Nordic Giants - Origins (Self Released)
Esoteric, enigmatic, spellbinding the music of duo Nordic Giants can be called all these things. But it can always be referred to as forward thinking. Musically expansive, visually thrilling and progressive to the truest meaning of the word, Origins sees Nordic Giants in retrospective mood. It's a compilation of their first EP, two singles and a rework of a track of a bonus.
It's not just a reissue though, this is a proper album, the order has been mixed around to make sure it flows better, the songs themselves have been re-mixed, re-mastered and most importantly re-recorded with live strings, drums, piano, synths and guitars to make for a more natural feeling record, suiting the band Nordic Giants are today and showing how far they have come in the 10+ years since these songs were first released.
The songs themselves are beautiful, richly inspired by Nordic/Scandi art pop and alternative music, leaning more on their classic prog stylings from today, guest vocalists still in tact it's the musical backing that shines through, the careful, meticulous reconstitution of these songs will appeal to long term fans, as they will possibly have only heard some of these songs live in a way similar to this, but it's also a good way for new fans to experience the band in their earliest guise but with their current style. 8/10
Holy Mother - Rise (Massacre Records)
American heavy metal is a joyous thing, I've always enjoyed the more muscular, heavier, thrashier style of classic and power metal supplied by our cousins across the pond.
Saying this I've never heard Holy Mother before despite them being around since 1990 and Rise being their seventh studio album. Like with a lot of new albums from American heavy metal bands recently, Face This Burn, their previous album and this new record Rise are tribute's to a fallen co-founding member Randy Coven who passed in 2003, leading to a break in the band.
They reformed in 2020 with co-founders Mike Tirelli (vocals/rhythm guitar) and Jim Harris (drums/lesd vocals) taking the band forward. Unfortunately it seems Rise is the last album to feature Harris so Holy Mother will be forging ahead with Tirelli, lead guitarist Mickey Lyxx, bassist Wayne Banks (Persian Risk) and Steve MacQueen on drums.
So what's this album like? Well it has some anthemic heavy metal, meaty riffs and Dio-like vocals from Tirelli charging the songs such as Power and Fire forward as Harris and British bassist Banks round out this gutsy rhythm section. Bouncing between power metal and thrash metal as Mickey Lyxx lives up to his name with a loads of tasty speed/virtuoso licks and solos. There's also a ton of guests on guitar, keys, strings and backing vocals making for a record that's dynamic, tough US heavy metal. 7/10
Issa - Another World (Frontiers Music Srl)
AOR is full of powerhouse vocalists. Especially powerhouse female vocalists, be it Ann Wilson, Pat Benatar, Roxette or Robin Beck, there's a lot of history for a singer such as Issa to live up to. There's no issue with that though as Another World marks the eighth album from this Norwegian vocal sensation on Frontiers, working this time with Vega founding members James and Tom Martin, who have left that band in 2022, but bring their 80's melodic rock influence to this album.
With James on synths, Tom on guitar/bass, Leon Robert Winteringham on lead guitar and glut of special guests on various additional instruments, Another World is that slick, saturated melodic rock Vega have been doing for a long time, Issa taking to this direction brilliantly due to her vocal chops. Both the brothers not only wrote the album but also handled the production alongside Alessandro Del Vecchio.
There's a couple of ballads, such as Only In The Dark or A Second Life, the former having some slinky sax while the latter reminds me of Richard Marx at his most radio friendly. Another World though is a rock album, there's riffing on the title track, Armed & Dangerous and The Hardest Fight while Got A Hold Of Me adds some synthy basslines. 80's styled melodic rock from on of Frontiers best singers and two of AOR's best writers. 7/10
Swelling Repulsion - Fatally Misguided (Transcending Obscurity Records)
Mechanically precise battery, progressive flourishes and dissonant walls of aggression these are all what Swelling Repulsion bring as a band. Their songs are all busy, built on multiple layers of Donovan's guitars, which add a real violence to Sacred Doom as Kristian Jablonicky's bass playing is just as technical, both string instruments in some killer unison throughout.
It's an album that needs repeated listens to fully discover what it's about. Donovan and drummer Bage share the vocals, though I'm not sure how he can sing when he's going full pelt on track such as Drug Induced Anti-Logic and Failure but maybe he's not human. Like a bad acid trip at a Dismember concert Swelling Repulsion are less misguided more laser focussed on this new record. 7/10
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