| CD REVIEW TSM (Two Side Moon)/ SLW Promotions special #2: Infinite Tone - Kinlin - Kooznetz - Orphan Project |
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TSM (Two Side Moon)/ SLW Promotions special #2: As promised, here’s the follow-up special of a bunch of albums sent to us by the TSM/SLW Promotion agency in one post package! As mentioned in the previous special, you can expect new articles just like this one in the near future! Band : Infinite Tone This Montréal (Quebec, Canada) based band is actually based around the duo of singer Inno Fabbro and guitarist/ backing vocalist Bruno Di Medio. Having been musically active since their early adolescent years, Fabbro is apparently also an accomplished poet, and he’s married these poignant lyrical works to the music he co-wrote with Di Medio…who’s continued to refine his skill as a guitarist and songwriter over the years. Since they had both been absent from the music scene for quite a while, several fellow artists eventually gathered in their insistance that the two join forces in a project. So the two did get together, anf immediatelly started writing songs, which they then took to Montrréal’s Woodshed Studios, where they recorded the album with childhood friend and arranger/producer Peter Ranallo…whom also provided the album with the occasionally abundantly available Hammond B3 organ, piano, and keyboards! Other musicians, by the way, were bassist Dominic Romanelli and drummer Gilbert Frabette, with Danny Ranallo and Julien “Doc” Bouchard adding some extra guitars (the latter also some bass) and Marc Angers playing the occasional violins! What you get is nice (well composed & played) classic (oft keyboard enhanced, but occasionally guitar geared as well) Hard Rock with raunchy vocals…and it’s with those vocals that I have some trouble. You see, they’re not at all that special! I can’t quite explain it, but it lacks a certain quality which prevents it from being good singing…and I’m afraid it took the rating down (quite) a few notches (even if the lyrical content is occasionally quite poignantly up my alley)!! Check it out for yourselves at myspace.com/infinitetone, where the band posted 1 ½-minute samples of 6 out of the 10 tracks on the album! By the way, one of the album songs’ titles is “Burn!”, and from that I take it that it’s safe to suggest that Burn! Records is really a private label! 78/100 Band : Kinlin Fort Lauderdale (Florida) based Kinlin was apparentlly originally conceived in June 2005 by Swedish drummer Patrick Johansson [worked with Yngwie Malmsteen but was also active with The SideFX, which also featured singer Paul Shortino (of Rough Cutt & Quiet Riot fame), guitarist Ira Black (Vicious Rumors, Heathen) and drummer Uriah Duffy (Whitesnake)…and joined W.A.S.P. for live work in February 2006 (source: rockdetector.com)], whom joined singer/ guitarist Dewayne Hart (formerly of the successful Aces Wild), guitarist Tom Lynch (of No Pressure and 5Skin repute), and bassist/ backing singer Dave Thomas (ex-Trial & ex-Moonfarm), originally titling the project Last Right. By the time they had recorded the material for a first album, they’d changed names to Kinlin, that also becoming their self-released album’s title! Johansson eventually dropped out, and replaced by renowned drummer Ali Nassar (played with Supergrub, Eulogy Black Market, Hero, Cro-Mags, and Goddess Delirious, but had also worked as a drum tech with Dio, Dokken, and Halford). Recorded at Dewayne’s own The Barn Recording Studio (located in davie, Florida…where he’s already recorded & produced albums for national acts), the new album is an exhilerating slab of Metal including influences ranging from Soundgarden, Pantera, Alice In Chains, Avenged Sevenfold and Disturbed to Led Zeppelin, Dream Theater and King’s X! Overall, that results in a nice Traditional Metal with Progressive and modern touches. The pace is taken down a bit only in two songs: “By Morning” (which is a wonderful semi-ballad, but without acoustics) and album closer “Awakening” (the actual ballad on the album including the use of acoustic guitar). The powerful and catchy 11 songs lasting just over 50 minutes, there’s not óne moment when you get the feeling that the guys do not give it their whole, and on top Dewayne’s very nice medium-high pitch voice, which has necessary stamina and sustain to warrant being called “soaring”, is harmonically backed by the bassist. In other words, if you’re into melodic but powerful US Metal with a Progressive touch, this is an album which will grab your attention from the very beginning. Check out the songs (no less than 6, 5 of which off this very album) posted at myspace.com/kinlin! Personally, I’m fond enough of what’s delivered to add End Of Dissent to my “Best Demo Albums Of 2009”-list!!! How comes they got TSM/SLW to give ‘em some European promotion? Combining their experiences from previous bands, Kinlin has now played the whole of the US, and the band is looking to start playing abroad… 98/100 Band : Kooznetz Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada) based Kooznetz is a band started only 3 ½ years ago, but it’s only 2 years ago that the line-up (then consisting of lead singer/ guitarist Kim Izmaylov, guitarist Adrian Sevastyanov, and drummer/ keyboardist Eddie Riumin) settled with the addition of bassist Marco Restagno. With common musical influences (mainly from Metal) which include Iron Maiden, Judas priest, Malmsteen and Metallica, they honed their skills to write songs in the Old School of Metal style: pounding double bass kick drumming, solid & innovative bass work, and great guitar interaction with Progressive Thrash overtones. They top it all off with additional atmospheric keyboard (occasionally altered to piano mode) sounds which fit in just fine. The only minor point (in my viewpoint) would be the vocals, which could be more, euhm…mature, perhaps?! As you might’ve gathered, some of the guys havve a Russian ancestry, which not only portrays itself in some of the songs’ titles [check “Ayx nag Aoporoñ (Spirit Of The Highway)” which even has Russian lyrics, “Stalingrad”, and “Rasputin”, explosive cover of the late ‘70s Disco hit by Boney M (as it so happens, the 3 last songs on the album)], but also in their bandname. Finding out that Blacksmith, the original name they had for the band, was already well in use by other Metal acts, they decided to simply translate it into Russian…hence the weird bandname! In addition to the 11-track, 49-minute CD, the first edition of the album (currently available through CDBaby.com) comes in a nice digipak package with bonus DVD featuring a video for “Stalingrad”, plus a live video of same song, a “Behind the scenes” featurette, and a insightful interviews section! To get an idea of what these youngsters sound like, surf to myspace.com/kooznetz, where you’ll find mp3-files for the album opening intro and song (“Prelude” and “The Tribal Dance”) brought into one mp”-file, and the self-explanatory “Hit The Metal”. Musically, this band is top grade, and shows promice of great things…but the lead singer needs some work, even if occasionally he surprises…but then again that may be the lead guitarist or bassist (both credited with backing vocals) bringing in that occasional grunt, or that clean whale during “Stalingrad”! 87/100 Band : Orphan Project The origins of Orphan Project go back to November 2001 in Abington, Maryland, when singer Shane Lankford (himself an orphan) got in touch with John Wenger to develop an idea for a concept album on physical and spiritual adoption (those who just read the word “spiritual” and instantly felt a Christian connection…for once you were absolutely correct!). With influences such as Kansas, Yes, Peter Gabriel, Dream Theater, and U2…and with the aid of keyboardist Tony Corelli and a string ensemble, they recorded the Orphan Found album, which was released in June 2003. Then, with the addition of several live musicians, they would go on to play regional shows, one of which in support of Spock’s Beard. The album would go on to sell 3,000 copies without the aid of a record company! Between late 2003 and 2005, the band was on a hiatus, Lankford himself lending his voice to Visual Cliff (band of Trinity Records founder Rob Perez), and working on another project called Fall Of Echoes with Orphan Project bassist Bill Yost! In 2008 O.P. reformed (with the line-up comprising Lankford, Yost, guitarist Shane McBride, keyboardist John Neiswinger, and drummer Tim Kehring) returning to the studio to record the 4-track EP Orphan Project II, which included a cover of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall”. It attracted the attention of the NePlusUltra label, who signed the band to release a full-length album…THIS one! I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it once again (probably not for the last time), that a singer often makes or breaks a band. In fact, a truly good singer can elevate an average or even lesser band to hights it would never reach without him…but when a truly good singer gets together with the kind of people who have the knowhow to write good songs, and the instrumental ability to give those songs catchy melodies while allso taking care of some interesting underlaying complexity (as you may have guessed from the influences cited for the debut album, this band uses elements of Hard Rock, Progressive Rock/Metal, and even contemporary Rock, and put it into a nice blend enriched with lavish keyboards – frequently in piano mode, but also with the occasional Hammond B3-like tones – and additional orchestratations) the result can occasionally grow to be awesome…which is certainly the case with Orphan Project! The guys are so very much in-sinc with each other, each complementing each other to perfection, and adding to the appallingly beautiful (enhanced by the fact that the guitar is often simply chanting) melodic complexity. Lankford is simply incredible, warm and voluminous, like a positive mix (to counterphrase Joshua Turner of Progressive World) of Chris Cornell and Bono! In several instances, the lead singer is harmonically backed (during “The Battle Rages On”, that’s even done by a choir of children – orphans perhaps?),again adding to the overall beauty of this album Surf to myspace.com/orphanproject to check out the posted material (4 tracks off the new album, 2 off the debut album, and 2 off the demo-EP: the Pink Floyd cover and a track titled “Angel’s Desire”, also on this album!), but be aware that to start listening to this band is a highly addictive thing. In fact, I suspect Lankford could convert atheists effortlessly! Darn, this is a great album! 98/100 Tony. |
