Rock & Gem – October 2018

The sixth go-around for the Norwegian hard rockers and Twin Peaks devotees, Blackout delivers another solid set of neo-classic rock confections that borrow happily from stalwart radio heavies like Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, and Van Halen. More NWOBHM than hair metal, the 12-track set takes itself just seriously enough to connect, but never tries to pretend to be anything other than a love letter to the 1970s, which it manages to do with significant aplomb, despite the fact that the band has connections to a host of extreme metal outfits, including Enslaved and Gorgoroth. Iron Maiden are evoked right out of the gate on the explosive "This Is War," a nearly six-and-a-half-minute romp through guitarmony-leaden killing fields that sounds like a lost cut from the Piece of Mind sessions.

This a real gun, and a dark gem of psychedelia, in this case more towards hard and bluesy sounds. Material of this caliber should not miss in any discography that boasts excellent material. Featuring ex-Ugly Ducklings drummer Robin Boers and guitarist John Richardson from Nucleus.

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Rock / Psychedelic Rock / Blues Rock

This obscure power trio is thought to have come from Boston, where they supported the Velvet Underground in 1969, the same year their sole LP appeared. An inspired blend of tough electric blues (Leavin' Trunk , Antique Locomotives), commercial songs with distinctive hooks (What Of I?, Pourscha Poe) and more overtly acid-influenced material (David's Rush, Yellow Wall), it's an overlooked psychedelic gem that deserves far wider recognition.

Nordic Union, the ongoing musical collaboration between legendary Danish rock singer Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids) and prolific Swedish songwriter and producer Erik Martensson (Eclipse, W.E.T.), have announced their third album, "Animalistic". As has been well documented at this point, Atkins was recently given a stage four cancer diagnosis, but rather than sit at home and sulk, the legendary frontman has thrown himself into creating more music. March 2021 saw the release of his solo album, "One Shot", which was followed almost one year to the day later in March 2022 by another solo album, "Make It Count". Not satisfied with resting on his laurels, Atkins partnered up with Martensson in late 2021 and early 2022 to work on Nordic Union's third album, "Animalistic".

Dreaming of Sleep is the fourth album by progressive rock band Tetrafusion. The album was first streamed online on April 24th on Bandcamp, and the full album was released independently on April 28th. It features influences of Dream Theater, Pink Floyd, Between The Buried And Me, Monuments, Cynic, Opeth, Frank Zappa, Weather Report, King Crimson, TesseracT. This post-metal gem, featuring two ex-members of "Scale The Summit" on bass and drums, shines with various kinds of impressing guitar sounds, usually screeching in thorough distortion, frequently ponding pleasantly djenty. The heavy bass, sometimes slapped with amazing virtuosity, constitutes a solid base, and the excellent vocals and occasional keyboards complete the picture, yielding an overwhelming wall of sound that lasts for almost an hour.

Congregación is one of those jewels which shone brilliantly for a short time in the tiny universe of the Chilean Scene of the late '60's and early '70's , and which, precious gem as it was, was nearly unknown to the majority of the public than and now. Starting out in Valparaiso under the creative leadership of Antonio Smith, its only record is a mixture of placid tunes, full of positive, idealistic messages, expressing love of nature and humankind at the same time. The music is comprised of a mixture of folk, psychedelia and progressive…

Although this was Bob Welch's last album with the band he had worked with since 1971, it sounds like he's at his peak. Pared down to a foursome for the first and (as of 2002) only time since the addition of Danny Kirwan, both Welch and Christine McVie contribute some of their finest songs. Bolstered by sympathetic self-production and imaginative, often aggressive arrangements that include brassy horns on the title track (a blatant but failed attempt at a hit single), the album is one of their most cohesive yet diverse…

Modern electric blues guitar can be traced directly back to this Texas-born pioneer, who began amplifying his sumptuous lead lines for public consumption circa 1940 and thus initiated a revolution so total that its tremors are still being felt today. Few major postwar blues guitarists come to mind that don't owe T-Bone Walker an unpayable debt of gratitude. B.B. King has long cited him as a primary influence, marveling at Walker's penchant for holding the body of his guitar outward while he played it. Gatemouth Brown, Pee Wee Crayton, Goree Carter, Pete Mayes, and a wealth of other prominent Texas-bred axemen came stylistically right out of Walker during the late '40s and early '50s.