THE GROOVEMAN'S COLLECTION

REVIEWS FROM MY VINYL COLLECTION

Day: February 1, 2024

SVEN GALI – Bombs And Battlescars

February 1, 2024 /

Seeing as all the eighties rock bands have resurrected themselves from years of slumber I guess it was only a matter of time that their nineties counterparts did the same. Sven Gali had a brief glow in the spotlight with their harder edged approach to hard rock.

This is their second release from their re-activation and it has a very heavy modern sound, it is a mix of new tunes and demo’s. Coming Home is my favourite tune with that nice and heavy riff. There is a great cover of Triumph’s Spellbound adding some serious beef and crunch to what is a great song. The bass guitar is very prominent on most of the record and none more so than on the brilliant Life Inside, where the vocal has a hint of Nirvana. The best of the demos is the delightfully groovy Hogs, with a monster riff and a groove that really swings.

This is not bad for a bits and pieces record and I hope they keep releasing new material.

7.5/10 from The Grooveman.

ROMEO’S DAUGHTER – s/t

February 1, 2024 /

When you look at Mutt Lange’s production credits leading up to this recording, you have to wonder why he chose to do this one as the band were totally unknown. But when you see that the band’s manager was Olga Lange, it totally makes sense.

Obviously this is an amazingly well produced album, as you would expect, and it is a very slick pop/rock gem. Although the album and the singles from it had minor success, the people who covered some of the songs, Bonnie Tyler, Eddy Money, and Heart did fair better. My favourite of the bunch is Heaven In The Back Seat, a great tune that has single written all over it and is a definite earworm tune.

They would make one more album and that was it. Although, I do believe they are back recording again.

7/10 from The Grooveman.

POMEGRANATE TIGER – All Input Is Error

February 1, 2024 /

We have a Porcupine Tree, so why can’t we have a Pomegranate Tiger? The amazing amount of talented young bands that have crept out of every orifice since Periphery bounded into the Prog metal universe is staggering. Plus, the amount of instrumental bands in this genre is breathtaking as well. It’s a bit like the explosion of fusion bands in the 70’s.

These lovely folks come from darkest Windsor in Ontario, which makes us practically neighbours. I think this is their fifth album and it’s an incredible piece of work. I mentioned Periphery, but that may give a slightly wrong expectation. First, there are no vocals and second, we only have one guitarist – the amazingly talented Martin Andres. What you do get is amazing deep grooving soundscapes, intricate weaving guitar passages, and some serious riffage with a killer rhythm section supplied again by Martin.

My only adverse word is the breaks between songs are almost non existent and the whole piece feels like one song, and that’s a small thing. The djentyness is wonderful and groovy when the needs arises. The Cryptographer is just an insane musical wonder with some epic deep riifage and unbelievable guitar soloing, and I will say this is my favourite piece. Mind blowing stuff! There is a moment I thought I was in a parallel universe while listening to this as I could swear the intro to Metasphere reminded of The Cardiacs, and perhaps it did but the memory was wiped away by deep riffage.

A freakin’ great record.

9.5/10 from The Grooveman.

RAVEN – Life’s A Bitch

February 1, 2024 /

Amazingly enough, Raven are still out there making new music and playing live. I know there has been long gaps in between some of their record, but credit where is due.

This was album number six for them, which appeared in ’87. After their initial burst through the NWOBHM explosion in the early eighties and by the time they recorded this album, they were more popular in the US than back home in the UK. This album was even recorded in the US.

I think they were once described as “athletic thrash” and if you saw them live around this time you could see why, as they were one big swirling ball of energy. I really like this album as I think their songwriting reached its peek around this point.

Pick Your Window is my personal favourite track as it rips along at a gallop and it’s pure NWOBHM, except it’s supercharged. There are so many great tracks here: the title track just slays, as well as On The Wings Of An Angel which is old school thrash, and you can see how most of  the early thrash bands cited them as an influence.

A very enjoyable and fun record.

9/10 from The Grooveman.

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