REVIEWS ARCHIVE - H |
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HACKETT, STEVE
"Wild Orchids" (Inside Out / SPV - provided by Target) - 4½ out of 5 points - |
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Opening with the awesome "A Dark Night In Toytown" Steve Hackett's new album "Wild Orchids" is off to an unruely start - a gloomy invitation into the world of Hackett's dark imaginations of how a train-ride through Hell could feel like. The train-ride doesn't stop there, it continues on throughout the entire album, letting us visit one strange place after the other; such as the orient in "Waters Of The Wild", a maritime Scottish stint with "Set Your Compass", the psychodelica of the late 60's/early 70's in "A Girl Called Linda", a bit of the swinging 30's in "Why", an anglo-saxan medieval trip with "To A Close" or even a country & western feeling in "Man In The Long Black Coat". "Wild Orchids" is not a typical prog-rock album, it's actually not just another "rock" album either - it's world music performed by a guitarist whose talent is widely known through decades of both performing as a solo artist and in Genesis and GTR. Add an entire orchestra (cello, double bass, trumpet, oboe, flute, clarinet, tin whistle, saxophone and choirs), and you end up with a very special album, that some may like and others may hate. I doubt there's anything in between. For me the choice is clear - this is utter brilliance.
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Claus
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HAMMERFALL
"Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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I'm a sucker for old school heavy metal - ok, I admit it, now sue me! Seriously, Hammerfall is no revelation on the metal scene, nor are they out there to try to save heavy metal. Nope - they are a band playing exactly the style of music they like, and are having a hell of a lot of fun doing it. Okay, perhaps with the exception of drummer Anders Johansson, who probably isn't into this style of music, but at least he is keeping the fun level up by 110%. "Chapter V" is not a future classic in the genre, nor is it an album that will change your world after having listened to it. But, it's a great heavy metal disc, filled with songs written in the same way that my mom used to cook me dinner when I was a kid … with lots of LOVE! You can't take away from these guys that they are good at what they do, and you can't take away from them that their songs oozes of fun and a love for all things heavy metal. And who am I to argue with that, seeing that I'm just like that myself?
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Claus
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HAMMERFALL "Crimson Thunder" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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So here it is Hammerfall's forthcoming album "Crimson Thunder" - disc number 4! Hammerfall is a band that we should all be very proud of, because they have done great things for the metal scene, such as been on the charts in Sweden, Germany etc., and that, my fellow friends, is a great thing to accomplish! There is no doubt that Hammerfall will achieve the same again in the name of metal. There is nothing new to write about the music; it is all the same all over again, and for a Hammerfall fan that's just nice :-) The only thing different from this promo compared the other's is the lousy attempt to stop the illegal copying (which of course is fully understandable), but unfortunately it affects my judgement of the new album. So the grade is based on the judgement that the whole CD is the same as this (irritatingly short) mini-teaser from Nuclear Blast.
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Benjamin
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HAMMERFALL "One Crimson Night - Live" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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HAMMERFALL what have they become by now? They are the true knights of Heavy Metal anno 2000 - 2003 there is no doubt that HAMMERFALL are one of the few bands that knows how to get people up of their chair and start headbanging until you get bald "Claus you know what I mean". I know that I have been harsh to HAMMERFALL in my previous review of the band, and when I think back it was kind of unfair, because HAMMERFALL does what they are best at, and that is to give us a good hard kicking, balls to the walls solid HEAVY METAL. I'm actually feeling a bit proud when listening to this HAMMERFALL live record, just because of the fact that they have made so many people to realize that the Heavy Metal we love is here to stay. But there is just one "bad" thing with this live record, and that is that they are talking Swedish in between the songs, on this that is otherwise to be described as a superb Heavy Metal live album.
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Benjamin
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HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE
"The Locust Years" (Cruz Del Sur - provided by Cruz Del Sur) - 5 out of 5 points - |
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I've never heard Hammers Of Misfortune before, and that is one big mistake on my part. I'm now gonna do my best to track down their other releases, as "The Locust Years" hit me like a … hmmm … hammer :-) This is progressive metal in it's truest sense! Seldom have I heard a band combining so many stylistic elements into one well-flowing blend - old school heavy, pop, gothic, folk music, 70's prog rock, cabaret, epic power and technical metal. It sounds weird on paper but it works wonderfully in real-life. Imagine a non-black metal version of Solefald, a more hysteric version of Black Symphony, or a modern-day METAL version of Fairport Convention (hehe … just imagine that!). Whatever I'll use as template in order to describe this band it's wrong, or not nearly enough. Hammers Of Misfortune is original and progressive as noone else. This might very well be Album Of The Year!
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Claus
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HAPPY THE MAN
"The Muse Awakens" (Inside Out - provided by Target Distribution) - 1 out of 5 points - |
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Happy The Man? Seriously, a band with that name has got to be horrible, right? Yup ... Apparently Happy The Man created some great prog rock albums back in the late 70's. Hmmm, might be, but although I'm quite a big fan of old school prog rock in the Yes, Kansas, Genesis vein, I've personally never listened to any Happy The Man stuff until now. And I can guarentee you that I won't be listening to their old stuff either. At their best, Happy The Man creates something that can be described as Camel meets Yes - but most of the time, they are jumping around between ridiculous pop-music, some saxophone induced pomp-fusion and second-rate prog rock. This is not my style of prog, and I doubt most people reading these pages would find it interesting either ...
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Claus
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HARD EIGHT "Hard Eight" (Hard Eight - provided by Hard Eight) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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Hmmm, the recording quality of this CD is quite poor, so it requires some self discipline to spin it more than a couple of times. They say that they are influenced by Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Dream Theater ... well Dream Theater I really really have difficulties in finding any traces of here. Generally this must be hard rock ... and in certain the dark places, there maybe some hints to very early Judas Priest. The band has a female vocalist "Gina Capetillo", and she has a pretty powerful vocal, but sounds a bit constrained, colourless or fatigue .. I don't know if its just the recording. Track 2 and 3 I find most promising, and even if their compositions aren't unique, they do have some ideas to build up a melody, so with a tuff guy whipping them in a recording studio its not impossible to create something worth listening to .... and please not so many ballad parts. Visit them here at http://www.hard-eight.net
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Erik
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HAREM SCAREM "Live At The Gods" (Frontiers Records - Provided by Nordic Metal) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Harem Scarem is back with a live CD from "The Gods" festival in England. It sounds good even though I have never heard of them before :-) For every melodic hard rock fan this album is a must! When I think of that this album is recorded live, I can only guess how they sound with a studio release, and that most be pretty sweaty. Harem Scarem delivers a good solid performance with the live CD, and the tracks on this record are great sing a long songs, and perfect melodies make me think about "White Lion" and one of the newer bands such as "Emerald Rain". For every hard rock fan this album could easily stand next a side to the others.
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Benjamin
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HARMONY "Dreaming Awake" (Massacre Records - provided by Nordic Metal) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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I used to be very fond of power metal. Especially the melodic kind like for example Stratovarius, but what is the point of power metal when everything nowadays sounds exactly alike. No power metal bands want (or dare!) to be different from the majority - to be different from the mainstream power metal. Why? Apparently because it does not seem to be a safe bet, so why take the chance? Harmony is no exception, who with their straight melodic power metal full length debut "Dreaming Awake" delivers nothing more than one would expect. Sure there is no doubt that the members in Harmony are very good at what they do, and occasionally deliver some great, almost progressive, melodic riffs like for example the instrumental opener "Into the Afterlife" that moves on over to the first actual track "Eternity" which brings the energy and melody even a step further. And the vocals, performed by Henrik Bath, are equally suitable for this kind of music, and not bad all. But unfortunately the intensity drops the longer you get on the album, and when you finally reach the last track, "Remember", a mediocre mid-tempo ballad-like song, you are so fed up with musical clichés within the genre of power metal that it almost brings a smile to your face. So what to say about Harmony; Great power metal - music below average in general!
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Martin J
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HARRIS, MICHAEL
"Orchestrate" (Lion Music - provided by Zink) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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I guess I should hate this disc, as I haven't really appreciated many instrumental neo-classical heavy metal guitar albums since the glory days of Malmsteen's "Rising Force", Masi's "Attack of the Neon Shark", Moore's "Mind's Eye", Becker's "Perpetual Burn", Friedman's "Dragon's Kiss" or later on Tolkki's "Classical Variations and Themes". But once in a while something comes along that just kicks your ass, and this time it's Michael Harris' "Orchestrate", which is a wonderful mixture of classic music and heavy metal - of course in it's usual "neo-classical metal" setting, which isn't really CLASSIC music as such, but more of a way of using themes inspired by the classical composers (like Bach, Vivaldi, Beethoven etc) and putting 'em into a heavy metal repertoire. Alongside Michael we also find drummer Matt Thompson (from King Diamond), who delivers a tight hard-pounding carpet for mr. Harris to unfold his songwriting skills. On "Orchestrate" Michael Harris have achieved to compose some very catchy songs, created a huge orchestral backdrop and plays one amazing solo after the other. For that I have to hand out my respect, and to me "Orchestrate" is very close to sitting right up there with the first-mentioned timeless classics of instrumental neo-classical heavy metal albums.
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Claus
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HATEBREED "The Rise Of Brutality" (Roadrunner Records - provided by Bonnier Amigo) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Having sold more than 200.000 albums obviously doesn't mean that your music is very good and easy to listen to. I have now listened through this album 3 times and I can not in my wildest dreams find the element that would make 200.000 people buy it!! I must admit that I have a very hard time believing the numbers from the info sheet. Hatebreed is playing a mixture of Metallica, groove metal a la Crowbar and topping the stuff with extremely aggressive shouting vocals. It's energetic - admitted - but my fucking GOD, it's boooooring!!!!! The info sheet provides the info that these guys have smashed hotel rooms en masse… Let them smash all they want. They will never be spun around on this one's stereo again.
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Lars
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HATESPHERE
"Ballet Of The Brute" (Scarlet Records - provided by Target Distribution) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Slayer worship!!! Denmark's Hatesphere is part of new wave of thrash metal, that picks up on the legacy Slayer once created. Just like DewScented and The Haunted, Hatesphere manages to make a really hard hitting album of the best thrash/death metal style, an album that Slayer would have been proud to create themselves. Now what is it that makes Hatesphere more than just a copy bands? Well, to start with, they have a bit of hard core in their attitude, the production is much clearer and powerful than most other thrash bands, and the melodies are just amazing. Imagine what At The Gates, Biohazard and Slayer would sound like combined, and you have it right here - just better than you could possibly imagine J With Hatesphere, the Slayer fans now have three really great bands (yeah, I'm thinking of DewScented and The Haunted of course) to listen to, now that the old masters aren't really creating anything worthwhile these days.
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Claus
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HATESPHERE
“The Sickness Within” (Steamhammer / SPV – provided by Target) - 3½ out of 5 points – |
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Here we have one of the leading Danish Death/Thrash Metal acts, with a new kick ass album. It is great to see that acts like these guys are putting Denmark on the European map for metal. It is nice to hear that Hatesphere, have decided to put some more melody into their music, which lifts them up compared to their previous albums. A superb example is the pre solo harmonic play on “The Coming Of Chaos”. Excellent guys, you should keep up the good work with adding this to your music, as it gives more depth compared to the usual "300 km/h Thrash/Death straight to your face" style... Overall this is quite an okay album, eventhough I would like to see even more of the melodic playing.
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Benjamin
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HEADRUSH
"Livin' In A Fantasy" (Rock Revival Records - Provided by Quite Great Publicity) - 3½ out of 5 points - |
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Headrush will soon release their debut full length disc "Back Again … Rock 'n' Roll" on Rock Revival Records - I guess that puts it right out there for all to see what kind of music Headrush plays, right? It's of course ROCK!!! We're not really getting anything new here, as the 2 songs on the "Livin' In A Fantasy" single sounds like any other song Motley Crue, Tesla, Aerosmith, Mr.Big, Cinderella or Bulletboys released back in the late 80's. It's glam, it's hard rock, it's fun'n'roll - and I like it. It reminds me of my youth, and if I dig it, I'm sure a lot of other old geezers will like it too. Hey, with the revival of glam (see: The Darkness) there might even be a possibility to see Headrush get their fair share of young kids ("rock fans in spe") into this music. I'm looking forward to "Back Again … Rock 'n' Roll", as I have a feeling this disc could bring back some of the fun and a bit of the "glam" to hard rock.
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Claus
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HEAVENLY "Dust To Dust" (Noise / Sanctuary - provided by Target) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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This French 5-piece really like things fast. That is if you judge from their third album, "Dust to Dust". From start to end this album goes 100 mph of melodic power/speed metal. To judge from their way of composing and putting their songs together, I would say their main inspirational sources are bands like Helloween and Gamma Ray. Heavenly has the same kind of energetic guitar riffs, and occasionally Benjamin Sotto (vocals) even sounds just a bit like Kai Hansen of afore mentioned Gamma Ray! Actually there is not much to say about Heavenly. The play metal in its simplest way which makes "Dust to Dust" more of a "Nice to Have" than a "Need to Have".
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Martin J
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HEAVEN'S CRY "Primal Power Addiction" (DVS Records - provided by DVS Records) - 4½ out of 5 points - |
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Progressive metal album of the year to some, and progressive metal disappointment to others, is how I've seen this disc described already. Heaven's Cry from Canada are back with the second disc after a 6 year hiatus following debut album "Food For Thought Substitute", and with "Primal Power Addiction" they've created a damn brilliant album to my ears. This band is highly original, and they dare to be different - not for the sake of just being different or awkward, but for the sake of creating unique and beautiful music - and they succeed at it with ease. The band has a kind of weird constellation; 2 singers (who sound somewhat alike, yet have each their own "touch"), 3 guitarists (where one of them is playing what they call "freehand guitars", which is basically a western type guitar with nylon strings if I'm not mistaken), an amazing drummer and one of the coolest bassists I've EVER seen live. Already by having this line-up makes the music stand out from 99% of all other bands out there, and when the songs in themselves are so "strange", it's no wonder that Heaven's Cry is a very special band. I'm having trouble describing this band to the uninitiated audience, but I'd say that there are parts of Pink Floyd, Voivod, Dream Theater, Psychotic Waltz, Pain Of Salvation and Rush to be found in it … aheem, that might not be the closest description, but it's the best I can do. One thing that is very important to mention though, is that the band sounds soooo Canadian … you know, the Rush, Voivod, Bryan Adams, Heart kind of way … My favorite songs at the moment are "One Of Twentyfour" and "A New Paradigm", but it might change tomorrow as there is something for every kind of mood on this disc. I applaud DVS Records for taking the chance on such a unique band, and am sure that this band has what it takes to go far - very far - within the genres of progressive rock and metal.
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Claus
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HEKATE
"Goddess" (Auerbach Tonträger / Prophecy Productions - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Prophecy Productions is a weird label - they seem to have built up a niche of bands within a style that not many others would ever dare to release; dark gothic/ambient metal. If you had asked me a couple of years ago about the chances of succeeding within this style, my answer would have been a loud laugh, but Martin and the staff at Prophecy actually have continued to grow and grow, and nowadays they represent almost every single band within that style worth owning. From the great German bands Autumnblaze and Empyrium, the Danish Blazing Eternity, the French Elend to the Norwegian In The Woods and Green Carnation. Not all their releases are equally exciting though, but once in awhile they do however find some incredible new talent, that's just too good to be overlooked. One of those is the German band Hekate, who with "Goddess" creates something I simply can't label as this or that. What we have here is a lot of medieval influences, a bit of new age and a bunch of dark wave stuff. Beautiful female vocals, haunting drum sounds (paukes, timpani, march drums), whispering male vocals, modern sounding keyboards, mid-eastern atmospheres, different flutes and pipes and … well, and a LOT more!!! Hekate sounds like nobody else, and that's of course their force - their weakest points might however be that they are very inaccessible and extremely hard to listen to if you're not in "that" mood. My favourites on this album are probably the very melodic "Montségur" with beautiful female chants, the very militant sounding "Moritori e Salutant" with droning back pipe sounds, or the Pink Floyd inspired "Break The Silence". Very interesting - but also somewhat of a mood demanding disc.
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Claus
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HELLION "Will Not Go Quietly" (Massacre Records - provided by Nordic Metal) - 2½ out of 5 points - |
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Reunions of bands have never been my cup of tea, unless it is bands of immense greatness we are talking about. Small bands that never went anywhere in the first place should not have the best conditions for survival in today's overcrowded scene. If they didn't succeed then, it is unlikely that they will succeed now. Well, Hellion is one of those bands. Originally formed back in 1982, the band released 2 albums and went on a long "break" as the record label so nicely puts it. Hmm….according to me, the reason for the split-up was that the band just didn't have the talent to become anything big. The music on "Will Not Go Quietly" can best be described as 80'ies metal with a very annoying mix, and a somewhat irritating half-growled female vocal. The music is a bit theatrical, a la King Diamond, but boring and never progressive as the aforementioned. The beat thing to say about this disc is that the bass is in the front of the sound and it's good to hear that someone likes this instrument once in a while. My guess would be that Hellion takes an even longer break after this album ,coz' they'll get nowhere in today's scene.
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Lars
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HELLOWEEN "Rabbit Don't Come Easy" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Helloween finally managed to make me lose all respect for them as a band. After their last effort of trying to be aggressive and powerful, I had a vision that it couldn't get any worse. Well it went straight downhill this time also. It is obvious that the more Helloween throw out members and take in new ones, the more the music and compositions suffer. The 12 tracks on "Rabbit…" (Please get your grammaticism up to date, dear Helloween) are more or less irritating to listen to, and in the short moments where the band lives up to former days of glory, one expects them to ruin it 2 seconds after with an annoying and irrelevant passage - and with justification - coz this is exactly what Helloween does. Most of Mr. Deris' refrains sound just like he has opened a songbook for children and has copied it to Heavy metal, and frankly I'm SO tired of listening to his EXTREME nasal outlet. The production of this album is way below the international standard of today, and I shall not comment more on that. Helloween used to be the trendsetters. Today they are a wanna-be copy of themselves in former days. Please stop, while there's still respect attached to your name. It's beginning to get embarrassing.
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Lars
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HELLOWEEN
"Mrs. God" (CD single digipack) (Steamhammer / SPV - provided by Target) - 2½ out of 5 points - |
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First up: the song Mrs. God is so embarrassing for Helloween, that I can't really comment on it. You have to listen for yourself to hear the compilation of crap. Second song on this Mcd is an attempt to hit between the eyes with a follow-up to the Keeper 1 and 2 tracks. Helloween is trying to turn back time to the glorious days when they were able to make an epic without the use of grandiose keyboards. That's what made the band special back then. Nowadays they are leagues behind their own students (read: all the power metal bands that came out in the eighties and later). All attempts of making another "Russian" solo are void and pathetic. There is one moment in the song, where you think "yes, go on with those twin guitars", only to be disappointed by the fact that things are just not worked through into he extremes, as Helloween once did. I don't really know what to say, as I wish for this band to return and kick everybody swiftly in the balls. It's just not possible with the line-up that they have now. 3rd song on this Mini, is an exclusive bonus track according to the biography…hmmm…cool to send out 2 songs and an exclusive bonus track. It doesn't feel THAT exclusive then….. Anyway, the song is called "Run", and is a typical full choir mid-tempo Helloween song that is easily forgotten. I do hope that the full album will feature a little more of the old Helloween feeling, but I have my reservations, I must admit.
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Lars
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HELLOWEEN
“Keeper Of The Seven Keys – The Legacy” (SPV/Steamhammer – provided by Target) - 3 out 5 points – |
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Blasphemy is the first word that comes into mind when hearing that Helloween is making the 3rd album in the (trilogy now????) “Keeper…” saga. It is released by a “Hey, let’s hope they can return to the roots” feeling, and optimism sets in…..then my mind wanders to the fact that Andi Deris is the lead singer of this band and that Helloween, while having Deris in the band, have only released one album worth buying (Time Of The Oath). Well, my mind was open when I received the single for review….Not impressed! And now here is the new revelation, should you believe the info sheet. Well, allow me to disagree. First up, Helloween has lost the magic touch to grab your attention for longer periods of time. True, there are some minor passages where you simply wish for them to go on with the solo, twin guitar attack or whatever they have going, but then the famous glue between the bricks disappear, and they change into a totally different theme, without warning, and you almost find yourself screaming NO; NO; NO!!! – GO BAAAACK!!!. Some of the songs on this album are directly horrendous and embarassing for a band that has so much experience. Some of the songs are decent, and some songs are even ok, but there are not one single song, where I (as a Helloween fan since 1987) freak and think “THIS is cool”. If the music was ever to get into that category (the cool one), then Mr. Deris is very quickly ruining everything with his extreme nasal bleating, and his irritating way of being out of the beat (yepp I know he’s doing it on purpose, but that does not make it a fantastic feature….it just irritates the hell out of me). Helloween has set out to make a grandiose CD that should top the previous “Keeper…” CD’s, but they fail miserably to do so because: The production is not top notch, which could have saved the day, the songs simply are too unstructured and have a horrible brick-by-brick foundation, the leadsinger should be jodling in Lederhosen in Bavaria in stead of singing in one of the leading HM bands today and last but not least, Helloween is out of ideas! Worst song: Occasion Avenue….FUCK, what a horrible song.
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Lars
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HELLTRAIN
"Route 666" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Somebody told the lead singer of Helltrain to put a French Frye into his throat and then try to cough it up throughout a whole album. And so he did….! This is ultra simple rock n' roll death, with a very dark attitude and a melody guitar lying in the background all the time. If you like simplicity, you'll like Helltrain. If you like just a little bit of singing or progressive innovative music, then keep away for a million years. All songs sound exactly the same here…kind of like a dark and death'y Bad Religion, simplified times ten. I guess that the title of this album describes the direction Helltrain want to take in a very precise way….HELL.
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Lars
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HESS "Just another Day" (Frontiers Records - provided by Nordic Metal) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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Hmm - quite wimpy stuff from Harem Scarem front man Harry Hess. It's quite uninteresting, to hear one track after another just humping along with not much happening - just being so sugar baby sweet all the time. This is old mans pop music … so I don't see the point of bothering you anymore with this.
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Erik
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HIMINBJORG
"Europa" (Adipocere Records - provided by Adipocere) - 1 out of 5 points - |
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Well let me start by being totally honest; I have never been the true follower of Viking Metal or Pagan Metal or whatever they call this genre. In other people's opinion this might be great music, but to me it is never-ending boring tra-la-la metal. If you want to find out how it is to feel bored, then you should go out and purchase this album and you'll find an answer to that question.
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Benjamin
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HORRIFIED "Deus Diabolus Inversus" (Black Lotus Records - provided by VME) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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This Greek threesome have existed for more than ten years but they haven't been that productive with writing music and "Deus Diabolus Inversus" is only their fourth release (the tree previous including a 12 EP). The band itself calls their musical style for Melodic Death Metal, and that's is a description that fits well, but there's also a little touch of doom, and these genres combined leads my thoughts back to the early Paradise Los but with a lesser talented vocalist. The music in general is quite "groovy" and has a flow that suits and fits this kind of music, but after having been listening to the cd a couple of times, it quickly becomes too boring because of the constant tempo decrease throughout the album, and the predictability and monotony becomes annoying. I should also mention that Mickael Akerfeldt (Opeth) is appearing as guest vocalist, which isn't making this album any better, though. The most positive things to say about "Deus Diabolus Inversu" is the booklet/cover artwork and the sound production. Mixed and produced by Fredrik Nordstrom makes this cd a quality product, but unfortunately that doesn't compensate for the songs on it. But if you are into heavy and doomy metal with occasional melodic and orchestral elements and with a brutal and crunchy vocal (with a funny accent, hehe :-), this CD would probably be a good buy for you.
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Martin J
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HOUSE OF LORDS
"Live In The UK" (Frontiers Records - provided by Zink) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Big in the 80's, forgotten in the new millenium … well, it almost could have been the store of House Of Lords. With their 2 big-selling albums "House Of Lords" (1988) and "Sahara" (1990), everything was laid out in front of the band for major success. But then, as we all remember, came grunge and destroyed the entire "hair metal" scene and most of the bands playing melodic hard rock got fired from their recordlabels and disappeared into oblivion. Yes, House Of Lords was one of those. Now, in 2004 the band began on their comeback, and in 2005 this lead to a European tour, which has now been documented on the live album "Live In The UK". So, with all due respect to HoL and their record label for bringing out this fine album, I also have to complain about the fact that the line-up is (although being close to the original HoL) quite different from the lineup that recorded the "World Upside Down" album less than a year ago, and the show logically doesn't feature any songs from that disc either. Now, let's forget about that, and just concentrate on the show as it is. James Christian is in fine shape here - he sounds just as good as on albums, and besides Jeff Scott Soto and Robin McAuley there really aren't many hard rock vocalists that comes close to the brilliance of James in terms of delivery and passion. Great voice! The rhythm-group of Ken Mary and Chuck Wright is as splendid as always, and Lanny Cordola is of course one of the real guitar heroes of his time. However, it's evident that Gregg Giuffria (keyboardist and original band-leader) isn't present here, and a bit of that "special thing" about HoL is missing. Anyway, with such great tunes as "Love Don't Lie", Sahara", "Chains Of Love", "The Edge Of Your Life" and "Pleasure Palace" this disc is a nice testimony to the hair metal scene, even here in 2007.
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Claus
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HOUSE OF LORDS
"World Upside Down" (Frontiers Records - provided by Zink) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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I'm a little late on reviewing this one, I know. It's actually one of those discs that I really enjoy listening to, but unfortunately also forgets about once it's done playing. Don't really know why it is like this, as the music here is quite close to my own preferences when it comes to classic 80's hard rock. House Of Lords were a "name to be considered" back in the glory days of hard rock / hair metal, and they still make really good music not influenced by modern day sounds at all. James Christian is a brilliant singer for this style, and guitarist Jimi Bell really let's his sixstring rip on "World Upside Down". While listening to the album I find myself totally enthusiastic about how great this is. But there's just something missing that makes me remember the songs afterwards, and because of that I can only give it 3 out of 5, sorry …
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Claus
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HOUSE OF MIRRORS
"Desolation" (Escape Music - provided by Zink Music) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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We are in EUROPE land here (not physically), but the fact that House Of Mirrors would be a small and insignificant land in this equation, is also the fact that makes me dislike this product. First of all, the production is horrible, and a bad production can ruin a whole album alone. Secondly, the lead singer doesn't really know if he wants to be in or out of tune. He sounds like he's being squeezed a bit too much sometimes, and it's sad, as he seems to have a good voice on the lower parts. What is really good on this album are the soli from both the guitar and the keys. But it is not enough to heighten the standard of the overall picture. Other bands that should be mentioned as inspirational sources are Journey and Foreigner.
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Lars
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HOWE, STEVE
"Spectrum" (Inside Out / SPV - provided by Target) - 2 out of 5 points - |
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Steve Howe is of course well known for his contributions to the best prog-rock band in the history of music - YES! In my opinion prog-rock doesn't get any better than "Tales From The Topographic Oceans", on which Steve Howe was the guitar master (as he was on several of the major albums throughout Yes' career). Also on the first 2 brilliant Asia discs, "Asia" and "Alpha", the guitars were courtesy of Mr. Howe. Add to that a lot of solo discs and his short stint with GTR, and you have one of the most important guitarists on the prog circuit ever. "Howe"-ever (sorry, couldn't help doing that), with that said, Steve Howe never really stood out as one of those amazing lead/solo guitarists, but instead shined as a real team-player … someone who could make a wonderful song even better with his gentle playing and beautiful tone, yet never trying to outdo the other members of the band. And that's why I much rather prefer Steve Howe in Yes or Asia, than on his own. "Spectrum" is a guitarists discs - an album with way too much focus on a guitarist going off in 200 different directions and showcasing his "style", without getting remotely close to ever touching the heart and soul of the listener. It's just too much guitar and too little music of interest.
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Claus
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HUGHES, GLENN
"Music For The Divine" (Frontiers Records - provided by Zink) - 1½ out of 5 points - |
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This is not what I had expected from Mr. Glenn Hughes - the voice of rock! This is a funk-rock album, not a hard rock album. Glenn Hughes is of course known from Deep Purple, Trapeze, Phenomena, Gary Moore, Black Sabbath and a million other projects, and he has always been regarded as one of THE major vocalists in hard rock. Well, here he is with his new solo album, "Music For The Divine", which honestly sounds more like a mixture between Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour and Beatles than anything remotely comparable with hard rock. The link to RHCP is quite obvious though, since both Chad Smith (drums) and John Frusciante (guitars) are part of Glenn's new band. Performance-wise and especially vocally (duuuh!) this album is perfect - and I honestly didn't expect anything less. But when it comes to being interesting, the level of perfection is close to zero, as I find myself so bored that picking my nose seem a better idea than paying attention to the music played.
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Claus
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HUGHES, GLENN "Different stages - best of" (Steamhammer/SPV - provided by Nordic Metal) - 2½ out of 5 points - |
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Best of ? - well, it depends on what Glenn Hughes you like. This "best of" have way too much of the Hughes/Trall area, which I find quite sissy and uninteresting. Well, the good old Deep Purple related tracks are excellent, but half of the tracks I skip. Go and buy the pretty new "Building the Machine" instead - here you get your moneys worth.
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Erik
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HVANGUR "Blood n' Ashes" (CD-Maximum - provided by CD-Maximum) - 0.01 out of 5 points - |
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Black metal sucks. I always thought that, and just as I thought it couldn't get any worse, I got to hear Hvangur - a Russian black metal band. This Russian duo has accomplished nothing with their second album but my irritation, and it has to be the most unprofessional release that has ever left the borders of Russia. The two people in Hvangur have no musical sense whatsoever, they can't ad real melodies in their songwriting. None of them can sing. One is crawling in the typical black metal way, and the other tries to do some chanting shit that I suppose is an attempt to make the songs dark, scary and mysterious! Well, it only makes one laugh, because not only is he incapable of carrying a tune, all the lyrics are in Russian. Think about it… Russian … Haha. In other words, Hvangur would be the laughing stock to anyone with just a microscopic sense of music. And to underline the lack professionalism in this whole project, the internet address on the back of the cover is misspelled. If you are not Russian, what are your chances to find out more about the band (whatever reason you might have to want that!!). I haven't got one positive thing to say about Hvangur - NOT ONE!!!
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Martin J
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HYPOCRISY
"Virus" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 4 out of 5 points - |
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Album number 10 from Hypocrisy, and in many ways "Virus" is a return to the sound found on the earlier-through-mid-period style for the Swedish death metal band. Yup, as always the band balances well on the border between old-school death and melodic stuff, with enough of melodies thrown in, to be able to appeal to the melo-death crowd. Whereas "The Arrival" was a more doom/slow-paced album, and the couple of discs that preceded that one just didn't interest me at all, "Virus" shows Hypocrisy from the side that made them one of the best bands in this style - reminding heavily of albums like "The Fourth Dimension" and "Abducted". And yeah, this is exactly what we old-time-Hypocrisy fans like to hear. Thumbs up!
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Claus
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HYPOCRISY "The Arrival" (Nuclear Blast - provided by VME) - 3 out of 5 points - |
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Peter Tägtgren and his alien men are back with another new disc just a year after "Catch 22". Peter is probably the busiest guy in the entire Swedish metal scene - not only busy with Hypocrisy, but also with Pain, his producing job, and I'm sure there are other things that he has gotten his hands involved in. Anyway, another Hypocrisy release is always interesting, cause we know it's quality, but we also know that we shouldn't expect a repetition of previous discs; this is melodic death metal as always, and it's the same guys as always - but besides that, Peter and the band are able to renew themselves with each album. "The Arrival" is therefore an individual output, but not necessarily one of the better Hypocrisy discs - the music is a bit slower than usual, and I'm not 100% convinced about the quality of it.
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Claus
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