Reviews: All My Shadows, Robin McAuley, First Signal, Creye (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

All My Shadows - Eerie Monsters (Frontiers Music Srl)

All My Shadows is the new project from Vanden Plas guitarist Stephan Lill and vocalist Andy Kuntz, Lill is longest serving member of Vanden Plas but also has a background in theatre/rock operas, which he has leaned on in this project, utilising Kuntz expansive vocals for a style that obviously has similarities to Vanden Plas of course but is quite a different beast. 

Lill says that he was inspired by the likes of Whitesnake, Ozzy and Dokken with this album, I'd also say there's a bit of Alice Cooper too but the Prince Of Darkness is probably the biggest influence on tracks such as Silent Waters, with the proggy moments obviously coming from Vanden Plas and also Queensryche. Heavily orchestrated with warm, rich production, there's a pervading darkness to this record which is deliberate, making it a fusion of 80's anthemic songwriting and modern rock muscle, the ballad Farewell a real 80's moment. Lill's guitar playing understated but explosive when needed, the rest of the band being Stephen's brother Andreas on drums, Franky R on bass and Markus Teske giving some great keys and the retro futurist production. 

They bring some punch to A Boy Without A Name, a carnival/Alice Cooper atmosphere to Syrens as Lifeforms and Wolverinized really leans on Queensryche for it's style. With all the musicians create these heavy rock tracks Kuntz vocals are pitched perfectly to handle it all. Fans of Vanden Plas will discover much to like hear but there's no required reading before you listen as it's a record that stand on it's own merit. 8/10

Robin McAuley - Alive (Frontiers Music Srl)

Anyone who can work that closely with Michael Schenker back in the day (well post MSG) and still be alive deserves all the kudos they can get. This is where the 70 year old Irish rock veteran singer Robin McAuley came to peoples attention back in the mid 80's, though he was also a member of Grand Prix, The McAuley in McAuley-Schenker Group he is still a part of the Schneker Experience performing with Schenker Fest as well and also is the voice of Frontiers signed group Black Swan.

On this second solo album he has tried to make it more rock oriented than the last one, and the riffy title track certainly lifts up your hopes that this could have quite tough edge to it. Now in Black Swan he has something of a mini supergroup but here it's the same Frontiers house team led by Alessandro Del Vecchio on keys/bass/production, that appeared on his last solo album. The remaining members of the band Italian session men who are crafting McAuley and Del Vecchio's writing into fully formed songs. Clearly inspired by the hard rock of Black Swan, Alive manages to keep that spirit of 80's rock n roll that Black Swan did with McAuley's aged, gruff vocal pitched well, never really having to venture too far outside of what is comfortable for him. 

Still Alive and kicking Robin McAuley is cranking up the volume on this second solo record, if you liked the Black Swan albums he appeared on then Alive is very much in the same spirit. 7/10

First Signal - Face Your Fears (Frontiers Music Srl)

Harry Hess of Harem Scarem has been fronting First Signal since 2010 and they have four records before this. Does this fifth do anything different to the rest of their discography? The short answer is no, but that's not a bad thing, Hess' vocal is the perfect foil for the melodic rock noise First Signal make. 

He has a soulful, emotive singing style with a bit of grit to it as well and on Face Your Fears he collaborates with producer/guitarist/vocalist Michele Guaitoli, who produces and plays bass/guitars, taking over from Dennis Ward and Daniel Flores before him, you can change the right hand man but as Zeppelin once put it "the song remains the same" and all writing is done to appease long time fans of First Signal and of course Harem Scarem who's hiatus this band was created to address. 

With Guaitoli taking over from Flores, you may think that he'd put his own spin on things but no First Signal stick to their established sound of slick numbers like Always Be There and driving rockers like Dominoes which lets Marco Pastorino let loose a little although within the AOR/melodic rock framework that First Signal exist within. If you liked the previous four albums you'll like Face Your Fear, if not then there's no big seismic shift in what they do, classy melodic rock with a great vocalist at the helm. 7/10

Creye - III: Weightless (Frontiers Music Srl)

Obviously this is the third album from Swedish band Creye, and it's the next part of their evolution as a band, following on from II, they have refined things a little more and found that they are now as potent and enjoyable as the also well refined sugar. Though on the back of that analogy Creye are not sickly in anyway, they are modern melodic rock band with a vocalist who sits in the Myles Kennedy school of passionate vocals, though moody opener Glorious doesn't really give you as good of an example as it could. 

It's about atmosphere building, the electronic beats used in Air reminding me of The Weeknd as the repeating synths of One Step Closer, backing up their position as a Scandi melodic rock band, as many of their compatriots use this synth heavy sound, but Creye are no way retro, like so many bands in the melodic rock arena. Their sound is bang up to date with a defined pop influence on tracks such as The Game, they don't forgo the rock, just let the distorted guitars, twin guitar attack for extra power and bouncy synths merge. 

If Journey didn't try to recreate Escape with every record, they could be writing stuff like Creye does, a thrilling fusion of new and old that will get broad acceptance with melodic rock fans. Stay tuned as this Swedish band have all the potential to be massive. 8/10