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The music website with more fatKrokus – ‘Hellraiser’ (AFM Records)
Swiss rockers KROKUS go back a hell of a long way, all the way back to 1970’s in fact when their brand of symphonic rock failed to make the band any headway. It wasn’t until the early 1980’s that KROKUS found their true sound, relying heavily on the influence of a certain Australian band called AC/DC.
Opening track ‘Hellraiser’ is just pure 100% AC/DC with vocalist Marc Storace sounding like a cross between DC main men Brian Johnson and Bon Scott. Plenty of other tracks including ‘Turnin’ Inside Out’ and ‘No Risk No Gain’ also have a major AC/DC tinge to them, but that’s certainly not what KROKUS are all about. Many of the songs vary in style and Marc Storace has a great rock voice, adaptable to each of the song’s differing speeds and moods.
Highlights? Well aside from the opener, there’s plenty more!. ‘Fight On’ and ‘Too Wired To Sleep Tonight’ are two great rockers both with tremendously hooky choruses. Ballad ‘Angel of My Dreams’ is a wonderful moment, and truly shows that KROKUS are very talented song-writers and this will take some beating for the best rock ballad you’ll here in 2006. The album’s other ballad, the more bluesy style ‘Take My Love’ is another strong effort too.
‘Sprit of the Night’ is the fastest track on the album and sounds like the sort of old school power metal that the likes of SAXON are better known for, whereas ‘Rocks Off’ shows the band’s capability of delivering a more punky edge.
On an album with 14 tracks you’d probably be expecting lots of filler material. Well, not everything on here is great, but there’s no real stinkers either and overall you have a very high quality rock album. It’s fantastic that veterans like KROKUS have stuck around after all these years and if they keep on producing album’s like ‘Hellraiser’, well, they can stick around for as long as they want! Rock on!
Rating 3.8/5.0
James Allman
Release Date : 18th September 2006
Visit : www.krokusonline.com
