O Canada!
This time out the Rock Pile is overflowing with music from Canada, including new releases from Teaze, Mélisande, Voivod, Rick Hughes and Iron Kingdom.
Rick Hughes - Redemption
Hughes has had a long career working as the lead singer in hard rock bands Sword and Saints & Sinners and has for more than 20-years released solo albums. And his journeyman work shines through in Redemption where he starts off the effort with "Dead End Road," a cut that despite the title is very upbeat and positive, exemplified by the lyric "There's no such thing as a dead end road." The song, in a Bon Jovi vein, is a great way to start the album. Hughes sings a couple songs here in French, one of the two official languages of Canada; the blues rocking "Croire En L'Homme" with fellow Canuck Lee Aaron guesting and one of the catchiest songs on the album, "Dans La Peau" where he duets with Amy Keys. There are actually two versions of "Dans La Peau" included, one sung in French and English while the other is entirely in French; both feature guitarist Robby Krieger, renowned for his work as a member of The Doors. Other guests, include Rudy Sarzo, Tommy Aldridge and Brad Gillis, all alums of Ozzy Osbourne's band, who power a fiery version of The Who's "The Real Me." Gillis appears on two other tracks, playing acoustic guitar on "Carry the Torch" and rocking pretty good on the made-for-driving-fast "Shake My Soul."
Mélisande - Sur la même longueur d'onde (On the same wavelength)
Mélisande is a singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist from Quebec and her music is a mélange of traditional folk sounds and electronic music with occasional nods to global sounds as well, like on "Kinshasa- Kébek" where there are African rhythms; the cut features guest player Kizaba who lives in Quebec but who has roots in Congo. All songs are sung in French but non-Francophones will still enjoy Mélisande's expressive vocals, especially on cuts like the Continental-sounding "Sans courir toujours" where the highly-percussive groove also features flute and fiddle solos as well as guest vocals from Mamselle Ruiz, a native of Mexico who now lives in Montreal. The universal language of dance is in play throughout, most notably on "Disco set carré" where Mélisande demonstrates her talent on jaw harp (also called Jew's harp), sproinging away sublimely on the lively dance floor burner. The overall mood here is joyous and that easily translates no matter what language you speak.
Teaze - Rev Your Engines
If you were a follower of Midwestern rock 'n' roll back in the 1970s you may already be familiar with Teaze, the band from Windsor, Ontario which is just across the border from the musical powerhouse of Detroit. The band dissolved decades ago but got back together 50-years after their 1976 debut to cut this album with original singer and bassist Brian Danter and guitarist and singer Mark Bradac leading the foursome. Appropriately the album begins with the title track and "Rev Your Engines" is an anthemic rocker about the energy of a live show that sets the tone for the set of vibrant classic rock that follows. "Turning the Night Away" is an exceptionally catchy and radio ready cut, "Gotta Rock" does just that and many will hear a bit of Van Halen love here. Speaking of which, "City of Roses" is also done in a Van Halen style with Danter sounding not unlike David Lee Roth (Pasadena, California, where Eddie and Alex Van Halen spent their youth, is known as the City of Roses.) And the guys picked a good song to include a cover version of; their take on the Rainbow favorite "Man on the Silver Mountain" respects the original arrangement but adds nice nuance here and there.
Voivod - Symphonique
Voivod have now been around for more than 40-years and in that time they've amassed a catalog full of fan favorites, a dozen of which they perform live here with accompaniment from the Quebec Symphony Orchestra. So that's sort of a triple treat for fans as the orchestra really adds to the band's trippy metal sound with things like a bassoon flourish at the beginning of "Experiment;" it heightens the anticipation as the band arrives on stage to begin the pummeling song. The symphony is more in the background on "Holographic Thinking" as ferocious guitar riffing takes the lead but they really shine on "The Unknown Knows" as they conjure a soundtrack for an epic battle or the storming of the castle. The proggy and sci-fi side of Voivod is on full display on "Into My Hypercube" and several songs that follow: "Forgotten in Space," "Cosmic Drama" and "Pre-Ignition." Everyone comes back down to Earth for the all-is-not-well doom of "Nuclear War," a thrasher with symphonic swooshes countering the song's dark mood. The show closes with "Astronomy Domine," a cover of an early Pink Floyd track written by Syd Barrett.
Iron Kingdom - Shadows and Dust
How many bands do you know that write songs like "Defenders," a cut about the Battle of Gdansk, the World War II fight that took place in Poland? Not many, I'm sure, but it is this horrible time that Iron Kingdom sing about on their new album, inspired in part by the fact that lead guitarist and vocalist Chris Osterman has roots in Poland. The cut leads off
Shadows and Dust and foreshadows the blitzkrieg of molten rock that follows; Osterman and second lead guitarist Megan Merrick whip of a six string frenzy on "Eternal Emperor," a tornado of notes that they replicate throughout including on the unstoppable "Deadhouse Gates," the exceptionally speedy "Line of Fire" and the ready for hard rock radio "Shadow of Time." Of course the rhythm section plays a big part here too; drummer Max Friesen and bass man Leighton Holmes hold down the low end with a vengeance, really rocking out on cuts like "Dark Demand" and the powerful "Dreamless Sea." The album closes with the lengthy "Sacred Fire," a cut that begins with an ominous slowness but that of course quickly explodes with the Iron Kingdom sound, a sound that very nicely pays homage to classic metal and hard rock.
