Band Name: Burning Circle

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/theburningcircleoflife

Reviewer: Keef

Review:

Their influences read like a ‘who’s who’ of classic rock legends. And right from the first vocal, you can see why. OK, so the timekeeping might not be 100% perfect, but if you have an ounce of rock in your body and ears that haven’t been permanently damaged from turning it up to eleven, you’ve got to admire the absolute talent in the lead vocals!

I have to say I was particularly blown away by the more baladdy (that is now a word) tracks. There’s a fine line to be drawn between a piss take classic rock voice and a REAL classic rock voice and ‘Sale’ has an almost perfect ‘classic’ rock voice that would have graced any band from the list that the band cites as their influences! Honestly!

The music is a cross between classic 70s anthemic rock and the more edgy metal that came to the fore about 5 years ago. Cultural differences aside (this band originates in the former Eastern Block), ‘Burning Circle’ would have no problem selling their music anywhere in the world. No review would be complete without a critisism, but all I can really fault is the slightly lax timekeeping (can’t you tell I’m a drummer) in the odd section and the fact that some of the vocals highlight the fact that English is not these guys’ first languege, so the lyrics sound a bit contrived and don’t make 100% sense. Other than that, it gets my approval!  Well done guys!

Keef

Band Name: Stranger Inside

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/strangerinsideband

Reviewer: Keef

Review:

OK – In all honesty, I’m not even going to bother wasting anyone’s time with a long arsed review of this band, because the time that you spend reading my ramblings can be put to FAR better use by just going to their homepage and listening to them yourselves! Here’s the review in brief – F**king great!!

GO – NOW!! Do as you’re told!!

If anyone is still stupid enough to be hanging around, I’ll quantify my thoughts a little. Think Alice in Chains, think Nickleback, think Lost Prophets – think harmonious grunge rock that’s been painstakingly crafted, is almost perfectly formed and is JUST the right length so that you can get onto the next one.

I really am struggling to find fault with anything, and quite why this band are unsigned is a mystery to me. If I HAD to be picky, I’d say the pitching on the odd vocal line could perhaps be slightly better – but it is really only the odd bum note in what is otherwise a flawless bunch of recordings!!

Guys – if I could afford the plain ticket, I’d come to a gig in a heartbeat!

Put me down for a copy of an album and tickets for the first UK tour!

Keef

Band Name: Fire Assassins

Myspace: www.myspace.com/fireassassins

Reviewer: Keef

Review:

‘Restless Heart’ - ‘Fire Assasins’ describe their varied influences as being mostly 80s era – ranging from Metallica to Rick Springfield. ‘Restless Heart’ opens up like a tribute to The Cranberries or even The Corrs, with a very tuneful, if a little light, acoustic guitar and violin intro. Not a bad start, but not really ‘rock’ music…..

And then it all goes a bit early 70s. Now – again, that’s no bad thing, but the vocals sound like someone who’s trying to do a really poor Chris DeBurgh impression for a laugh – only thing is, I think it’s supposed to be a serious vocal melody. At over 7 minutes, this track just drags on too long.

‘Do You Remember’ - is a different kettle of fish entirely. OK, so it’s ’80s rock by numbers’ and entirely predictable, but I guess that’s half the charm of that type of music in the first place – it’s instantly recogniseable. I have to say the vocals are a huge improvement on this track, maybe it’s a pitching thing, but it’s far less forced and actually not that bad.

‘Midnight’ is more of the same. Predictable 80s rock. It has the same ‘charm’ as the previous track – but fails again on the strained vocals and being overly long. There’s a great solo and melody change towards the end of the track, but after that ‘high’, it just repeats the original riff for another minute and kind of kills the interest that the solo brought to the track.

‘Keep Christmas Alive in your Heart’. This is a terrible track – sorry guys, but it’s just not even good in a bad way. The Darkness kind of got away with a cheesy Festive song, but you’re not The Darkness. If for no other reason than the appalling wailing that is being passed off as ‘vocals’, you need to get rid of this track, as it really shows off all your bad points……

‘Outside Looking In’ – yet more rock by numbers. Sorry – but it’s getting quite tedious now and the vocals – well, they’re just getting progressively flatter and sounding more like the worst of (insert reality TV ‘talent’ show here). Another one for the bin.

‘Turn Away’. OK – what a great start! LOVE the opening to this track, as it at least shows some thought – but it then just falls apart in a big way.
We’ve now moved to ‘rock ballad by numbers’ – with ‘backing vocals’. I’m deliberately steering away from calling them ‘vocal harmonies’, because they are neither of those things. I’ve no idea whether this is both parties wailing away or a bit of double tracking, but it’s painful to say the least.
‘Turn Away’ is aptly named for reviewers – because that’s what most people will do listening to this.

‘Long Way Back’ - another pleasantly constructed 80s inspired rock by numbers track – offering nothing new and completely ruined by the vocals…..

There’s quite obviously one talented musician in this group, which makes the fact that there’s some painfully out of tune vocals on these tracks unforgiveable.

Keef