Reviews: House Of Lords, Cleanbreak, Fans Of The Dark, Radioactive (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

House Of Lords - Full Tilt Overdrive (Frontiers Music s.r.l)

James Christian has been the voice of melodic rockers House Of Lords for 35 years and he's still up there vocally with some of the best. Inspired by powerhouse hard rock bands such as Whitesnake and Van Halen, they perhaps never got the dues they should have, like many hard rock bands the influx of grunge and then Nu metal overshadowed a lot of bands such as House Of Lords, Thunder, Little Angels, Winger etc.

This led to a hiatus until 2000 then persistent touring, line up changes and the blessing of co-founding member Gregg Giuffria, they have been forging the path they are on now since then, constantly traversing the globe and releasing seven albums in their current form, Full Tilt Overdrive being their twelfth overall. Keeping the same line up as 2017's Saints And Sinners, they are now more in sync, Mark Mangold especially showing why he's so vital to HOL with his keys, writing and co-production alongside Christian.

For House Of Lords newbies imagine a band that merges Def Leppard with Deep Purple or even modern day Europe and anything with Jeff Scott Soto. There's some very modern production, making the record boom out of the speakers with big rock riffs from Jimi Bell underpinned by the bass groove of Christian and the steady beat of drummer Johan Koleberg with tracks such as Bad Karma, the bluesy Cry Of The Wicked.

Mangold's Lord-like organs burst on the title track while his synths fizz on You're Cursed, State Of Emergency and the industrial Not The Enemy. They slow down with the Southern acoustics of Taking The Fall a bit of a throwback to their early days as Don't Wanna Say Goodbye is full of modern pop the finale 9 minute Castles High is a massive part prog, part rock feast. Full Tilt Overdrive doesn't change what House Of Lords have been doing for 35 years it just gets more modern and refined with each release. 9/10

 
Cleanbreak - We Are The Fire (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

Cleanbreak is another collaborative project under the Frontiers banner, fronted by James Durbin who made his name as a singer for many high profile performers and featured on American Idol as a contestant that stuck to heavy metal. 

He’s released a solo album that was shameless tribute to the likes of Dio and Priest, and has previously sung on the debut Cleanbreak album. Together with guitarist Mike Flyntz (Riot V), Cleanbreak are another band that play classic heavy metal, chugging riffs, killer solos and anthemic choruses about overcoming obstacles in your life, just check out song titles such as Resilience In Our Souls, Unbreakable, Can’t Lose Hope and they’ll tell you that this is music to be defiant and sing loudly. 

Proper classic heavy metal and while the first album featured a rhythm section from Stryper, this one takes the more familiar shape of Alessandro Del Vecchio on bass/keys and Nicholas Papapicco on drums, two players who have featured on countless Frontiers projects. This new record feels a bit heavier a bit nastier, the rhythms hit a bit harder while Flyntz plays some killer riffs born from Riot V, Priest and Accept, you'll be nodding your head along to every track which is a sign of quality for heavy metal of this kind. 

Durbin has nothing to prove vocally and if the ‘Voice Of Rock’ title was up for grabs I’d say hand it to him as he’s got the same versatility and power as Glen Hughes. While their debut was an introduction, We Are The Fire seems like Cleanbreak cementing themselves as a band with some classic heavy rock. 8/10

Fans Of The Dark - Video (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

Fans Of The Dark return with their new album, Video, famously what killed the radio star, FOTD are paying homage to the video store, choosing what to watch, taking time on it, looking at the blurb and the cover, the little snippets that played on the screens, it’s something that is quite nostalgic to me as well, and is actually how I use something like Spotify, listen to an album if I like it buy it. 

It’s about taking time and era now lost, a paean to the 80’s and early 90’s where AOR ruled the airwaves. This is their third album and nothing changes too much, there’s plenty of Bonnet fronted Rainbowisms from the vocals and the keyboard heavy backing, I’d say that perhaps the songs have been refined a little as the band have now performed together after the release of their second album and after covers EP showed their influences.

They have now defined what they do as band, sat somewhere between anything with Joe Lynn Turner, Toto and also Mike And The Mechanics, they’re built on Freddie Allen’s big drum sound and Alex Falk’s soulful vocals. One for AOR lovers, Video puts on its rose-tinted glasses and takes you back to when songs like this ruled the airwaves and MTV played music videos. 7/10

Radioactive - Reset (Frontiers Music s.r.l.)

Another AOR project, this time from the mind of guitarist/songwriter/producer Tommy Denander, Reset is the sixth album from Radioactive and marks a return for the Radioactive project. With a title track and one other written by legendary producer Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange, Reset is Denander returning to the roots of this project. 

So of course it sounds like Toto, when Radioactive released their first album in 1991, Jeff Porcaro, Mike Porcaro, Steve Porcaro and David Paich were his backing band, from there he’s made more albums each featuring some of the best players and vocalists around. This one, his sixth record, not only features Mutt Lange but virtuoso bassist Tony Levin, Robin McAuley (MSG), Bryan Adams’ guitarist Keith Scott. So expect huge in your face production, massive backing vocals and anthemic radio friendly AOR. 

No whether you like it or not depends if you like Toto, Def Leppard and Bryan Adams, as there is very heavy Mutt Lange influence to the record, in terms of the writing, Shame On You, Shame On Me is a lost Bryan Adams cut surely? So if his slick style of production and pop writing isn’t your thing the you may want to avoid it but if AOR with some top notch musicians and a focus on ‘the band’ rather than the singers then you’ll enjoy this Reset. 7/10