In the minds of many, Danish rockers Fate will always be best remembered for being “that band that previously featured Mattius Eklundh on guitar”. When it comes to guitar based histrionics, Eklundh’s best work is hard to beat. On the first two albums released by his subsequent band Freak Kitchen, he managed to construct riffs that blended the grunge of Alice In Chains with the bendy jazz of a mid 70s Zappa and add the more bizarre elements of Steve Vai, but still end up with something strangely accessible and melodic. His guitar instrumental albums feature jaw-dropping sounds that are guaranteed to make the listener wonder how the hell he actually achieves some of his best tricks, and ‘Freak Guitar: The Road Less Travelled’ features the most insane version of ‘Smoke On The Water’ you’re ever likely to hear.
Tag Archives: melodic metal
KAMI VAN HALST – My Alice / Jack & Sarah’s Song
Van Halst’s 2016 album ‘World of Make Believe’ is a reasonable slab of rock. It’s by no means an essential record, but its ten songs combine a semi old fashioned metal style with occasional gothy elements to create something that isn’t always a million miles away from the likes of The Pretty Reckless, often with half-enjoyable results. What seems pretty obvious, though, is that the album’s material wasn’t always given the best send off. On the title track, in particular, she’s presented quite low in the end mix, which results in some of her bigger notes not having the desired impact – especially compared with something similar from Nightwish and their ilk – and on the moodier ‘Questions’, her lower registers really don’t have much of a presence at all.
KINGS CROWN – Closer To The Truth
The name Martin Kronlund will be familiar to many melodic rock fans. Between 2010 and 2015, the Swedish guitarist almost seemed omnipresent. Throughout that time, he was a member of Lover Under Cover, Salute and the reformed White Wolf. He was also a guest on the Ged Rylands all-star project Rage of Angels. In addition, he provided technical/production duties on albums by Departure, Ilium, M.ILL.ION, Saracen and Elevener. For a time it was hard to get away from the bugger.
RONNIE ROMERO – Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters
Throughout 2022, Ronnie Romero continued his very prolific streak of releasing new material. The year brought four new albums: another studio recording with the brilliant Sunstorm, an album with The Ferrymen, a solo disc featuring some well chosen cover tunes and, not least of all, a titanic piece of metal reuniting the hard working singer with his band Lords of Black. With just two albums released in 2023, it was a quiet year by Romero’s usual standards, but you still have to ask: at what point does having a ridiculous work ethic start to look like a man on a musical treadmill at the behest of his record company?
KING KOBRA – We Are Warriors
When it comes to consistency and quality, a new record from King Kobra doesn’t come with any guarantees. Their 1984 debut is a fun melodic metal affair, and its timely delivered follow up ‘Thrill of A Lifetime’ is a decent melodic rock LP, but beyond that, their catalogue is largely pretty bad. 1988’s ‘King Kobra III’ is loaded with tuneless metal fare that’s blighted further by terrible vocals from Johnny Edwards (a poor substitute for the absent Mark Free), and the band’s first two reunion albums (2011’s ‘King Kobra’ and 2013’s ‘King Kobra II’) are heavily weighted towards party metal workouts full of really embarrassing and clichéd lyrics.