Metal Thrashing Mad – Rebellious Spirit vs. Victorius vs. Oliva
REBELLIOUS SPIRIT
Gamble Shot
Steamhammer
Cock! Shock! Rock! Leather Boyz With Electric Toyz! Yes, the New Wave Of Dodgy Eighties Glam Metal continues with a German entry to the contest, the semi-bequiffed Rebellious Spirit.
Yes, they’re channeling the spirit of Motley Crue, Ratt and Poison while busy pretending they get the Steel Panther joke. This lot are brothers Jannik (vocals/guitar) and Jens Fischer (bass/vocals), 17 and 20 years old; their band mates, Corvin Domhardt (guitar/vocals) and Silvio Bizer (drums) are only 18. Which makes me feel really old.
But as someone who was doing the Axl dance long before Axl, I’m more than happy to give them my Grandad seal of approval. After all, there are plenty of people out there banging on about how shite everything is, me included. Although when I read that this was recorded “only on weekends because of school”, I do feel like crying.
My favourite tune, and the one that had my tattoos (all of which are older than Rebellious Spirit) spinning was most definitely ‘Cry For You’, the closest they have to anthem first time out.
“Gamble Shot” is also out as a digipak CD with three bonus videos, as well as the regular issue.
VICTORIOUS
The Awakening
Sonic Attack
Of course, if you’re going to be a new power metal band, I’d suggest not naming yourself after an American kiddywink show (even without a vowel), but it’s obviously never reached Germany, home of the new kids on the block Victorius (or Victorius: No Relation as the American lawyers would have it).
Formed in the appropriately named province of Saxonia back in 2006, Victorius released their debut, self-distributed album “Unleash The Titans” in 2010, but this new release, produced by Freedom Call guitarist Lars Rettkovitz, really could see them stepping up to the power metal plate.
There’s nothing here that fans of Gamma Ray, Hammerfall or Stratovarious won’t find familiar, but they have a youthful vigour that sees their balls pushed firmly to the wall, as they rampage through numbers like ‘Black Sun’, Kings Reborn’ and the slower ‘Lake Of Hope’.
A different Victorious
OLIVA
Raise The Curtain
AFM
And from the new kids on the block, to one of the Grandaddys of power metal, Mr Jon Oliva. Now despite many years service with Savatage and his own Jon Oliva’s Pain, this is actually his first solo album after three decades of metal. And it’s, gulp, a prog record.
Yes, you read me right, the Mountain King has tipped over into the world of progressive rock. Seems this record came about after the passing of long time Pain guitarist, Matt LaPorte in 2011. It also sees the last of Criss Oliva’s music recorded before his death in 1993, so there is a current of melancholy running through the grooves.
Quite what his long time fans will make of it remains to be seen, but it’s quite a brave musical move after all this time. Stand out tracks like ‘Ten Years’, ‘Father Time’, ‘I Know’ and ‘Big Brother’ retain enough of his roots to salve the odd fevered brow, and it might end up a bold new chapter in the history of Jon Oliva.
The Rocker - The Artist Formerly Known As Zeitgeist. TAFKAZ 
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