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Review: Storm Force – Age Of Fear

Escape Music(Jan 25th 2020)

Reviewer: Dan Mann

Storm Force, the new Canadian hard rock band, put together by Brighton Rock & Fraze Gang‘s Greg Fraser, are set to release their debut album ‘Age Of Fear‘ on January 25th via Escape Music.

Okay so what can we expect? Well dear reader, you can expect ten hard rock tracks that will delight the old ear lugs.

They are not out to reinvent the wheel when it comes to their sound nor are they developing some new music genre. This is certainly not a critisism as that old addage if it ain’t broke is very apt when it comes to ‘Age Of Fear‘ and judging by the interest already shown by music fans, it’s the right decision.

Yes of course there are strong Brighton Rock influenses especially ‘Ride Like Hell‘ & ‘Marshall Law‘ plus Fraze Gang sounding ‘More Than You Know‘, but that’s not a bad thing in my book, there is enough of a bent to keep the whole album sounding fresh.

Stand out tracks for my are ‘Age Of Fear‘, ‘Breathe‘ & ‘Different Roads‘.

Certainly an album for those of you who love just good old hard rock with out thrills and window dressing.

Order yourself a copy and treat your ears as well as your neighbour’s ears…….

 

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Escape Music is delighted to announce the release date for the Canadian band Storm Force’s new album ‘Age Of Fear‘. The album will be released on 25th January 2020.

Storm Force is the explosive new band that fans of classic hard melodic rock have all been waiting for.
Led by Canadian rock legends Brighton Rock founder and lead guitarist Greg Fraser and featuring one of today’s most powerful and versatile lead vocalists in Patrick Gagliardi (formerly of Surface Tension), their debut record produced by Darius Szczepaniak (Black Crowes, Sum 41, Big Sugar) combines colossal, crushing melodic rock with hook-laden ballads and massive choruses reminiscent of vintage Cinderella, balanced by classic rock sensibilities of acts like The Who and Van Halen.
The group hails from Niagara Falls, Canada and is rounded out by the blistering one-two punch rhythm section of ex-Panik and Step Echo drummer Brian Hamilton and sought-after session musician and touring bassist Mike Beradelli.
Storm Force’s groundbreaking new record is the result of a rich blend of rock influences spanning Triumph, UFO, Thin Lizzy, Foreigner, and so many more, and will be available on Escape Music worldwide.

TrackList:
1. Because Of You
2. Age Of Fear
3. Breathe
4. Ember Rain
5. Ride Like Hell
6.Dirty Vegas
7. More Than You Know
8. Marshall Law
9. Different Roads
10. Ringside

Line up:

Lead Vocals: Patrick Gagliardi
Lead Guitar & Vocals: Greg Fraser
Drums & Vocals: Brian Hamilton
Bass & Vocals: Mike Beradelli

Official Website

 

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Escape Music is pleased to announce the release date  of 22nd November 2019 for the Carl Sentance Persian Risk double album ‘Who Am I?‘ and ‘Once A King‘.

‘Who Am I?‘

Track listing:

1. Don’t Look Back 3.17
2. Who Am I? 3.45
3. My Creation 4.29
4. In My Life 4.31
5. The Writing On The Wall 3.03
6. I Feel Free 3.44
7. Dark Tower 4.08
8. Facing Your Demons 5.26
9. Calling For You 4.10
10. I Thought It Was You 3.52
11. Don’t Walk Away (Bonus Track) 4.52
12. Life Goes On (Bonus Track) 3.38

Line up:

Vocals: Carl Sentance (Nazareth and Krokus)
Guitars: Carl Sentance / Phil Campbell (Motorhead) / Many Maurer (Krokus / Killer) / Jason Banks (Kee Marcello) / Danny Willson (Martin Turner Wishbone Ash)
Keyboards: Don Airey (Deep Purple / Ozzy Osborne etc)
Bass: Wayne Banks (Brazen Abbot / Chris Ousey Heartland / Kee Marcello)
Drums: Tim Brown (Martin Turner Wishbone Ash)

‘Once A King‘

Track listening:

1. Asylum (Child Insane) 3.42
2. Riding High 3.03
3. Killer 4.44
4. Once A King 5.30
5. Soul Deceiver 4.06
6. Battlecry 3.36
7. Spirit In My Dreams 3.41
8. Ride The Storm 4.43
9. Fist Of Fury 3.57
10. Woman And Rock 4.00
11. Wasteland 4.26
12. Mind Doctor (Bonus Track) 4.28
13. Girls Got Fire (Bonus track) 4.04

Line up:

VOCALS – Carl Sentance (Nazareth and Krokus)
GUITARS – Carl Sentance  / Howie G / Danny Willson
Bass – Carl Sentance / Chris Childs / Alex Meadows
Drums: Tim Brown (Martin Turner Wishbone Ash)
Keyboards: Don Airey (Deep Purple / Ozzy Osborne etc)

Carl Sentance was born 28th June 1961 in Loughborough Leicestershire, UK and started his first band Leading Star playing guitar and singing in 1977.

After participating in several local bands, he replaced John Deverill as a vocalist in the NWoBHM band Persian Risk.
In 1981 he recorded his first single ‘Calling for You‘, the band then recorded ‘Ridin High’ in 1983. In 1984 Persian Risk toured with Motörhead throughout the UK and appeared on The Tube prime time TV on Ch4. In 1985 Carl recorded his first Persian Risk album ‘Rise up‘.

At this point he received an offer from manager Smallwood Taylor to join Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath) as lead singer in his solo project. The collaboration lasted from 1986 to 1988 and created demo songs, videos and various bootlegs. Carl left the Geezer Butler Band in 1988 to join the Welsh band “Monroe”.

In 1988 Carl decided to return to Cardiff and joined the band Tok-io Rose. In 1990 he decided to move to Florida to form the band “Ghost” with Welsh ex- UFO and WASTED guitarist Paul Chapman. In 1995 Carl returned to the UK.

From 1996 to 1999 he sang in various musicals, such as JUDAS in Jesus Christ Super Star and the AMERICAN in Chess. From 1999 to 2002 Carl became the lead singer of the Swiss Hard rock band Krokus, with whom he recorded the album Round 13. In 2004 he then joined the Whole Lotta Metal Theatre Tour for 2 years.

2006 Carl joined up with Deep Purple’s keyboardist Don Airey for his solo project “Don Airey and Friends” and has co-writen with Don ever since. Albums include “A Light in the Sky”, “All Out”, “Keyed Up” and “One of a Kind”.

In 2009 Carl recorded his first solo album ‘Mind Doctor!‘ That led him to try and reform the original Persian Risk but at the time the members were busy with other projects so Carl put a brand new Persian Risk together and came up with two great albums ‘Once a King‘ and ‘Who Am I‘, which will be released by Escape Records in Summer/Autumn 2019.

In 2015 Carl became the new singer for the band Nazareth after founding member Dan McCafferty had to retire due to illness. More recently Carl has recorded Nazareth‘s latest studio album ‘Tattooed On My Brain‘ (song credits include ‘Never Dance With The Devil‘, ‘Change‘, ‘State Of Emergency‘, ‘Silent Symphony‘ and ‘Don’t Throw Your Love Away‘). Carl is currently touring all over the world

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The keyboard trio, American Tears, is back with their vintage prog sound/approach (and lyrics that prove quite relevant in today’s headlines) on their fifth album overall, ‘White Flags’ – released on July 26th via Escape Music in association with 12:12 Records.

With influences from his earlier work, tipping an occasional hat to ELP, Moody Blues and even Deep Purple, this new album shows the daring, and pure emotion, that can be ripped out of those instruments. In fact, the band may be the only band on the planet playing exclusively keyboard rock! American Tears defies the term “generic” as this purely original music, and scathing lyrics, have few if any standards for comparison – as evidenced by such standout tracks as the nine minute-plus ‘Fire Down Below‘,  the epic title track, the synth/organ-heavy album opener, ‘Turn U On‘, and the space age ‘Waltz of the Angels‘. The album along with a bundle that includes American Tears t shirt can be purchased via this link – https://dekomusic.weebly.com/american-tears-sales.html.

American Tears released its first record, ‘Branded Bad‘, on Columbia Records in 1974 and its second, ‘Tear Gas‘, in 1975.  Formed in the fertile musical environment of Long Island, New York, the band was initially made up of Gary Sonny, on bass, Tommy Gunn on drums and Mark Mangold on keys and vocals. For the second record, Greg Baze took over the bass duties.  The band was a power keyboard trio, using keyboards of the day, Hammond organ, synths, mellotron, clavinet, electronic melodica and playing progressive music which showed the bands stellar musicianship.  Eclectic in their approach, their heartfelt music ranged from aggressive keyboard based extravaganzas to beautiful lush melodies circling pop of the day.

The band was fortunate to have toured major venues with such bands as Peter Frampton, J. Geils, Alvin Lee, Gentle Giant, Gary Wright, John McLaughlin and many others. They reached a wide audience and had an impressive show, topped off by Mangold doing handstands on his Hammond. Mark, surrounded by 12 keyboards, Tommy being almost invisible behind a huge battery of drums, with Gary, and later Greg, showing their bass virtuosity in front of a wall of amps, the band stressed musicianship and musicality, while exploring new sounds, and always pushing the envelope.

The third American Tears album, ‘Powerhouse‘, added the guitarist and singer, Craig Brooks, and the band evolved into the critically acclaimed band Touch…but that is another story. The fourth American Tears album ‘Hard Core‘ heralded the return by Mark to this keyboard based approach, using instruments only available in the 70’s when the band made its first foray.

And now, American Tears has offered arguably their best release yet, ‘White Flags‘ – proving that vintage prog sounds featuring keyboard and challenging song structures is still alive and well!

Track Listing:
1 Turn U On
2 Wake Up City
3 Hell Or High Water
4 Waltz Of The Angels
5 Fire Down Below
6 Give Me More
7 Love Is Love
8 Turn The Page (Blue Dog)
9 Pitch Black
10 Keep On Movin’
11 White Flags

 

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VIANA have released a video for the track ‘Forever Free‘ ahead of the same titled album release via Escape Music on January 25th.

Stefano Viana is an Italian guitarist, songwriter and producer who has already caused a stir with his first album ‘Viana‘ (2017) which received very positive reviews. Following his passion with enthusiasm Stefano contacted singer and producer Bryan Cole (Giant, Steel City, solo artist) and started to work on new material. Alessandro Del Vecchio was the vocalist on the first outing but this time Bryan Cole is at the mike stand. The music was recorded in a studio like in the “good old days” and this has made a great impact on the end result as the musicians have bonded and made a richer sound. This new album features some great musicians such as Terry Brock and Francesco Marras and also boasts the talents of great American guitar player John Roth from Giant, Winger and Starship. The 10 tracks we have here are all strong songs, there are no fillers here.. just great melodic hard rock played with a passion and flair. This is one album that is going to be talked out in the coming weeks.

Track list:

1- Forever Free

2- In The Name Of Love

3- Heart Of Stone

4- We Can’t Choose

5- Who Do You Think You Are

6- Live Free Or Die

7- Do You Remember

8- Friday Night

9- I Wanna Tell You

10- We Will Never Say Goodbye

 

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Tug Of War, the project built round Canadian singer BK Morrison, have released a lyric video for the track ‘Before I Will Know‘, taken from the album ‘Soulfire‘, which will be released on Escape Music on 22 February 2019.

Canadian singer BK Morrison has been a well kept secret from the world and only once he started posting some videos on Youtube of himself singing to various tracks in his living room did he attract the attention of Swedish guitarist, song writer and producer Tommy Denander. The two quickly became friends and Tommy felt that this amazing voice must finally be heard to everyone so he actually wrote a whole album of great songs. BK flew over to Stockholm and recorded all vocals at the famous old EMI/Abbey Road Stockholm studio where Tommy worked. Tommy played the album for Khalil Turk at Escape Music who really liked it and a deal was done. The plan in the future is to build a new band around BK so they chose the band name Tug Of war instead of doing a solo album. The album is solely written by Tommy Denander who plays guitars and keyboards plus also produced it together with Khalil Turk. It features a great list of people like Chris Ousey, Bill Champlin (Chicago) and Joseph Williams (Toto) on backing vocals, Billy Orrico on drums and Brian Anthony on bass plus mix and mastering. Get ready for a new favourite singer in the style of David Coverdale, Bob Seger, Richard Marx and Lou Gramm.

Line up:

BK Morrison – Lead vocals

Tommy Denander – Guitars & keyboards

Billy Orrico – Drums

George Hawkins Jr Bass

Brian Anthony – Bass

Chris Ousey – Backing vocals

Bill Champlin – Backing vocals

Joseph Williams – Backing vocals

 

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Review: Salty Dog – Lost Treasure

Escape Music (March 2018)

Reviewer: Grant Foster

Salty Dog’s debut, ‘Every Dog Has It’s Day’ was, in my eyes a true lost classic, packed with fine rockers and golden mellow moments driven by the writing partnership largely of Pete Reeven – guitar- (who provided the music) and Jimmi Bleacher – vocals – (who added lyrics). I remember taking a copy down to the Clay Pigeon in Eastcote, home of Neil Kay’s infamous Heavy Metal Soundhouse at the time, so I could headbang to ‘Come Along’ for chrissaskes!

Unfortunately, grunge killed SD’s blend of hard rock & blues, stone dead, along with a number of other bands. Timing, as they say, is everything.

So, this release – what’s it all about? The lost second album? It appears to be just that, polished demos that were worked up for the album that never saw the light of day. By then, Bleacher had departed and Darrel Beach had taken up the vocals. But how does it compare to EDHID?

I really, really, really, wanted to like this album. Like I’ve said, I loved the debut and if ‘Lost Treasure‘ came anywhere near that, in terms of song writing, production & performances, then it would still be a corker of an opus.

But – I’m afraid to say, I’m left totally & utterly disappointed. And really, really, really frustrated!

I’m looking at the notes now, that I typed over the course of listening to this album, on the five occasions I listened to it and it saddens me.

  1. Damned If I Do – More straight ahead hard rock than the debut album – Felt it would have been more ‘in the groove’. Doubles up towards the end for no apparent reason.
  2. I Need More – Sounds like a Badlands out take. It highlights how unique Jimmi Bleacher was and is sorely missed. The chorus is the best part on offer here, but not enough to save the song. Again, it double times out of nowhere, apparently for the guitar solo.
  3. Walk Softly – Starts out like The Cult, pre Electric, then ultimately goes nowhere. A real demo feel, which brings me to the production, or rather the lack of it. Muddy, unrefined and not a patch on that debut!
  4. Open Sezme – The guitar riff is cool and up to now probably the best thing so far. And be grateful for small mercies that Mr Beach has stopped caterwauling long enough to prove he CAN sing! Has an eastern feeling guitar solo.
  5. Mission On A Hill – A slower paced tune, very Zep like, but again, goes absolutely nowhere. Lacks any kind of strong melody in the vocal, something that is right across the board, I’m afraid. ‘’Do you remember?’ sings Beach? I’m trying to forget………
  6. All That Glitters – Slide guitar opens a riff heavy tune, but lacking the subtle touch. Certainly not glittering and definitely not gold.
  7. Woman Scorned – This proves when the band take their foot off the heavy laden lumpen blues pedal, there is a half decent tune here.
  8. Honeysuckle Wind – Yee haw! Banjo upfront and it goes on to be an inoffensive little jaunt. The sort of thing Blackberry Smoke went past, about ten years ago.
  9. Didju – More of the same…….lumpen hard blues rock with yet another uninspired vocal melody and no chorus to speak of. Oh god……..
  10. Old Fashioned Love – Tries to be Skynyrd, but falls way short. Still, at least it sounds different, although still no chorus!
  11. When Fools Rush In – No, sorry, I’ve lost the will to live. A ballad on shifting sands and I’m out of here.

I know, I know, it doesn’t read well. I suppose when the debut album is as stunningly as good, as Salty Dog produced, bringing out a follow up 26 years later with a different line up and therefore different dynamics, was never going to be easy. But even taking that into account, this, is as bad, as EDHID, was good.

 

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Review: Signal Red – Under The Radar

Escape Music (Febuary 23rd 2018)

Reviewer: Stephen Brophy

Another new name on the scene, Signal Red are a UK Melodic Rock band with a bit of bite to them, but once again this is a project that contains some very well known names on the Melodic Rock Scene. On vocals is none other than Lee Small (Lionheart/Phenomena/SHY) and on Guitars & Keyboards we’ve got Steve Grocott (TEN). Lee has not only been one of the most distinctive sounding voices but also one of the best singers in Melodic Rock for many years now.

The musical style here is very much in the wheelhouse of the musicians, a little lighter than the work Grocott does with TEN and spot on for Small, it just sounds so natural for these guys and with the lineup being rounded out by Brian and Dave Anthony, Bass and Drums respectively.

Having listened to the album a lot over the last few weeks one thing is evident the quality just shines through, not surprising really, but even though the overall sound falls into a similar style bracket throughout the album there is a really nice variance to the songs themselves, from subject matter to pace.

Of the eleven tracks on offer here you could honestly pick many highlights, and there is also an impression that the longer you live with this one the more your favourite tracks will change.  One song however refuses to be ignored on each listen, the closer, and what a cracking way to end the album, ‘The Time Machine‘ is an eight minute epic which floats between melodic rock and progressive rock without blinking, some wonderful guitar work and a very mature feel to the song. Alongside it some other standouts are the punchy opener “Defiant” which really kicks things off in a rocking way, like most of the tracks Grocott’s skills are very evident, with solos a plenty. Being a bit of a sucker for a ballad ‘Emotions Of Motion‘ grabbed me and stuck with me, this time the soulful tones of Smalls exceptional vocals are in full effect.

There is a wonderful marriage here between Lee’s voice and Steve’s guitar tone, neither are too high when they put down the power, the solos are screaming without going over the top, and this creates a great balance throughout. As would be expected with the two main protagonists being a singer and a guitar player they are the instruments that are to the fore in the mix, but the guys are very ably backed up by a solid rhythm section in the Anthony’s.

Signal Red is another project that we hope there will be more from in the future, would be great to hear some of these songs in a live environment. Any Melodic Rock fan should check this album out, it’s really got some exceptional work on it and certainly one of the best releases of the year so far, love it.

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Review: ColdSpell – A New World Arise

Escape Music (Sept 22nd 2017)

Reviewer: Stephen Brophy 

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Sweden’s ColdSpell, the last studio album ‘Frozen Paradise‘ was released in 2013, so four years on we welcome a new batch of Melodic Rock songs for our listening pleasure with ‘A New World Arise‘. This time around there are 12 tracks, each with their own character built in.

There is a maturity to these compositions, these are songs with substance and depth not just thrown together randomly, there is a hint of Progressive Metal at times, guitar work is excellent as always with this band, lots of intricate work from Michael fitting in perfectly with the other components on show. And no shortage of sharp spiralling solos, check out “Call Of The Wild”, on show as well.

The music and vocals are both as strong as ever from a very tightly knit unit that deserve to be heard by a wider audience, ColdSpell are one of those bands that rarely put a foot wrong but have yet to get the success they perhaps have deserved, hopefully this new album will go some way to remedying that.

This album starts off so strongly with three powerhouse tracks, ‘Forevermore‘, ‘Call Of The Wild‘ which is the debut video from the album, and the excellent ‘It Hurts‘. To be honest the rest of the songs follow on in the same vein, powerful, melodic and full of sustained high quality. Certainly not an album with fillers, a lot of hard work has clearly gone in here to ensure that the end product contains both variety and passion.

Pera (Drums) and Chris (Bass) are a formidable pairing, providing the backdrop for everything that’s on top of it. Just terrific work all around and what’s great is that after living with the album for a while, favourite tracks are not set in stone, it can range from almost ballad ‘Signs‘ to the very rocky ‘Forevermore‘ with sweeping guitar and that solid riff and drumming driving it along. Another day could easily bring up ‘It Hurts‘ which is brim full of emotion. The additional keyboards from special guests Jona Tee (H.E.A.T.) and Ged Rylands (Tyketto/Rage Of Angels) add that little extra dimension to some tracks.

If ColdSpell have not been on your radar until now, adjust your settings and sort that out, this is another terrific album from a band that really deserves huge success, excellent musicians that create top class music, this is for me one of the best Melodic Rock/Metal releases of 2017, dig into it and allow it to seep through your pores, well worth the time investment.

This is polished without losing the edge, clean without becoming in any way sterile, what a cracking job all around.