Hungary’s The Hellfreaks have gone through a few musical changes throughout the past decade. Their early work showed an affinity with the classic psychobilly sounds of Necromantix and Long Tall Texans; by the mid ’10s, they’d refined themselves as a punky/metal hybrid and albums like ‘Astoria’ saw their fanbase grow. By the time of 2020’s ‘God On The Run’, the metallic edges had been bolstered further and tracks like the Marilyn Manson-esque ‘Witches Heal’ showcased a band with a lot of power.
ISSA – Queen Of Broken Hearts
When Issa Oversveen made her big breakthrough on the AOR scene with her debut solo record ‘Sign of Angels’ in 2010, melodic rock fans were practically falling over themselves to praise the release. Although often likened to “a female fronted Journey”, the album had far closer connections to a European rock sound, and although an enjoyable listen in its own way, it wasn’t quite the classic that some proclaimed. The following year’s ‘The Storm’ showed a huge amount of growth and a more distinctive sound, but it wasn’t until 2012’s ‘Can’t Stop’ that Issa gave the world something unmissable. That album was a marketing master stroke from Frontiers Records: it took one of their rising stars – somebody already beloved by the core of their target market – and coupled her to a bunch of old AOR songs the record buyers already knew. This wasn’t a case of having Issa wheel out covers of old Journey and Survivor hits, either – that would be too easy. For ‘Can’t Stop’, the dustier corners of melodic rock’s history were explored, and the singer revived overlooked tunes by Aviator, Mystic Healer, Boulevard and Tower City, alongside many other great, truly cult melodic rock acts.
After a prolific three years, it would take Issa another three years to release her fourth album and three more again until her fifth release hit the shelves, but both ‘Crossfire’ (2015) and ‘Run With The Pack’ (2018) cemented her popularity with keen AOR fans. It would be a further three years until she released her sixth album, but 2021’s ‘Queen of Broken Hearts’ was more than worth the wait.
CALLOUS HANDS – Earth Mover EP
At the beginning of 2021, Callous Hands were still a relatively new band. They’d played a handful of gigs and shared a few digital singles via their Bandcamp site, but hadn’t yet released a full debut recording. Plans had been made to record an album during 2020, but – like most other bands without swanky home studios – the lads had their plans derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Determined to make their mark in a rapidly failing world while dealing with line-up changes, the Brummie heavyweights still managed to record three tracks during the spring and summer, resulting in the ‘Earth Mover’ EP.
German noisemakers Zeit return with minimalist video ahead of new release
Between 2015 and 2017 German trio Zeit carved themselves a niche within the world of extreme metal with three enjoyable – if challenging releases – that fused black metal intensities with an almost industrial abrasiveness. Further releases combined the black metal elements with heavier and doomier riffs, very much showing a band willing to stretch out without any concession to lightening up.
CHEZ KANE – Chez Kane
On her debut disc for Frontiers Records, British singer Chez Kane is absolutely unafraid of delivering some very retro material. With the help of Crazy Lixx guitarist Danny Rexon, she reawakens the classic sounds of 80s AOR, drawing influence from songwriters like Jeff Paris and Diane Warren, along with the sounds of Vixen, Lita Ford and Robin Beck to create a brilliant album that seems absolutely loaded with nostalgia without being lumbered with a bunch of easy cover tunes. There’s plenty about the album’s crisp sound and relentless stabbing keys that might even make you believe you’d stumbled across a lost recording from 1989. If you’re a fan of classic AOR, this is obviously a very good thing indeed.
Although Frontiers Records are very clearly pushing Kane with equally retro sleeve art and marketing her as “singing eye candy” much in the way Lita Ford and Fiona had been back in ’88, she deserves so much better, especially during the more enlightened climate at the time of release in 2021. It’s best to ignore the cheap looking sleeve as much as possible and head straight into the tunes. …And armed with ten chorus driven bangers across a vinyl friendly forty five minutes, Kane really doesn’t disappoint.