Hard Rock

Kiske/Somerville – City of Heroes Review

Kiske/Somerville – City of Heroes Review

“Here we have another project band from Frontiers Records which appears to be trying to duplicate the success of the Russell Allen and Jorn Lande pairings. Like those albums, the music here is written by Magnus Karlsson, this time with the help of his Primal Fear band mate, Mat Sinner, and as usual, it walks the line between melodic power metal and radio-ready hard rock. Essentially, this is Allen/Lande with Michael Kiske and Amada Somerville standing in. How you feel about that will depend on the extent of your love for the former Helloween golden boy and the erstwhile queen of symphonic metal backing vocals (Avantasia, Aina, et al).” Do you need to take things down a notch and relax? This might help.

King Hitter – King Hitter EP Review

King Hitter – King Hitter EP Review

“I’m sure many of you have a big soft spot for C.O.C.’s Blind album, and in that regard, I’m no different. It’s become a genre classic and been showered with endless accolades since it’s release almost 25 years ago (that metal is olde!). A big part of the album’s appeal for me is Karl Agell’s gritty, tough-as-nails vocal performance. He was by far the best vocalist C.O.C. ever had and it’s a perpetual bummer he recorded but one album with the quasi-iconic band.” Dancing with the dead is so 1991, but it’s great to hear from this guy again anyway.

Bad Guys – Bad Guynaecology Review

Bad Guys – Bad Guynaecology Review

“As loyal AMG readers might have noticed by now, I am a sucker for awesome song and album titles. This weakness occasionally factors into which bands I choose to review. As far as band names go, Bad Guys is pretty fucking weak (and definitely not to be confused with Bad Dudes). However, if that is the name your band is stuck with, you can’t possibly top Bad Guynecology as an album title. It’s brilliant. Sign me up.” Mr. Fisting signs up for a lot of things on impulse. Remember that “make your own pruno” class? That should have learned him.