Sweet & Lynch-Only to Rise ©2015 Frontiers Records
I fully expected this album to be really good. Two dynamic artists has got to translate to a great record right. Oh hell yes! The writing on this record is really good. Great melodies, great musicianship, and superb vocal work. Something that jumped out at me was just how good both Sweet and Lynch are. Being a fan of both for a very long time had me really checking out both and feeling how complete this record is. The contributions of Brian Tichy and James Lomenzo really rounded this release out. Very solid melodic rock record that hits on all cylinders. Definitely recommended!
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Red Rose-Anniversary ©2015 Red Rose
Had not heard Red Rose before this ep. Based in Israel, the band plays their music with a decent amount of progressive inspiration and a lot of melody. The band are celebrating 5 years together and put this ep together as a celebration of that. The music will definitely appeal to the progressive audience, but has great appeal to rock fans of any genre. 'Anniversary' has put this band on my radar of bands to keep an eye on as this style is one of those I like quite a bit. It's a 4 track of which all 4 are memorable. As a down side if there was one, it's only 4 tracks. Will be looking forward to hearing this band more!
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Grenoeur-Unwanted Today ©2015 Mausoleum Records
The really cool part of hearing Grenouer so late when it came to their last album 'Blood on the Face' was that there wasn't a very long wait to hear this new material. The band once again have put together a good album similar in a lot of ways to the previous album in style and sound. It once again leans more modern and has a decent amount of melody. The guitar has a pretty dark and ominous tone at times, but mixes very well with the rest of the bands sound. Ends up with a very heavy yet melodic feel. This album will get some decent listening time as the last one did. Good job again Grenouer!
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MarysCreek-Incubic Twin ©2014 MarysCreek Records
One of the more enjoyable elements to doing what I do is the exposure to many bands that are really good and that I have not been exposed to before. MarysCreek is another one of those bands that have put together a solid album with a good pounding low end mixed with great riffing and vocal work. This 5 track album which has been out for a bit now is a pretty even listen. The music has a modern edge to it along with some memorable choruses which is what the band strives for. There apparently is new music in the works for sometime in 2015. We'll be talking more about this band soon!
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Megaherz-Zombieland ©2015 Metropolis Records
One of the NDH bands that I always go back to upon each release is Megaherz. To me they always seem to deliver. Obviously you have to have a taste for German vocal work similar to Rammstein. The band delivers again with some pretty infectious modern heavy music. Not sure if this music will ever take off in the U.S., but I definitely have a place for it in my collection. There are some tracks on this album that have good single potential such as 'Himmelsstürmer' or 'Fanatisch'. There is some Youtube stuff up on this band if you haven't checked them out. Really cool stuff in my opinion!
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