Reviews: Raider, Venus 5, Gräce, Garuda (Reviews By Matt Bladen)

Naming their album after the Bon Jovi hit (I'd assume) is a bold move but Raider are the sort of band many may wish Bon Jovi were, that youthful innocence of the pre-Slippery When Wet era, with obviously a lot of links to bands such as Journey, Def Leppard, Danger Danger, White Lion and Winger as well as the Scandi revival scene that is so powerful at the moment. Raider are a very melodic rock n roll band with twitching synths lines from Aled Evans, the incendiary solos of Alun Tomos, as band founders Jon Hood (bass) and Marc Campbell (rhythm guitar) bring the choppy riffs, topped off with some brilliantly anthemic vocals from Mike Platt (a former The Voice contestant). He's got that sexy, soulful delivery of some of the genres greats, Feel The Night, We Had Tonight and Memories all showing the excellence of Platt's vocals, the latter making me think of Steve Perry from Journey. 

The rhythms on the record shift from slower ballads such as Feel The Night and Memories, mid paced sing alongs like Dusk Til Dawn to the driving rockers such as High Speed Woman (more cowbell) and Sidewinder, the foundation of this band as strong as concrete. The title track itself is a song that sounds very familiar for a number of reasons I'm still trying to out my finger on. The lead guitar and keys also play a huge part, with both sparkling on Changes and Come And Get It. Often in these type of bands it's the singer that overshadows the rest of the band, but Raider have a dynamic where the power of the vocals is matched by the playing. A great summer record from Raider, that are taking the fight to the Scandi melodic rockers as part of the UK's NWOCR scene. 8/10

Venus 5 - Venus 5 (Frontiers Music Srl)

A metal version of Spice Girls, Girls Aloud, The Saturdays maybe countless other 'Girl Bands?' Stranger things have happened. This was the idea from the Frontiers chairman who brought together five talented vocalists to be the focal point of Venus 5, each woman embodying a character that has been created for them (are they scary, sporty, posh? Who knows!) All the women come from different countries and genres but they are all excellent singers, with definition in their voices. Venus 5 was produced by Frontiers' in house knob twiddler Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere etc) with writers Jake E (Cyrha), Stefan Helleblad (Within Temptation) and Per Aldeheim (Def Leppard, H.E.A.T, Stanfour, etc.) all contributing their talents, Helleblad and Lonobile also play guitar on the record. 

Much of the album sounds like Within Temptation, Bride With Blackened Eyes, or Amaranthe, Monster Under Your Bed, the European symphonic metal sound looming large, while the vocals are blended brilliantly due to Jake E co-producing the vocals. However after about four or five songs, things start to feel a little sterile and often wanders into being one of those middling Eurovision tracks that are decent when you hear them but don't stay with you. I mention the word slick a lot when I review Frontiers albums but Venus 5 feels a little too slick, a little too manufactured. Well written and performed but I can't find the soul of it. 6/10

Gräce - Hope (Frontiers Music Srl)

Isra Ramos is a very experienced Spanish Singer/Composer/Producer and Gräce is his new project through Frontiers Music. Moving away from the more traditional realms of metal Hope is very heavily influenced by electronic music, fusing it with groovy early 2000's metal and big AOR choruses. If you can think of a band that equally sound like Muse, Linkin Park And H.I.M then you'll get what Ramos is trying to with Gräce; Atreyu and The Sinner both feel like they should be from Minutes To Midnight while The Nowhere Man and Blind Love from Love Metal. Ramos is joined by young gun guitarists Alberto Román and Jordi Costa, bassist Jared Camps, and drummer Joel Marco who inject talent and youthful exuberance to this record. 

The idea of the band is to take risks and as Ramos made his name with Spanish speaking bands I suppose the first is writing and singing English, but there's a lot of lyrical whimsy and of course melodic rock staples of love and romance (Fiona is just Yacht Rock pure and simple). Musically too the record takes some risks, Snow White (At The End Of The World) brings lots of horns and quirkiness, that reminds me a lot of Brendan Urie/Panic At The Disco, while Evergarden is the heaviest cut, Ronnie Romero adding his muscular vocals. The electronic/metal fusion has been done a few times, but Ramos and Gräce deliver it very well. Certainly a record unique amongst the realms of melodic rock and AOR bands on Frontiers, so if you jam to Muse, Jayce Lewis or even Gary Numan, Gräce may be your new Hope. 7/10 

Garuda - Miracle Machine (Self Released)

South Wales' Garuda unleash their debut EP upon the world after numerous singles. Inspired by events such as Roadside Picnic, ST.A.L.K.E.R., and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, it's a complex, heavy rocking record, with lots of modern rock and metal influences. Goodnight starts off the EP well with some speedy riffs and groove, the groove factor is very potent on King Of Nowhere too, both of these two opening numbers playing with dynamics, moving from heavy riffing to slower more atmospheric passages, both Smith and Hill locking in well as a guitar duo, Smith's vocals too are just the right side of angsty too, the cleans are impassioned as Goodnight has some screaming too. 

Days takes things down a notch with some great modern rock balladry, the beauty of this track lies in its simplicity giving me the vibe of Alter Bridge. Locking everything down O'Neil and Powell who drive the more progressive riffing of What Is Real as the more metalcore style come back on Saving Grace. At just a smidge under 30 minutes Miracle Machine does exactly what you want for a debut EP, make you want to see the band live, it's very modern heavy rock/metalcore with bags of experience. 7/10