Reviews roundup – Evergrey vs. Phenomena vs. Wille & The Bandits vs. The Stone Garden vs. Spellblast vs. The Wide

Reviews roundup – Evergrey vs. Phenomena vs. Wille & The Bandits vs. The Stone Garden vs. Spellblast vs. The Wide

 

EVERGREY
The Atlantic
AFM

Album number eleven from Swedish prog metal overlords and it’s the third part in a trilogy that began with 2014’s “Hymns For The Broken” and continued in 2016 with “The Storm Within”.

Safe to say if you like Evergrey and prog metal in general, then you’re going to love this. Because they’re just about the best at what they do with everyone else in their chosen genre playing catch-up.

According to the band this is about “relationships, beauty and darkness, about fortune and grief, about love, hate, despair, joy and everything connected with it.” So, life then. One of the things about Evergrey is they don’t hide their light under a bushel. They know how good they are and make no bones about it. And when you hear “The Atlantic” you can’t help but give them a round of applause.

They may be genre bound but they know how to twist and turn within its confines and this new release sees the keyboards playing a large supporting role and they’re definitely more prominent in the mix. But on the flip side of that, opening number ‘A Silent Arc’ is one of the hardest songs they’ve ever recorded. Even vocalist Tom. S. Englund says “it’s really brutal…with guitars you might expect from a band like Behemoth – we’ve never sounded as dark and raw before”. Well maybe not quite but close.

It does everything you want from an Evergrey album. It’s dark, complex and atmospheric but riddled through with songs that stick with you. I’ve still got ‘Secret Atlantis’ running through my back brain several days after first hearing it. This is the record every other prog metal band will fail to emulate this year.

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PHENOMENA
I / II: Dream Runner / III: Innervision
Explore Rights Management

I’m so old I remember getting proper excited about the imminent arrival of the first Phenomena album back in 1985. Well I was still in my teens and when it arrived I was smitten. A melodic almost prog rock concept album about the supernatural, complete with large format booklet tucked away inside the album sleeve. In fact I’ve still got it and it makes the occasional reappearance on the old turntable.

It wasn’t quite as great as I thought it was on release but the Trapeze writing team of the Galley brothers and Richard Bailey did a fine job. And the all star lineup which included Glenn Hughes, Cozy Powell, Neil Murray, Don Airey, Big John Thomas and Ted McKenna amongst others served the music well. Oddly enought the one track that jars the most is probably the one I heard most on late night radio back in the day. ‘Still The Night’, a Hughes / Thrall cast-off that didn’t really fit (it finally appeared on the 2007 CD reissue of the Hughes/Thrall album). It’s been deleted on CD for a while and with extensive liner notes and artwork it’s definitely a required purchase for fans of eighties rock music.

A couple of years alter and “Dream Runner” arrived. On a different label but with a broadly similar team of writers and musicians. Now here in the UK in 1987 you wouldn’t have even known it was out, such was the disregard for rock music in the radio and press circles. But, strange to relate, this was the one that had the biggest worldwide sales. Largely off the back of the single ‘Did It All For Love’, which was huge in the nether regions of the planet, replete with John Wetton (RIP) vocal and Scott Gorham guitar solo. It’s still a cracking song and this record which boasts a sci-fi concept has aged really well. The late Ray Gillen (Black Sabbath / Badlands) sings on a few numbers including phenomenal (ha!) vocal on the opening ‘Stop!’. It’s a lot better than I remembered and well worth a listen.

A big leap into the nineties saw the arrival of the third installment, a record that even Phenomena mastermind Tom Galley struggles to raise any enthusiasm for in the new liner notes. As he says himself it was a record company project that he wrote the music for. The days of all star guests were gone as well with the same band playing the whole way through. Granted, Scott Gorham was the lead guitarist but Airrace / Mamas Boys vocalist Keith Murrell hasn’t got a broad enough range for some of the songs although I will always be a fan of his Sunkist / Weetabix work. The big selling point is the guitar solos from Brian May out of Queen on ‘What About Love?’ and ‘A Whole Lot Of Love’ but it was the runt of the litter then and time hasn’t been kind. But two out of three ain’t bad and I and II deserve to be heard again and appreciated.

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WILLE & THE BANDITS
Paths
Farm Hand Records

At their best Wille & The Bandits rip up a bluesy storm in the manner of the North Mississippi Allstars. And if all you were to hear were the opening ‘One Way’ then you’d be converted.

It’s their best sound because when they try to mellow out it never really works. Thankfully they’ve got more than enough upbeat songs to keep your head nodding and your feet tapping even when they tip over into a world where jam band fans would park a caravan and start selling patchouli and beads given half a chance. Then they throw in a mid-eighties styled melodic rock tune like ‘Victim Of The Night’ which would have been a sure fire German Top 20 hit in 1986. But it’s the ballads that miss for me as ‘Four Million Days’ is an X Factors winners single if I ever heard one. And that’s a dangerous thing as we don’t want to see Wille in a touring production of Happy Days: The Musical in five years time.

It’s a shame they’re British really because there are plenty of Phish Heads and .moe Toes who would take their spacier tunes to their kaftan clad hearts. Hell, they’ve even got a funk bass tune called ‘Chakra’!. But they’re not. They’re from Cornwall and have tour dates lined up at the Shoreham Ropetackle, Glasgow Hug & Pint and Scarborough Top Secret ahead of them.

They’ve had plenty of top flight exposure touring with the likes of Deep Purple, Status Quo and Joe Bonamassa without breaking through to a wider audience. This is their fifth studio album since their debut in 2010 and even though this is their best sounding album, its sheer diversity is probably what stops them from climbing the ladder. After all, not many people want hard rock, blues rock, southern rock, pop, hip hop and funk on the same record. Mind you, get ‘Keep It On The Down-low’ onto that Jools Holland abomination and who knows where things will go.

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THE STONE GARDEN
Brand New Day
Outbreak Arts

Seems as though the various members of The Stone Garden are weel kent in the north of Italy having been in numerous bands over the years. One of then was called No Quarter so when they say that their influences are Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Black Crowes, Rival Sons and other classic and hard rock bands it’s safe to say that you know exactly where you are.

And that’s seventies influenced classic hard rock. But what I didn’t expect was just how good this would be. It’s an indie release and was recorded live over two days in the studio and it’s just fabulous. Maybe it’s the spontaneity that fires it up. Maybe it’s the songs or the performances. Regardless, Klod Brolis – vocals, Marco Mazzucotelli – guitar, Carlo Lancini – guitar, Daniele Togni – bas and Francesco Bertini on drums have done an incredible job. It helps that Brolis has one of those high reaching rock vocal styles that has major bands on the slide clamouring. Hopefully he won’t end up in a touring edition of Quiet Riot because The Stone Garden have something special here.

They only got together in 2015 but have an EP (Live in Studio Aug 25th, 2015) and two albums (Theater Session Spet. 3rd 2016 and this new one) as well as a DVD (Theater Session Spet. 3rd 2016) under their belt. They’ve got the songs (‘Come Around’ and ‘I’m Gonna Miss You’ are as good as anything on The Answers debut album) so now all they need is a European major to take a chance.

The CD edition contains an extra track – a stonking rip through ‘We’re An American Band’, the Grand Funk Railroad classic. So try and go old school with this one.

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SPELLBLAST
Of Gold And Guns
independent

I suppose it makes sense that the land of Sergio Leone and the man with no name should spawn a Wild West heavy metal band. And so mote it be with Italian band Spellblast.

At their heart they’re basically a power metal band and seem to have yearning to be in Orden Ogan circa “Gunmen”. Although there is a fair chance they’d already written these songs by the time that came out. Which then takes us into the world of spooky.

Spellblast have been around for a few years with their debut coming out back in 2007. By the time they got to album number three they were into a concept album based on Stephen King’s Dark Tower saga. However, lineup changes have probably stymied their progression over the years but this bonkers release might help get their name better known.

Because it is bonkers. The songs include ‘Wyatt Earp’, ‘Billy The Kid’, ‘Jesse James’ and my personal favourite ‘Sitting Bull’. Although the nutties has to be the flute intro to ‘Goblins In Deadwood’ where they launch into a waltz flavoured tale of, um, goblins in Deadwood. Throw in a closing (and uncredited) cover of Bon Jovis ‘Wanted Dead Or Alive’ and this is, by far, my favourite cowboys and Indians metal concept album of the year. Mental as anything and all the better for it.

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THE WIDE
Paramount
Echozone

Comprising members of Dead Guitars and 12 Drummers Drumming some of the folk involved with this have been working together musically for 28 years+. So there is plenty of experience going into this.

And what this is is nineties styled indie pop with references to eighties indie ala The Cure dropped in now and then. So far, so mainstream. Well actually, mainstream is what it is. It’s the kind of thing that would appeal to people who thought that Radiohead lost the plot a decade or so ago or who find Coldplay just a wee bit too calculating.

So plenty of melodies, heartfelt vocals and plenty of songs about love, birth won and lost. There is nothing here that wouldn’t sound out of place during a mid afternoon slot at any of the major pop festivals and there are a couple of tunes that would even fit nicely into a daytime radio schedule. The most likely being ‘Fall For Your Love’ which, radio edit in hand, could see them cultivating a following. All of this means, of course, that it does nothing for me at all. But good is good and the folks involved in The Wide are good.

They let the leash skip right at the end where they embark on an ambitious nine minute plus title track which veers rapidly towards post rock / art rock. But a couple of edits on a couple of songs could see them doing well for themselves.

 

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