Heavy Metal Resource Reviews-Crowne, Girish And The Chronicles, Redlight King, Ten, and Arctic Rain

Index

Crowne has become one of my favorite Frontiers artists. There is a powerful feel to their music and the musicians involved are all respected and create an amazing chemistry as Crowne. I had gone back to their first album recently getting more familiar with as the new album was coming out soon. I ended up getting even more hooked on that album than I remembered. This album takes off where the band's debut left off. Songs have the same general feel which I think is a definite positive. There is a lot of energy in this music without sacrificing the melodic nature that fans have come to expect from them. This is another album that I will be going back to in the future time and time again. There is good depth and atmosphere throughout this album and enough of an edge to really satisfy most fans of the rock and metal genres. An early favorite of mine!

Release Date: January 27, 2023

Girish And The Chronicles have just released a re-record of the first album which is 'Back On Earth'. 'Hail To The Heroes' was released about a year ago and really cemented this band as one of the more flashy and mid to late 80's sounding hard rock acts on the Frontiers label. This re-record gives the fans an idea of what came before and the good reason that Frontiers pursued them. The music is definitely in the same vein as 'Heroes' and as mentioned can be bombastic which is a lot of fun. What I found interesting with this record is that the band went the re-record route due to the songs slightly evolving in the live show and decided to run with that. It's a good idea in my opinion as sometimes songs get better as the musicians change things that they feel work better than what was originally laid down in the studio. Another solid batch of songs that the fans should love!

Release Date: January 27, 2023

Even though you could make the case that the music Redlight King delivers is more modern in nature, there is a decent amount of crossover appeal here. Traditional hard rock fans might really dig the vibe that this band has on this new record. There were a couple of times that some of the music on 'In Our Blood' reminded me of The Cult. The more modern sounds of The Cult, but definitely had me thinking that direction. The music has a cool groove that can be heard on tracks such as 'Cold Killer', 'King Again' and 'Raise The Dead'. The band also adds a moody element throughout the album that adds a bit of depth to the songs. Overall though, these songs do have that modern flare mentioned and can be quite catchy and memorable. I took a quick listen to the album and definitely liked what I had heard. I wanted to talk about it and give it a good recommend. Solid!

Release Date: March 3, 2023

There is a good reason I always require myself to go with a 2 listen minimum. For whatever reason, this album just did not click with me on the first listen. After a second listen I absolutely loved it. Ten has always composed and delivered their music with a degree of sophistication without it ever being too complex. They also have a knack for delivering huge amounts of melody even if there is a decent heavy edge to each song. This album is all of that. Great songwriting that creates a memorable listen even if it takes you more than a listen to let it sink in. There is a smoothness to Ten's music and there always has been. From the songs and musicianship itself to the smooth vocal prowess of Gary Hughes. If you haven't heard Ten before or if it's been awhile, dive right in to this album. Definitely Ten doing what Ten always does, delivering a great listen!

Release Date: January 20, 2023

Arctic Rain had released a great debut album titled 'The One' back in 2020. With the excellent product the band gave us, I was eager to keep them on my radar to see how they progressed. We now get the band's follow up titled 'Unity'. The band set a good bar with 'The One' and continue to evolve with very good songs once again. The band have a huge melodic side, but do also mix in a bit of a metal edge in places. They are not shy when it comes to pushing boundaries within the melodic hard rock genre. 'Unity' is a fantastic listen once again. The songs start off great and the listen gets even better as it goes along. Plenty of atmosphere can be found here. It's not an overly technical album, but does showcase some impressive performances. Songs tend to stick with the listener which is a good thing. The band have put together another solid outing worthy of your listening time!

Release Date: January 27, 2023