Muziekrecensies
Tony Romero’s second album from Vortex is called ‘Zen’. The 9 instrumental tracks are mostly made for relaxation and meditation. Yet the pace in ‘Africa’ is a bit faster than expected. It contains a mix of instrumental (slightly classical) atmospheric elements and electronic sounds. In the restful epic ‘Ocean’, you won’t hear waves rustling, but … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘The Lightmaker’ is the new concept album by prog band ‘Nine Skies’.A man (Rudy) is living his 1001st and therefore his last life. He describes thevarious characters of the incarnations. The various guest vocalists (including Kristoffer Gildenlöw), clarify these characters. Certain parts of the text narrated, or whispered. There are nice changes in tempo and/or … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘Nova Cascade’ plays ambient art and prog rock. Electronic sounds play an important role, rhythm is secondary. The start of ‘Sleeping Dogs’ is beautiful. Vocals and music form an ultimate balance. Especially the details of the violin are intriguing. The title track (with flute playing) is exceptionally constructed, but the “percussion” lacks warmth. Real drums … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Guitarist Brian Setzer keeps rockabilly and swing alive. In his long career, he sold millions of records and won several awards. ‘The Devil Always Collects’ is his new album, which features 11 songs. These invite you to sing along, but the high (rousing) tempo makes this far from easy. The backing vocals are sometimes predictable, … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘Strings From The Edge of Sound’ is the new album of Karmamoi (Italy). The CD contains four new and five tracks from “old” albums. In the calm, new tracks, there are sometimes a lot of layers. The (stacked) vocals are balanced with the music. You can hear emotion in both vocals and music. Most turns … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Starlite & Campbell is a prog.band formed by married couple and multi-instrumentalists Suzy Starlite and Simon Campbell. Because they play so many instruments together and are both vocalists, there is only one guest musician. ‘Starlite one’ is their third album. There is a lot of variation in the music: ‘Saving Me’ has a fairly catchy … Read more, available in English and Dutch
British female formation ‘Girlschool’ has been around for 45 years. ‘WTFortyfive?” is their 14th studio album, the release date is 28 July. The first few seconds of ‘It Is What It Is’ are quite quiet, then the ” speed rolls on”. The lead vocals are pleasantly raw. The backing vocals and music are rousing, soon … Read more, available in English and Dutch
The melodic metal band King Kobra has a new line-up. ‘We AreWarriors’ is their new (seventh) studio album. This one has a pleasant rock-metal start with ‘Music Is A Piece Of Art’. The (rousing) songs have fine balance between rhythm and melody. Vocals and music are also in balance. Paul Shortino’s voice still has a … Read more, available in English and Dutch
‘Unchained’ is the seventh album by The BluesBones (Belgium). During a live studio setting, the instruments were captured in one take, well done! The balance between vocals and music is fine. The relationship between the instruments themselves, and the balance on the headphones is good. Nico De Cock sings parts of the lyrics, other parts … Read more, available in English and Dutch
Last year, Andrew “Fletch” Fletcher passed away; he was co-founder of synth-pop band Depeche Mode. Memento Mori’ is the first album released by vocalist Dave Gahan and guitarist/keyboardist Martin L. Gore together. The inspiration arose at the beginning of the Covid pandemic. The 12 songs describe a variety of moods, including anxiety, joy, obsession and … Read more, available in English and Dutch