- Tempe, Arizona - Club Red
May 18, 2014 -- Dallas, Texas - Trees
May 19, 2014 -- Houston, Texas - Scout Bar
May 21, 2014 -- Atlanta - The Masquerade
May 22, 2014 -- Louisville - Diamond Pub
May 23, 2014 -- Pittsburgh - Altar Bar
May 24, 2014 -- Rochester - Montage Music Hall

Links:
Sinner

Dark Age - 'A Matter of Trust' CD Review (AFM Records)

As the German band Dark Age sparked no name recognition with me prior to receiving a copy of the band’s seventh disc, A Matter of Trust (AFM Records), it seems like a good idea to start with a bio/history of the band before diving into a review.

Accordingly to Wikipedia - Dark Age is a German Electronic Rock/Metal band from Hamburg, Germany formed in 1995 by Eike Freese (guitar, vocals), André Schumann (drums) and Oliver Fliegel (bass guitar). In 1994, Eike Freese, André Schumann and Oliver Fliegel formed a death metal band called Dyer's Eve. One year later the name was changed to Dark Age. The new name was inspired by a Vader songtitle, while their older one was inspired by a Metallica song title.

The band’s newest disc, A Matter of Trust, came out earlier this month and it is a pretty diverse affairs. While the band’s Wikipedia bio makes Dark Age sound like a death metal act…depending on which track you play from the new disc, you are more likely to make comparisons to Linkin Park (due to the interplay between clean and screamo vocals) or a number of the 90’s alt-rock/post-grunge acts (both musically and due to moments of messianic [think Eddie Vedder / Scott Stapp] vocals.

Dark Age’s music is predominately electronica/keyboard driven alt-rock (with a few divergences into hard-rock) and vocals are mostly in clear, non-accented English. All of the songs are very accessible and any of these songs could easily fit into regular rotation on FM radio. The disc’s first two numbers, “Nero” and “Afterlife” are very similar in structure and feature chugging guitar riffs, clean leads, atmospheric keyboards and intermixed clean and screamo vocals. This style sets the tone for the first third of the disc and the strongest of these cuts is “Fight!” which brings all of these influences and sounds together into a well-crafted and aggressive number.

The band uses “Don’t Let the Devil Get Me” to shift gears into more of an arena/modern rock sound for the back-half of the disc. “Don’t Let the Devil Get Me” starts with an angelic church choir and diverges mid-track into a soft melodic piano interlude before picking back up with a melodic soaring guitar lead. Following this, the band goes into arena rock for the next few numbers and they switch up this sound a bit on “Dark Sign” with heavy (OMD style) keyboard. The disc ends with “Onwards!”, which is an atmospheric number that sounds a bit like Simple Minds (if one ignores the growled cookie monster vocals joining in on the chorus).



Links:
Dark Age

Sinner - 'Touch of Sin 2' CD Review (AFM Records)

German bassist/vocalist Mat Sinner isn’t exactly a household name in the States but he is a big draw in Europe as Sinner (the band) was formed in 1980 and has over a dozen full-length albums under their belt. Sinner’s style of music is melodic, guitar-driven hard rock and, in a review of Sinner’s 2009 disc Crash and Burn, I compared the band’s sound to Thin Lizzy meets pre-disco Kiss. After a fresh listen to Sinner’s music, other points of reference may be U.D.O., Accept and Saxon. Bassist/vocalist Mat Sinner sings with a throaty rasp similar to Gene Simmons and the dual-lead guitars of Andre Hilgers and Christof Leim give the band's music a pre-NWOBHM sound.

Sinner’s newest disc, Touch of Sin 2 (AFM Records), came out on Sept. 10th and is comprised of 11 re-recorded tracks from Sinner’s predominately out-of-print back catalogue, a cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Don’t Believe a Word” along with two new songs. The disc starts off strong with the melodic, gritty rocker “Born To Rock” and this track sets the tone for the rest of the disc. The band doesn’t stray far from the sound of the opening track but the pop hooks come out a bit more on “Bad Girl”. This isn’t a bad thing as this song has a sing-along chorus that will strike a familiar chord with 70’s rock fans. Some of the stronger cuts on the disc are “Knife in My Heart”, which is driven by Sinner’s vocals and strong guitar riffs, and “Danger Zone”, which is a hard-rocker with great guitar leads and a melodic chorus. “Don’t Believe A Word” is a great take on the Thin Lizzy classic as, while it sounds like a Thin Lizzy song, Sinner and crew rework and imprint their own style on the song. The disc ends where it started – with another strong rocker. “Heat of the City” is one of the new tracks and it combines the “punky” aggression of early Iron Maiden and AC/DC with great guitar riffs and leads and some call and response fist-pumping vocals.



All-in-all, Touch of Sin 2 is a great introduction to Sinner’s brand of anthemic hard-rock that should catch the ear of fans of 70's/early 80's arena rock and it would be nice to see the band do a US tour. I didn’t think Sinner had ever toured in the US but I recently ran across an interview where Mat mentioned coming to the States to play one show in New Jersey. I was curious enough to do some searches and it turns out Sinner played the March Metal Meltdown 5 festival at The Cricket Club in Irvington, New Jersey in 2003. (It goes to show I’m getting old as I completely forgot about The Cricket Club – next thing you know, someone will start name checking Voodoo Lounge in Queens or Studio One in Newark).

Links:
Sinner

Jon Oliva: 'Raise The Curtain' Interview with BrooklynRocks, July 14, 2013

Three years ago, I reviewed Jon Oliva’s last outing, Festival, (released as Jon Oliva’s Pain) and compared the disc to Alice Cooper’s mid-70’s work. That same comparison still stands with the follow-up to that disc, Raise the Curtain, which was released earlier this month on AFM Records. This time out, in addition to the Alice Cooper influences, Raise the Curtain touches on 70’s prog rock (Yes comes immediately to mind), jazz/fusion and roots-rock of John Lennon. This is an eclectic disc but fans of Jon Oliva’s past work will surely enjoy it.

I had the pleasure of talking with Jon about the making of his debut solo disc, his recording plans with Jon Oliva's Pain and Trans-Siberian Orchestra and his upcoming 'storytellers' tour.

Check out the interview - the link is posted above.

Links:
Jon Oliva's Pain

Oliva - 'Raise The Curtain' CD Review (AFM Records) [Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra]

Three years ago, I reviewed Jon Oliva’s last outing, Festival, (released as Jon Oliva’s Pain) and compared the disc to Alice Cooper’s mid-70’s work. That same comparison still stands with the follow-up to that disc, Raise the Curtain, which was released earlier this month on AFM Records. This time out, in addition to the Alice Cooper influences, Raise the Curtain touches on 70’s prog rock (Yes comes immediately to mind), jazz/fusion and roots-rock of John Lennon. This is an eclectic disc but fans of Jon Oliva’s past work will surely enjoy it.

This new disc is being billed as Oliva’s first solo disc and the impetus behind the ‘hiatus’ of Jon Oliva’s Pain (JOP) was the death of JOP guitarist Matt LaPorte. In an interview with Dan Fasciano of Metalholic.com, Oliva said: "After the passing of my dear friend Matt LaPorte, I felt very confused about the future of Jon Oliva's Pain. A week or so after Matt's service, I was speaking to my friend Dan Fasciano about what I wanted to do. He suggested that I come by his home where he has a full studio and we just hang out and record whatever I had that I wanted to demo." Making this a real solo disc, Oliva plays most of the instruments (which includes playing drums on three tracks) and other musicians include Fasciano on keyboards and piano and Chris Kinder (JOP) on drums.

This new disc starts with the title track, “Raise The Curtain”, which sounds like a classic Yes (the band) number and Oliva’s guitar lines could easily be interchanged with Steve Howe’s. Completely shifting gears on the next number, “Soul Chaser”, has a similar sound to the melodic hard rock of JOP. Not staying in one place for too long, this is followed by “Ten Years”, which has a swinging roadhouse groove and a classic rock chorus. One of the standout numbers on the disc is “Father Time”, which combines jazz/fusion instrumentals with a memorable keyboard solo, proggy guitar riffs and clean vocals. In addition to these numbers, there are the expected power ballads (“Soldier” and the dark and uneasy “I Know”) and the disc wraps up with two ‘John Lennonish’ cuts (“Can’t Get Away” and “The Truth”).



Like the classic 70’s prog-rock albums, most of the songs are multi-layered and the multiple guitar parts, keyboard and piano (along with non-traditional rock instruments like flute and harpsichord) are all intertwined. The interplay between these instruments and Oliva’s vocals makes for great headphone listening.

Many of Oliva’s recent discs have included music recorded by Criss Oliva (Jon’s brother and Savatage guitarist, who passed away in a car accident 20 years ago) and Raise the Curtain includes the last of Criss’ music. Oliva pays an unspoken tribute to Criss by including his white guitar on the front of the album.

Links:
Jon Oliva

Helstar Plays Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn on Upcoming 'Summer of Hate' Tour

Veteran power/thrash metal band Helstar officially reunited a few years back and released their seventh album, Glory of Chaos, earlier this year on AFM Records. This new disc is harder hitting than the band's first post-reunion album The King of Hell (2008) and MetalCrypt described the new disc as "Power, speed and aggression, that's what it's all about."

Helstar are playing a short run of East Coast tour dates next month as part of their Summer Of Hate U.S. tour.

HELSTAR Summer Of Hate U.S. Tour:
6/17/2011 The Rail Club - Fort Worth, TX w/ Solitude Aeturnus, Era De Guerra
6/18/2011 Dirty Dog Bar - Austin, TX w/ Ignitor, Dead Earth Politics, Headcrusher
6/22/2011 Manhattan Room - Philadelphia, PA w/ Wastelander, Season of Mourning, Midian, Machine Dog
6/23/2011 Sonar - Baltimore, MD
6/24/2011 Saint Vitus Bar - Brooklyn, NY
6/25/2011 The Blue Room - Secaucus, NJ w/ Armor Column, Bröhammer



Links:
Helstar

Onslaught - "Sounds of Violence" CD Review (AFM Records)

British thrash metal band Onslaught reunited in 2005 and the band’s third post-reunion disc, Sounds of Violence, is due out Feb. 8th on AFM Records. In the ‘great’ Onslaught tradition of making line-up changes with every release, post-reunion members James Hinder and Alan Jordan have been replaced by Jeff Williams and Andy Rosser-Davies.

Onslaught plays old-school, angry thrash in the spirit of Testament and Megadeth and, while this release doesn’t break any new ground, Onslaught does what they do well. The disc starts with “Into the Abyss “, which is a symphonic opener that is punctuated by a military drum beat. This serves as the build-up to the brutally aggressive “Born for War” which is guaranteed to get the pit going. Guitarists Nige Rockett and Andy Rosser-Davies alternate between chugging grooves and great non-technical (non-wankery) leads. Steve Grice pummels the double-bass while keeping galloping beat. It has been too many years since I’ve heard The Force (which marked Sy Keeler's debut with Onslaught) so I can’t make a dead-on comparison but Keeler voice’s has held up well over the years. His vocals range from a harsh bark to melodic clean vocals and he doesn’t seem to have lost any of his past force and power.

Lyrically, the band is angry and the dominant lyrical themes seems to be hatred and war. While the band doesn’t go back to the explicitly Satanic lyrics of Power From Hell, a few of the songs (“Children of God” and “Antiheist”) have explicit anti-religious themes.

The disc ends with the aptly titled melancholy piano outro “End Of The Storm (Outro)” before kicking into the bonus track, which is a cover of Motorhead’s “Bomber”. This last track was released as an iTunes single last year with all profits donated to the Help For Heroes charity. The cover version is a straight-forward run-through that features guest appearances from Motorhead’s Phil Campbell and Sodom’s Tom Angelripper.

Links:
Onslaught

Jon Oliva's Pain: Festival CD Review (AFM Records)

As a long-time fan of Alice Cooper’s mid-70’s work, Jon Oliva’s newest disc struck a real positive chord with me. The ten tracks on Festival balance fist-pumping rockers with power ballads and it is hard not to think of “Only Women Bleed” when listening to the ballads. Strong production pushes to the front of the mix Oliva’s growling vocals along with the multi-faceted guitar work of Matt LaPorte and Tom McDyne, whose chops range from jazz licks to progressive breaks to shredding metal.

The CD cover is a ‘carnival of the damned’ picture and horror movies themes and sound effects run throughout the disc. The disc starts off strong and opens with creepy carnival sound effects before going into the driving and angry “Lies”. The power ballads are mostly guitar driven as Oliva says that he wrote most of this disc on the guitar.



Some of the stand-out cuts include the “big sounding” rockers: "The Evil Within", "Death Rides a Black Horse" (which has some cool symphonic keyboards) and "Living on the Edge of Time" (which is likely a remake of an old Savatage song). The ballads are up-tempo somewhat proggy affairs. “Afterglow” starts as an orchestral piano ballad before launching a metal attack and backs out of this mid-way for a jazz break, “Winter Haven” is a mellow, symphonic prog-rock tune and the contemplative “Now” ends the disc.

This disc clocks in at just under an hour and, while many of the above-mentioned musical themes are repeated across the different songs, this is a pleasant trip down a familiar road.

The band filmed a live DVD on their recent March/April European tour consisting of music from the four Jon Oliva's Pain CDs and a healthy dose of Savatage classics.

Commented Oliva: "This DVD is going to kick ass, and [it's] something that I have been looking forward to for many, many years. With the release of our new album in February and the vast back catalog of SAVATAGE material, we will have plenty of material to fill a two-plus-hour show... The band is great form and my voice is so ready for this. We're going to capture a great show with all the pyro, bells and whistles we can put on stage... and, of course, we will need all of you there to make it an over-the-top success."

Links:
Jon Oliva's Pain

Masterplan - "Far From the End of the World" CD EP Review

German progressive/power metal band Masterplan has released a new CD EP, "Far From the End of the World", as an advance 'teaser' for their forthcoming fourth album Time To Be King. Time To Be King will be released on May 21st (on AFM Records) and features the return of original vocalist Jørn Lande.

There are two new tracks on the single "Far From the End of the World" and "Lonely Winds of War" along with a radio edit of "Far From the End of the World". I haven't heard any of the earlier Masterplan releases so - to compare to other bands - these two songs fall closely in line with the Dio-era of Rainbow. "Far from the End of the World" is a rocker that is driven by Lande's vocals and complemented by some clean guitar lines, soaring solos and a swirling, proggy keyboard. "Lonely Winds of War" falls clearly in the Rainbow camp and starts with a acoustic guitar and flute before moving into a riff-oriented power ballad.



Here is the full track list for Time to Be King:

01. Time To Be King
02. Fiddle Of Time
03. Lonely Winds of War
04. Blue Europa
05. Far From The End Of The World
06. The Dark Road
07. Under The Moon
08. Blow Your Winds
09. The Black One
10. The Sun Is In Your Hands
11. Kisses From You (bonus track)
12. Never Walk Alone (Japanese bonus track)

Links:
Masterplan

Sweden's Lion's Share Returns With a New CD After a 6 Year Absence

Sweden's Lion's Share are back with their first new CD since 2001's Entrance. The new CD, Emotional Coma, will be released on June 15th on AFM Records. Two tracks from this CD are avilable for download from the band's MySpace page and both tracks sound great. There are two additional tracks from the CD streaming on the band's MySpace page. Both tracks are as good, if not better, than the tracks available for download and The Edge of the Razor features a killer guitar solo from x-Kiss member Bruce Kulick. In addition to Kulick, the CD features guest appearances from Glen Drover (Megadeth) and Mats Levén (Yngwie Malmsteen).

Even though Lion's Share got big in the 1990's, their music is comparable to the classic early 80's British heavy metal bands. I'd compare the band to mid-period Whitesnake or Saxxon. After signing Lion's Share, Markus Wosgien, A&R of AFM Records commented "If you are into the old gods like Saxon, Judas Priest or Accept — you will love this unique and high-class record, which is a new beginning in the history of this amazing band."

The band is has some upcoming tour dates in Sweden:

June 01 - Fjongstock Festival - Sundsvall, Sweden
June 7 - Sweden Rock Festival - Sölvesborg, Sweden
June 29 - Mälarrocken Festival - Västerås, Sweden

Links:
Lion's Share Main Website (link)
Lion's Share MySpace Page (link)