Stryper-The Final Battle ©2022 Frontiers Records
Stryper continue to release quality music and have been for a long time. 'The Final Battle' has some great hard rock tunes that for the most part fit into a crunchy mid tempo sound that had me thinking along the lines of some of Dio's work. There are a couple of burners. 'Transgressors' and 'Rise To The Call' to me are the heavier tunes on the album. 'Near' is the melodic track of the album. The album overall is fairly level in terms of tempo. Performances are good and Michael Sweet sounds great vocally. He nails some great screams showing his voice is still holding up. Stryper has become an important part of the hard rock and metal genres through the years and it's really cool that they continue to do things their way. 'The Final Battle' and the music on it should translate well to the stage. Another great outing by a very good band!
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Chez Kane-Powerzone ©2022 Frontiers Records
Chez Kane returns with another impressive effort once again. We looked at the last album and it was mentioned there how if you were a fan of 80's bands like Vixen, you were probably going to dig Chez Kane. That same thing holds true with this album. Danny Rexon from Crazy Lixx is here again to help with the instrumentation, production, and songs in general. The chemistry between the two really gives great results as this new record is up to the same quality as the last. There was a reason why hard rock fans really fell in love with the music and will again with this new record. It's all basically all melodic hard rock in nature with great choruses and a memorability factor. This is another record and artist, that if it were the 80's, this would be huge. As a fan of hard rock, you owe it to yourself to partake of this album. High quality stuff!
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Iron Allies-Blood In Blood Out ©2022 AFM Records
You had to know this was going to be a beast of an album. David Reece and Herman Frank who were both part of Accept at some point in time, come together and offer up some great traditional heavy metal music. Any time you have Herman Frank involved, you know the guitar is going to be absolutely killer and once again he does it here as well. There is a very full bodied sound on this record. The band sound great and the songs are top notch. This really is a power metal release at it's core that fans of some of those Accept records are probably really going to dig a lot. Personal favorites of mine include 'Evil The Gun', 'Blood On The Land', 'Selling Out', and 'Truth Never Mattered'. Even though this album is all heavy, some are a notch above and that is the stuff I really like. These guys were made for metal music. Great release as expected!
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Grand-Grand ©2022 Frontiers Records
Grand is a relatively new band and has a record just out via the Frontier Records label. I always talk about Sweden and just how impressive the scene has been through all areas of the rock and metal genres. Grand is more of a pure AOR band that reminds me of band's like Lionville. Nothing ever gets what you would call heavy. The band has a more rich sound with plenty of atmosphere and melody everywhere. For some reason, the artwork on this record jumped out as well. Kind of like Landscapes with an album full of soundscapes. When I just want to chill and relax, these are the kind of albums I go to. I have quite a few of them and Grand will definitely be a welcome addition to that part of my collection. These guys are another band with a ton of radio potential and each song could do well in that format. Definitely an easy lighter recommend!
Release Date: October 21, 2022
Hedra-The Pecking Order ©2022 Devils Clause Records
Years ago when one would think of the progressive genre, you would think of a couple of different approaches to that type of songwriting. You had a sophistication that some could understand and others would avoid. That genre has expanded a lot through the years. Hedra is a UK based modern progressive band that add their own style to that genre. You can feel the progressive elements, but they aren't so overpowering to where you develop too much sophistication. Their music is probably much easier for many different fans to embrace. They obviously have their chops down, but have brought different sides to the sound. It definitely has that thick modern metal sound with melody infused in to it. The album is an EP containing 6 tracks total. One of my favorites is 'Suchi' which reminds me a bit of modern Alice In Chains. Pretty cool record!
Release Date: November 11, 2022
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