PIAS

The anticipated MOONLAND project finally brings back to the spotlight on the international Rock music markets Estonian singer, actress and TV personality Lenna Kuurmaa. Lenna has been the front-woman of the Pop-Rock sensation VANILLA NINJA, an all-female outfit, which debuted in 2002 with their self-titled album and went on to release  internationally another 3 very successful studio albums (which won Gold Records awards in Germany, Austria and Platinum in their home country, Estonia).

“Work Of Art” a young melodic / AOR rockband founded in Sweden in 2008. Current members are : Lars Säfsund – vocals, Robert Säll – guitars, keyboards, Herman Furin – drums.

Stryper an oldschool Christian Heavy Metal / Hard Rock band founded in Orange County, California in 1983. Stryper stands for "Salvation Through Redemption Yielding Peace, Encouragement and Righteousness". The Isaiah 53:5 under their logo is the Bible verse that states "by His stripes we are healed." Current members are: Michael Sweet: Lead vocals, guitar - Oz Fox: Vocals, guitars - Tim Gaines: Bass, vocals - Robert Sweet: drums.

Now this is a great release, PET THE TEACHER newest release is as far as I am concerned one of the first highlights of 2014. Imagine  MONSTERMAGNET and CLUTCH  deciding to lock themselves up for a few week in a recording studio and the end result might be  something very similar to “The cave & the sunlight”. This Swedish outfit  twist and groove, bump and grind from opener The Cave up to closer The web , and after that..

Line Up : Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth – VocalsDave Link – GuitarD.D. Verni – BassDerek Tailer – GuitarRon Lipnicki - DrumsWhen we think about thrash, the big four of ‘Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer’ are usually the first thing that come to mind. There has always been a second tier of bands like ‘Overkill’, ‘Testament and Exodus’ that never quite reached as great a level of commercial success.

Despite having some well known musicians in their ranks, this new project started by unknown guitarist Jeremy Brunner, and having enlisted the aid of Andy Johns for the production, I’m afraid this album is rather disappointing.

Although my last encounter with this exhilarating multi-influenced German Metal act is still fresh in my mind as one of the most exciting events of that time, it turns out that that goes back to my review (posted 19/09/2006, and still consult-able in our “Archive” section) of the band's 6^th album Riders On The Storm, which was the first recording by the band to get into the top 40 of the German album charts.

Adrenaline Rush is a female fronted band, who’s front woman Tave Wanning used to be a part of the Teen-Pop duo Peaches. I don’t know how Peaches sounded, but let’s just say that this girl might have the looks of a peach, but her voice is of another caliber.  Strong, clear, despite her young age (she was born in 1992).

Since Vader are one of the oldest still-existing (+30 years of existence), and most notorious acts on Mater Terra, and since the .net is filled with information much more detailed and, who known, more accurate than what I would write down, I will not spend my time on an introduction. Or: cut the crap, here’s Tibi Et Igni.

After releasing an EP in 2012, these Swedes now return with a full album.  I guess for anyone who loves AOR music with it’s roots in the eighties, this album could turn out to be a real gem.  To start with the vocalist Marcus Nygren immediately made me think of Bobby Kimball.  The music this band brings sounds a bit like a mix between Toto and Survivor, with maybe a hint of Journey thrown in as well.