SKINHER – Heartstruck

As the name suggests, Skinher is a project helmed by bassist Kyle Skinher, also of prog metal band Hail Spirit Noir. In the main, this band couldn’t be further removed from his “day job”, since it abandons most proggy aspects and the heavier end of the metal spectrum in favour of some massive haired, retro hard rock thrills. Kyle claims the influences come from the likes of Yngwie Malmsteen and everyone’s favourite Ghost, but the truth is that the best parts of ‘Heartstruck’ are even more retro – and sometimes more melodic than both. This is a record that really taps into the melodic rock and metal sounds of yesteryear, to the point where you’d expect to find it propping up the release schedule on a label like Frontiers Records.

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ROBIN McAULEY – Alive

Robin McAuley’s 2021 album ‘Standing On The Edge’ was unexpectedly good. With that release, the veteran rock singer not only managed to turn in one of the year’s best melodic rock albums, but one of the year’s best albums – period. Although McAuley has only ever taken a sporadic approach to recording as a solo artist, the record’s huge choruses and swathes of late 80s inspired melodies showed his talent hadn’t waned since his heyday, and if anything, it suggested his voice was stronger than ever. The following year found Robin moonlighting with hard rock supergroup Black Swan (also featuring ex-Dokken man Jeff Pilson and guitarist Reb Beach), which allowed him to apply his voice to a few chunkier arrangements on occasion. It wasn’t the kind of album that achieved massive worldwide success, but was well loved by the dyed in the wool rock fans who actually heard it, continuing something of a winning streak.

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HEROES AND MONSTERS – Heroes And Monsters

Although formed as a new band in 2022, Heroes And Monsters features three very established musicians. Guitarist Stef Burns will need no introduction for a lot of rock fans, having played with Alice Cooper and Y&T in the 90s. Bassist Todd Kerns mightn’t have reached household name status in the UK, but he’s also been a member of Alice’s touring band, recorded with Slash, and been an integral part of big selling Canadian alternative rock band Age of Electric. With Evanescence/Black Label Society man Will Hunt occupying the drum stool, Heroes And Monsters have a great pedigree, even before taking their music into consideration.

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SABU – Banshee

Paul Sabu has somewhat of a chequered past when it comes to melodic rock. For everything essential (Kidd Glove, ‘Heartbreak’), there are a couple of genuinely average albums, and more than occasionally, he’s been guilty of sullying his releases with some truly awful songs. Surely no-one ever heard his mid 90s track ‘The.. Babysitters’ and genuinely liked it? For some rock fans, the mental scars left by that song are deep. The thought of it can still trigger PTSD.

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