Melodic Metal. That's what it is on this cd. And it's both heavy and crunchy too! They have two guitarists and that make the sound very heavy and crunchy. And this isn't overcommercialized melodic wimpy hardrock dude, this is METAL! Real Melodic Metal. If you are into Melodic Metal and want some good uplifting lyrics you shouln't miss this one, cause it's really, really good.


References: Melodic Metal in the veins of Motley Crue and Stryper. If you like Motley Crue you will love Rage of Angels! It's also a bit heavier than Stryper and the voice is more aggressive.


Orderinfo: Check with the mailorder companys listed here


Homepage: http://www.sanctuary.ws/rageofangels

First I was really wondering why they have chosen this strange name, but now I know. The reason is that they have a female drummer, (yeah, that's right a female drummer!) and she has a son called Rebel, so that's why they have taken the name Rebels Mother. Anyway they are three-piece from the US and play heavy/thrash. The album is selfproduced and the sound is a bit thin. Sometimes they have beautiful keyboards and guitars and sometimes the sound is real heavy and thrashy. The keys give them their special sound. My fave's are Too Late, Black Destiny and Dawn. At times the music is also chaotic. My advice for this band would be that they continue with their great harmonies and also have more heavy parts but without the chaos.

The lyrics are biblical but way too dark for my taste. I mean there is nothing wrong to write about dark issues but here I think it's too much darkness and too little about that there is hope, in Jesus. That's something they could improve too. Anyway I like their sound so I give it a 3.


References: Their sound is quite special so it's hard to compare them with others but fans of heavy and thrash can give this a try.


Orderinfo: Available directly from the band at http://www.rebelsmother.com

Rebels Mother is back with their second release. The first thing that strikes me when I see the cover is the question why?? I just can't understand why some christian bands use dark imagery without any biblical content. I don't mind cool imagery as long as it is on a biblical ground, but to just picture plenty of sculls etc without any thought behind it doesn't make sense at all to me. They should at least explain what they mean in the booklet.

Enough about that, over to the music. Rebels Mother sounds like a mixture of different metal genres. At times there are some great solos but most of the time it's just too slow and boring. But I do hear some Tourniquet/Deliverance-influences in the sound and that's a good thing. The only tunes that stands out is the melodic "shipwrecked" and "fatherless". Really nice guitarsolos in these tunes! More solos, more melodies and more thrash in the sound is what this band needs. The lyrics are biblical but a bit too dark to my taste. All in all this is not an album I would recommend, but if you like their first album you will also most probably like this one as well.


References: Their sound is quite special so it's hard to compare them with others but fans of heavy and thrash can give this a try.


Orderinfo: Available directly from the band at http://www.rebelsmother.com

Sweden has always been one of the leading metal nations. Now a new very promising band has come out from icy shadows in the dark north. ReinXeed is its name. Headed by very talented Tommy Johansson the band shows that they are force to be reckoned with. Musically they provide us with symphonic power metal with plenty of guitar solos and catchy hooks. Tommy is a great vocalist and he easy pick even the high tones. He is also a very talented guitar player and the last track Heavenly Fire is already one of my favourite instrumental tunes. The album is as a whole really good and shows lots of promise and I give it a 3+. With some improvements in the compositions and less keyboards and more heaviness next release will be a real shredder. With all the talent the band possess the future looks great.


References: Fans of symphonic power metal are definately gonna enjoy this. Orderinfo: Check with the metal shops listed here


Website: http://www.myspace.com/reinxeed

Jani Stefanovic is a very active person and is involved in many bands, where Renascent is one of them.

Lyrically the album is full on for Christ. Since the Demon's Quest EP the band has changed both style and vocalist. Compared to previous material Through Darkness is much more brutal and the keyboards is not as dominating as they were on the EP. The new growler in the band is Barry Haldan. (Barry was however in the band just for a short time and after the album was released both he and Jani left Renascent to pursue other bands.) I think the band has made a good job when it comes to variation, brutality and intensity. Favorite tracks are Sustain Me, Arise, The Last Journey and Majestic. More tracks in the veins of these and next album can be a classic. On the negative side the vocals on the cd gets somewhat monotonous in the long run and some tracks are too complex for the band's good. As a whole though Through Darkness is a really good death metal album and a solid buy for people into this genre. I give it a 3+ rating.


References: Recommended for all you death metal fans out there.


Orderinfo: Check with the mailorder companys listed here

Metal is back and so is Recon! For those of you that aren't familiar with this band they are a topnotch Heavy Metal band that released the successful album Behind Enemy Lines before they unfortunately disbanded. But after a couple of years break they are now back in full force again. Last Summer they played on the big american festival Cornerstone where this cd was recorded. The album contains classics like Take Us Away, Choose This Day, Alive, Dreams and more... They have also included a brand new tune titled The Chosen Few that sounds promising for the future. Cause the good news is that they are working with a new cd! Yeah! As bonuscuts they have also added four tunes from their rare 1989 demo. One really cool thing with this livecd is the excellent production, it's so good that it almost sounds like a studioalbum!

So is there anything to complain about on this cd then? Well, not really, my only complaint is that the singer Vett Roberts sounds a little untrained, but what else can you expect when he hasn't done concerts with Recon for years. I also miss their fantastic thrash tune Behind Enemy Lines. But besides that, this is an excellent Heavy Metal album that you don't wanna miss. As all the Cornerstone Live cds it is a limited edition only so you better pick up your copy quick before it's out of print... Welcome back Recon, you have been greatly missed!


References: If you like Heavy Metal you gonna love this! Fans of Sacred Warrior, Saint and Stryper are definately gonna love this cd. It's also comparable to secular bands like Iron Maiden.


Orderinfo: Check with the mailorder companys listed here

Behind Enemy Lines was originally recorded 1990 and has now finally been re-released! The style is real heavy Heavy Metal. The cd is full of guitarsolos, catchy rhymes and melodies. Two guitarists also make the music really heavy. Except the ordinary tunes there are also a few bonuscuts. One of these are Light The Fire which contains a fantastic guitarsolo by George Ochoa! Truly a great guitarplayer. One of my my favourite tunes musically and lyrically is Take Us Away. The lyrics talks about that Jesus soon will return to take us christians home to heaven.

"Lord take us away, we're looking to be set free for we believe your Word that you'll return like you said one day. In a blink of an eye trumpets will sound, dead in Christ will arise, you will come back for your bride, take us away like a thief in the night… If I die tonight I know that I'll be with you. I pray I'd live my life as though you'll come each and every day... Though I seem impatient Lord Jesus come quickly. I just can't wait until the day I see your face."

Amen. This is an album that makes you glad to hear and that really has God's annointing over it. Many of the lyrics are based on the book of Revelation, which not only talks about the future but also is full of treasures when you are looking for inspiration for metal tunes. The cd is full of many very good tunes and hardly none is a dog. Good production also (the production on the democuts at the end is fairly good as well). This cd is almost a classic, it's just as good as the best metalcds out there, both christian and secular.

Enjoyable guitarsolos, biblical lyrics and wonderful melodies makes this album to a must-have for anyone that claims to be a fan of real Heavy Metal. But don't wait too long, the cd is only printed in a very limited edition, so if you want it you better get it quick while you still got the chance…


References: Fans of Heavy Metal are gonna love this album! Comparable to Stryper's album Soldiers under command and to secular bands like Iron Maiden.


Orderinfo: Try the mailordercompanys listed here

Rivera/Bomma is an interesting band that mix 70s and 80s Metal and even adds some flamenco to the sound! The tunes are overall really good, both structured and melodic and a healthy dose of heaviness. Rod Rivera also shines on guitar and adds plenty of enjoyable guitar solos to the tunes. But there is however one big problem with the music and that is the terrible drum sound! It sounds very plastic and don't have that punch it should have. When it comes to the lyrics they are topnotch and are both Biblical and uplifting. To sum it up I like the album and if it just had had a better drum sound I would have given it a better rate, but now it just get a 3. I really hope they improve the drum sound to next release. This band has way too much talent to bury it it in a terrible drumsound!


References: Fans of Melodic Metal that has plenty of 70s and 80s Metal influences should definately check it out.


Orderinfo: Try the mailordercompanys listed here


Website: http://www.riverabomma.com

Hardrock/Metal with some bluesfeel from the american band Redemption. Lyrically it's really good. Very evangelistic and biblical. But the sad thing when it comes to their sound is that it ain't nothing that makes it stand out. It's neither heavy, melodic or crunchy. Sounds too ordinary and lame for me to get into it. This band needs to choose a direction (melodic, heavy, crunchy etc) and then go for it 100% if they want more fans to enjoy their music. I'm sorry dudes, but you have to do better than this if I shall look forward to Redemptions future releases.


References: Hardrock fans that are into blues might like this


Orderinfo: Available directly from the band at http://www.alienline.com

Remember Soldier? They were a very promising melodic metal band in the 80s. The guitarist of Soldier Rick Hunter is the mainperson of Regime that took off were Soldier left. So musically it reminds of Soldier and has plenty of melodic hooks and guitarsolos in it. Most tracks are really good and enjoyable and has some really cool guitarwork. I just wished the live tracks in the end had better production.

Cool stuff! Fans of melodic 80s metal should definately check this out.


References: Recommended to fans of Stryper, Soldier, Holy Soldier etc.


Orderinfo: Check with the metal shops listed here


Website: http://www.regime-band.com

Wow! This album features cool rocking metal versions of Amazing Grace, He's Got The Whole World In His Hands, Go Tell It On The Mountain, Old Rugged Cross and many more! Finally this classic have been remastered and re-released and the remaster adds even more punch to the tunes. Featured artists are Mike Lee (Barren Cross), John Elefante (Mastedon, ex Kansas), Jamie Rowe (Guardian), Scott Springer (Halo) and many more! The album is produced by master producers John & Dino Elefante that make sure the production is superb. These Rocking versions truly gives the hymns a brand new life and with this album now you as rocker can fully enjoy and sing along with these hymns and worship our great Lord. To sum it up Rock Power Praise is a brilliant singalong and rocking worship album that you don't wanna miss!

FEATURING:
The Old Rugged Cross
He's Got The Whole World In His Hands
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
We Need Jesus
Holy, Holy, Holy
Nothing But The Blood
Amazing Grace
Go Tell It On The Mountain
When We All Get To Heaven
I Have Decided (To Follow Jesus)

Cool stuff! Fans of melodic 80s metal should definately check this out.


References: Recommended to fans of Stryper, Soldier, Holy Soldier etc.


Orderinfo: Check with the metal shops listed here


Website: http://www.regime-band.com

Rosanna's Raiders is classic 80s hardrock band from Australia. The vocalist Rosanna Palmer has a really cool raspy rockvoice with much attitude. She is however not only a good singer but also handles all the guitars. She is actually a really competent guitar player and sometimes gives us really flashy solos. Rosanna is also the one that has written all the tracks. Both she and her husband David that plays bass are pastors, something you can clearly see in the evangelical lyrics. Fire From Heaven is a double cd where one of the discs contains the albums Calling Down Fire and Clothed In Fire and the other contains the previously unreleased album We Are Raiders from 1985. And I do understand why they didn't release that album, since it's very soft, with way too much poppy keyboards and way too little hardrock. But if you ignore that album and instead concentrate on CD1 there are plenty of good tracks to discover. Especially from Clothed In Fire that is the heaviest of the albums. Rosanna is really good in writing melodic hardrock tunes with catchy melodies and tunes like Do It Right, The Loser, Serve Someone and Good News is of the highest caliber. The problem is just that the band mix very good tracks with some really bad ones. As bonus track the band has included the great tune One Man that previously has only been released on the Mortification tribute album Modification.

As a whole Fire From Heaven is despite its letdowns still an ok album and if you like melodic hardrock like Heart it is definately worth checking out.


References: Fans of meloc hardrock like Heart should definately check this out.


Orderinfo: Check with the metal shops listed here