Not to be confused with European symphonic metal outfit Epica, Epic are a multi-national hard rock band comprising members from the US, Canada and The Lebanon. Their debut album, ‘Like a Phoenix’ released on Escape Music – home of Saracen, Impera, Chris Ousey (often the label’s only true saving grace) and many more – is a somewhat patchy affair, but three melodic belters make it worth hearing. In many ways, the inspirations behind those songs and the styles are very well worn, but looking chiefly at their target audience – a bunch of middle-aged, stuck in a rut men who’ll blindly purchase everything the label puts out – Epic work hard at giving those listeners exactly what they want. Early comparisons to Heart and Saraya might just be a bit of a stretch, though. It’s a brave or hugely optimistic person who even thinks comparing frontwoman Tanya Rizkala to the almost peerless Ann Wilson is a sensible idea. Tanya has a big voice, it’s true enough, but in terms of range, it is a far cry from Wilson’s impressive style.
Tag Archives: hard rock
ERIKA – Deaf, Dumb & Blonde
Having released a string of albums in the 90s and subsequently retreated from performance into the world of song writing, Swedish rock singer Erika Norberg marked the end of an eighteen year recording hiatus with the release of 2016’s ‘Deaf, Dumb & Blonde’. There’s always a lot riding upon a performer’s return…but on the basis of these dozen hard rock tracks, she probably shouldn’t have bothered.
NFU – Treason EP
Playing a distorted and heavily wah-wahed blend of bluesy hard rock, in theory, New York’s NFU are the kind of band who should draw easy comparisons to Hendrix, Zeppelin and various 90s hard rockers enamoured with both. That’s so obviously their aim. The reality, however, is somewhat shocking. Despite promising “an EP full of character”, it’s quickly apparent that these four musicians – using that word in its loosest sense – have little more than a basic grasp of their instruments. At best, listeners will be subjected to material that approximates a boring bluster. But that’s being somewhat kind, since the four songs on ‘Treason’ seem to be played by a band who have absolutely no abilities when it comes to playing in sync with each other.
THE LUNAR EFFECT – Strange Lands
A band previously described as having “vim and verve”, Herfordshire’s The Lunar Effect play a brand of stoner and desert rock that so often has a definite American sound. Taking bits of Kyuss, Trouble, Sun Voyager and the obligatory seasoning of Sabbath, their work is riff heavy, but often tempered by a welcome spaciousness giving proceedings a slightly trippy nature. Following their 2014 home recorded EP, for 2016’s ‘Strange Lands’, Jon Jefford (vox/g) and Daniel Jefford (d) now find themselves as part of a full band and with a slightly bigger recording budget. This gives their first full length release more scope than they ever had before.
JORN – Heavy Rock Radio
Possessed with one of the biggest voices in rock – possibly the biggest, alongside his regular collaborator Russell Allen – Jorn Lande has carved out a career with some great releases over the years. His place as Dio’s natural successor is very much assured due to a few albums of self-penned material often presenting well-honed performances. He’s also fond of a cover tune or six: his 2010 album ‘Dio’, in particular, did exactly what it said on the tin, with Lande putting his stamp on tunes originally brought into the public eye by the late, great Ronnie James, the results meeting critical acclaim. Some six years on from his Dio-fest, Lande’s eleventh studio album ‘Heavy Rock Radio’ finds the huge voiced Norwegian wheeling out more covers. This time, however, the results are sometimes questionable. So questionable in places, the disc could have perhaps been subtitled “Jesus Christ, How Did This Happen?”. The answer to that should-be-rhetorical question, of course, simply being “because he’s Jorn Lande”. As most people know, with Jorn you only get Jorn, and that means – whatever the material in hand – it’s very much a case of “dials up to eleven and needle in the red” all the way. In this respect, he’s very much made each of the cuts his own, but frankly, his choices don’t always work.