Blind+guardian

Colin Vearncombe will forever be preserved in pop aspic as the maker of 1987’s melancholy worldwide hit Wonderful Life – No 1 in Austria! – but he hasn’t stopped working, despite his not having breached the top 40 for 27 years. Blind Faith, his seventh album under the Black flag, is a marvellous little thing – a less temperamental, less self-regarding cousin to Scott Walker’s first four solo records. Like them, it’s steeped in European balladry, and filled with delicious arrangements – the swooping strings and jazzy shuffles of Womanly Panther are a delight. Vearncombe’s slightly frayed baritone is a perfect match to the music, steering it clear of pomposity, filling it with humanity, even when the regrets well up – “I am not the man you want me to be,” he sings on Not the Man, “Here comes the talking / Slamming doors you then have to throw open.” Pop stardom is a long way in the past for Vearncombe, but Blind Faith is an album by a man very much in control of his gifts.

2015 album from long serving U.K NWOBHM stayers, for fans of Motorhead, Saxon and Iron Maiden. This is the first album featuring the immense talents of vocalist ZP Theart (Dragonforce), drummer Bobby Schottkowski (Sodom) and bassist Barend Courbois (Blind Guardian). Tank’s Valley Of Tears is a classy, well-crafted Melodic Metal album. Certainly, it doesn’t really keep a Punk-ish legacy of the early Tank and doesn’t sound akin even to the latter works of theirs. But it’s no drawback for the listener, with the exception of the traditionalists maybe. Juicy, rich guitar work with some blazing solos and the right balance between power and melody is what Tank currently stands for. And last, but not the last – a tremendous set of pipes behind the vocal lines, a probable highlight of the entire new effort of theirs. Highly recommended.

The music on La Danse Macabre is interesting enough, including death and black metal elements in small doses alongside operatic male and female singing and keyboard relient melodies. Imagine a bit of Blind Guardian, an element of Leaves' Eyes, and a tiny bit of Nightwish and you'll be headed in the right direction…

Innovative, compelling and unique! Van Canto's fourth album once again confirms that guitars are not necessary to deliver first-class metal. The band's main focus centers around sweeping original compositions, in which the vocal acrobats only enlist the help of the drums. Staying true to tradition, Van Canto also delivers several cover songs (Primo Victoria, Bed of Nails, and Master of the Wind), as well as illustrious guests appearances from Marcus Siepen (Blind Guardian) and Joakim Broden (Sabaton). This is the limited edition with 3 bonus tracks

A new band - 6 members, 6 friends - all with huge experience and knowledge from many years in the business and being part of the most successful melodic metal bands: this is SERIOUS BLACK! The line-up consists of Roland Grapow (Masterplan, ex-Helloween), Thomen Stauch (ex-Blind Guardian), Mario Lochert (ex-Visions Of Atlantis), Dominik Sebastian (Edenbridge), Jan Vacik (ex-Dreamscape) and (last but not least) the golden voice of Urban Breed (ex-Tad Morose).