Author: Antonio Díaz

{mosimage}Swedish-Finnish Project leaded by Marko Tervonen, which moves between thrash, melodic gothic and heavy metal. 

Angel Blake is born mostly as the personal project of Marko Tervonen, who was the one taking care of recording most of the instruments during this second album of the band. Later on, new musicians have been added and also left the band, until forming the present line-up with Tobias Jansson taking care of the vocals. Guitar riffs sound sharp; drums are straightforward pushing the lyrics and Jansson´s vocals skills, although not among the best in the heavy metal scene “per se”, are full of energy and feeling, fundamental to catch the right vibe of songs with a marked dark metal spirit, although always keeping a melodic line.

After the changes in the formation and the ups and downs, it is to be praised that Tervonen and company were able to release a work that sounds mature enough to be at the same level that other outstanding gothic Finnish bands, and songs like Anywhere in Here or When All the Lights Are Out are into my favorites of the record, powerful but very listenable at the same time.

Nevertheless, it will be nice to see the progression of Angel Blake in future works, and if the line-up is more settled and the other members can feel more participative to achieve albums that can make them move forward from the big mass of gothic bands wandering the stages of Northern Europe.

Rating 3/5. 

{mosimage}After 5 years, it is about time for a new album of no-man, under k scope record label.

Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness are back on the road with Schoolyard Ghosts, a little treasure that goes deeper and deeper into your soul at the same rhythm than the xylophone that sounds shy but firm in the background of the introductory track All Sweet Things.  A collection of little jewels that make difficult to highlight just one, although if I have to choose, I pick Beautiful Songs You Should Know as my favorite one of the 8 tracks that will leave you begging for more.

A list of top calls collaborators such as Theo Travis on the saxophone, Gavin Harrison, Pat Mastelotto, Bruce Kaphan and the Philharmonic Orchestra of London to square an amazing album full of sensibility, feeling and excellent music.  A rich sonic palette, with some psychedelic moments like in Pigeon Drummer, painting a melancholic but shiny album that you must not miss in your CD collection.

Rating 5/5.

{mosimage}The Presidents of USA are here again, and not for robbing banks, but for featuring their sixth album.

Seattle based band attacks again and brings the party to your home with their new studio album: These Are the Good times People. A smart and entertaining album, a bit more of sophisticated in the conception and the sound, but with the same degree of mischief than ever, starting from the first track Mixed Up S.O.B. (do you guess what the initials mean?) or the exhilarating More Bad Times.

The album consists of 14 songs with not many ups and downs, forming a solid block of good tunes perfect to spice up an open air party. The Presidents like it fast and raw, with songs that usually do not exceed more than 3 minutes and go direct to the point. For those of you who thought that the Presidents of USA were dead or in rehab, here comes another good dose of great listenable rock and roll to make you move your feet while putting a smile in your face.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}Michael Stipe and his band REM had not released a studio album since 2004, but it was worthy to wait!

The guys from Athens, Georgia (not Greece) are back, and in excellent health. From the first ravaging song Living Well Is the Best Revenge, with a demolishing bass and heavy guitar riffs, REM shows that its period of auto-reflection is past, and it is about time to come back to the roots of Out of time, Automatic for The People or Monster: direct songs, politically involved but more “light” to listen to, with a good doses of speed (nevertheless the 11 tracks are compressed in just 34 minutes of a certainly resounding album).  

Many winks to their old albums in the style, and Stipe in excellent shape on the vocals, transmitting a refreshing spirit in tracks like Supernatural Superserious (the first single of the album) or Hollow Man that reminds that light spirit involved in old classics like Shiny Happy People. It is great to have Buck, Mills and Stipe back with a solid record that sounds, if not better than ever, at least as good as a decade ago. A great comeback.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}The Canadian Bryan Adams is back with 11 tracks for his 11th studio album. Guess the title of the record…

11 songs, 11 tour dates and 11 studio albums in his career. Bryan Adams has been around, no doubt about that, and wants to pay a little homage to himself and his extensive career as one of the most influential pop/rock musicians of the last decades with this new work:  11.

What you can find here is Bryan Adams deeply into the style that has made him famous (especially among the female audience). Good love tunes, a soft rock easy to listen and lyrics that are not going to sound risky at this stage of his career.

Songs like I Thought I ´d Seen Everything or I Ain´t Losin´the Fight are the perfect compositions for a soundtrack of a Hollywood romantic comedy, and surely they can rank high in the charts worldwide, but it is difficult to find any excitement or to foresee any kind of risk in the Canadian´s career.

Pieces of music of undoubtedly good quality to listen with your couple with a good bottle of wine on the table during a romantic evening, but do not expect any extra musical excitement here.

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}Debut album from the young metal heads from Helsinki.

With only 8 tracks in their homonymous first album, Tracedawn were able to gladly surprise me from the first moment with the introductory track Without Walls. Nevertheless the guitar riffs and vocals of Antti Lappalainen can remind you quite much of the young Blind Guardian. Later, the fusion of melodic tones with rougher screams can make you think of other influences like Crematory, like in the fifth song In Love with Insanity.

The album sounds compact, and you can appreciate the hand of Nino Laurenne (guitarist of Thunderstone) keeping an eye there. Good quality that goes far beyond my initial expectations, although if we can add a “but” 8 tracks taste like little,  and 3-4 more songs would have been highly appreciated make the final product more squared.Tracedawn will be steeping into the summer festivals, like at Tuska or Sauna Open Air.  An excellent chance for fans of good metal to seize them on stage.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}The most popular Portuguese band is back with a new studio album.

The fans of Moonspell must feel happy, since the awaiting was not very long since Under Satanae to have in their hands a new studio album.

Fernando Ribeiro and his boys come into business here deepening into black metal style, far from former more experimental albums. Gothic atmospheres, fracturing riffs and the skills and personality of Ribeiro that leaves once more signs of his good skills as composer. The starting At Tragic Heights goes straight to the point, exhaling the best elements that have made Moonspell to be considered one of the best black metal bands of the last decade.  Another highlight in the album comes with Scorpion Flower,  a beautiful composition that counts with the collaboration in the vocals of Anneke van Giersbergen.

A return to their dark roots that surely will work out pretty well in the charts and consolidate the band into the fans hearts. No place for big surprises here, but there weren´t any needed in any case. Ribeiro´s multisided personality as musician, poet and translator is able to catch the audience by himself, and the band has the maturity to rock the stages and transform the melodies into great shows full of energy.  Many of you had the chance to see that during last Tuska festival where the Portuguese were one of the best performing bands in the Finnish capital.  Good to see that they did not rest on their laurels and came back so soon with another great album!

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}The band from Kuopio features their third studio album, ready to devastate the stages during summer season.

Brutal vocals getting mixed with more melodic tunes, sharp guitars, hammering drums and explosive keyboards. Shade Empire is able to twist a bit more the black metal genre, achieving a difficult task, to sound commercial but still with a personal style. Harju´s voice is all what you can expect from a dark metal singer and more, if not, listen to the track Harvesters of Death where he gives an impressive lesson of how a death metal singer must perfom, and there is a sweet impression left from the skills of Rasane at the drums as well. Not without reason that the band ranked at the top 15 of the Finnish charts in the first days of the release of the album.

But all in all, Shade Empire faces the same advantages and problems than many of their “brothers” metal bands in Finland. On one hand an excellent audience in love with heavy metal open to the genre, and a wide circuit of concerts around Finland (for example, you can see them in the incoming Tuska festival), but on the other hand, a voracious competence not only with the international market, but also inside Finland´s scene, a place where during the last couple of years, when you kick a stone, you can find a dozen new metal bands.

Shade Empire sings in English, what makes it always more open to a wider international projection (and easier to understand for our readers). Zero Nexus is a good mature album that surely will fix the band´s position more firmly into wide Finnish metal scene.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}Indie band Soul Tattoo brings some sunlight into the Finnish souls with their new and fresh album.

With not many resources but a lot of illusion and skills, Malaga is one of the nicest surprises in the Finnish music scene during the first months of 2008. Mixing rock, pop and blues, with a certain dark touch, the music works and hits you from the first time you listen to the album. The band of Samuli Laiho and J. Sydänmäki has achieved a rounded work with anthems like Feather Girl or Magic Hat. For some moments the vocal skills remind me of a young Bono like in Let the Light In.

Soul Tattoo shows that indie scene in Finland is healthy, and there is more to explore than just heavy metal.  I am looking forward to seeing them on stage, to check if they sound as good on live as in this outstanding album. A must have for lovers of good music and new experiences.

Rating 5/5. 

{mosimage}24 years after the release of their last album, the legendary British electronic band is back with a new record.

Recorded in California in just 18 days, Go Away White is the new work of Peter Murphy, David J, Daniel Ash and Kevin Haskins; a beautiful swansong, being announced as the last album performed by a band that wanted to pay homage to themselves. 

The album explores the rock side of the band, unusually power guitar riffs in songs like Too Much 21st Century or Adrenalin. But there is also space for those old famous keyboards in Undone or Eternal Summer of the Damned. Murphy´s voice works perfectly when screaming or just whispering, claiming the place of honor that had been taken in the last months by the rebirth in the media coverage of other bands like Joy Division.

Same than vampires are able to stand the pass of years, the band offers a mature record, full of fractured guitar and uneasy melodies that have nothing to miss from their music of two decades ago. Without big pretensions, Go Away White will surely satisfy the old fans that had already lost hope to see a new album of the band, and supposes as well an excellent chance for those who were not born yet when Murphy and company stepped on the stages in the 70s to discover the dark magic of their music.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}After 30 years on the road, Coverdale and his boys are back again with a new studio álbum to show that they still know how to rock.

If this album had been released a couple of years after Whitesnake, being such a high hit in 1987, probably we were talking a different story here. But unfortunately, for many people in rock scene Whitesnake and Coverdale are considered old dinosaurs, so it is difficult to break that barrier and have an objective approach to their new studio     album. 

A work that all in all shows as much balls and guts as their old good records. From the opening Best Years, that sounds like a powered version of Brian Adams ´Summer of 69, continuing with Can You hear the Wind Blow, the compulsory great ballad Summer Rain, the bluesy A fool in Love or the blowing Good to be Bad, the album is a great collection of lyrics, ripping guitar riffs and Coverdale´s vocal skills. This gentleman has the honor to be one of the best singers ever in the melodic rock history, and here, even aging 57, shows shy. 

Last time I saw Whitesnake was during their visit to Helsinki 3 years ago, being simultaneously the birthday of Coverdale, and nobody got disappointed with the show. He connected from the first instant with the public, received flowers and kisses from the female audience and showed once again that rock never dies. Surely you must not miss them in their incoming visit to Finland in June to Sauna Open Air in Tampere.

Rating 4/5.