Tag SPV

Revew: Rage

Rage “Unity” (SPV) The album opens with a drum and guitar dirge reminiscent of the opening of Diamond Head’s “Am I Evil” then plunges into a technically proficient Voivod influenced segue before striking out into a full force avant garde…

Review: Lana Lane

Lana Lane “Project Shangri-La” (SPV) Lana Lang?  Lois Lane?  Lana Lang?  Lana Lang was Superman’s small town sweetheart back in Smallville but she hooked up with high school footballer beau, Brad.  By rejecting Clark Kent’s advances and going for the…

Review: Axel Rudi Pell

Axel Rudi Pell “Shadow Zone” (SPV) Axel Rudi Pell has been churning out his guitar driven tunes for over ten years now.  The songs are all little poems from guitar god Axel Rudi Pell to his big bad guitar god…

Review: Angra

Angra “Rebirth” (SPV) The best frame of reference to bracket this album in is Helloween on the top, Helstar on the bottom, rock on the left hand side and a hard place on the right.  The band is collapsing under…

Review: Freedom Call

Freedom Call “Crystal Empire” (SPV) “Strangers in the night/ rising up to fight” thus sings Freedom Call’s vocalist in a falsetto that makes every line sound as if it’s loaded with great significance.  Freedom Call are immaculate musicians like many…

Review: Wizard

Wizard “Head of the Deceiver” (SPV) Wizard is a poor man’s Iron Maiden with a dash of a middle class worker drone’s Manowar and a sprinkling of a drunken spare changers German Power Metal (Rage, Helloween, Running Wild, etc) I…

Review: Saxon

Saxon “Killing Ground” (SPV) Saxon deserves their kudos. They were at the forefront of the British metal invasion, innovative and fearless leaders, but they were run over and over shadowed in popularity by the likes of Judas Priest and Def…

Review: Glenn Hughes

Glenn Hughes “Building the Machine” (SPV) This white boy is blacker than most black music of today.  Soul is clearly at the center of Glenn’s musical influences. It operates as an anchored and gravitational center for everything else to adhere…

Review: Company of Snakes

Company of Snakes “Here They Go Again” (SPV) First, who is Company of Snakes? Company of Snakes is Whitesnake, for all intensive and extensive purposes, minus David Coverdale to which I say, fare thee fucking well. Guitarists Micky Moody, Bernie…