Reviews roundup – Flying Colors vs. Confusion vs. Imaginara vs. Shaman Harvest

Reviews roundup – Flying Colors vs. Confusion vs. Imaginara vs. Shaman Harvest

FLYING COLORS
Second Nature
Music Theories

I quite liked the Flying Colors debut, but in retrospect, it wasn’t as good as I remembered it.  It all seems a bit subdued, something that is understandable when the musicians were trying to sublimate their urge to widdle and paradiddle, instead making the song the centre of attention.

Second time out, though, and they seem to have realised that they were born to widdle, as this is a much looser and proggier offering.  So, “Second Nature” sees Neil Morse, Mike Portnoy, Steve Morse, Dave LaRue and Casey McPherson looking back to seventies prog, rather than seventies Toto.  Which is fine, except the return to prog means that this could be from one of their other projects.

That doesn’t stop it being a very good release.  It is, especially on album highlight, ‘Peaceful Harbor’, but an awful lot of the material sounds like it belongs on a Transatlantic record.  The one song that doesn’t work is the ballad, ‘The Fury Of My Love’, which is atrocious, but it’s a small misstep on a good, melodic prog album.

Regardless of my feelings, people who admire the work of the assorted members will find a lot to enjoy here.

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CONFUSION
Temptation Blues
independent

Swedish blues rock, with an emphasis on the rock side.  It’s ZZ Top meets early Aerosmith with a touch of Leslie West.  And there is nothing wrong with that.

The band – Robin Kvarnström – drums, Peter Andersson – bass, Micke Kvarnström – guitar, Tommy Lindgren – guitar and Johan Stake – vocals – certainly seem to be having a good time, and they’re very good at what they do.  Granted, it probably sounds a lot better in a biker bar, with a few beers inside you, but you can’t have everything in life.

The songs aren’t breaking new ground, but when they hit on a good groove, as they do on ‘Pay My Share’, Mainstream’ and the title track, then a good time is had by all.

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IMAGINARA
The Legend Of Gingelur
independent

The Kingdom of Reynah is in danger.

Hordes of the dead rising from the ground, the King is at death’s door and rumors tell of a mighty demon in the west raising an enormous tower to reach the sky.

All three armies are in conquests in remote countries and only Gingelur, a knight glorified in legends in his lifetime, will try to do the impossible – challenge the dark forces or maybe the gods themselves.

So goes the blurb for the book, which this concept folk-metal album represents.  Of course, you’ll have to read Russian if you want to get the book, but the album from husband and wife team Dmitry and Maria Keremetskih should give you a good flavour.  Now, I applaud ambition in the world of metal, so this certainly gets a small smattering from me.

Musically, it’s mainly power metal, with folk metal tinges, and the band (hired hands) make a fair fist of it.  It’s a tricky one, vocally, because Dmitir is a much better singer than Maria, but he’s hardly going to break that news to the missus. However, there is some promise here, and people who like the idea of a folky Avantasia will find a lot to enjoy here.

http://www.imaginara.ru.com/band

SHAMAN HARVEST
Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns
Mascot

Now I know that everyone who reviews Shaman Harvest uses the word Nickelback, but it’s hard not to.  And quite what’s wrong with using the N word, when they’ve written some great songs and sold a gazillion records is beyond me.

Apparently, Shaman Harvest had some colonial success with their debut “Shine” album, but things seem to have gone off the boil since then. But this really should push them in the right direction, because it’s a cracker of a hard rock album, chock full of great riffs and memorable choruses.

It’s music that’s built for football stadiums and if American radio gets a hold of songs like ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Ten Million Voices’, then victory should be theirs.  It’s also nice to see that they’re not averse to mixing things up a bit, and so you’ll also find them getting back to their roots on ‘Country As F**k’ and throwing in a cover of ‘Diana’ by notorious kiddy Michael Jackson.

It’s a solid ball of rock, and one that should restore their fortunes stateside.

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