Vocalist Herbie Langhans is one of those people who keeps himself more than busy. He spent most of the 90s and 00’s as frontman with power metal band Seventh Avenue, but after that band’s split, he found work as vocalist with a succession of other acts, eventually landing the job as frontman with melodic metallers Firewind. His performances on their self-titled 2020 release more than showed him to be a good fit for the band. With Sonic Haven – his new project for 2021 – he approaches a selection of power metal tunes, a whole world of trad 80s metal and, in one case, something that sounds like an overspill from his melodic rock band Radiant, to create the kind of debut that often feels like a culmination of all of the music he’s helped create so far. In trad metal terms, the best tunes certainly wouldn’t feel too out of place on one of Saxon’s later albums, but with a much bigger sound and a strong power metal undercurrent, ‘Vagabond’ isn’t just an easy trad metal rehash – there are times it feels larger than life.
Tag Archives: frontiers records
FALSE MEMORIES – The Last Night Of Fall
A new arrival at the Frontiers Records label for 2021, Italy’s False Memories were promoted in their pre-release materials as leaning towards “a gothic, doom metal vibe”. Although the band’s darker tones are something of an interesting move for a label that predominantly deals with melodic metal and a wealth of old school AOR, massive hair and the occasionally misjudged leather trouser, it soon becomes clear that nobody at the label has a clear idea of what “doom metal” actually entails. You won’t find any eight minute epics on this band’s third release ‘The Last Night of Fall’, nor will you find anything dominated by deep, booming voices, or any riffs that could be considered oppressively slow. Occasionally, the band unleash something of an unexpected heaviness – as is the case with album highlight ‘Deep Breath’ – but, in the main, False Memories have a strong relationship with a melody and something of a “safe” feel. In short, for all of the hard sell with a focus on darkness and heaviness, the label have signed their own Nightwish. False Memories can be a little more intense and often more interesting, but they definitely sit more within that musical sphere. For the more adventurous melodic rock fan, such a familiar Euro-goth sound should be enough to warrant a purchase, but this in no way should be considered “doom metal”. Luckily, despite an over familiar sound and the possibility of finding themselves in something of an over saturated market in terms of style, False Memories come armed with some decent songs, and in Rossella Moscalletto they have a very self-assured vocalist.
THE END MACHINE – Phase 2
The End Machine’s 2019 debut for Frontiers Records presented almost an hour’s worth of classic sounding hard rock. Its sound was exactly as you’d expect from a couple of musicians associated with Dokken and the ex-vocalist from Lynch Mob. It’s higher octane tracks gave George Lynch every opportunity to hammer his fretboard, while the darker and slower workouts put bassist Jeff Pilson squarely in the spotlight. Most importantly, a lot of the numbers wielded huge choruses to great effect, often giving vocalist Robert Mason (ex-Cry of Love/Warrant) plenty to work with. In terms of melodic metal, it was a great disc – certainly much better than Dokken had managed in a few years.
Listen: Real Gone’s New Release Round-Up – January-March 2021
After a fairly devastating year, 2021 got off to an equally wobbly start due to a global pandemic still dragging its heels and refusing to leave. With no sign of big UK gigs returning any time soon and a lot of smaller, DIY bands really missing being on stage, everyone turned to Bandcamp and other similar websites for continued entertainment.
On the plus side, this has kept Real Gone busier than ever. The first quarter of 2021 has been our busiest to date, with bands and labels approaching us by the hundred, looking for good quality coverage.
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.