Rage of Angels
Dreamworld
Escape Music
2013
So as not to confuse them with the 80s Christian hard rock act with the same name, this one is more of a project of the original Ten keyboardist Ged Rylands. It all started out in his ten-year break when he, among other things, kept on writing and recording music.
Throughout the music process Ged got together with the singer David Reed Watson who also suggested getting a few known voices & musicians on the album. Hence, we have on the opener, “Dreamworld”, Matti Alfonzetti (Impera, Red White and Blues, Jagged Edge) on vocals and Neil Fraser (Ten) on lead guitar. A rather good song in the vein of Ten, but with a trite basic guitar/synth riff.
“See You Walking By” has a more melodic rock flavor with a bit modern touches. Quite a tune actually! Harry Hess (Harem Scarem) is singing here and Neil is also playing the lead guitar.
On “Through It All” we have Robert Hart (Bad Company) behind the mic and Neil on the lead guitar as well. The song is OK but nothing fancy.
Danny Vaughn (Tyketto) handles the vocals duties on “Over and Over” and Neil the lead guitar. A fine melodic rocker actually.
“Prelude for the Gods” as the name proclaims it is a small instrumental track that takes us into…
“Falling”, where Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear) sings and Neil is also taking care of the lead guitar. This one has a more hard rockin’ edge without losing its melodic touch. Rather passable.
“The Beating of Your Heart” is the ballad of the album. We finally get to listen to David Reed Watson as well as Tommy Denander on lead guitar. A wonderfully emotive ballad with great performances on the whole.
“Spinnin Wheel” marks the second tune where Danny Vaughn (Tyketto) is singing and of course Neil is on the lead guitar for once more. This one is a nice rocker, with some synth prog passages, but it should have been somewhat shorter.
“Requiem for the Forgotten Soldier” is an instrumental song where some guitar battles are going on; by Ralph Santolla (Deicide, Obituary, Iced Earth), Martin Kronlud (Lover Under Cover, Reece Kronlud), Vinny Burns (Ten, Asia, Ultravox) & Xander Demos. Not bad, nor great.
Robert Hart (Bad Company) has taken on the lead vocals on the last song of the album, “We Live, We Breathe, We Die”, and Vinny Burns (Ten, Asia, Ultravox) is on the lead guitar. A very good moody slow-tempo rocker with fine lyrics. This could have easily been a Ten track.
The production is excellent and rockin’ overall. The mixing was done by Martin Kronlund. Basically, this is more than a decent melodic hard rock album with its up and downs but without losing neither its identity nor its quality. It surely follows the Ten music path but let’s not forget that Ten along with Ged and Vinny released their best albums of their career. There’s a follow up coming in 2014 so I’ll just hope it is slightly better than this one at least…
Throughout the music process Ged got together with the singer David Reed Watson who also suggested getting a few known voices & musicians on the album. Hence, we have on the opener, “Dreamworld”, Matti Alfonzetti (Impera, Red White and Blues, Jagged Edge) on vocals and Neil Fraser (Ten) on lead guitar. A rather good song in the vein of Ten, but with a trite basic guitar/synth riff.
“See You Walking By” has a more melodic rock flavor with a bit modern touches. Quite a tune actually! Harry Hess (Harem Scarem) is singing here and Neil is also playing the lead guitar.
On “Through It All” we have Robert Hart (Bad Company) behind the mic and Neil on the lead guitar as well. The song is OK but nothing fancy.
Danny Vaughn (Tyketto) handles the vocals duties on “Over and Over” and Neil the lead guitar. A fine melodic rocker actually.
“Prelude for the Gods” as the name proclaims it is a small instrumental track that takes us into…
“Falling”, where Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear) sings and Neil is also taking care of the lead guitar. This one has a more hard rockin’ edge without losing its melodic touch. Rather passable.
“The Beating of Your Heart” is the ballad of the album. We finally get to listen to David Reed Watson as well as Tommy Denander on lead guitar. A wonderfully emotive ballad with great performances on the whole.
“Spinnin Wheel” marks the second tune where Danny Vaughn (Tyketto) is singing and of course Neil is on the lead guitar for once more. This one is a nice rocker, with some synth prog passages, but it should have been somewhat shorter.
“Requiem for the Forgotten Soldier” is an instrumental song where some guitar battles are going on; by Ralph Santolla (Deicide, Obituary, Iced Earth), Martin Kronlud (Lover Under Cover, Reece Kronlud), Vinny Burns (Ten, Asia, Ultravox) & Xander Demos. Not bad, nor great.
Robert Hart (Bad Company) has taken on the lead vocals on the last song of the album, “We Live, We Breathe, We Die”, and Vinny Burns (Ten, Asia, Ultravox) is on the lead guitar. A very good moody slow-tempo rocker with fine lyrics. This could have easily been a Ten track.
The production is excellent and rockin’ overall. The mixing was done by Martin Kronlund. Basically, this is more than a decent melodic hard rock album with its up and downs but without losing neither its identity nor its quality. It surely follows the Ten music path but let’s not forget that Ten along with Ged and Vinny released their best albums of their career. There’s a follow up coming in 2014 so I’ll just hope it is slightly better than this one at least…