I must admit that I have a very soft spot for Swiss symphonic metal act Lunatica. Their strange brew of symphonic, melodic, folk and metal - and especially the beautiful seducive voice of Andrea Dätwyler is breathtaking.
Besides the voice of miss Dätwyler Lunatica is: Alex Seibert on keyboards, Sandro D'Incau on guitar, André Leuenberger on guitar, Ermes Di Prisco on drums and guest Olaf Retmayer on bass. On "Fables & Dreams", which is the bands second album, the Swiss 5-some has joined forces with German producer Sascha Paeth from Heavens Gate, and he has given the band that very "spacey" sound that is required by the bands musical style. The sound landscape is big, very powerful, crisp and clear.
The musical style is fronted by bands like Nightwish, After Forever and Evanescence but I am sure that Lunatica will be the next big band in this genre. The bands musical expressions is 100% backed up by the magnificent artwork of Mattias Norén and ProgArt.com. There are several great tracks on "Fables & Dreams" - in fact the album is loaded with quality tracks - but some of my favorites are "Hymn", "The neverending Story" and "Fable of Dreams" - some reminds me of Blackmores Night, too, maybe because of the emotional and very seducive vocal work by Andrea Dätwyler.
Switzerland has a lot more to offer besides Toblerone - Watch out for Lunatica they are a blast!

Silver is a strong all-star-project fronted by British vocalist Gary Barden and German guitarist Michael Voss. And this project is stronger than the small "appetizer" from Barden earlier this year when he recorded a lot of old MSG stuff in alternate versions - helped by Michael Voss BTW! The songs and the whole attitude is much more vital on "Addiction".
Besides Voss and Barden the line up for this successor to their 2001 self titled debut is nothing less than impressive - on keyboards Don Airey, on drums Marco Minnemann who played with Paul Gilbert and H-Blockx, on bass Andreas Broon from Sisters of Mercy and last but not least Tommy Denander on his seducive guitar. There is also a very beautiful female background voice - but she is not listed?!
The whole atmosphere is adult and mature rock - with a melodic edge of course - but also dreaming elements and showing off guitar parts on selected passages! I am very glad that a track like "Leaving tonight" is on the record. It is traditional but also shows new sides to the these grand old men in the music bizz! Voss' guitar playing is as always precise and impressive but also innovative and exciting at times.
"Addiction" is a very good album - an album that gives new life to some of the most experienced musicians outthere. The melodies are strong, the production is excellent and the musicianship beyond discussion... great!

I must admit that i knew of Millenium's existance - but barely more. But 2 seconds into opening track "Power to Love" with Norwegian singer Jorn Lande up front did it for me - i was totally blown away...
Millenium started back in 1995 under the name of Eyewitness. I remember them being one of the first signings to "new" label Now & Then Records. Formed by ex-Death guitarist Ralph Santolla, singer Todd Plant, drummer Oliver Hansson and Steve Hudson on the bass. After releasing their debut the band made a much hailed performance at the 2nd Gods of Rock Festival in the UK. Unfortunately their second album "Messiah Complex" from 1996 didn't make it for the band. Santolla & Co. decided to change style and name and Millenium was born and made their debut in 1997 on Now & Then/MTM (track 1-4 on CD2 is from that record) it had a more melodic approach and was catchier than the former Eyewitness material.
Before releasing their much hailed "Angelfire" album in 1999 Santolla made afew line up changes - in came a second guitarplayer in Shane French (from Teer) and in came Austrian bass player Manfred Binder. The album was a heavy but melodic masterpiece (as heard on track 7-14 on CD1) laying much energy on songcomposing and the unique sound of the 2 unique guitarplayers - it was released on Now & Then/Frontiers.
Just before some warm up gigs with Bob Catley prior to the appearence at The Gods Festival the band announced that Todd Plant was out and has been replaced by none other than powerful Norwegian vocal maestro Jorn Lande. With him entering the band something magic happened (as heard on track 1-6 on CD1) they released their best record ever called "Hourglass" in 2000 with an improved sound, even more layered guitar and vocals overdubs. The duels between Landes powerful voice and the twin guitars from Santolla/French was outstanding.
The bonus tracks on this double disc (track 5-14 on CD2) includes 2 tracks from the "Hourglass" sessions as well as 4 demoes from the Todd Plant era. But the most intersting tracks are the never released covers featuring Lande and Don Airey on keyboards "On and On" (MSG), "I surrender" (Rainbow), "Jane" (Jefferson Starship) and "Love is Like Oxygen" (Sweet). The all cover album never got any further and soon after the band broke up and concentrated on solo jobs ans other music projects. But now the "original" line up has reunited and released the "Jericho" album featuring Santolla, Plant, French. Let's hope it is as good and varied as their previous material - because I got nothing bad to say about this release, there is a song for every mood... great!

Kingdom Come has a newer sound. Lenny Wolf kicks it up a notch with the follow-up to the acclaimed "Independent" from 2002, which landed the band back on the radar after a German album and an album of mostly re-recorded songs.
"Independent" saw Lenny occupy the helm of the Kingdom Come-battleship single-handedly, not willing to compromise or rely on others. Just like "Independent", the new album was recorded and performed almost entirely by Wolf who, once again, occupied the producer’s chair.
"Perpetual" sees Lenny retain the sheer force and bruteness of "Independent" mixed with more classic Kingdom Come trademarks. From the opening chords of "Gotta Move Now" to the last lines of "Inhailing the Silence", the new album shows every facet that Kingdom Come stands for. The production itself is powerful, with Wolf admitting that "it is amazing what I can do after years of practice: I cannot believe the time and money I wasted on outside producers in the past".
This time Mr. Wolf has split the recording duties between his native Hamburg, Germany and the sunny Los Angeles, California, "Perpetual" is more open and even more experimental than all of it’s predecessors but keeps a steady red-line and some of Wolf’s strongest songwriting to date. "I am very happy with how it came out. I feel that this is the most meaningful album I have done and I am excited to see what the fans think", he says.
While in California Wolf met an up-and-coming filmmaker who volunteered to direct two videos for the album, "Silhouette Paintings" (with Yenz Cheyenne Leonhardt joining on rhythm guitar) and "With The Sun In Mind". The future may hold big leaps for Kingdom Come. The band is, for the first time in it’s 15-year-plus history, getting ready to play big summer festivals and is gearing up for a big headline tour.
Watch out, where ever you may be!

Heartplay is the brainchild of Finnish Urban Tale vocalist Kimmo Blom and exquisite keyboard player Sakari Salli. They founded the band back in 1997 - but it took 4 years to produce the first album simply called "The Album".
Heartplay is very much a band - featuring the talent of Tuomas Wäinölä (also in Nylon Beat) on guitar and Kalle Torniainen on drums now established as a producer, too and last but not least Simo Saastamoinen on bass (also in Jean S.). And the band has moved on from the AOR/Hard rock debut to this more AOR/Westcoast oriented "Where the Deadends meets". With its very strong songs combined with excellent musicianship - especially the smooth and fluid guitar playing from Wäinölä is outstanding in my opinion.
The album is full of good songs with a characteristic Scandinavian sound to them. "Never again" is a great mellow song with a melancholic chorus and Mr. Blom's top vocals alll over it - almost sounding like a young Steve Walsh from Kansas from time to time. "Grateful" is another great track which has a good feeling and more keyboard orientated! ... but here a Walsh's feeling to the vocals - great.
If you are into the more laid back Scandinavian style like Crossfade, Tommy Denander or Urban Tale for that matter for example - Heartplay is definitely a band for you. "Where the Deadends meets" is spinning constantly on my CD player right now.

After many years a long lost treasure has finally been found and the forgotten album "The Bridge" will be released here in September 2004. In 1977 Jim McClarty (drums) and Kevin Russell (guitar) founded the band 707. Later, Duke McFadden (keyboards) and Phil Bryant (vocals) completed the line-up which had big radio hit "I Could Be Good For You". 1981 saw a very successful tour together with REO SPEEDWAGON throughout the United States of America. Afterwards, McFadden left and the band wrote songs for the next album "The Bridge", which was forgotten on the shelf and has never been released - until now.
Phil Bryant had to quit his vocal duties which were then inherited by Kevin Chalfant. Numerous songs had to be re-recorded with Kevin's vocals and so the album could finally be completed. The first single "Mega Force" - which was also used as the theme for the same-titled movie - hit the charts and made its way up to the US Top 10.
In 1983, the group disbanded though. Now and many years later the forgotten album "The Bridge" will be released by MTM Classix. All songs have been remastered and remixed. The gem contains 3 bonus tracks, which were recorded during the album sessions, but never planned to be released. The album features the talents of Phil Bryant on vocals & bass, Kevin Russel on guitar, Tod Howarth on keyboards & guitar and finally Jim McClarty on drums.

The Austrian band Edenbridge is a very special mixture of the roughness by a power metal band and the sweetness of the female vocalist Sabine Edelsbacher. The band features the talents of band founder Lanvall on guitars, Andreas Eibler on rhythm guitars and Roland Navratil on drums.
"Shine" is the bands fourth studio album - but Edenbridge has since their debut in 2000 been in a leaque of their own they soon went on tour with major acts like Axxis and Pink Cream 69 - Dennis Ward from the before mentioned PC69 became the bands producer on the second album "arcana" from 2001. But the biggest impact had the "Aphelion" album from 2003 it was followed by a European headlining tour alongside the band Sirenia - this move made the band a new base of fans from the more dark metal/gothic scene. Edenbridge filmed the tour and released a CD+DVD package called "A Livetime in Eden".
With "Shine" the band has a chance of a more broad breakthrough - the gothic elements are all well packed in a very melodic though powerful and tight concept. The genres represented on the album is very varied from the beautiful melodic opener to the powerful "October Sky" over the beautiful ballad "Elsewhere" - where Mrs. Edelsbacher is accomanied by a piano only... Sometimes she reminds me of Maggie Reilly in her melodic approach - but the powerful guitars and drumming is definitely not Mike Oldfield;)
If you want a unique musical experience and like the variety of the span from gothic to melodic rock to progressive to Gaelic/folk to ... sheer power - Edenbridge is worth a spin - very good!

Born in Three Hills, Alberta, Paul Janz moved to Switzerland with his family when only four years old. He first started singing gospel music in the church choir and by the time he was ten years old he was writing arrangements for a gospel quartet and performing in front of huge crowds. At the age of thirteen he progressed to the trumpet and studied opera. It was not long before he was in the studio arranging and conducting with members of the Basel symphony orchestra.
It was in his early years he became involved with the European Christian band Deliverance, a band who recorded three albums between 1976 and 1979. It was the last album “Tightrope” that caused a stir and it was to become an important part of Paul’s career. The band eventually folded and Paul moved back to Canada where he found his way singing commercial jingles, like “Way to go Chevy!” and studying at University.
Paul played most of the instruments himself when he began recording his own demos, but it paid off as he caught the attention of the majors. He signed with A&M and the debut “High Strung” was the result, a ten track album of remarkable quality and character. It produced a hit “Go to pieces” and he went on to receive a Juno award for most promising male vocalist. Singles were released for the songs “Don’t Cry Tonight”, “High Strung” and “Close my Eyes”, all gained Paul more and more success.
Paul’s work is pure AOR with plenty of melody and very thoughtful lyrics. If you have found yourself listening to albums by Bryan Adams, Alfie Zappacosta (Surrender) and Stan Meissner in the past then you should love the work that Paul has written here. “High Strung” is regarded by many as his finest work. Fans of the Canadian bands Straight Lines and Body Electric will be quick to note that Dave Pickell and David Sinclair are included in the Janz line-up.
With sterling production and a great overall sound “High Strung” is one of those great mid-eighties albums that has simply begged for a release on CD.

Safe Haven is the new playground for the two main characters in MVP (Michael Vescara Project) vocalist Michael Vescara himself and his partner in crime guitarist Eric Riordan.
Vescara's musical projects has until now focused on the more hard hitting kind of metal - like as vocalist for Loudness, Yngwie Malmsteen, Killing Machine and Reign Of Terror. But on Safe Haven's debut we're talking melodic hard rock in the vein of Foreigner and/or Journey. But with the characteristic high pitched and powerful vocals by Vescara - backed up by Eric Riordans melodic compositions and fluid guitar playing. On the album they are being helped by bass player Chris McCarvil who has played with people from Twisted Sister, Skid Row and Jeff Scott Soto Band, drummer Phil Suarez from the band Soundscape and College trained keyboard player Mike Mongillo.
The Journey influences shines through in ballads like "It could happen to you", "Fly me away" and "Sorry Baby" - but the band also show rockier sides to themselves on tracks like opener "Do you remember me" and my absolute favorite "Nothin' like this Feeling" - those tracks really take off, and melody, power and energy melts together and I really like the guitar solo on "Do you remember me" - almost in the vein of Hardline.
Don't miss this opportunity to hear Michael Vescara in an unexpected band with a (to me) unexpected sound and genre. Great!

Gary John Barden is back with a release in his own name. This "Past and Present" album is a collection of very personal interpretations of good ole' MSG classics. His partner in crime on this one is his band mate from Silver Michael Voss on guitars, bass, mandolin(!) and vocals - but Mr. Barden is also joined by Marco Minnemann on drums, Christoph Wegmann on guitar, Jochen Mayer on backing vocals, Angel G. Schleifer on guitar and finally Dirk Hoewische on Hammond B3.
The short version of the Gary John Barden story is that originally MSG was formed with Barden on vocals - and he had the lead singers role on the bands debut from 1980, on the second album from 1981 and finally the live album "One Night at Budukan". After that intermezzo he joined Gary Moore and made some song that ended up on Moore's "Corridor of Power" album. But later he was called in when Graham Bonnet quit for Schenker's "Built to destroy" in 1983.
A couple of years went and Barden joined forces with another ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson and released the famous debut with Statetrooper in 1987. After that Gary John Barden quit music business for a long time - before he returned with the band Praying Mantis in 1996. And now he was back in business again and people from the music scene included him in the circle again. In the period to follow he worked with Lea Hart, Steve Overland and Company of Snakes. But it was in the band Silver with Michael Voss (from Casanova) and Bernie Tormé (from Gillan Band) the world really got to see Gary John Barden in the role as a song writer again on their 2 albums. As a matter of fact both Silver and Statetrooper has new albums in the making.
But in the time while we wait for these albums "Past and Present" is a fun album to fill the gap with. I especially like Voss' acustic guitar on nearly all songs but also his Schenker interpretation in several solos - but also Angel Schleifers slide guitars are very superior! There is one new track though - the very mellow and acustic (and very short) driven last track "Present and the Past".
A big plus are the inner cover notes - with a whole encyclopedia on Gary John Barden written by Alan S. Walsh.

On this new album with FROM THE INSIDE - featuring former Tyketto singer Danny Vaughn it is the collaborating forces of Italian record company Frontiers Records and Fabrizio Grossi who also re-launched Mickey Thomas on the "Over the Edge" project and Joseph Williams on the "Vertigo" project. This is just as amazing as the two other records - it is nice to hear one of the greatest voices of melodic rock back on the right track. Danny Vaughn and Co. has put together a cocktail of tracks written by outside writers and some tracks exclusively written for this record.
One of the best tracks is the wonderful opener "Nothing at all" written by Grossi and Vaughn - it is one of the best openers i've heard so far this summer, melodic and powerful. But also the next track "Suddenly" originally written by Desmond Child for Lee Ann Rimes, it goes very well with the powerful arrangement and Danny's great vocals! Danny obviously has a soft spot for Desmond Child (or is it Lee Ann Rimes?) because he also covers the more balladesque track "Damn". On the album there are two tracks from the hands of the melodic Swede Martin Stenmarck: "Losing Game" and "Stop" (originally from Stenmarck's album "One").
The project "From the Inside" is a re-launching of singer Danny Vaughn and he deserves it. This record is one of the best of this summer of 2004! This is definitely a Buy or die record!

David T. Chastain is back with a new backing band - including new female vocalist Kate French, ex-Vicious Rumours drummer Larry Howe and bassist Dave Starr. "In an Outrage" is the band's first release since their 1997 album "In Dementia".
This time around new front woman Kate French wrote all the lyrics, and the very powerful rhythm section including the famous heavy 8 string bass and the energetic double bass drum gives Chastain a heavier approach - but also a very strong song writing and Kate French' delicious mix of sensuality and passion with raw power and strength gives this release a more dynamic expression!
If you like it raw with lot of power this is definitely a record for you.

Kick the Dog is a rock band from Boston, MA. The quartet was formerly known under the moniker Axminster and had a lot of local airplay in the late 80's and start 90's where they did gigs with Metallica, Extreme, Twisted Sister, Molly Hatchet, Foghat and Lita Ford. Axminster suffered from the Grunge wave in the start/mid 90's like every melodic rock band and they went on hiatus.
But in 1999 an independent record company got a hold of the Axminster tapes and released a CD to cover the bands recording career. The response was good and the band held a lot of concerts and Steve Sera on vocals, guitar, synthesizer and percussion, Benny Fiorentino on guitars, keys, sitar, electronics and theory, Mike Lamm on drums and vocals and finally Danny Callan on bass decided to reform the band but with a new ability of realizing new musical ideas - therefore the metaphor Kick the Dog as their new band name.
The album "Territory" kicks off with 3 mid tempo songs - but all with a very melodic approach underneath the more biker-like attitude. I'm especially fond of track two "The Bed i made" with some similarities with old Alice Cooper stuff. But they continue with four more rockier tracks and here I prefer "Shine" with a great guitar solo already in the start supported by a great rhythm section through the whole track ! The album finishes off with the more mellow "Living in Sin" and what a perfect "downer" that is - with well balanced guitar figures and a sing along chorus.
True rocks bands like Kick the Dog are very rare these days - they don't make things more difficult than they are and play with the guts and are proud of their musical roots - rock on!

Lightness is a German progressive five piece band from Meinerzhagen (?) with the talents of Karsten Blank on vocals, Matthias Brune on guitar, Axel Kissing on keyboards, Olaf Kissing on drums and Magnus Tescher on bass & violin. Besides the five of the "permanent staff" there are guests invited on this very colorful release like Stefanie Dues on violin, Noémi Varga on viola and Annika Mertinat on violincello.
This is their second album - and both are available through their website - and is very much dominated by the all in all 20 minutes long track "At Sea" which spands from prog (a la Pink Floyd) to real heavy tracks over jazzy/funky tunes. This is a very well played and well balanced album. The songs are just as long as they should be - long enough to let all musicians show off, and just as short to not getting bored!
My favorite tune is the happy-go-lucky acustic driven "No!" with a very melodic organ solo in the middle.
In the past Lightness has been supporting act for bands like Status Quo, and I will hope that the band will continue that path - if they do Lightness will be able to impress a bigger audience with their big big anthems and every members extraordinary musical skills.

Mind Key has existed since early 1999, founded by Dario De Cicco on keyboards and Emanuele Colella on guitars with the precise task to melt a sound of progressive metal sounds of bands like Symphony X, Dream Theater and/or Royal Hunt with a newer mature and more song oriented approach. The initial line-up was completed by Eduardo Schipani on drums who later was replaced with Andrea Stipa and bass player Francesco Mormile who later was replaced by Lele Castaldo - this debut album was recorded with vocalist Mark Basile but he has recently been replaced by Elio Fierro!
The bands musical style is as changing as their artist gallery - spanding from jazz element to power metal! But they do it with an authentic flair and each and everyone of the members has extraordinairy musical abilities - and they never loses their melody.
There are alot of memorable tracks here like "Deep inside" who has a big jazz section in the middle, and the beautiful ballad "Memory calling" but also the more "straight" progressive tracks like opener "Secret Dream", "Lord of the Flies" and "Waiting for the Answer" has elements of great passion and power!
Mind Key proves that they are ready to mess with the big guys in the genre. It will be intersting to follow the band as their new singer should be more in the vein of classic rock voices like Dio/Coverdale.