Reviews roundup – Jesse Damon vs. Eden’s Curse vs. Coney Hatch

Reviews roundup – Jesse Damon vs. Eden’s Curse vs. Coney Hatch

JESSE DAMON
Temptation In The Garden Of Eve
AOR Heaven

I really lliked Silent Rage. One of those harder edged melodic rock bands who probably arrived just a wee bit too late to latch on to the eighties metal boom, and who had the misfortune to be signed to the wrong record label. If you don’t have a copy of their two eighties albums, especially ““Don’t Touch Me There”, then you’re really missing out.

Vocalist Jesse Damon never gave up on music, and although the nineties saw him in a backroom role, the 21st century saw a revival of Silent Rage, as well as solo albums, of which this is the fourth. And it’s an album that sees him hooking with legendary AOR man, Paul Sabu, for a thoroughly entertaining record. Of course, it sounds a bit like a Sabu album with Jesse Damon on vocals, but that’s not a bad thing.

So you’re getting lots of keyboard hooks, oodles of harmony vocals, and some memorable choruses. In places it’s a bit Foreigner like, and I won’t be the first (or last) to point out that ‘Black Widow’ is an Ozzy track under a different name, but when it hits the heights as it does on ‘I Need You Forever’ and ‘Save Me’, then you know you’re listening to some top notch melodic rock.

As well as Damon on guitar and Sabu on bass, the band is Eric Ragno on keyboards, and Pete Newdeck of Eden’s Curse on drums and backing vocals. Which leads nicely into …

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EDEN’S CURSE
Symphony Of Sin
AFM

Album number four from the melodic metal band, Eden’s Curse. And one which sees them on their third vocalist. Which is just careless. This time around, founding members Paul Logue, Thorsten Koehne and Pete Newdeck are joined by new Serbian vocalist Nikola Mijic and former Dragonforce and Powerquest keyboard player, Steve Williams.

It’s possibly one of the reasons they haven’t broken big on the Euro metal scene, but if they can hold it together, this record should bring in some new fans. They’re off into the realm of near prog metal in some places, with some lengthy tunes and a 46 piece orchestra. But that’s all offset by some quality riffs and some memorable tunes, with the opening, title track, probably the best of the bunch.

There are a couple of interesting side steps with the extremely commercial ‘Unbreakable’ likely to offend some long standing fans, but it actually helps highlight some of the quality songwriting on offer. Mijic is an excellent find, even if his vocals may steer the band in a more mainstream direction, as the softer tunes seem where he’s most comfortable. Regardless, this is a quality offering, and one that comes highly recommended.

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CONEY HATCH
Four
Frontiers Records

I’m so old I actually saw Coney Hatch when they were an up and coming band. I can’t quite remember who they were supporting, but it was around about 1983 / 1983. Which is why I bought a copy of “Outa Hand” when it came out. It’s still there in the bowels of the vinyl collection.

I must admit I was surprised when they got back together a couple of years back, as I don’t recall them being that popular the first time around. I mean they were good, just not successful. But here they are with their fourth album, the stunningly named “Four”, a mere twenty eight years after their last release.

In finest X Factor back story fashion, the reunion came about after Carl Dixon had a near fatal head-on car collision that left him clinging to life. While Carl was still in an induced coma, his wife reached out to the other members of Coney Hatch and asked them to offer words of encouragement over to the phone to Carl. She held the phone to his ear as he lay unconscious in his bed. “I told him to get better quick “says bassist / vocalist Andy Curran “I said we had a lot more rockin’ to do with Coney Hatch. I really didn’t think we’d play together again but it just came out of my mouth… and Carl remembered it!”

So, let’s rock! And they do. I played “Outa Hand” for the first time in 20 years prior to listening this, and they really do sound like they did back in the day. Tunes like ‘Blown Away’, ‘Down & Dirty’ and ‘Marseille’ are cracking eighties melodic hard rock full of sparkling guitars. Carl Dixon and Andy Curran still share the vocals like they did in their youth with Steve Shelski playing some great solos, all underpinned by excellent percussion from Dave “Thumper” Ketchum – drums, percussion.

An unexpected reunion, but a very welcome one.

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