TSM (Two Side Moon)/ SLW Promotions special #1

British promoton agencies Two Side Moon & SLW (whom got together quite a while back) regularly send us new material of up and coming new artists, and somehow they tapped a source where they are suddenly in the capacity to throw a shi… sorry for that… huge load of material upon us, made by bands whom are either still in a demo stage but delivered a very professional album, bands who decided to found their own label and are looking for ways of distributing their stuff, or bands who signed to a low-profile label which is now looking for broader distribution (some beyond the US).
Rather than spend as much time as I usually give each album that comes through my hands, this sudden workload came on top of a huge backlog (due to our editor-in-chief taking about 1 ½ months off to concentrate on his activities as label representative of two labels during the early Summer festival season), so I decided to have a compromise (still giving you as much as possible info, but in a shorter space) and do a couple of “specials” to work myself through the heap of albums. Expect no special packages put together according to style, ‘cause I’m reviewing the albums in alphabetical order according to the moment when I got the bunch. My editor-in-chief told me just yesterday that he received another (big) package from TSM/SLW, so you can expect a couple of specials in the time to come.

Band : Baltimoore
Album title : Quick Fix
Record label : BLP Music
Distributor : TSM/SLW Promotions
Release date : 15/05/2009
Release : CD

Sweden’s Baltimoore is hardly an unwritten page in the books of  Classic Rock, with a history which goes back to 1987, when singer Björn Lodin was approached by Electra Records to record a solo album. In stead of using his own name, he chose the Baltimoore monicker, and penned the albums There’s No Danger On The Roof (1989) and Freak (1990). In 1992, Lodin relocated to Äland, Finland, where he met Bulgarian-born guitarist Nikolo Kotsev, and together they made the albums Double Intensity (1992) and Thought For Food (1994), but after that they fell apart due to personal and musical differences.
Baltimoore was then on a hiatus ‘til 2000, when the band issued the album Original Sin. Lodin returned to Sweden that same year. Next albums would be the compilation The Best Of Baltimoore (2001), Ultimate Tribute (late 2003/ 2004 – I think I reviewed that one for Concrete Web back in the days…regrettably all of the website’s material prior to 2005 got lost in a computer crash), and Fanatical (2005), and then the band ended their collaboration with Finnish label Lion Music in favour of starting their own, BLP Music, on which they released both Kaleidoscope and X during 2006! Prior to starting work on his latest album in late 2008, Lodin contributed to Balls’ album Chameleon.
From the short-lived Balls, Lodin kept the rhythm section of bassist Björn Lundkvist and drummer Robban Bäck, and in stead of opting for the pure dual guitar sound of the previous 3 albums, he’s added organist Örjan Fernkvist to the line-up to embellish the overall sound with his vintage Hammond B3 sounds…the line-up being completed by newcomer guitarist Emanuel Hedberg, whom displays an incredible synergy with the organist…the two either adding to each other in the “simpler” songs, or delivering interesting “duels” with each other in the somewhat more complex tracks! Lodin has a very warm voice, which comes across as something in between Coverdale, Hughes, and Gillan (all previously, the latter still, with Deep Purple): a slight Bluesey hoarseness, and a capacity to take some higher notes as well (nót like either Gillan or Hughes though!). As is usual with Classic Rock bands, you’ll get somewhat more driven tracks alternated against calmer ones (ooh, and that great flute played in album closer “The Bet”), and a ballad (check out the wonderful “How Can You Undo What’s Become Undone”) to boot.
At myspace.com/baltimoore, you ‘ll find mp3-files for that ballad, alongside the more exciting album opener “I’m All About Me” and the catchy “Make Good”, as well as a sampler for the band’s previous album X. Pity they didn’t post, not even a sample, of the simply built but truly gréat “Haze Of Wonder”, but what you dó get is enough for any Classic Rock fan (more specifically of such bands as Deep Purple and Post-Dio era Rainbow) that this band’s album are a thing to covet! My rating may indicate I don’t consider Quick Fix “worthy” to get placed into my year-lists, but givce me the possibility to give the album a couple more turns in the cd-player later on in the year, and it may very well still make it there!

94/100

Band : Cold Truth
Album title : Do Watcha Do
Label : Private release
Distributor : TSM (Two Side Moon)/ SLW Promotiojn
Release date : February 2009
Release : (demo) CD

This great quartet comes from the town of Murfreesboro (Tennesee), close to Nashville…which is generally considered as the capitol city of Country music. The four musicians (singer/ rhythm guitarist Thane Shearon, rhythm & lead guitarist Kurt Menck, bassist Abe White, and drummer Matt Green) are well-seasoned musicians (both in age and playing capacity) and in spite of the vicinity of Nashville, they’ve chosen for a thoroughly Blues-drenched Hard Rock with an occasional slight “Southern” touch. Thanks to the lead singer’s vocal capacities and the plentyfull backings, remeniscences with some of the classic bands in the genre (take, a harder Free or Bad Company, Lynyrd Skynyrd, but also Led Zeppelin and old Whitesnake!) are available in abundance! Shearon has a nice hoarseness to his voice, which does really great on the somewhat faster tracks, but comes through most heartfelt in the somewhat slower numbers like “Peace With Me” andalbum closer “Light My Way”!
What with the capacities in songwritership (all, and I mean liiterally àll, tunes are super-catchy) and the qualities of Shearon’s voice…and given the fact that is already their sophomore (a self-titled album issued, ah…in 2003?), privately released, album…it’s amazing these guys haven’t gotten themselves a deal yet with one of the established record labels.
If you’re into the classic Blues Rock bands as mentioned above (or, one of their more modern equivalents, like Thunder), you nééd to check out what exactly this band sounds like…so surf on over to myspace.com/coldtruthmusic, where you’ll currently find no less than 6 tracks off the album posted! Again, my current “moderate” rating does not imply I won’t possibly add Do Watcha Do (somewhat weird title, but what’s in a name as long as the contents are cool?) to my year-lists!

93/100

Band : Edgehill Avenue
Album title : Rambler
Record label : Departure Records
Distributor : TSM/SLW Promotions
Release date : 24/02/2009
Release : CD

This Louisville (Kentucky) based band grew from being a duo (comprised of lead singer/ guitarist Drew Perkins and guitarist Mike “Hurricane” McLaughlin) to a quartet adding bassist John Poole and drummer Lamont “Phatbeat” Melson before recording a self-titled, acoustic-sounding, EP which they released in February 2007. They then played gigs anywhere they could during 2007 and a large part of 2008, and eventually added keyboardist Paul Nevitt to their line-up before signing to Louisville based label Departure Records (label specialized in helping out up and coming new bands).
Due to the band’s rigorous live schedule in the past two years, the band’s music got a more Rock-oriented edge which is rooted (according to the label’s bio) in Alt-Country and Southern Rock…or mmore specifically in the music from the likes of The Black Crowes, The Allman Brothers, Ryan Adam, Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen, and Top Petty. And quite frankly, there IS some remeniscence here! Big thumbling stone (in my personal view), is the somewhat soul-lacking lead vocalist! His voice is fairly alright in the somewhat harder (let’s not exaggerate!) edged songs, but in the calmer ones (which obviously contain more acoustics, and piano) his voice tends to falter somewhat! What with most of the songs having a balladesque touch, the sum total of truly memorable songs can be counted on a couple of fingers…which is a pity, for the music is quite alright indeed (pushing the rating up quite a bit)!
Anyway, you can check it out for yourselves at myspace.com/edgehillave, where you’ll find 5 tracks off the album posted alongside 2 live recordings (at edgehillave.com, you’ll even find 4 videos).

80/100

Band : Enochian Theory
Album title : Evolution : Creatio Ex Nihilio
Record label : Anomalous Music Records
Distributor : TSM/SLW Promotions
Release date : 03/08/2009
Release : CD

For a more detailed history-of-the-band on this UK based Progressive Rock/Metal act, please read what they put at myspace.com/enochiantheory, for a nut-shell synopsis:
E.T. was formed in late 2004 by 4 likewise minded musicians, whose high work ethics resulted in the release of their 7-track demo Our Lengthening Shadows in March 2005. They then decided to add keyboards to their music, and started working on their first full-length (5-track) A Monument To The Death Of An Idea recording the album in June 2006. Although still without the backing of a label, the guys managed to get themselves support slots for established acts such as Ethel Duath, Red Sparrowes, and Twin Undergroove. The members then agreed to start up their own label Anomalousz Music Records Ltd., for the purpose of supporting the band’s interests. This then evidently led to the foundation of AMR-PR and AMR Booking, the 3 then branded under The Anomalousz Music Group. The band released their debut album in April 2007, signing a deal with PHD for the digital-only release of the single “Namyamka”, which came in August ’07, accompanied by a self-produced video (which had cost the band absolutely nothing). Airplay ensued, as well as very posiitive reviews worldwide, and in October ’07 E.T. embarked on its first self-organized UK tour with fellow Brits SpeedTheory, followed by another tour booked by The S-A-N Agency.
Following a year’s hard work and industry exposure, the band found itself under internal pressure leading to the amical departure of founding member Scott Wave (guitar) in January 2008. This ensued in the band having to cancel extensive UK and European high-profile touring, so the remaining trio of singer/ guitarist Ben Harris-Hayes, bassist Shaun Rayment and drummer Sam Street decided  to start writing their sophomore full-length, aventually working in their own studios, teamed-up with engineering friends Josh Eaves, Ross Gill, and Rich Tamblyn, and Swedish producer David Castillo (see Katatonia, Opeth, Bloodbath, and InMe) whom introduced the band to Swedish graphic artist Robin Portnoff. The latter felt an instant connection to the band and would provide the album’s visualisation.
The album completed in January 2009, immediatelly got feedback from such highly profiled record labels as Century Media, Nuclear Blast, SPV, Inside Out, AFM, Relapse, Bieler Bros, and Lifeforce, but in spite of all that the band released their new album on their own label anyway! So, now it’s here, and it not only lóóks good, but sounds terrific as well! Working towards the release, by the way, the album was sent out to several people into Progressive music, and the response was simply heart-warming (again, check out the blogs on the band’s MySpace). Somehow, the boys have managed to give the guitar sound on the album an almost vintage feel and this, combined with the lavish piano, synth, and orchestral fillings (provided by The Lost Orchestra most probably a surname for the recording machine akà sampler in which they stored all that stuff, played by themselves) makes for a great listen of the album. The fact that it starts off with a 4-part “trilogy” (which is nevertheless listed as separate tracks), plus the fact that quite a few of the tracks on the album (among which 3 instrumentals, not counting the two instrumental passages of the album openers) flow into the next almost inperseptibly (no pause) makes one feel that Evolution… is really a concept album, to be heard in one time! The singer’s voice is warm, and calm for the most time, but in a couple of songs he doés go for a more aggressive mode. Check this in the songs “Apathia” and “The Fire Around The Lotus” (during the latter clean and aggressive mode are altered, and in the last vocal part even brought together…how the band is gonna perform that live with only one singer…?).
As per usual, the band’s MySpace is the best place to check out some of the songs off this album, and the band added a couple of excerpts from Kerrang! Radio and BBC6 Music’s Bruce Dickinson Rock Show to boot! Delicious albbum, and one most deserving of making my “Best Albums Of 2009”-list! The band has a 3-some of gigs in the UK planned for September, and they’ll be at the ProgPower Europe 2009 festival at Baarlo (Holland) come next October. No other live dates are revealed at this time, so if you can’t make any of these, check out E.T.’s MySpace regularly!

98/100

This concludes part 1 of this TSM/SLW Promotion special, part 2 will be coming at you next very shortly indeed! Expect reviews for albums by Infinite Tone (Montréal, Quebec,Canada), Kinlin (Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA), Kooznetz (British Columbia, Canada), and Orphan Project (Abington, MD, USA).