Bridear - Aegis Of London... Live! (Setsuzoku Records)
Recorded at London's Boston Music Rooms in September 2022. Aegis Of London...Live! Is the first live album (they've previously released DVDs) from Japanese metal band Bridear, intended to capture the band on stage during their tour supporting Aegis Of Athena their latest studio album. Unlike other Japanese bands such as Band-Maid or Lovebites, Bridear try to avoid the overt power/shred metal style relying more the thrash/classic metal mix of American bands such as Trvium etc on the opener Side Of A Bullet, but even when they kick back into galloping power metal it's very Americanised, delivered much heavier than many of their fellow acts.
This NWOAHM, Gothenburg scene influenced take is helped by Frederick Nordström (In Flames/At The Gates) mixing/mastering this run through of the bands career in front of a rabid fan base. With the power metal Daybreak lightning the mood it's The Moment that brings back the heavy with lots of guttural growls from the melodeath arena. Their fusion of putting the heavy melodic metal with poppy hooks is quite a Japanese idea as the virtuosity is off the charts for all involved, the vocals do need a bit of getting used to but if you've ever heard a band such as Loudness then you'll get there.
It's certainly an interesting listen if you're you're not familiar with the band or the uniqueness of the Japanese metal scene, dynamic songwriting brings prog on Brave New World Revisted, the NWOBHM-like Dimensions and the pop driven Determination. The tracks positioned well in the set to make sure the audience get the best of the band, their most known numbers coming last as the mighty Again finishes things off. If I could tell you in a sentence what to expect then I'd say Alanis Morrisette fronting Trivium but they were from Japan, well worth a listen if you're curious about what Bridear do. 7/10
Unto Others - Strength II...Deep Cuts (Lone Fir Records/Eisenwald Records)
When recording their last album Strength, Portland, Oregon goth rockers Unto Others wrote 25 demos. Unfortunately for them the record label only wanted am album with around 12 tracks on it (standard length), this meant that extras were condemned to the cutting room floor or the ideas drawer.
Thankfully because the band are now on the verge of being stratospheric they have sated the appetite of their fans with this new EP which features six songs recorded during the Strength sessions with producer Arthur Rizk, three full fledged new tracks, two demos and a cover. First to the cover and it's Passion Rules The Game by Scorpions, the Unto Others version turning it into a Maiden song. The EP gets going though with the galloping Sailing In The Darkness, Over Western Shores also feeling epic and nautical, the NWOBHM chug paired with those brilliant booming vocals.
You can just hear Gabriel Franco bellowing down the mic with his mirrored aviators. Even the two demos sound great, a little rougher but they are still enough to get your head nodding along, while The Fire Of Youth is the most jangly goth rocker the band have produced. Yet more Strength from Unto Others, a band on a meteoric rise to superstardom. 8/10
Wig Wam - Out Of The Dark (Frontiers Music Srl)
Norwegian rock band Wig Wam have had a lot of people discovering who they are recently due to their track Do Ya Wanna Taste It being used as the theme to HBO's Peacemaker (starring John Cena). On the back of this you'd expect there to be a much wider audience trying to see what Glam (vocals), Teeny (guitar), Flash (bass) and Sporty (drums) sound like in 2023. Well happily exactly like they did in 2010 when Do Ya Wanna Taste It was released.
Wig Wam have an easy sound, not complicated, inspired by glam bands such as Ratt, Warrant and countless more they have seen a lot of success throughout their career having played in the Eurovision Song Contest (obviously doing better than us!) They split in 2014 but reunited in 2019 with Out Of The Dark being their second album since the reformation and their first since James Gunn chose their song as the main theme for Peacemaker. Wig Wam celebrate by releasing an album that will appeal to this new set of fans acquried from the series.
So does Out Of The Dark do anything different? Well the title track is a little more brooding than many of their songs but High N Dry returns to the sleazy ways of old as does the anthemic Bad Luck Chuck. The changes in style are more noticeable though with Forevermore becoming more of a folk metal offering, 79 getting the Gary Moore blues, The Purpose reminds me of Mr Big the majority of it though is the at the heavier end of the glam metal sound with bits of Alice Cooper on the darker toned tracks. A great way to enjoy the band if you've just discovered them, it's Wig Wam doing what they do. 8/10.
T3nors - Naked Soul (Frontiers Music Srl)
Similar to the Three Tremors project but from a different musical direction. Three excellent singers all from the AOR background combining their talents to another Frontiers collaboration records. The singers in question are Americans Robbie LaBlanc (Find Me), Toby Hitchcock (Pride Of Lions) and Swede Kent Hilli (Perfect Plan) all of whom have a distinct melodic rock vocal but they blend well on this album the songwriting from Alessandro Del Vecchio, pitched perfectly for all three men. This idea of the trio of singers had been floated for a while around Frontiers but the pandemic made it a reality.
So like the Three Tremors metal project, it's a strong selection of songs that utilises the three pronged vocal well, Hilli, Hitchcock and LaBlanc, giving their all on each track, the harmonies pretty much perfect across all of these, I'll admit pretty standard melodic rock tracks. Mainly mid paced keyboard driven rockers and some big balladry is what you get topped by the three voices. There's also three additional songs which are three songs, sung by just one of the singers by themselves. They don't really add anything but are decent enough. Naked Soul is another quality collaborative record from Frontiers. 7/10
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