The Swedish / American combo OSUKARU finally hit the streets with their full length debut album "Salvation".
Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Osukaru was founded by ex Eye / Katana guitarist Oskar 'Oz Osukaru' Petersson together with L.A. drummer Ryan Coyle.
They have already impressed the AOR community with the previous EP's 'GBG2LA' and 'Never Too Late', but when the band entered into studio to track down "Salvation", the singer left the band for personal reasons midway through the recording process.
But they found a more than adequate replacement in Chris Tiann (ex Dirty Dixx), as his powerful pipes and vocal tone really fits this material.
And what kind of material we have in "Salvation"? Just a wonderful bunch of fantastic classy AOR / MR tunes.
From the first sounds of the cool instrumental intro "Exit", you'll will be transported straight to the classic '80s rockin' AOR.
As on all the classic albums of the genre, the intro is chained with first track "Highway To The Stars," a huge radio friendly AOR tune to die for. The song hasn't a proper chorus, but the catchy refrain is driven by great rock-laden guitars and awesome keyboards.
Follower "Hot Blooded Woman" is more Melodic Rock oriented, with an insistent riff all over and a British scent. Same vibe is found on next track "City Lights", a re-worked song from the last EP, much more effective this time, thanks to Chris Tiann vocals to a great extent.
"Till The End Of Time" is the album's ballad, a midtempo filled with nice harmony vocals and a good melody that reminds me Danger Danger. A good one, although the production on this particular song doesn't match the rest, probably the music tracks come from a previous, different session.
"Never Too Late" is the first single, and one of the more melodic songs of the entire CD. This sweet melodic rocker has equal parts of guitar / keys, really well balanced to grab your ears instantly.
My favorite track on Salvation is the catchy "Change Of Heart (2012 version)". Appeared previously on one of the EP's, here clearly we can appreciate how much Osukaru has evolved musically. This is the best arranged and performed track of the album. It has all we love in a pure AOR tune; a fat bass / compressed drums, soaring vocals (reinforced by a dreamy background chorus), elegant guitar and phenomenal shynths. The even include a smooth saxophone line that adds more texture. A really great track and my pick of the album.
Then the band returns to the melodic hard rock sound with "Tear It Down". A marching rocker mounted over a very good drumming, strong guitars and swirling keyboards. On the chorus it turns more AOR 'fight-movie' style, bringing back the eighties in full form.
"Promised Land" is another winner, as this kind of AOR fueled by trepidating guitars and candy floss keyboards are gold in my book. The vocals are superb here, specially on the catchy layered chorus, and the rhythm guitar / solo are amongst the best of the album.
For the end, Osukaru goes acoustic and intimate with the likeable melody of "T.M.Y.S. [Elevator Version]", which is no other than a completely re-worked version of their song Tell Me You'll Stay.
As bonus, we have a good cover of Alien's classic "Tears Don't Put Out The Fire", recorded by Osukaru for the forthcoming "Brave New World: A Tribute To Alien" tribute CD.
I celebrate that in the mew millennium there's a band still playing classy AOR / Melodic Rock in its purest form. This is what Osukaru offers on "Salvation".
They have dramatically improved here the sound and musicianship from the previous EP's. This new vocalist is what the band needed and the arrangements really nails the point now.
In short, if you - like me - are a sucker for the lovely chorus/keyboard driven '80s AOR, you must have Osukaru's "Salvation".
Highly Recommended.
01 - Exit
02 - Highway To The Stars
03 - Hot Blooded Woman
04 - City Lights (2012 version)
05 - Till The End Of Time
06 - Never Too Late (2012 version)
07 - Change Of Heart (2012 version)
08 - Tear It Down
09 - Promised Land
10 - T.M.Y.S. [Elevator Version]
11 - Tears Don't Put Out The Fire (Alien Cover)
Oz Osukaru - guitars, backing vocals
Chirs Tiann - lead vocals
Emma-Lee Gunnari - bass
Ryan Cole - drums, percussion
Carl Dahlberg - keyboards, piano, Hammond organ
Guest Musicians:
Kristopher Von Wachenfeldt - keyboards
Erik Jardenmark - sax on "Change Of Heart" and "Promised Land"
David Neil Cline - right speaker guitar solo on "City Lights"
Alexander Strandell, Johan Bernspang, Martin Ryder - add. backing vocals
The Magic Eden String Quartet - strings
After going their separate ways in the late '70's Sebastian Hardie reformed in 1994 and performed a one-off concert in Los Angeles at Progfest '94. The show was recorded featuring tracks from their two classic albums ‘Four Moments’ and ‘Windchase’ and the cd 'Live in LA' was released.
In March 2003 Sebastian Hardie again reformed for a performance at The Metro Theatre, Sydney followed by a concert tour of Japan. Returning home to Australia, enthused and inspired, the band decided to record their third studio album. What followed were six new tracks and the album Blueprint
http://www.sebastianhardie.com.au/
1. I wish (7:43)
2. Vuja de (8:21)
3. Art of life (6:22)
4. I Remember (7:36)
5. Another String... (7:09)
6. Shame (3:22)
Band Alice Cooper Info: No More Mr. Nice Guy Live! Years: 2012 Style: Hard Rock Info: MP3 CBR 320 kbps Info: USA Time: concertlive ????? Tracklist: 98:09 Info: 224 Mb
This instant CD will be available to pick up STRAIGHT after the shows and if you’re unfortunate enough not to be there, you can still order this CD be delivered straight to your home. What better way is there to get in the mood for halloween then to celebrate with Alice Cooper and soak up the electric atmosphere of his gigs with this live recording.
According to ALICE COOPER fan site SickthingsUK, Concert Live has set a February 13 release date for "No More Mr Nice Guy Live", a two-CD remixed version of Cooper's October 29, 2011 show at London, England's Alexandra Place.
Concert Live, which enables fans all over the world to relive the experience with instant recordings of live gigs available within minutes of the last note being played, already released this concert as one of its instant live shows back in October, and the show has been aired on TV in both the U.K. and U.S., but this will apparently be a properly remixed version of this performance.
Tracklist:
CD 1:
01. The Black Widow (05:09)
02. Brutal Planet (04:57)
03. I’m Eighteen (03:57)
04. Under My Wheels (02:49)
05. Billion Dollar Babies (03:25)
06. No More Mr Nice Guy (03:03)
07. Hey Stoopid (04:26)
08. Is It My Body (02:46)
09. Halo of Flies (11:47)
CD 2:
01. I’ll Bite Your Face Off (04:41)
02. Muscle of Love (05:20)
03. Only Women Bleed (03:47)
04. Cold Ethyl (03:48)
05. Feed My Frankenstein (05:05)
06. Clones (03:54)
07. Poison (04:52)
08. Wicked Young Man (04:20)
09. I Love The Dead (02:20)
10. School’s Out (05:31)
11. Elected (05:10)
12. Fire (Jimi Hendrix) (with Arthur Brown) (05:35)
After a long wait, Cruz del Sur Music has finalized a new contract with PHARAOH for the release of three albums. “Bury the Light” is the first and much expected release of awesome metal in the typical style of this much beloved band!! It will be 10 news songs for a total of 48 minutes.
The sessions have some exceptional guest solos by Mike Wead (King Diamond) e Jim Dofka (Dofka).
PHARAOH’s “Bury the Light” will hit the streets on February 24th 2012 in Europe, and on March 6th in the United States.
We reached Matt Johnsen and Chris Black to ask some questions about the release, and to provide some comments on the album’s tracklist.
How do you think Pharaoh evolved in this new album?
Matt- We tried to add more textural elements to our songs while continuing to cut as much extraneous material as possible. The songs on this album are dense, but hopefully they never overstay their welcome. The basic template is the same as on Be Gone, but the album is less dark overall, and perhaps a little faster.
Any particular anecdote from the recording sessions?
Matt- This album took a long time to make, because shortly after the drums were tracked, our drummer and our engineer both became dads for the first time. Also, the vocals were tracked at my house while my son was only a year old. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to mind Tim’s voice.
Do you think the fans will be ready for this new Pharaoh album?
Matt – I think anyone who stuck it out with us after we shed the remainders of our obvious Iron Maiden worship after The Longest Night will be happy with our progression on this album. It’s still crammed full of traditional elements, of course, but we’re not trying to be retro or old fashioned. We want to move melodic metal forward.
01. Leave Me Here to Dream
02. The Wolves
03. Castles in the Sky
04. The Year of the Blizzard
05. The Spider's Thread
06. Cry
07. Graveyard of Empires
08. Burn With Me
09. In Your Hands
10. The Spider's Thread (Reprise)
Swedish stadium glam cock-rockers H.E.A.T. are back with a new single – their first with former Idol winner Erik Grönwall as their lead singer.
Rock is obviously not our forte. But when it’s injected with enough cheese, created with such a strong melody, and fronted by such an adorable chap – well, we take an interest.
Erik has actually been in the band for around a year now, and has been touring with them. But this is the first bit of music they’ve released. The new line-up was widely rumoured and expected to be taking part in this year’s Melodifestivalen – but it didn’t come to be. Based on the strength of ‘Living On The Run’ – that’s actually quite a shame.
BandGray Fox Info: It Never Ends Style: Modern Hard Rock Years: 2011 Info: mp3 CBR 320 Info: 49 mb Upload: unibytes deposite Info: :USA
Gray Fox is a rock band playing in the Philadelphia area, consisting of Josh Fox (Drums), Zachary Gray (Guitar), Andy Mount (Bass), and Eric Tofsted (Vocals). The band started in Alaska in 2009 with Josh and Zach writing and recording original compositions. In 2010 they moved to Philadelphia where Andy and Eric joined to complete the band.
Influenced by diverse tastes in music (everything from Nine Inch Nails to The Clash), Gray Fox combines metal-inflected blues and modern garage-rock with progressive yet catchy, original song-writing to create a distinctive, infectious sound.
Tracklist:
1. Ill Advised
2. Two Cents
3. No Romance
4. Succubus [Explicit]
5. Bottled-Up
6. Making Progress (Acoustic) [Explicit]
??????
Josh Fox (drums),
Zach Gray (guitar),
Andy Mount (bass),
and Eric Tofsted (vocals)
Feb 8, 2012 11:57
Heavy Metal |Power Metal Progressive Rock
The Mexican progressive rock band, founded in 1978 by concerns of the founding and current member, Alfonso Vidales, inspired by the idea of creating music with symphonicpassages with the art of progressive rock.
I. 01 - Duction from the Intro (8:05)
II. Between the Face and the Mask
02 - a) A night of Candles / Our many hands (6:50)
03 - b) Handing a Challenge (4:00)
04 - c) Equal Strokes (3:50)
05 - d) Between the Face and the Mask / Reprise (10:09)
III. 06 - Return to Same (5:19)
IV. 07 - Ojales (2:39)
V. 08 - Selajo (3:21)
VI. The Rescue
09 - a) Intrada (3:50)
10 - b) Less Complicated / The Rescue (9:18)
11 - c) More Complicated (4:29)
12 - d) In front my Eyes (4:01)
VII. 13 - Pyro-Lamb (3:09)
Future Classic Rock - The songwriting nous of Glam-era Paul McCartney & Wings meets the modern genius of Weezer with a healthy dose of Black Crowes style psychedelic space rockin' for good measure.
Following in the tradition of greats such as Slade, Wizzard, Macca, Shakey, Bowie & Bing - Ulysses release their very own festive smash
Fans of the children’s TV series ‘Ulysses 31? should beware: the band which shares their name with the hero of Greek inspired under-10s sci-fi have nothing else in common with the cartoon classic. But then, fans of music may need to approach with caution too. Ulysses’ music is a work in progress. They haven’t yet worked out what their sound is or who they are mimicking. At times they are Thin Lizzy (compare and contrast ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ with this band’s ‘Sometimes’ or ‘Still’), other times they experiment with bits of The Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls’ over Kraftweks synths and Status Quo rock (see ‘Why Why Why?’). On another occasion they mix Rocket From The Crypt’s ‘On A Rope’ with every Zutons’ song going for ‘Casualty’. Ulysses are at their best when their truly original moments kick in. The album’s title track is a macabre sounding Cockney knees up. Meanwhile ‘Dark Old Days’ is a dark, brooding and sexy tango. But the reliance on derivative riffs and a general lack in direction makes this less a cohesive album, more an aimless collection of songs: some good, some not so much.
Mix Classic Rock/ Glam/Sex Music/Psychedelic Pop
1. Eye On You 4:11
2. Everybody's Strange 3:20
3. Flowers 4:01
4. Sometimes 4:03
5. Why Why Why? 4:21
6. Still 3:29
7. Casualty 3:53
8. I Get High With Your Love 2:30
9. Won't Back Down 4:19
10. Dark Old Days 3:45
11. My Hands Part 2
Canadian indie band Zeus will release their second album, Busting Visions, on March 27th. The album's second single is the upbeat, call-and-response-fueled "Anything You Want Dear," which singer Mike O'Brien says was a late addition to Busting Visions.
"The song was spawned from a guitar hook that had been kicking around in my brain for at least a couple of years. I was inspired during the recording sessions for Busting Visions to pull it out and rework it. It's a great representation of the talents of all four Zeusmen," he says. "Lots of harmony singing and call-and-response vocals, dueling guitar licks, a killer bass line that sometimes serves as a lead and some killer drum fills to boot. A later arrival to the record that somehow summed up a lot of what we had been working on."
You can download Zeus's "Anything You Want Dear" for free here. or here
Band Beowulf Info: Jesus Freak Years: 2011 Style: Hard Rock Info: MP3 CBR 320 kbps Info: USA ????? Tracklist: 41:30 Info: 92 Mb
Venice Beach, California (USA) crossover thrashers Beowülf are self-releasing their sixth album on December 23, 2011, entitled Jesus Freak, produced by founding member, vocalist/guitarist Dale Henderson and ex-FEAR FACTORY guitarist, Christian Olde Wolbers. The tracks were cut at LiL’ Antwerp Studioz and Wolbers is credited as the engineer. It’s been a long time since the early breakout of this band during the mid 80?s from the legendary “Venice Scene”. They had their first album produced by ST’s Mike Muir and released via Suicidal Records. Flash forward to now, after several lineup changes, and this reviewer finds that Dale and the boys can still bring it with the best of them. Former ST bassist Louiche Mayorga is even thrown into the mix here, so any fan of the old school, true grit feel of “Taste The Steel” will simply love what they are throwing down today.
Personally, I think Dale Henderson has grown as a performer over the years and continues to push the envelope with his completely unique style of singing and songwriting. While others just go the safe route, this guy has always been daring, somehow managing to keep the Beowülf sound ‘real’ from a street perspective. However, let it be known that Henderson and Beowülf’s music has morphed over time into a much more serious and grown-up statement. The drum work from Rich Rowan here is solid. As always, Henderson’s guitar playing is mean as hell sounding… snarling punk-fast riffs, cutting to the nerve of its listener like a cold metal blade pierced into someone’s throat. My favorite songs are the totally rocking “Mad Man” and the absolutely stellar “Front Door Smoking”. On the latter I dig the way the bass line starts out alone and then Henderson’s guitar comes thundering in. Forget punk rock… that’s just plain metal. All in all, I am just stoked as hell that Beowülf is still going after all this time, and this reviewer seriously hopes everyone gives Jesus Freak a shot, because it’s a clever rocker indeed. Tracklist:
01. Peacemaker 2:16
02. In Captivity 2:33
03. Jesus Freak 4:11
04. Front Door Smokin' 3:12
05. Mad Man 2:38
06. Godsend 3:03
07. Sunday (Killer Comez Home) 4:18
08. Righteous, Righteous 4:41
09. Bitter Song 4:08
10. Just Passing Through 3:54
11. 13 Past the Hour 4:42
12. Anything 2:05
Dale Henderson - Vocals, guitar (1981–present)
Stephan Mark Anthony - Guitar (2006–present)
Christian Olde Wolbers - Bass (2011–present)
Rich Rowan - Drums (1991–1994, 2000–present)
The style of the late 80s – when instrumental guitar rock was at the peak of its popularity – to this day curiously dictates its methods to legions high-tech guitar aspirants all over the world. Seattle born and raised Brian Hunsaker is one such hopeful who on his freshly released CD channels the vibes of the time when the shred gurus of today were still at their tadpole stages. More»
Eden – Caminante Del Tiempo (2011)
Feb 6, 2012 16:27
Heavy Metal |Power Metal
"Wanderer of Time" is the name back to the music scene in the Asturian Eden. After a few days since its release and after the studio report made ??in December, we have to see how it has withstood time and hear this new album of the band.
Ten tracks make this album, which starts with a catchy riffas an introduction to "I feel the time is going" and the albumitself. The first issue we will contact to give us a glimpse of what the band during this round. The first thing we notice is the great sound they have achieved and Manuel RamilAlberto Ardines in Triple A Studios, personally I think it's the best they've got. A sound hard, but heavys clean guitars, aclear role of the voice and keyboards, and batteries thatsounds devastating, but this certainly has some blame alsoIvan Sevillano.
01. Siento Que El Tiempo Se Va
02. Libre
03. El Caminante Del Tiempo
04. Melancolía
05. Junto A Ti
06. Renacer
07. En El Camino
08. Mi Voz
09. Trovador
10. Descansa En Paz
