When founding member and guitar virtuoso Mark Reale passed away in 2012, the future for Riot seemed unclear. Was this band, with a career of almost 40 years, doomed to be ended? This would really have been a shame, after releasing magic albums like Narita, Fire Down Under, and their latest efforts Thundersteel and Immortal Soul, not to forget The Privilege Of Power.
I have to confess I had never heard of Danish guitarist Michael Jessen. Memories is his debut album and with it he delivers a solid first efford. Michael was able to to get Gören Edman (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) behind the microphone and the line up was completed with Christopher Hoaas on Bass and Mads Grunnet on drums.
In the fall of 2008, vocalist Mike Tirelli was diagnosed with stomach cancer. At the same time guitarist and songwriter Georg Kraft had also a serious health issue so the band went on hiatus to give both gentlemen the time to take care of their health problems. After seven years the band returns with their fourth album and it is a come back that blows away their three previous albums.
Khost are a very young project from Birmingham, UK, formed in 2013 by Andy Swan (of Iroha / Final / Atrocity Exhibition-fame).
It’s not the first time I write a review for a band or project from the Middle-East, and then I’m thinking about countries like the United Arab Emirates (Nervecell), Jordan (Relics Of Martyrs), Saudi-Arab (Al-Namrood) or Iran (Margg, Nathorg, Azooma), but this is my first acquaintance with an act from Syria.
Poland’s Genital Putrefaction are a Death Metal band that existed for a couple of years during the era 1989-1992. They recorded three demos (FYI: Chinese (!) label BrutalReign Productions compiled them on CD in 2013 with The Unholy Decade as working title), but then they split up. However, in 2009 the band was reformed, and in 2012 they released their debut full length, Stworzony Przez Bogów. It was recorded and mixed at the Berlin-based GL Studio and produced by Lech Glogowski in 2010.
Astralion is new band in the melodic power metal genre, Like many other bands in this style they hail from Finland. They formed in 2011 and have with vocalist Ian Highhill and Bassist Dr. K. Lundell two ex-Olympos Mons members in their ranks. The line-up is completed with guitarist Hank Newman and drummer Arnold Hackman both ex-members of the thrash band The Addiction. Keyboard player Thomas Henry rounds up the line-up.
Skrømt are a pretty young band (formed in 2011), originally acting as a trio, and now being a quartet. In the beginning Skrømt were meant to be a hobby-project to the members’ other bands (like Lotus, Slug Syndicate or Fatal Frequency). Very recently they recorded their first album, which was originally meant to be a demonstrational recording.
Almost twenty years ago, some artists / musicians from Russia, sharing a common interest in traditional and ritual Music, decided to create stuff that stood miles away from electronic Music. Alexey Tegin studied ancient musical cultures from ancient Egypt, Iran and Tibet, and since he was interested in the Buddhist culture in general, and the BON-tradition more specifically, he named this project after one of the five tutelary deities of the Father Tantra, Phurpa.
Melmak was formed in 2010 by the Etxebarria brothers, the band is a duo which combines the darkness of the doom metal, so both brothers could put their favorite genres in it. And with this combination, the guys try to make a statement with the madness of the hardcore to explain the situation of the human being and what are the possible solutions not to extinguish as we know it...Cool concept, lovely try, nice effort…..but it doesn’t work with the doom metal influences. Don’t get me wrong, it has a nice underground vibe…but that’s where it ends.
