CONTENTS04 W.E.T.06 Crashdiet07 Snakecharmer08 Hardcore Superstar10 Rage of Angels1 1 Vandroya12 Reviews14 Danger Zone + Sapphire Eyes15 Great White17 Diamond Dawn19 Player20 Pink Cream 6922 JornMelodic Rock Fanzine

The official Frontiers Records magazineYear #9 - Nr. 1 / Issue #54

Editor-in-chief: Elio BordiGraphic & Design: Elio BordiWriters: Bruce E.J. Atkinson, Duncan Jamieson, BarryMcMinn, Vitale Nocerino, Rob “Ezy” Bone, GemaFernandez, Primo Bonali.Headquarters and general contacts:Frontiers Records - Via Gonzaga 1880125, Napoli - ItalyTel: +39.081.2399340/7753Fax: +39.081.2399794E-mail: elio@frontiers.itWebsite: www.frontiers.itFacebook: facebook.com/frontiersrecordsofficialTwitter: twitter.com/frontiersrecEditor and publisher: Frontiers Records s.r.l.Copyright©2013 Frontiers Records. All rightsreserved. Reproduction in whole or in part

without permission is prohibited.Printed in Italy.

Focus on: W.E.T. - Rise Up (Frontiers Records)In 2009 the merging of the talents of Jeff Scott Soto, Eclipse’s Erik Martensson and WorkOf Art’s Robert Sall was a mouth-watering proposition and their debut together didn’tdisappoint. “Rise Up”, the follow up, is equally as good. There are hooks galore withenough different melodies within each song to have you humming these tunes formonths and big heavy rock guitars beef up the AOR tunes. With three members ofEclipse on board you get the same high energy approach as that band. The lead-off sin-gle “Learn to Live Again” is a belter with Soto and Martensson trading vocal lines to win-ning effect. “Walk Away”, “Rise Up”, and “Bad Boy” are all up-tempo gems with Sotosinging as well as ever. Of the ballads, “Love Heals” is gloriously anthemic, replete witha “Woah, oh, oh” chorus and “Still Believe In Us” tugs at your heart in all the rightplaces. As the band themselves sing on “What You Want”, “I’ll give you what you want,what you want from me”. They certainly do. 2013 has just started and this will prove tobe one of the strongest melodic rock releases of the year. Duncan Jamieson (96/100)

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band. w.e.talbum. rise upInterview with. e. martensson

interviewed by:. d.jamieson

Question: It’s great to haveyou back.Answer: Thank you. We're veryhappy to be out with a newalbum!Q: The new record is a mon-ster! For your debut Erik andRobert wrote the music andJeff came in to add thevocals. How did the songwriting differ on this one?A: Well, for this record Jeff wasinvolved in the lyric writingwhich is a big difference ofcourse. But otherwise the work-ing method was kind of thesame. Don't fix it if it ain'tbroke. Q: With three great songwriters in the band, it mustbe an interesting process. Doyou approach song writing insimilar or different way?What have you learned fromthe others?A: With this new album as withthe debut. Robert and I met upin my studio, put on coffee andstart fiddling with our guitarsand after a while we'll have thebasic structure of a song and amelody. But just as the debutalbum we had help with thesong writing from my brothersin arms Magnus Heriksson andMiqael Persson. Q: How did you record thealbum? Did you spend muchtime in a studio together ordo you rely on the power ofthe internet to record yourparts separately and sendthe files to each other?A: All writing, recording, mixingand mastering took place in myown studio in Stockholm exceptfor Jeff's vocals that he trackedin Los Angeles. The rest of themembers of the band lives inStockholm. It's been quite thesame of the first album actuallyexcept that Jeff's been involvedin the writing. Usually we meetup in my studio, drink too muchcoffee and try to get the creativ-ity going. I think we did quite agood job this time and I reallyprefer this album to the debut.The whole album has beenrecorded in my studio BlowoutProductions except for Jeff whorecorded his parts in London andLos Angeles. With Wet we kindof build the songs step by stepdoing one instrument at a timewhich we feel is a good way ofworking in this kind of music.Q: Can you please talk aboutthe band?A: Just as the previous albumMagnus Henriksson from Eclipse

and Miqael Persson wereinvolved in the writing. New thistime is that Jeff Scott Soto hasbeen involved in the writingwhich he wasn't at all on thedebut. Also a good friend ofmine Johan Becker has beeninvolved in a couple of songs.The band is identical to thedebut which means Jeff ScottSoto on vocals, Robban Bäck ondrums, Magnus Henriksson onlead guitar, Robert Säll on key-board and myself on Bass, allrhythm guitar, lead guitar andbacking vocals.Q: What about the songwrit-ing pricess?A: Usually I write with a specif-ic goal in my mind. So when itwas time to write for the WETalbum that was the main focus.But of course I get a lot of ideasthat won't fit the specific projectI'm working on. Then I justrecord the idea really rough withan acoustic guitar and singsome nonsense word on aDictaphone so I won't forget it.One never knows when that spe-cific idea can come handy. Forexample, the WET songs OneLove and Brothers In Armswhere left over songs fromEclipse's "Are You Ready ToRock" writing session. Q: The buzz the debut creat-ed in melodic rock circleswas terrific. Were you sur-prised by how positively itwas received?A: A bit, yeah. We knew that itwas good but the way peoplereacted was overwhelming. It'salready a classic in the genre. Ireally think that fans that lovedthe debut will love "Rise Up"just as much. I personally thinkit's way better. It's more W.E.T.Q: You’re extremely busythese days. For exampleEric’s already had an Eclipsealbum out this year and hewrote and produced JimiJamison’s recent album andJeff’s got his solo career andTrans Siberian Orchestra.How do you keep the cre-ative juices flowing?A: We work really hard. That'sthe answer to the question. It'sjust not talent. We put a lot ofhours in the making of thesealbums. But I love working withmusic and as long as I like whatI do I think the creativity willkeep on coming.Q: How is difficoult to workon so amazing projects andalbums like the Jamisonalbum and the Eclipse new

album?A: Last year and this year hasbeen pretty hectic to say theleast. And the two albums youmentioned is just the onesreleased by Frontiers. I do a lotof other stuff for other labelsand bands too but not so muchmelodic rock. I work full time indoing music so I need to be cre-ative and quick to make it.Pressure can be a good and abad thing. It forces you to becreative but it leaves no time forreflection which sometimes canbe good. But as recording budg-ets are nowadays it's very hardto focus too long on anything.Q: With Eric, Magnus andRobban all from Eclipse dothese guys try to play differ-ently here?A: Absolutely. With Eclipse wejust think hard rock and almostmetal. We make everything overthe top but with Eclipse we con-centrate more on the songs andmaking them as strong as possi-ble. Eclipse is more guitar anddrums mayhem! Q: When you recorded thefirst WET album did youenvisage it would be anongoing project?A: Not at all. But after a whilewe understand that this wasevolving into something morethan just a project. That's whywe decided to take the nameW.E.T. just to make it more"Our Own" and not just anotherproject with a fishy name. It'struly a band and not just a proj-ect.Q: You stole the show formany at The Firefest in 2011and I was surprised youweren’t on the line-up forthe 2013 shows although ofcourse Robert’s there withWork Of Art and Eric is therewith Eclipse. Were youasked?A: No, we were never asked. ButI think Eclipse and Work Of Artwill make up for it anyway.Q: Any chance of a tour inEurope this year?A: Nothing's decided yet. Wemust release the album first andthen we take it from there.There is a huge demand for usto go out and play live so it'spossible.Q: Can we expect more fromWET in the future?A: Absolutely. We only just gotstarted and they always say thata bands third album is the bestso we need to do our third clas-sic first!

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Focus on: CRASHDIET - The Savage Playground (Front iers Records)Their previous “Generation Wild” (first album on Frontiers Records) opened manydoors for this swedish band and put CRASHDIET on the Glam Rock internationalmap, with the highlights being the sold-out shows at “Whisky A Go Go” in LosAngeles, CA and “Webster Hall” in New York City, NY. And with this brand new Work,“The Savage Playground”, the band has their minds set to break through on a world-wide basis, with a tour that will see the band going back to the US as well as goingto Japan for the first time. The plan is really big. What about the album, then? Whatwould you expect, guys? Yes, the Crashdiet sound is still there, the album rockspretty hard, some songs have a really heavy and rough sound, also if my impres-sion, sometimes, is a sort of “déjà-vu”; The album has to be played a few timesbefore being really appreciated. This is a nice addition to your Crashdiet and GlamRock discography, and for sure a must-buy! Primo Bonali (92/100)

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Question: This is the secondalbum with the same singer, atotally new experience forCrashdiet. Could we consider“The Savage Playground” yourreal new beginning? Answer: I think many people havehad doubts about Crashdiet butthey have been persistent andendured what most bands couldn'tsurvive. I think with this album wehave instigated the flag in themusic realm.Q: Can I ask you about therecording process of thealbum? A lot of songs seem tobe recorded live in the studio…A: That was one of the initial ideasfor this album, to make it moreraw. We wanted to find the ener-gy we have together live. Thesongs are played togehter in thestudio and even some of thesinging takes are "one takes". Q: Have you ever thoughtabout moving to California tocompose your music?A: We have thought about movingthere and tour the shit outta the

country, and possibly write somematerial there too. We mightactually do that after the nextworld tour! Q: Monroe and Motley Crüe areconsidered one of your biggestinfluences, how did you feel tobe on tour with both of them?Can you tell us some of thecraziest moments of thattours?A: Touring with Michael Monroewas such a privilege. Him and hisband gave cracking performancesevery night, it was like watchingyour best live concert every night.I especially remember Leeds, andthe after party is a bit blurry butfrom what I remembered sickcrazy and we missed the load innext day cuz I was late for thebuss call, turning up in my undeesand boots. We only played one gigwith Motley so far and that was inFinland. The perfect way to startthe touring of summer festivals!Beautiful day in the park, thou-sands of sleazylookin people andwelcoming fans. I briefly talked

with Sixx, he seemed nice. Washoping to see them at the afterparty but don't think they werethere, I guess I wouldn't havenoticed anyway as I got thrownout from climbing the walls to getto the bar. Another great evening!Q: The songs of the new albumseem to be the more influ-enced by the L.A. sound. Doyou agree?A: I’m not sure what you meanbut I think the songs are moregenuine and honest. I think theyare less Mötley Crue less Skid Rowand more ourselves.Q: I know you wrote around50 tracks for Generation Wild.Did you use any of those ideasand songs for the new album?A: Actually Snakes in Paradisewas the first song I wrote withCrashdiet as I still was audition-ing, but it has gone through a fewremakes since then, but Im happywe nailed it for this album.Drinking without you is anothersong written firstly in winter2009.

BAnd. crashdietalbum. the savage playgroundInterview with. Simon Cruzinterviewed by:. Primo Bonali

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Question: This is a great sliceof British blues -based melod-ic rock. Who had the idea toput this band together?Answer: The original idea wasconceived when I met up with NeilMurray and we spoke about play-ing some gigs for fun. He sug-gested Laurie and Harry and akeyboard player called MichaelBramwell, and Chris Ousy's namewas suggested to me by a friend.This line up was given the nameMonsters of British Rock by anagent I know and we ddid a fewshows performing earlyWhitesnake, Thunder, a couple ofChris's and one of Laurie's.Q: Everyone in the band is awell recognised and respectedname in rock circles. How wasthe band assembled?A: As above except that our man-ager suggested that we inviteAdam Wakeman into the line up.We chose the nameSnakecharmer and voilà!Q: How did you decide thedirection of the album?A: Although the sound of theearly (Moody-Murray era)Whitesnake was an influence, wemade no concious effort to emu-

late any particular Whitesnaketracks; the music writers wroteand demo'd what they thoughtwas appropriate then sent themto Chris for the lyrics and vocalsbefore going into the studio torecord them.Q: Snakecharmer have astrongly melodic sound all oftheir own, less like theWhitesnake sound ,given thename, than some peoplemight have anticipated. Wasthis a conscious decision todo something that peoplewouldn’t mistake forWhitesnake?A: Not really, it just came fromthe overall influences of the guysin the band. Q: Why did you decide to selfproduce the record?A: We had a limited budget, butsometimes necessity really is themother of invention! Maybe nexttime we'll take on a producer - itwell certainly relieve the pres-sure. Q: With all the members of theband having such a rich backcatalogue of great music,what do you expect a setlist tolook like?

A: We haven't yet compiled onebut probably some historicalfavourites from our back cata-logue and Snakecharmer origi-nals.Q: You’ve played a couple ofgigs together this year. Howwas the chemistry on stagebetween you?A: Excellent! There's mutualrespect coupled with a sense ofachievement. Believe me, gettingus all together at the same time isan achievement in itself! Q: With everyone involved inother bands, how do you bal-ance that with Snakecharmerand are you hopeful there willbe more to come fromSnakecharmer?A: It's not easy to get everyonetogether, but we will be giggingand hopefully writing and record-ing another album.Q: Do you have any gigs linedup for 2013 ?A: We are being offered gig,s butas much as we look forward tolive work, it has to be economical-ly viable. We are obviously awareof promoting the album so we willbe out there soon. Summer festi-vals are appealing too!

band. snakecharmeralbum. snakecharmerInterview with. Micky Moodyinterviewed by. d. jamieson

This is a veritable rock super group, featuring ex-Whitesnake members Mick Moodyand Neil Murray, the talents of ex-Thunder skin pounder Harry James, Wishbone Ashguitarist Laurie Wisefield, keyboard player Adam Wakeman and Heartland singerChris Ousey. Ousey has that classic rich, bluesy, honeyed voice that Britain has pro-duced with regularity since Paul Rodgers set the blueprint. Although everyone hada hand in writing the material, Ousey’s voice and contribution to song writingmeans that this disc sounds a lot like Heartland, albeit a touch bluesier in placesand less like Whitesnake than many might expect. “A Little Rock ‘N’ Roll” has a dis-tinct Micky Moody influence in it as does “Nothing to Lose” and it’s interesting tohear him playing with the more melodic Wiseman instead of the bluesier BernieMarsden. “My Angel”, “Cover Me In You” and first single “Accident Prone” are pol-ished slabs of radio friendly rock. “Guilty As Charged” is heavier blues and is thekind of song you might have anticipated more of. Snakecharmer should entice any-one with a love of classic British blues-based rock. Duncan Jamieson (92/100)

Focus on: SNAKECHARMER - Snakecharmer (Front iers Records)

Question: Can we begin with abrief history of the group? Answer: We started up back in 9’8,Martin and I started the group.Adde joined a few years later, andVic during the Dreaming in aCasket tour in beginning of 08,when Silver decide to leave theband. We have done a total of 8records. On the 3 first albums wewere searching for the "HardcoreSuperstar sound". We didn´t find ituntil the self titled album "HardcoreSuperstar", or as some want to callit "The Black Album". From thenuntil now, we have always knownhow we want to sound, but ofcourse you always have to try toimprove yourself, otherwise youmight get stuck. Each new albumneeds to have its own specialtouch. Q: You seem to be a very inde-pendent group, not getting onany ‘bandwagon’, which is niceto see. However, has this inde-pendence held you back in anyway?A: Yes, we always tend to go ourown way, sometimes good and

sometimes bad. Of course it issometimes a bit stupid to not bemore commercial, and accept com-mercial amusement TV offers, but ifit does´t feel right we won´t do it.And due to this we have never lostthe "Hardcore feeling". Althoughwe understand that this might havekept us a bit unknown to the bigaudience. Good or bad, that´s upthe the fans to decide!Q: Let’s talk about the newalbum coming out… somewhatexperimental, however with astrong and fresh Rock pres-ence! Would you say that thisalbum is your best to date?A: Of course it sounds a bit acliche, but according to me thenewest album is always the bestone. Its new and fresh! I like themix in-between the different gen-res you can hear on the album.There are grunge elements, sleaze,thrash and pure rock n roll. Q: “C’mon Take On Me” is notonly the title of the record, butit pretty much sums up theband’s attitude… Any com-ments?

A: Yes, in away maybe?! But thesong titled "C´mon take on me" isabout a girl who's stalks you andwants you just because you arefamous. Q: By the sounds of the newrecord, I hope HardcoreSuperstar is preparing to con-quer the world! What plans doyou have in 2013 in regards totouring and generally reachingout to that untapped worldwide Rock audience?A: Hardcore Superstars plan is andhas always been "World wide dom-ination"! We are gonna tour inScandinavia during March andApril. Then we hit the Europeanfestivals during the Summermonths and hopefully a Europeantour later this fall.Q: Thanks gents for taking thetime to answer some of myquestions… ”C’mon Take OnMe” is a huge slice of greatRock!... Nice going! May 2013be the year that HardcoreSuperstar become, what wecall, a household name!A:Thanks a lot for your kind words!

Focus on: HARDCORE SUPERSTAR - C ’mon Take On Me (Nuclear Blast)2013 sees the wild party bunch opening another chapter in the history ofstreet metal. Their ninth output “C’mon Take On Me”, produced by the bandand mixed by no less a figure than Randy Staub (METALLICA, MÖTLEY CRÜE,THE CULT). “C’Mon Take On Me” is such a succinct title for this, the latestfrom “Hardcore Superstar”. Hard core Rock: yes it is! Superstar potential;Most certainly. These guys meld several styles of Hard Rock and Metal into aunique rhythmic powerhouse of swirling sounds that will make one’s headspin! In a good way, mind you. The group’s sense of dynamics propels thisrecord. A driving wall of sound which wraps itself around compelling lyricalsubject matter delivered in a towering - sometimes desperate manner. “C’monTake On Me” is a incredible way to start 2013, a sonic delight and a true ‘takeno prisoners” musical statement. Bruce Atkinson (90/100)

BAnd. hardcore superstaralbum. c mon take on meInterview with. Jocke interviewed by:. bruce atkison

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Not to be confused with the 80s Christian rockers, this Rage Of Angels is the new proj-ect from ex-Ten keyboard player Ged Rylands. He’s surrounded himself with some ofthe best names in melodic rock but the strong line-up would all count for nothing if thesongs weren’t up to it but fortunately Rylands proves himself to be a great writer ofmelodic rock songs. It’s an eclectic set of tunes from instantly memorable radio friend-ly songs like the glorious “Spinning Wheel”, one of two songs sung by Danny Vaughn,to heavier material like the guitarmaggedon of “Requiem For A Soldier” or atmospher-ic closer “We Live, We Breathe, We Die” sung by Robert Hart. With Neil Fraser handlingthe bulk of the lead guitar parts and Vinny Burns popping up to then Ten comparisonsare inevitable such as on the storming title track sung by Matti Alfonzetti while HarryHess helps turn “See You Walking By” into a Harem Scarem style song. Well crafted,varied songs and stellar performances from the A-list guests make Rage Of Angelsheaven sent for melodic rock fans. Dunca Jamieson (92/100)

Focus on: RAGE OF ANGELS - Dreamworld (Escape Music)

Question: It's a great album.How long have you been workingon the songs on it?Answer: Thank you so much, I'mvery pleased you like it ! I have hadthe plan to do an album since thedays of Ten, but the timing wasnever right, however, in the last cou-ple of years everything seemed tocome together with my studio, so thesongs on the album are a culminationof just over two years hard work.Q: You took a ten year gap toraise your daughter. Was itdaunting returning to the musicscene?A: I did think it would be daunting atfirst yes... But the warmth and sup-port I received from everyone Ispoke to, old friends and new, wasnot only humbling but also acted as agreat boost to make the albumsomething special.Q:You've got a fantastic line-upof rock talent on the record. Howdid you get them all on board? A: Between myself, Bruce Mee andthen of course Khalil Turk, we madeup a "wish list" of some of ourfavourite musicians that we wantedto play on the album, and thankfullyeveryone we asked said yes !!

Q: Tell me about the guitar-festthat is Requiem For TheForgotten Soldier. A: Ahh I like the term "guitar fest" !!You're absolutely right... It really is amonster of a song... And a real treatfor any aspiring guitarist. I wasalready working with Vinny Burns on"we live" for the album, and our goodfriend Ralph Santolla challengedVinny to a guitar battle... So I wrotethis track specifically for these twoguitar gods... Throwing MartinKronlund and Xander Demos in thereturned it into a full scale war !!! I willleave it to the listeners to decide whowon.Q: There's a real eclectic mix ofstyles on the record from radiofriendly melodic rock to heavier,atmospheric material. Did youset out to have a range of styleson the disc?A: The only thing I set out to do wasto write the sort of songs that I want-ed to hear, the sort of music that gotme excited all those years ago whenI discovered rock music... So it's analbum that reflects my taste inmusic, but I think it's good to have afew strings to your bow... Be able togo from a full on rock track to a

beautiful haunting ballad... It wasn'tplanned, it just happened that waynaturally...Q: You took the name Rage OfAngels from a Bruce Mee lyric.How did that happen?A: Well, Bruce had sent me a set oflyrics that he had written that wherereally good and asked if I wanted toset them to music... When we werethinking of ideas for the band, thename Rage Of Angels was put on twoof the lists that we had betweenmysel, Bruce, Khalil and Barry fromthe label... We all liked it and agreedon the name... It really was the obvi-ous choice.Q: I believe you already haveplans for a follow up?A: Oh absolutely!! One of the thingsI really liked about working withEscape music was the fact that Khalildidn't want just to do a one off... Hewanted to really develop the bandand put his faith and money into itbecause he really believed in it asmuch as I did... It's a really greatfamily atmosphere and we haveworked so well on this album... I'vealready written the follow up albumand have started recording italready.

band. rage of angelsalbum. dreamworldInterview with. ged

interviewed by:. d.jamieson

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Question: Why too much timesince Vandroya was born, therelease of the Ep and your firstalbum debut?Answer: Because it is a return,actually. Vandroya is a band thatexists since 2001, with many line-up shifts and breakdowns. At first,we were just a group of kids,teenagers that was trying to playsomething, learning music, and wedecided to form a band with nopretentions at all. We just wantedto do some metal, talk about ourfavorite bands, exchange CD’s andexperiences, this kind of stuff.However, Marco Lambert and Ialready had some experiences withothers bands. But things change,we grew up, we gained experience,so we felt able to create our ownsongs and in 2005 we recorded ourEP, Within Shadows, which wasvery well accepted. Then, the prob-lems came and we decided to takea break on Vandroya’s activities,and I believe each one of usbecame more mature with this

breaktime, and none of us stoppedplaying and learning music:Rodolfo Pagotto, for exemple,became a very renowned musicteacher and Marco Lambert dedi-cated himself to musical produc-tions besides his role as guitarist inSoulspell’s recording sessions andtouring. It was only 2010 when wedecided to finish what we startedand it had everything to do withSoulspell. Heleno Vale encouragedus a lot and we felt that was theright time to do it. Now I realizethat if we had launched this albumbefore, we would be just a badband launching a bad album.Q: Has Daisa composed thelyrics and the vocal arrange-ments?A: Writing is a thing that I foundout when I was a teen and it hasbeen an escape valve for me sincethen, and I use to write a lot aboutmy own life as well as my beliefs,my concerns, my restlessness. ButOtavio Nuñez was a very welcomepartner in this process, and we

wrote the lyrics of “Anthem (for theSun)” and “This World of Yours”together. Also, “Change the Tide”has the lyrics by Heleno Vale, andexcept for this one, all the vocalmelodies/arrangements were madeby me. Some of them emerged atthe moment I was recording. Q: What is the plus pointVandroya has and what are thedifferences between Vandroyaand the other rock bands?A: I believe that any judgment ofmy own band I make, in a way,could sound like a tendenciousself-promotion, you know? It's likea son, and a mother will alwaysemphasize the qualities of her sonand hide his faults (laughs). Still,we believe in our work, and we doeverything with such passion thatbe different or not, makes no dif-ference. But our fanbase isincreasing and this surely is linkedwith the fact that we do music withour hearts, and we feel very gladwhen our fans recognize it andidentify themselves with it.

Focus on: VANDROYA - One (Ulter ium Records)My first word is going to be “wow”, Daisa surprise me in all aspects. Shehas the power, glow, energy and a remainds me the old vocal glories. Thisis important for me because lately all the female singers are using thesame technique for singing, too many bands… This is their very firstalbum since the band was born on 2001 when they decided to release anEp with good feedback in they country, Brazil. They are progressive powermetal and their music is well played. I want to mark the song “WhyShould We Say Goodbye?” Here they make a real great composition, youcan rest a l ittle bit from drums and enjoy listening just the composition.This band definitely is just spreading his wings to find the right place toshow their creativity in a scene full of competitive bands, but they havechaces to “win”. Good job guys! Gema De Llames (89/100)

band. vandroyaalbum. oneInterview with. daisa

interviewed by:. g. fernandez

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JORN - Symphonic (Frontiers Records)In my last review of a Jorn Recorded Work I said “... This outing may just be theMasterstroke we have been looking for!”... now that was regarding “Bring Heavy Rock Tothe Land”. “Symphonic” is the Masterstroke we weren’t expecting!! This release containssome of the best Jorn on record, however dressed differently, quite differently. Fullorchestrations grace these journeys of sonic brilliance. An idea that Mr. Lande had bounc-ing around for a spell… most likely one of those “I wonder what this would sound like ifI did…”, and now we know! Jorn - it sounds fantastic. Each creation takes on a wholenew life, and the teaming of Jorn with Lasse Jensen; whom took on the task of thearranging, is one that - in this scribe’s mind - would be fully fulfilled when presented ina concert performance! In the meantime we have “Symphonic”, another Jorn master-piece. Bruce Atkinson (90/100)GREAT WHITE - 30 Years-Live From The Sunset Strip (Frontiers Records)A great way to wrap-up an eventful year for this hard working band! Great White are not onlycelebrating thirty years but the beginning of a new phase in their illustrious career. A tougher -perhaps more rhythmic sound, this live album reminds us of why we stuck with this group throughthe years, and it is a fresh promise of their maturing music. With the arrival of Terry Ilous thereis a new found energetic vibe to the group. Terry seamlessly has added a deeper blues interpre-tation and his rock solid vocals solidify the Great White standards. He is an even match to the bit-ing licks of lead guitarist Mark Kendall. All this done in a invigorating way, and not dis-colouringall the ingredients that have made Great White the force they are. A live testament, this albumholds those brilliant musical memories, plus gives us a sneak preview of where these five finemusicians are heading toward. A great home-coming and a promising future, all wrapped up inone package: that is “30 Years-Live From The Sunset Strip”! Bruce Atkinson (91/100)EDGE - Live At the Mystic (Escape Music)Have to say that normally it´s hard to impress me due more or less in the last ten years,real hard rock didn´t change that much, but it is true that a big fan of this style like mealways find the key to hear something special in each melodic band. There is much to feeland to discover behind every note. This is the first album for this Scandinavian bandEdge.This album presents a careful and thoughtful selection of songs where you can exploresimplicity and at the same time it magical sounds that since the first note impress you. Youcan hear perfectly each instrument in its place and just a nice music sounding. The finalresult is a good production and also they have some special guests such Tommy Denanderplaying the solo for “How Long”. Only “Heaven Knows” how good things Edge will present inthe future. Gema de Llames (85/100)SHAKRA - Powerplay (AFM Records)Mark Fox may have been the face of the band, right up to and including their 2009 ‘Everest’album, but with him gone and new vocalist John Prakesh in, the Shakra of today is a differentbeast. More strident, more penetrative and yes, heavier. In 2011 the band unleashed Prakeshvocal might on their ‘Back on Track’ album, now in 2013 they return with new album‘Powerplay’ which takes up right where ‘Back on Track’ left off. With Prakesh they have founda veritable vocal powerhouse and this is felt right from the off with opener ‘Life Is Now’, a greatHard Rock track to kick off 2013 with a bang. The album is 12 tracks (13 with the digipak) ofpure Hard Rock gold, with personal highlights like the stunning ‘The Mask’, the riff laden‘Higher’ and ‘Don’t Keep Me Hanging’, as well as the gentler but equally impressive mellowermoments like ‘Wonderful Life’ and ‘Because of You’. All stunning rock songs that show Shakraare once again ready to climb even higher than the mighty Alps of their native land and showthat Switzerland is not just chocs and clocks, it also ROCKS. Barry McMinn (95/100)ENFORCER - Death By Fire (Nuclear Blast)Formed in 2004 in Arvika Sweden Enforcer set out with a mission to bring back the old school,no nonsense Metal, that became the foundation for all we love about Rock and Metal musictoday. Big riffs, towering drums and pounding bass lines, all wrapped up with a powerfulvocal, think NWoBHM with a modern edge, Diamond Head meets early Maiden. With ‘Deathby Fire’ the band have taken up where their 2009 album ‘Diamonds’ left off, with powerfulopener ‘Death Rides The Night’ setting the bar for the rest of the album, with the power riffsleading the attack along with a powerhouse back-beat of the bass and drums. The band hithard and hit fast as they power through the likes of the Maidenesque ‘Crystal Suite’, the riffspewn ‘Mesmerised By Fire’ and very metal ‘Satan’. It may not be new, but to an old rockerwho grew up with this sound, it’s good to hear it’s making waves again. This music moved ageneration once and will do it again I’m sure. Barry McMinn (85/100)TASTE - Taste (Metal Heaven)While Germany lacks of some talented Melodic Rock newcomers since many years, Swedenseems to have them growing on the trees. Latest evidence are TASTE, consisting of broth-ers Felix and Christoffer Borg. Very soon after releasing their debut via digital platformslike Amazon, they had a record deal. No wonder, as songs like the anthemic and keyboard-driven “Our Dreams”, the slow-paced and a little melancholic “Cry For Love” or the straightforward rocking “Fallen Angel” show some extremely good promise! Friends of 1980’s stufflike TREAT, ALIEN or BAD HABIT will definitely feel attracted by TASTE. There are stillsome fillers in-between (e. g. “My Rose”) which don’t hit the nail on the top, but in totalthere is no doubt about it that TASTE have the potential to create a monster record withalbum # 2. So keep TASTE in mind! Marco Spaeth (85/100)

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HOLY GRAIL - Undying (Nuclear Blast)Like many of the legendary bands whose influences they wear on their tattered sleeves, theLos Angeles quintet HOLY GRAIL made an immediate impact when they exploded onto themetal scene in 2009. Great guitas, versatility, speed, skill and innovation walking on all thesongs. The producer is Matt Hyde (SLAYER, CHILDREN OF BODOM), he brought out a dark-er, hungrier side of the band. The album sees HOLY GRAIL continue to expand the limits oftheir sound by incorporating classical guitar ("Wake Me When It's Over"), a cinematic,QUEEN-like vocal intro (the otherwise anthemic "Sleep of Virtue"), a trance-like guitar loop("Silence The Scream") that cleverly belies the lyrical content it introduces, and a moodyfinale ("Rains of Sorrow") inspired by a family member's battle with cancer. "Ride the Void"is an album full of greatness, strength, grat from beginning to end. A real surprise for me...and for sure you will enjoy the music all the time because there are no fillers. If you are ametal music lover, make sure to give a try to this band! Gema De Llames (89/100)VOODOO CIRCLE - More Than One Way Home (AFM Records)It is music like this that excites me about the year 2013! Alex Beyrodt’s third effortwith ‘Voodoo Circle’ strikes hard and true to the mark. “More Than One Way Home” isa hard-melodic slice of blues-tinged Hard Rock. Twelve pieces that should electrify andamaze. Every potential of ‘70’s style hard rock is realised right here! A solid musicalstatement that doesn’t shy away from the influences that Alex and fellow band mem-bers wear. Each expression shows strength, variety and top drawer musicianship.Certainly this record is performed by six highly rated and skilled craftsmen. The skillof ‘Voodoo Circle’ is matched by the production of this album. A thick and meaty soundpunctuated with emotion in both the vocals and instrumentation. Most certainly, thisis the group’s strongest effort to date. Yes, there may be “More Than One Way Home”…But this is the best way! Bruce Atkinson (85/100)SHOGUN – Shogun (Steelheart Records)The story tells that, after having recorded the successful debut-album with TOKYO BLADE, vocal-ist Alan Marsh decided to leave the band due to artistic discrepancies. Together with formerChinatown guitarist Danny Gwilym, Alan Marsh formed SHOGUN during 1984. The name wasreferring to Marsh’s knowledge and respect for the Oriental culture. One year later the bandreleased the debut-album, that was later described by “Classic Rock” magazine as “a competentrerun of DEF LEPPARD’s Pyromania”. As a matter of fact, “Shogun” sounds like a winning mixbetween a classic NWOBHM sound (recalling the Tok! yo Blade -debut) and a slightly more melod-ic Metal style (a la Heavy Pettin’ / Def Leppard / Tygers Of Pan Tang). This de-luxe remasteredCD-edition (500 copies only) comes with the bonus-track “High In The Sky”, taken from a rare 7”of 1986. The previous (and only in existence) CD version (on Zoom Club Records) is now veryrare and sold on incredibly high prices on ebay (plus the sound was not remastered); so, if you’rea fan of NWOBHM or ‘80s Melodic Rock, better grab your copy now. Rob “Ezy” Bone (90/100)SHYLOCK – Walking Tall (AOR Heaven)I guess most Melodic Rock fans are familiar with SHYLOCK as „Walking Tall“ is the sixth studioalbum from this German band. The new record continues where the last two longplayers“Devotion” and “Rock Buster” left off, even though it sounds a little more matured. In particular-ly the contemporarily arranged songs like the heavily rocking “Bridges” or the radio-friendly “AwayFrom Here” show some great talent! On the other hand, SHYLOCK has always been a band thatdelivers straight Hard Rock in the vein of acts like BONFIRE and SHAKRA. So it goes without say-ing that the fans of that sound get high quality stuff with songs like the riff-driven “Walking Tall”,the cleverly arranged “Sad To Know” or the vicious “What It Takes”. Special highlight of the albumis the light-footed ballad “Anything” which could turn out to be a true hit song for SHYLOCK!“Walking Tall” is a colorful piece of Hard Rock that the friends of 3 DOORS DOWN should checkout just as well as the fans of BONFIRE and SHAKRA. Marco Spaeth(92/100)HELKER – Modern Roman Circus (AFM Records)Ronnie James Dio has been and still is one of my musical heroes. No doubts about it. His deathmoved me so bad. I never listened to any of his records till then. A couple of days ago I’ve receivedthis promo. Never heard about this Argentinian band before. I’ve pushed the “play” button and…what the hell? Is it HE (R.J.D.) who’s singing??? And these notes recalling so close “Neon Knights”?!Man, I’ve been shocked! With the second song on, the comparison between the two singers becomesslightly less evident, still singer Valdez (who appeared on the latest Tarja Turunen live DVD/CD as aguest vocalist on the song "Phantom Of The Opera") is singing on this pretty unique vocal range.And he’s doing a great Work! Indeed. All the tracks have been produced and co-written by MatSinner (Primal Fear, Sinner) and mixed by Achim Köhler, plus Tim "Ripper" Owens (Judas Priest,Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen) and Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear) make guest-appearances on thealbum, which shows how much AFM Records believes into this album. If you like the “real” HeavyMetal a la Dio/Black Sabbath, check this out. Metal is still alive and well. Primo Bonali (85/100)SHOGUN – 31 Days (Steelheart Records)It was a real shame that one of the best albums in the whole AOR/Melodic Rock history was neverbeen released officially on Cd before. So – at the end – justice is done and “31 Days” might final-ly shines in all its glory and beauty! After the self-titled debut, a very nice album yet most on theNWOBHM-style, the band decided to update the songwriting, moving the style to a more ameri-canized and melodic sound, still retaining the typical British scent. The result was “31 days”, afirst-class keyboards-driven British Melodic Hard Rock/AOR with powerful guitars and awesomevocals, recalling the style of UK bands like Shy, Peroux and Moritz, or international acts likeSkagarack, White Sister and Surgin. Steelheart Records offers this gem as a fully remastered CD-edition (500 copies only), with the addition of two bonus-tracks. Needless to say, this is UNMISS-ABLE! But watch! out as I heard there’s also a bootleg version available, which is NOT authorizedby the band and the Steelheart Records is the only legit. Rob “Ezy” Bone (92/100)

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Gema De Llames: There are some special guests,in the case of Anette Olzon, the song is the hard-est of the album, have you composed “This LoveThis Time” thinking of her?Niclas Olsson: No, actually not. I just needed a femalevoice for the part in the song and when she heard thedemo version of it she insisted to do it. And it came outgreat as usual.GDL: Can we consider this a real band or just aproject?NO: We have talked about forming a band severaltimes thru the years but Thomas Bursell, the leadsinger, and I, both have a lot of things going on musi-cally. We help each other out and we always have a lotof fun when we are working together.GDL: How is the way to compose melodies, lyrics,what´s first?NO: 99% of the time I have a melody line I´m work-ing from. But sometimes a clever phrase / lyric line canstart the writing.GDL: Talking about the recording sessions, whyAnders Theander as a producer? How is the rela-tionship between him and you guys?NO: We have known each other for some years nowand RoastingHouse already mastered the SECONDHEAT project I did in 2004. Anders “Theo“ Theanderheard a couple of songs from the Sapphire Eyes albumand insisted to do the mixing and mastering. He didn’tproduce the album though, but he really liked thesongs and that’s important to do a great work which Ithink he did. I first met Theo thru my friends in theProgressive Metal band Cloudscape and their firstrecordings at RoastingHouse. GDL: This is your first album, but there is a longcarrer in you both, tell us about you past inmusic.NO: Well, I have done three Alyson Avenue albums andalso wrote the only Second Heat album for whichThomas also did the lead vocals, then I co-wrote andplayed on Michael Bormann’s solo album, and of courseplayed with SHIVA. I have worked a lot in my studioand done vocal recordings for the debut of Fullforce,Star One, The Rasmus, Swallow The Sun etc. I alsorecorded, mixed and co-produced the debut of ScandalCircus. Thomas has been involved in the project of theformer Cloudscape guitarist, Björn Eliasson, WARNOT.GDL: Does Sapphire Eyes thought about the wayto play live, because if there are two memberscan´t be impossible somehow to play live, atleast will strange for a hard rock band this mat-ter, are you thinking to play with the same musi-cians who had recorded the album?NO: I would love to do a few gigs with Sapphire Eyesand would definitely use some of the players from therecordings, but only if someone is asking us to. I willnot pick up the phone and beg for gigs. I’m done withthat. I’m just too old.

Barry McMinn: If I may start off by sayingwhat a great album ‘Undying’ is...Roberto Priori: Thank you so much! We reallybelieve this album represents the band how it’stoday but it also reveals our musical roots…we arereally proud of it!BMM: The band got back together in 2010,what prompted you to give things anothershot? RP: We quit in 1992 in Los Angeles, while thegrunge music was spreading all over and the hardrock was taking a step back. We were somehowforced by the events but never really wanted toquit… So, to make the story short, when we hadthe chance to get back together we started rightaway, a great moment for all of us. We want tocontinue from where we left and go on!BMM: Going back to ‘Line of Fire’, did youever think the album would see the light ofday some twenty years on?RP: Well, after struggling and fighting for severalyears we all believed it wouldn’t and then we split,but keeping it unreleased was very disappointingfor all us. Thanks to the “Avenue of Allies” labelwe finally had the chance to release it and they dida great job!BMM: How would you compare the newalbum “Undying” to the “Victim of Time” and“Line of Fire” albums?RP: Well, the first E.P. “Victim of Time” was writ-ten and performed by the first DZ line-up, ourinfluence were more into the NWOBHM sound,only few years later we started to be more melod-ic and more oriented to an American style of HardRock and so “Line of Fire” was born. “Undying” isthe natural follow up to LOF, with a strong connec-tion to the past but with the sound of today’s HardRock.BMM: Did you write all new material for thenew album or did you resurrect some oldermaterial as well?RP: Most of the songs were written right after thereunion but we also have included a few songs wewrote right before and after the recording of “Lineof Fire” and that we didn’t use at the time. Ofcourse we rearranged the old ones and Jody Gray,who co-produced the album, was very helpfulsince we were so used on how they were beforeand he poured in some very cool ideas. BMM: Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but ifyou could go back in time and meet yourself,what advice would you give yourself knowingwhat you know now? RP: We would suggest to stay here in Europe andbuild the biggest fan-base possible. Back in theday the US scene changed within only a fewmonths and everything was wiped away. Here inEurope it seems like Hard Rock always had a placein the musical landscape and probably stayinghere was the right thing to do.

Bruce Atkinson: Let’s begin in Mayof this year, when “Great White”released their brand new studioalbum; “Elation”. The record wasmet with positive reviews, and fur-ther cemented the Rock/Bluesdirection you guys are going in…Was this an opportunity to “sym-bolically speaking”, put your signa-ture on the group?Terry Llous: Thank you so much for thevery interesting questions. When I wasasked to join the band I never saw it asan opportunity to add my signature. Iwas looking to pick up where GreatWhite had left off back in the late 80’searly 90's when they had more of aRock/Bluesy sound. I never wanted tochange the classic format of GreatWhite, they were doing great beforethey asked me to join their band. Itwould have been pretentious for me totry to reinvent the sound they are

known for. Whenwriting ELATION, weall knew we wantedto go back to thatRock/Bluesy sound.My voice and writingstyle fit right in.BA: As “Elation”was beingreleased, you werealso hitting theroad, with somemusical friends…Let’s talk aboutyour Spring /Summer tour: wasit what you expect-ed?TL: Yes indeed it was! Fun, lots of fun

but also lots of hard work. It has beenvery challenging. It’s never easy toreplace a singer. People get used to acertain sound and style. They are notalways ready for a change. I under-stood that completely. That is whywhen I sing the classic Great White hits,I make sure to respect the core struc-ture of the melody. I have never tried toclone the previous singer, but ratherrespected the style but also added myown twist. It’s not the first time that Ihave been asked to replace a very wellknown singer. That’s probably one ofthe reasons that I was not selected tobe in Foreigner or Journey. I love thosesingers and respect their work but bythe same token I will never be some-one's clone. I have been an establishedsinger with a distinctive Rock/Bluesysound for too long now. It was indeeda test as many were curious, some

even skeptical. I can understand thatbut I did, and will continue to do myvery best to continue to please all myfans.BA: 2012 marks the thirtiethanniversary of ‘Great White’ andyou are celebrating with the newlive set: “Live From Sunset Strip”,now is this also a return to yourroots?TL: Of course, the bands started on theSunset Strip many moons ago. To havethe opportunity to record a live CD onthe Sunset Strip was truly a great thing.It’s ironic because I am also a "Child ofthe Sunset Strip" as my old band, XYZ,was the last official Rock Band at theWhisky a GoGo! Yes indeed my friend,only The Doors, Motley Crüe, and XYZwere labeled, “Official Whisky A GoGoBands.” So you can say that this liveCD is a return to our roots.BA: Great White has become a‘timeless’ band, and Terry, beingthe ‘new kid’ in a manner of speak-ing, has there been any dauntingmoments for you? TL: I won’t lie to you. Of course therehave been daunting moments. Whatmade me feel better was to watch avideo of Ronnie James Dio explaininghow he felt when joining Black Sabbathand how difficult it was sometimes.Ronnie! Wow! So I figured if Ronniewent through that then I can bracemyself and hang tough because hereplaced Ozzy, talk about iconic singerhere!!! Same experience happened toCoverdale and Brian Johnson. They,too, replaced amazing well lovedsingers!

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Sweden. Where the girls are pretty and the bands play GREAT Melodic Rock!Diamond Dawn is the latter incredible group to come out to this unique countryand - to say it simple - if you love Work Of Art or most popular bands like Toto,Foreigner, Treat and Skagarack, you’ll fall in love also for this act! Put together inGothenburg during 2011, Diamond Dawn recorded and released digitally only onesong, called “Standing As One”. The buzz around the band started immediatelyafter that, and the rest is history… Which is resulting in the debut-album,“Overdrive”, 11 tracks of superb, melodic, hard-rocking and pompous sound, withheavenly vocals, anthemic chorus and over-the-top arrangements. Strongly root-ed on the 80?s, the band’s sound has a sort of modern approach to Melodic HardRock with a strong use of keyboards. The production is crystal clear due mainly tothe mixing of Tobias Lindell (Europe, Hardcore Superstar, H.E.A.T.). Already a can-didate for the “debut-album of the year”! Duncan Jamieson (92/100)

Focus on: DIAMOND DAWN - Overdr ive (Frontiers Records)

Question: Let’s start with a shorthistory of the band. Who puttogether the band?Answer: Alex and Olle met in high-school in 2010 and started DiamondDawn. At that time it was pretty muchjust a fun project, but after about ayear we decided that we would try tomake something more serious out ofthe band. We decided to try and findnew band members that had the samegoals as ourselves. Fortunately, Alexmet Niklas at a music camp and fellinstantly for Niklas piano playing. Theyhad a great connection and Alexdecided to let Niklas audition forDiamond Dawn. A few weeks later,Alex found bassist Mike while browsinga webpage called bandfinder. Mikehad just come home from Los Angelesafter having studied there. Alex, Olle,Mike, Niklas and a drummer alsofound on the internet saw each otherin a coffee shop and started talkingabout the future and goals for a sup-posed band. It felt very good after themeeting, and we decided to startrehearsing. After a few not so awe-some rehearsals with the drummerfrom internet, we decided to findanother one. We found the megadrummer we we're looking for inNiklas friend Effy Larson. After oneaudition we knew that he was the guywe had been looking for. Somethingstill wasn't entirely right, we felt thatwe wanted a front man, someone to

take on the audience intensively. Atthat point, Alex who sang lead vocalsand played guitar decided to go withonly the vocals in Diamond Dawn. Aswe then were looking for a second gui-tar player, Mikes friend JhonnyGöransson was recruited. This was inthe spring of 2011 when we releasedthe first demo of Standing As One.Since then it has been a hell of a ridebut we ain't tired yet! Q: I read that the buzz aroundyour band started when yourecorded and released digitallyyour song called “Standing AsOne”. What happened after this? A: We released the demo of “StandingAs One” in the spring of 2011. Thesong was released digitally through aninternet competition for unsignedbands called Metro OnStage thatended in june. The competition was agood opportunity to promote the bandand the song, simply put, we had areason to rub ourselves in peoplesfaces. Clearly it made an impact aspeople from all over the world soonstarted to get the buzz going about us.We received great attention during thecompetition and we ended up in thetop 10 of several thousand contest-ants. During the rest of the spring andthe summer we were set to record anEP, to be able to promote DiamondDawn even better towards recordlabels. Luckily this did not go as fast aswe intended, and while still working on

the EP in the fall of 2011, FrontiersRecords contacted us and asked us ifwe would like to record a full lengthalbum. Of course we wanted to, andthat's what we've been doing untilnow! Looking back, we probably have“Standing As One” to thank for wherewe are today. Q: Your album sounds really ener-getic, melodic and somehowpompous, still rocking hard!Which are your most importantinfluences, musically talking? Itlooks like you've been stronglyinfluenced by the '80s MelodicRock and especially by bands likeToto (in primis), Foreigner andyour country-mates Treat, Europe(early and mid-career) andSkagarack, am I right?A: You are definitely not wrong! We allcome from different musical back-grounds and take inspiration from dif-ferent types of music and bands. Wecan't say that we're only influenced bythe '80s, this is 2013 and there's justso much music around. Still of coursewe have all listened to bands like theones you mention! We do try to createmusic that is very energetic and buildthe songs around big melodies thatyou can remember and sing along to.It is very important for us to writemusic that we really believe in andstand for, and not just rush somethingtogether. Still we want the songs to beeasily understood and excite people.

BAnd. diamond dawnalbum. overdriveInterview with. alex

interviewed by:. primo bonali

Question: If we could start bygoing back to 2003, what eventsparked Player to start playingtogether again?Answer: Ronn had been doing hisTV show (the Bold and theBeautiful) for some time and I wasdoing a lot of film and TV stuff. Westarted working on a Ronn Mosssolo CD with me writing and pro-ducing and it kind of developedinto a new Player album (Lost InReality). After that we startedhanging out together a lot moreand put a new band together.Q: So why the gap betweenthen and the release of thisnew studio album?A: We were both pretty busy withother projects but were still doing ahandful of gigs, mainly on theweekends due to schedules. Duringthose years we came up with twoRonn Moss solo efforts, “I’m YourMan” & “UnCovered”. Then touredAustralia and parts of Europe topromote them. Ronn was still onB&B and I was still active in filmand TV.

Q:Did you write the songsspecifically for the new album,or are there some older songsyou’ve not released, seeing thelight of day for the first time?A: I am constantly writing. Whenwe were approached by Frontiersrecords I had a stockpile already,but not everything worked forPlayer. Along with Frontiers, wepicked the ones that worked and Iset myself about writing a bunch ofnew ones until we had a cohesivecollection. Then we took it all backin to the studio. We are very happywith the outcome.Q: Since 2003 Player has beenyou two guys with an all-starbacking band, will you be tak-ing to the road in 2013 and ifso, will you be still be using thesame formula or do you have apermanent live band?A: We are planning on touring in2013 and we have had the sameband now for about five years. It’stight and ready to rock.Q: You’ve both been involvedwith many aspects of the enter-

tainment business, but whatdrives you to continue produc-ing great melodic rock songs?A: Personally, it’s all I’ve ever doneand all I know how to do. Plus,when we started, we were consid-ered an R&B band. But the truthis… When we performed live, wewere much more rock and roll ori-ented. We’re still mainly rock driv-en but the Player sense of greatvocal harmony driven songs stillholds true.Q: Are there any songs, whichyou’ve written for other artiststhat you wish you’d put to oneside to maybe feature on aPlayer album someday?A: Not really. We would have noproblem putting an already cov-ered song on our CD if it worked.However, there is always a surplusof new material, so it’s not reallynecessary. We have done it in thepast though ie: Little River Bandand Kenny Rogers. Plus, we dosome of the songs previously cov-ered by other artists in our liveshow.

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Formed in 1977 when Englishman Peter Beckett met J.C. Crowley and then Ronn Moss andJohn Friesen were enlisted, Player was born. Four albums and several hit singles later, theband members took different paths, including song writing and producing as well as actingand even appearing on the Italian version of “Dancing With The Stars”. But in 2003 PeterBeckett and Ronn Moss got back together with an all-star line-up and Player was resurrect-ed. Now in 2013 the pair return with the new studio album ‘Too Many Reasons’, a must buyfor lovers on pure Melodic Rock that once again highlights what we’ve been missing all theseyears, first class, melody rich rock. With highlights such as ‘Man on Fire’, ‘Life in Colour’, thestunning and moving ‘Sins of Yesterday’ and the modern reworking of the classics ‘Kites’ and‘Baby Come Back’, these are just a few of the many highlights from a great Melodic Rockalbum that brings that 80’s vibe back, only this time with a modern edge. There are sim-ply ‘Too Many Reasons’ why you should check this one out. Barry McMinn (90/100)

Focus on: PLAYER - Too Many Reasons (Frontiers Records)

band. playeralbum. too many reasons

nterview with:. R.Moss-p.beckett interviewed by:. b.mcminn

Focus on: PINK CREAM 69 - Ceremonial (Frontiers Records)

band. pink cream 69album. ceremonialInterview with:. d.ward

interviewed by:. B.atkinson

It’s been six years since their ‘In10sity’ opus,, now PC69 are back with a bangwith their much anticipated new album ‘Ceremonial’ and once again the bandof Ward, Readman, Koffler, Reitenauer and new drummer Chris Schmidt, haveproduced an album worthy of the PC69 name. From the opening salvo of ‘Landof Confusion’ and ‘Wasted Years’, you can tell this album is going to be some-thing special and that is continued with what else but ‘Special’. The new albumhas been described as their most diverse, but I feel this is the evolution of thesound brought to light on their ‘Thunderdome’ and ‘In10sity’ albums, withgreat melodic moments like ‘The Tide’ standing along the all out rockers like‘I Came To Rock’. It may have been six years in the making, but when thequality is this good we can forgive. It’s like a good wine with time improvingthe final result. Barry McMinn (95/100)

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Question: Your new album,“Ceremonial”, is going to bereleased on next 25th ofJanuary, after six years fromyour previous record,“In10sity”: what are the rea-sons of this long wait? Answer: We don’t have a lot ofreasons, we just took our timedoing other projects or justrelaxing. Some times you need abreak to make things fresh again.We feell this was very importantor else we would have just madea generic PC69 album.Q: Did you work on the newsongs during all this time?how long did the songwritingtake place this time?A: Well of course not but we didhave songs that were written asearly as 2008. As usual, the 3main songwriters (Koffl, Daveand myself) wrote the main partsof the songs and then collaborat-ed together where needed.Usually one writer has the mainidea and the others add to thisidea. I’ve combined my melodieswith Koffl or, in the case of “BigMachine”, kept the completevocal lines and totally re-wrotethe music to it. There are norules as to how we work and wedon’t care who writes what. Wejust want the best results.Q: Listening to “Ceremonial” Ihave noticed a fresh soundand a modern approach tohard rock: what are your feel-ings about the album instead?A: We purposely tried not to“over produce” this album. Weused less keyboards and moreguitars but not too much of any-thing. We are hoping that thiswill make the songs translatebetter when playing them live.Plus we wanted to get a bit more“raw” and “real” with this album.Less is more!Q: Did your new drummer,Chris Schmidt, participate inthe song-writing process?A: No, the main songwriters andKoffl, Dave and myself. We usu-ally work out the songs togetherand exchange MP3s until we’vefound what we are looking forand then we work out the finalinstrumentation in the studiowith the musicians at the time ofrecording. Of course if ChrisWOULD want to present someideas we are all very open tothem. He did, of course, give his

ideas and many great sugges-tions in the studio to ensure thatthe drums really rocked...Q: Why did you choose a titlelike ‘Ceremonial’. what doesit mean to you?A: We feel that the mix of stylessounds like a celebration of allthe music we personally enjoy.Also It’s a celebration of finallygetting the album done! And,after our last band meeting todiscuss the plans for the album,Koffl had made the statement“let the ceremonies begin” as ifhe were Julius Caesar announcingthe “games”. This line alwaysstayed in my head and I felt itcould somehow be used.Q: What about the cover art-work? what does it repre-sent? it looks somehow vin-tage and somehow obscure... A: Yeah, kind of makes you go“hmmmmm....”. If you are famil-iar with the painting by GrantWood he painted a picture of 2elderly people, actually a manand his daughter, called“American Gothic”. To quotewikipedia: Wood decided to paintthe house along with "the kind ofpeople I fancied should live inthat house.” I always wonderedwhat these 2 people might belooking at since his glare more anexpression of wonder than that ofa “pose”. This is what we thinkhe saw I’m not much into artworkto be honest. I just want some-thing cool to look at and I thinkwe’ve made our point.Q: Most of you have a numberof different projects. does itslow down PC69's actiovitysomehow?A: No, it’s something we dowhen PC69 is not doing anything.It’s never easy when PC69 beenoffered a gig but you can’t play itdue to other obligations, butsometimes these obligations arenot music. They are birthdays, orholidays, or even just “work”plain and simple. That’s life!Whenever we have other “plans”we inform the band membersabout it before hand, usuallyabout 3 months or more. Usuallythis works out quite well.Q: Last year you reached theimportant goal representedby 25 years of activity (con-sidering the foundation of theband): what are your reflec-tions after all this time in the

music world?A: That there are simply toomany “pseudo - bands”. Anyonecan make an album, on their lap-tops, in the cellar, in the practiceroom, and call their project a“band”. The listening world isoverwhelmed with music input.Kind of a turn off really, butthere are also more people onthe planet than every before andmore and more ways to reachthem than ever before. Being aprofessional musician is nolonger a “big deal”, unless youcan actually make a living fromit.Q: Are there any other partic-ular goals you would like torealize yet?A: I’d like to record a kind of“live in studio” DVD but this is alot of work and not really cheapto do either. Not sure if it canhonestly be done at the momentbut it would be fun!Q: Today is quite usual for aband to release a significantnumber of DVDs: at themoment, if I am not wrong,you only produced one videoduring your long career. Areyou projecting a new DVD?A: No plans. My experienceshows me that DVDs are very dif-ficult to produce (well) and theymight get copied a lot but theydon’t sell well. As I said before,I’d love to do a ambient “live instudio” kind of thing but to real-ize this would be a pain in thearse.Q: When will you be on tour topromote “Cerimonial”? A: No tours are planned as ofyet. It’s not easy balancing per-sonal schedules as well as pro-fessional ones to fit each andevery member. We are not 20 -year - old power - youth anymoreand we have families. Packing upand leaving for tour for a coupleweeks needs a lot of logisticplanning on our side. We dohave a show in May but that’s itso far. We are hoping to get afew more. We’ll see how the res-onance is to the album and thenwe can make more definite plans.Q: Since Dennis also playswith Unisonic, would it bepossible to imagine a tourwith them?A: Could be possible, if Unisonicget the album done by the end ofthe year.

Bruce Atkinson: Jorn, “Symphonic” is simply avery tasteful surprise, and after Reviewing youlast studio work, “Bring Heavy Rock To TheLand”…I was completely surprised that you tookon such an enormous project! How long have youhad this in the back of your mind? Jorn Lande: It was actually not something I had been"pregnant" with for a long time. A friend of mine LasseJensen who runs a studio not far from where I live,made some arrangements for "I Came To Rock" andthe result was pretty good. I asked him if he would beinterested in doing the same on some other selectedsongs, and between early July and the end ofSeptember he made orchestral arrangements on 15tracks. The idea was to record some real strings suchas violins, cellos etc, and then do the rest with key-boards/piano and the studio computer.BA: You are certainly moved by other musicalArtists, and of course some of your inspirationcomes from those…that being said, when you arein the writing mode, do you actually hear orches-tral movements within the songs and music youcreate?JL: Yes, I often tend to hear some kind of finishedarrangement in my mind when working on a song. Notnecessarily in a classical context, but in general,wether it's a simpler rock arrangement or more com-plex with various instruments. The melody in my mindstarts like a lonely road, then I create the musical land-scape around it. Very often the result ends up prettyclose to the picture I painted. The only exception iswhen I work on something and for example the gui-tarist plays something totally different from what Ioriginally had in mind. It will often lead a song in a newdirection, a slow heavy song could suddenly become afast rocker.BA: In the press release concerning“Symphonic”, you did not want this to be a “typ-ical best of release”, and it certainly isn’t! Whenadding the symphony did you find that you need-ed to re-record any of the originals, or did theyjust fit nicely with your new arrangements?JL: We mixed most of them again, but on a few songsit worked well just to add the orchestra to the originalversions and then remaster. Sometimes an orchestratakes up too much space in the over all sound, and ifso, the best way to make a good blend is to do a remix.BA: “Symphonic” comes out in January, a beauti-ful gift from you to us; are you prepared to builda live show around this? Can we see and hear‘Jorn’ with an orchestra backing you in 2013?!JL: Would be great to put up some shows with anorchestra, but there are no plans for that as for now.There are already several "normal" Jorn shows con-firmed for 2013, plus we have to finish the new studioalbum that we started working on before the europeantour in November/December 2012, so it looks like it'sgoing to be a busy year.