Reviews roundup – H.E.A.T. vs. Epica vs. Derwood vs. Vanish

 

Reviews roundup – H.E.A.T. vs. Epica vs. Derwood vs. Vanish

 

H.E.A.T.
Into The Great Unknown
earMusic

Three years is a long time in the world of rock and roll, and that’s how long it has taken H.E.A.T. to follow up on the very impressive “Tearing Down the Walls”. They looked as though they might break through back then especially off the back of the stone cold classic “A Shot at Redemption” single.

Of course since then guitarist Eric Rivers left the band and has been replaced by the bloke he replaced, Dave Dalone. Who is now calling himself Sky Davids despite being born David Axelsson, which is a great name for a guitarist. And changes are afoot in their sound as well. It looks and sounds like they’ve decided to modernise and aim more for the pop / rock market. Lead single ‘Time On Our Side’ sounded nothing like the H.E.A.T. of old. Mind you, they’d had four goes at cracking the world of rawk and nearly ten years on they’ve obviously decided enough is enough.

Because it’s still a very good rock album. Not rawk anymore, just rock. There are a couple of throwbacks for the fans of old with songs like the charmingly entitled Bastard Of Society’ and ‘Shit City’ sure to please. But then they show their new direction via drum programming and pop keyboards on the likes of ‘Redefined’. Vocalist Erik Gronwall has a few new tricks up his sleeve and there are a couple of fantastic tunes tucked away in ‘Blind Leads The Blind’ and ‘We Rule’.

It’s called “Into The Great Unknown” for a reason but we’ll need to wait and see where the leap is glorious or failure.

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EPICA
The Solace System
Nuclear Blast

Seriously. What are Epica on. It’s not enough that they bunged out their best album to date in the shape of “The Holographic Principle” but they had half a dozen songs left over, any of which would have graced the parent album.

More of a mini-album than an EP, this confirms that Epica are by far the best placed band to take over the mantle from the off the boil Nightwish as the leaders of the symphonic metal movement. Like Nightwish, Epica have enough twists and turns of their own to ensure they stand heads above the many, many pretenders to the throne. So as well as the bog standard template you get thrashy guitars, prog keyboards and even some electronica doo-dahs to keep you on your toes.

It’s hard to believe the quality of the material that didn’t make it to the main album and there are actually a couple of songs I would definitely have bunged on “The Holographic Principle”. ‘Wheel Of Destiny’ and ‘Immortal Melancholy’ are too good to languish here, with the latter one of the finest ever Epica songs which really shows how good a singer Simone Simons is. An essential purchase for fans of the band and genre.

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DERWOOD
Renegade
independent

Now see, that’s an album cover. 15 year old me would have bought without hearing a note.

Turns out that the perpetrator of this album is a veteran on the indie music scene over there in the Canadian colonies, plying his trade around British Columbia, Saskatchawan and all points West. For this release he’s decided to indulge his inner eighties hard rock urges and turned in an enjoyable release.

I’m not going to pretend that it will replace your favourites from that decade but with hints of blues / glam crossover (you know, Junkyard, Rock City Angels – that sort of thing) and some more commercially inclined tunes it’s definitely worth a spin. He can pen a decent tunes as well and you’ll find yourself humming the likes of ‘Cold Blooded’ and ‘Reckless’ right from the off.

He’s good a good, slightly gruff vocal style that suits the songs perfectly and you’re looking for something that’s both new and old, then give this twelve track offering a try.

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VANISH
The Insanity Abstract
Fastball

To Germany for some prog tinged metal.

Strange to relate that Vanish have been on the go for over fifteen years now. I’ve never heard of them but then I’m not in the habit of attending German metal festivals or popping over to Stuttgart to check out the support band when US headliners play a show.

Thing is, this is really good. And if people who like prog metal got a chance to hear this, then I’m sure they would be lapping it up. “The Insanity Abstract” is as good a release as anything the major players in the scene have put out and even if falls a couple of points shy of classic status, it’s still a truly excellent release. They’ve got the songs, they’ve got the singer and they’ve got the widdly bits that any self respecting prog metaller needs tucked away in case of paradiddle emergency.

They may be veterans but they seem willing to embrace the new, especially with their keyboard sound. But it’s the quality of the material like ‘We Become What We Are’ and ‘That Way Madness Lies’ that grabs your attention the most. A most pleasant musical surprise and one fans of the genre should be checking out sharpish.

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