New Rock Is Alive And Well, Thank You!!!!

by Matman

Get ready for some amazing new releases and some fairly news ones...

The Brink - NOWHERE TO RUN (Frontiers) - OUT NOW
WOW! This brand new UK band has captured the energy and sounds of the 70's and 80's without sounding dated and tired! For their full length debut, Tom Quick (vocals), Lexi Laine (lead guitar), Izzy Trixx (rhythm guitar), Gaz Connor (bass), and Davide Bocci (drums) have crafted 15 amazing songs that all just jump out right at you.  Each song has its own charm and feel with my favorites being the hook filled Never Again, Nothing To Fear, and the down and dirty, Burn.  The stand-out track on the album is the powerful Save Goodbye, a song that has become one of my favorite new songs of the past 20 years.  The album also includes an acoustic/string/vocal version of the song that just backs up the last sentence.

I admit, this album caught me way off guard and is another one that has found a home in my Top Five and as of now, is my favorite release of 2019. Amazing how 5 young British musicians were able to capture the best of an era they weren't born for and make it sound like they were.    


AXEL RUDI PELL - LIVE XXX ANNIVERSARY - release date 6/7/2019
I have to admit it, with my vast knowledge of music and feeling like I know everyone who is anyone, I have very little experience with German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell except I know of his singer (since 1998), Johnny Gioeli. So what better way to dive into a career I know nothing about than with a live 30th anniversary celebratory release. One listen in... consider me quite impressed. 

Knowing none of the songs except a few of the covers, I was drawn in by the bands live performance and how tight they are and how it isn't what I expected, everything built around an amazing guitarist. Tracks like The Wild And The Young, Wildest Dreams and the pure epic Mystica have a very German feel to them with a heavy influence of Rainbow, DIO and Black Sabbath. The band; Gioleli (vocals), Pell (guitar), Ferdy Doernberg (keyboards), Volker Krawczak (bass) and former Rainbow/Black Sabbath drummer Bobby Rondinelli are amazing and this live double album has made me do what was intended... search out the entire Axel Rudi Pell collection!!!!  

JORN - LIVE ON DEATH ROAD - release date 6/14/2019
One of the biggest secrets in heavy metal is vocalist Jorn Lande who spent his 50th birthday headlining the Frontiers Music Fest in Milan Italy last year. From that is a double live album, LIVE ON DEATH ROAD. Jorn gets a lot of attention for sounding very much like Ronnie James Dio, but there is so much more to him and his amazing band. Joining Lande is Tore Moren (guitar), Alessandro Del Vecchio (keyboards), Sid Ringsby (bass), Beata Polak (drums) and Francesco Jovino (drums), who create a rockin' and intense listening experience. On original tracks like Traveler and Out To Every Nation or the fantastic covers Ride Like The Wind and a super cool version of Shot In The Dark, my hope is that this album will make you interested enough to look up Jorn's huge musical legacy. 

LIVE ON DEATH ROAD is a fun heavy listen that has so much to offer those discovering Jorn for the first time. if you have been a long time fan like myself, it's a chance to at least hear him live since I may never get to see him live.