ARENA - The Demon Strikes (4:12)
Album: The Unquiet Sky (2015)
Label/Distribution: Verglas/Soulfood
www.arenaband.co.uk
With "The Unquiet Sky" ARENA have found their way back to the form of their early years. Her eighth studio work extends her proven virtues with classical and film music elements. In top form the leading trio around singer Paul Manzi, keyboarder Clive Nolan and guitarist John Mitchell presents themselves.
KLONE - Immersion (5:08)
Album: Here Comes The Sun (2015)
Label/Distribution: Pelagic/Cargo
www.klonosphere.com/klone
The French KLONE have been regarded as a Prog-/Death-Metal-Band until now. As influences they themselves state Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Tool and Björk. On their new album they celebrate Breitwand-New-Artrock in the best sense of the word. The showpiece song "Immersion" shows the epic dynamics of the band, including a furoi finale.
THE VINTAGE CARAVAN - Babylon (edit) (4:32)
Album: Arrival (2015)
Label/Distribution: Nuclear Blast/Warner
www.nuclearblast.de
"Our music is a nice mixture of hard rock feel-good packages, progressive atmospheric sections and catchy melodies," says singer and guitarist Óskar Logi Ágústsson himself. The Icelander is right, because the new THE VINTAGE CARAVAN album convinces with old traditions and modern coolness.
RANDY BACHMAN - Heavy Blues (feat. Peter Frampton) (4:35)
Album: Heavy Blues (2015)
Label/Distribution: Linus/Alive
www.randybachman.com
Neil Young gave him the idea to go to work more fearlessly on a new project to create something new. Randy Bachman did it by looking far back into the late sixties and then making his own thing out of it with musicians like Neil Young, Joe Bonamassa or Peter Frampton.
JOSH SMITH - Over Your Head (feat. Joe Bonamassa) (Radio edit) (4:05)
Album: Over Your Head (2015)
Label/Distribution: CrossCut/In-akustik www.joshsmithguitar.com
The word "exceptional guitarist" is used quickly in the blues rock sector and often it also applies. Josh Smith has done without bells and whistles on his new album, so that everyone immediately notices that he is a real exceptional talent and can easily compete with the greats of the genre (Bonamassa).
CRYPTEX - Ribbon Tied Swing (4:05)
Album: Madeleine Effect (2015)
Label/Distribution: SAOL/H'Art
www.cryptexmusic.com
On this album, CRYPTEX pull out all the stops of their ability: the Niedersachsen combine drifting, grating guitars with tinkling, sparkling keyboard playing and folky elements. And above all the theatrical, slightly over-twisted voice of singer Simon Moskon is enthroned, which sometimes reminds of the drama of a Meat Loaf.
THOUGHTS FACTORY - No Way Out (7:07)
Album: Lost (2014)
Label/Distribution: Record Jet/New Music
www.thoughtsfactory.com
The German progmetallers THOUGHTS FACTORY have taken important compositional inspiration from greats such as Dream Theater and Opeth. The band also had some conceptual thoughts, because their album "Lost" is about suicide and how a bereaved person deals with it. (Review: eclipsed 6/2014)
DAVE KERZNER - Into The Sun (7:19)
Album: New World (2015)
Label/Distribution: Sonic Reality/Just For Kicks
www.davekerzner.com
Keyboarder DAVE KERZNER became known to a larger audience with Sound Of Contact before he decided on a solo career. "New World" not only brings Kerzner's skills as a sound tinkerer with a Pink-Floyd affinity to the fore, but also shows that he has a lot to offer as a singer. (Review: eclipsed 4/2015)
BENT KNEE - Being Human (6:28)
Album: Shiny Eyed Babies (2015)
Label/Distribution: Bent Knee/Just For Kicks
www.bentkneemusic.com
The Berklee graduates BENT KNEE have already delivered one of the top albums of 2015 with "Shiny Eyed Babies". The musicality of the group from Boston is simply overwhelming. Even more important is that Bent Knee have developed their own style, as the song "Being Human" proves. (Review: eclipsed 4/2015)
VIBRAVOID - The Tascam Mantra (6:48)
Album: 2001 (rem.) (2000/2015)
Label/Distribution: Stoned Karma/Cargo www.stonedkarma.com/vibravoid
VIBRAVOID pride themselves on having done true psychedelic rock long before any other rock that goes back to Pink Floyd and the mid-sixties. With the re-release of their debut work from 2000, one can convince oneself of their qualities to play music that creates a special state of consciousness.
