Reviews: Myles Kennedy, Wind Rose, Ihlo, Sweet (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Myles Kennedy – The Art Of Letting Go (Napalm Records)

As his Alter Bridge cohorts make that nostalgia back over in the USA by reforming Creed and getting Millennials everywhere singing along in stadiums around the country, his buddy Slash going on blues trip with various singers and guitarists, Myles Kennedy has recorded a third solo album, following up from The Ides Of March in 2021, and with his main band sitting idle, Myles, his band Zia Uddin (drums) and Tim Tournier (bass) and producer Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette (Creed/Alter Bridge/Tremonti) has moved away from the acoustic/roots approach of his first solo records for an out and out rocker, one that has a bit more bite than the last few Alter Bridge records. While they now mainly consist of singles, The Art Of Letting Go, is an album, one to be taken in fully, like say Blackbird of ABIII. 

With songs that are designed to be performed as trio, they’re barebones, guitar/bass/drums in harmony with those brilliant vocals that are so unmistakeable. Miss You When You’re Gone keeps the acoustic beginnings of Myles’ solo tracks alongside that euphoric catharsis Kennedy always has with his lyricism. This is a clear radio single, the same can be said for the country rocking of the title track, while Eternal Lullaby feels like a Chris Cornell solo track, as Mr Downside is a bit more akin to the Creed/Alter Bride mothership. 

Oh yeah this is definitely a rock record, be it the swaggering groove of Saving Face, the strutting riff of Nothing More To Gain and that fat chug of Dead To Rights, The Art Of Letting Go is right up there with the best records in the Alter Bridge and Creed catalogues. Not just an acoustic troubadour and singer for talented guitarists, Myles Kennedy shows that he’s every inch a rock star all on his own with this third solo album. 8/10

Wind Rose - Trollslayer (Napalm Records)

Italian Dwarven metal band Wind Rose have long been an internet sensation. One of the few power metal bands to go viral, this has seen them support some of the genres biggest and brightest, with their stage costumes and anthemic party metal tracks they have captured not only the internet's attention but the wider metal crowd. 

So then Trollslayer, their sixth album again features eclectic tracks which vary between drinking anthems, videogame soundtracks, growled vocals, bags of hooks and the usual tributes to Warhammer, I wonder when Games Workshop will sponsor them? 

So Trollslayer offers up more medieval metal which will get their fans excited, be it the anthemic Rock And Stone, the mighty title track or The Great Feast Underground which with it's chorus about drinking and folky elements is very Korpiklaani. 

There not much else to say about these troll slaying dwarves, if you've heard that song they did then there's nothing too different, but it's all fun. 7/10

Ihlo - Union (Kscope) 

Originally formed as a duo of Andy Robison (vocals) and Phil Monro (guitars) Ihlo added guitarist Rob Mair, drummer Clark McMenemy, and bassist Michael Roberts. They released Union originally in 2019, but now it has been picked up by seminal prog label Kscope for a vinyl release. 

However that's not all, the album was remastered by Tesseract man Acle Kahney and features two bonus live tracks recorded at their ProgPower Europe show in 2023. Ihlo play modern prog rock the sort that is so en-vogue right now, chunky start-stop riffs, electronics and pop nuances all blended into a Union in many ways. 

With influences of Caligula's Horse, VOLA and Rendezvous Point, Ihlo jump out of the gates with Union the riffs counterpointed against the soaring vocals which speak of surrealism and nature, Starseeker is anthemic as Reanimate is constructed by bubbling electronics. 

Hollow meanwhile is dreamy, otherworldly, a futuristic fantasy which continues with the Parhelion a track that adds the likes of Leprous, the album coming to an end with the epic Coalescence. If you've heard the album on the first release, which I had but didn't review because I'm an idiot, you can see why it was picked up by Kscope, it's exciting modern prog that deserves to be heard! 9/10

Sweet - Full Circle (Metalville)

I mean where do you begin with Sweet? Having been a band for more than six decades, they were at their peak during the glam rock era with several huge radio hits. Notable a major influence on Def Leppard, all these years later they are still going despite, declining mainstream popularity, deaths, splits and legal wrangles, still led by founding member Andy Scott (guitar/vocals) they are probably still the premier purveyors of glam rock. 

While you may not have heard every single record by them, perhaps any as for me they are more of a singles band, coming from a time when singles mattered. They, well Andy's version (there was another of Sweet until 2020), have been releasing records infrequently since the original line up dissolved. This is their first album of original material since 2012 as 2020's Isolation Boulevard was an album of remotely recorded songs new spin and couple of newbies. 

Reconvened in the studio, they love to record their songs 'live' how they perform them, so there's a bit of meat under the glam rock catsuits, Andy Scott and Tom Cory shifting the stomping guitar riffs of Burning Like A Falling Star, though Tom's keys are also just as important. Lee Small (bass) and Adam Booth (drums) give a great backroom beat to the epic Everything and the NWOBHM thrust of Destination Hannover. 

The real treat though are the vocals of former Cats In Space man Paul Manzi who has a Coverdale-like soulfulness, it means that with Circus it's only in the backing vocals that the Sweetisms can be heard, if you didn't know who the band was you'd think it was another member of the NWOCR crew, somewhere between melodic rock and AOR, with some Beatlesesque moves on Defender and Coming Home. 

Anyone that hasn't heard Sweet since the 70's may be a little thrown due to this change to a bluesy rock/AOR band but they were that before the Chapman/Chinn mega-hits and that's where they are more than comfortable now, coming full circle indeed. 7/10