Heavy Metal Resource Reviews-Lacuna Coil, Scream Arena, Romantic Rebel, Vanden Plas, and Feel Never Real

Index

Always enjoy the music of Lacuna Coil. The band are pretty consistent from album to album, only veering a little here and there in terms of sound. This record is really solid and has a good heavy feel to it overall. Nothing feels generic or bland in my opinion. It's a record that will keep your attention from start to finish with no real need to skip anything. If you have a feel for what this band does in terms of their sound, you'll know what to expect from this album. If you aren't familiar with this band at this point, this is a good album to check out. Good dual vocal work as always.

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UK based Scream Arena offer up their debut hard rocking self titled album. At one time, the UK was the place to churn out hard rock and metal. Scream Arena are doing their part to return to this notion. The album fits mostly into the vein of traditional hard rock. Some of it feels very classic to me. Upon my first listen it felt mid 80's in alot of ways. Being one of my favorite times for this type of music, I found this to be very cool. The band for the most part have their own identity in terms of sound. The album is consistent and has good songwriting throughout. Definitely worth a listen for new fans!

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Chicago based heavy rock act Romantic Rebel really get it right with their self titled debut album. This female fronted band display a huge amount of attitude as well as having their chops down in other ways. Songwriting is solid with great riffs. The music has an old school feel, but at the same time a bit more modern sound. With the sheer number of bands on the market today, it takes that something extra to get noticed. This band has just the right amount of flash and attitude to stand ahead of alot of other bands. Overall this album is heavy with the only real slowdown at the end with 'Sorry'. Solid!

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I've come to the conclusion through the years that Vanden Plas is one sophisticated band. Each album brings this element in ways with the latest concentrating on visions. Each song is a vision and in terms of sound, it's Vanden Plas to it's core. For me it took a few listens to digest this album, but at that point it started to grow on me alot. Two of my favorites of these tracks are 'Vision 3hree-Godmaker' which is also a video track and 'Vison 9ine-Soul Alliance'. The latter is without a doubt my favorite with it's very cool groove. Really take your time with this release, you'll find it was worth it.

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I'm always in the mood for something different. Feel Never Real fits that description in spades. There are so many different elements on the bands album that it keeps it very interesting, and fun. Their is plenty of humor, but also enough substance to be taken seriously. Some of it is more groove oriented and catchy while other tracks are more on the heavy side. 'Back in the Day' stood out to me as a bit nostalgic sounding and a bit different from the rest. Overall, I found this album worth going back to multiple times as I enjoy the non-predictable nature of it. The band is on my musical radar now!

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