Rian-Twenty-Three ©2021 Frontiers Records
We have mentioned this a few times, but we'll do it again here. Sweden is a real hot area for music, especially for the hard rock scene. Rian is another melodic hard rock band that have put together a great sophomore effort with 'Twenty-Three'. Their sound is very much in tune with the American hard rock scene of the 80's. Most of the music is pretty melodic with some of it leaning a bit more to the heavier side of that genre. I kept thinking Bryan Adams through this album, but notched up a bit more in intensity. Songs are all very catchy and memorable. Daniel Flores, who some will remember from Find Me or The Murder of My Sweet was involved with this album as producer and the results are awesome. This is another good hard rock band with a great collection of tunes that keeps my faith in this style of music living on for a long time!
Release Date: July 16, 2021
Toby Hitchcock-Changes ©2021 Frontiers Records
Toby Hitchcock is without a doubt one of today's most powerful vocalists. He returns with another great collection of songs that highlight his vocal talents. The songs themselves are really good. I did pick up on how his vocals really drive each song. With this album, Toby teamed up with Alessandro Del Vecchio who is a pretty common name that has worked with a lot of Frontiers artists. The combination of the two have given the listener splendid results in the way of great songwriting and delivery. Some of my personal favorites include the album opener 'Forward', 'Tonight Again' which is probably my favorite of this album, and 'Say No More'. Honestly, the album as a whole is pretty cohesive and everything here is well done and memorable. There is a rock version of the Greek artist Despina Vandi's hit 'Xeno Esena' which is called 'Before I Met You'. Excellent!
Release Date: July 9, 2021
Inner Stream-Stain The Sea ©2021 Frontiers Records
As my taste has broadened through the years I have picked up on a variety of modern styles that I have grown to love. Inner Stream is a recent signing for Frontiers Records and plays a Melodic Metal style that has many different influences. The band is female fronted with a really solid vocalist, Inés Vera-Ortiz. You could say she is an up and coming star that should join some of the other high quality female singers of the genre. As mentioned, the music has influences that include symphonic, which is no surprise. Then add in some Nu-Metal sounds and some Gothic here and there as well. Yes, it is a modern sounding record with good atmosphere and heavy drive as well. This band will definitely have wide appeal to a variety of rock based genres and the music is worth coming back to time and time again. Another great modern metal act!
Release Date: July 16, 2021
Hardline-Heart, Mind And Soul ©2021 Frontiers Records
The latest album from Hardline is their seventh record and is in the same vein as the last few records. There is a decent amount of hard rocking material here, but it never loses the melodic element this band is known for. There is an excellent balance between rockers and ballads here. Johnny Gioeli sounds great as always with his vocal work being a treasure in the genre. There are some very good songs here that could become classics in time. I definitely had my favorites from the band's brilliant debut 'Double Eclipse'. This album is no different in the fact that I came out with some go to favorites such as 'Surrender', 'Heavenly', and the rocking album opener 'Fuel To The Fire'. 'Searching For Grace' and 'We Belong' are a couple more that had a lot of melody to them and bring the latter part of the album to a close. Another excellent listen in my opinion!
Release Date: July 9, 2021
L.A. Guns-ocked And Loaded Live ©2021 Frontiers Records
'Cocked And Loaded' is probably my favorite L.A. Guns album to date. There are definitely some close seconds, but this is the one. This album is obviously live and was recorded while shows were pretty non-existent due to Covid-19. The band decided to celebrate 31 years since the release of 'Cocked And Loaded' and Frontiers put this out. The show sounds great and is basically that whole album and the song 'Speed' from their album 'The Missing Peace'. As far as I can tell, this album was released on CD and vinyl only. No video version which is kind of a bummer. When it comes to live material, I always dig blu-ray versions or whatever is available. Other than not having that, this is a great release that documents one of their greatest albums and eras. Looking forward to new studio material hopefully soon from these guys!
Release Date: July 9, 2021
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