The eagerly awaited second album of the Swedish AORsters with a little bit of a progressive twist in their sound will please everybody who loved the first one, even though “Time For A Miracle “ is heavier. Melodies from out of this world and a singer extraordinaire (Kent Hilli) who is quite reminiscent of Joey Tempest (EUROPE) at times. You can’t ignore PERFECT PLAN as they are too damn good.

MARTIN STARK

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Pnu4-MZ38

HELL IN THE CLUB from Italy feature members of ELVENKING and SECRET SPHERE but the songs delivered here are pure hard rock with lots of party attitude including hooks that can be called anthems. CRAZY LIXX, CRASHDIET, (more recent) H.E.A.T. or MÖTLEY CRÜE seem to have been major influences here. Luckily the modern sounds mentioned in the info sheet provided by the label can’t be found at all. And “Lullaby For An Angeln“ is a great ballad.

MARTIN STARK

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY-fiyFQ9NY

Wow…pure melodic rock with AOR elements which does not come from Sweden? Well, thanks to LANDFALL from Brazil that’s no problem. They showcase former AURA vocalist Gut Oliver. A strong production, organic tension across the album and mostly superb hooklines as well as exciting arrangements let “The Turning Point“ become a true turning point. one for the career of LANDFALL, of course. Check out the energy-driven “Taxi Driver“ or the very much JOURNEY sounding „Distant Love“. Wow!

MARTIN STARK

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SegA08vJNRA

Christian metal band STRYPER and their „heavenly“ inspired metal are something to rely on. STRYPER-Newbie Perry Richardson (b, ex FIREHOUSE) does a great job and mainman Michael Sweet (g/v) fully delivers again. Thundering rhythms (“Make Love Great Again“), heart-breaking ballads (“This I Pray“) or heavy rockers (“Divider“ or “Blood From Above“), the Americans did’t sound that good in a long time actually. They seem to have been fully re-vamped recently. Thanks God!

MARTIN STARK

Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DkLHDWGkV0

The band name RISING STEEL sounds like true metal which describes the French outfit for the most part. “Fight Them All“ is full of explosive riffing, crushing rhythms but also cool melodies, nevertheless making it a rather unusual Frontiers Music release. It is NWOBHM-influenced and offers elements of thrash and power metal as well as hard rock. Check out the dark “Blackheart“ and the fast “Metal Nation“ first. Be careful: The guitars might melt your speakers…

MARTIN STARK

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-yOM1MDFfY

When you are into EVERGREY or KAMELOT, which means you like slightly progressive and more or less dark melodic metal, you can’t go wrong with VANISHING POINT from Austria. This time not quite so melodic like for instance “Tangled In Dreams“ (2000) or “Distant Is The Sun“ (2014) but nevertheless equipped with excellent hooks and orchestral arrangements at times. Apart from that, amazing frontman Silvio Massaro offers a pretty unique voice. Just check out “The Ocean“

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1DnyB-Ph6w

MENTALIST from Saarbrücken/Germany are a new star on the melodic metal horizon brought to us by good old friends like Thomen Stauch (d, ex BLIND GUARDIAN) or Kai Stringer (g, STARCHILD). There are beautiful twin guitars, astonishing vocals (Rob Lundgren) and it’s extremely melodic throughout the album. Music, artwork and the whole concept of the band go well together. Highly suitable for fans of HELLOWEEN, SERIOUS BLACK, ORDEN OGAN or even IRON MAIDEN.

MARTIN STARK

watch:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLff_cK0MlQ

Yet another surprising Frontiers Music signing. It’s the oldest son of mega star PHIL COLLINS who puts out “Becoming Human“. Surprising as well because he offers a mixture of electronic sounds with lots of progressive rock. Vocally sounding very much like his father at times, tracks like “This Is The Time“ or “Living in Silence“ are quite interesting. You shouldn’t forget to listen to the material before buying, though.

MARTIN STARK

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u38qTp9McAM

The title says it all. Once you’ve listened to the debut album from new Midlands based melodic rock quartet TOKYO STORM, you will enter into an “Optimistic State Of Mind“. Admirers of Journey, Whitesnake, Foreigner, Mastedon, Kansas and those classic American bands we all know and love will find “Optimistic State Of Mind” an approachable and familiar album blended with instantly likeable guitar licks, keyboard fills, searching lyrics with meaning, and the heartbeat of a superb rhythm section. You wouldn’t think that this thing is self-produced as it’s as good as anything I’ve heard. Tokyo Storm should take a huge bow and be extremely proud of themselves, as "OTSOM", despite an obvious low-budget input, sounds amazing.

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgKhgpNMjns

You know Joachim Nordlund as the guitarist and one of the founding members of Swedish heavy power metal band Astral Doors. Since 2002, with Astral Doors, Nordlund has recorded nine studio albums. He is also the driving force behind the Swedish melodic rockers SUNSTRIKE and Dreams Of Avalon is now his first solo album where he handles leav vocals as well. With one spin of "Beyond The Dream", you'll know that Nordlund knows his favorite genre quite well - classic melodic rock from start to finish ! Joachim Nordlund offers listeners a vivid and entertaining album of classic AOR melodic hard rock. Fans of the genre will be pleased. Easily recommended and a must have for melodic rock lovers !

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zf_peSKExhM

A pretty rare Canadian record is put out again by Escape Music these days. Six bonus cuts, which are actually pretty good, are added to the original seven tracks which makes it a great release. “Spin This“, originally released back in 1991, is high-energy pop-rock with cool hooks. The slow “When I See You Standing There“ should have been a major hit. A serious hint for everybody who is into GLASS TIGER, WORRALL or WALLS OF SILENCE: Grab it! Limited edition re-issue of 1000 copies.

MARTIN STARK

listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0YjYYmF9GM

Despite a rather - given the band’s history - cheap album title, the guys around Michael Voss (v/g) and Jürgen Breforth (g) do what they can do best. Apart from that, MAD MAX probably deliver one of their heaviest efforts here as the guitars are pretty dominant like they haven’t been in a long time. With the melodic “Eyes Of Love“, the dry rocker “Mindhunter“ or the faster “Rain Rain“ we get a good handful of really strong cuts that will easily become permanent members of future setlists of the German band.

MARTIN STARK

listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1x-Dh9WWzY

“Born Innocent“ is the first studio recording since 1986! Founding members Graham Bonnet (v, ex RAINBOW, MSG), Jim Waldo (keys) and Gary Shea (b) have some guests like Chris Impellittieri (g, IMPELLITTERI) or Bruce Klick (g, ex KISS) on the record. Old School hard and classic rock with some neoclassical metal. Fans of UFO, URIAH HEEP or even classic DEEP PURPLE will dig this for sure. Mister Bonnet sings quite well, something that surprises a little bit considering the more recent live shows. All systems go!

MARTIN STARK

watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZi-W58EcHk