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Danny Vaughan wrangles Tyketto back on the horse New York rock veterans returning for their sixth album Closer To The Sun. Joined by Harry Scott Elliott on guitar, Ged Rylands on keyboards, Chris Childs of Thunder on bass and Johnny Dee of Doro on drums, this is a record that bursts with optimism and those massive arena anthems.

However Tyketto are not a nostalgia act, they’re a band who have their eyes set on who they are today and they also look to the future by revisiting their roots with all the experience of a band who will be celebrating 40th anniversary next year. Recorded across multiple studios, including Rockfield Studios, Closer To The Sun opens with the anthemic Higher Than High, a big rocker where Danny’s brilliant vocals sing those powerful choruses.

Vaughan is for my money, one of the best singers in the melodic rock sphere, though sadly I feel he, and Tyketto, are underrated, but any notion of that is blown away with Closer To The Sun, from the Beatles-meets-country of Starts With A Feeling, then there’s some big balladry on the title track and The Picture.

Closer To The Sun also has some shimmering organ/synth rocking of We Rise, rollicking blues on Donnowhuddidis, Deep Purple grooves on Hit Me Where It Hurts and an homage classic motorbikes on Harleys & Indians (Riders In The Sky), which has Vaughn honkin’ on bobo while Far And Away brings some Celtic feeling with violin.

With their sixth album Tyketto prove that anyone who who have overlooked them until now should be ashamed of themselves as Tyketto should be standing shoulder to shoulder with Aerosmith and Whitesnake in the classic rock league table. Come and get Closer To The Sun with Tyketto, I promise you won’t get burned. 9/10

Chez Kane – Reckless (Frontiers Music Srl)

Much like Bonnie Tyler is the pride of Skewen, Chez Kane is rapidly becoming the biggest thing from Glynneath since Max Boyce (though Max never had an album cover like this one!). Reckless see her following up her retro rocking previous two albums that goes deeper into the 80’s rock influences, and I’m mean really deep.

A record that brings plenty of choppy Lukather riffs, explosive EVH solos, Jim Steinman bombast, 808 drum loops and of course the gritty, powerhouse vocals of Chez. Once again, written and produced by Danny Rexon of Crazy Lixx, Chez herself collaborated on the writing this time to make the third album her biggest and in her own words “sexy as hell.”

That latter point is hard to argue with as song titles range from Night Of Passion, Bad Girl, Strip Me Down and *coughs* Tongue Of Love *coughs*, reclaiming the sexually explicit lyrical content of those 80’s bands such as Ratt, Poison and more, but while they were often misogynistic in tone, here it’s all about empowerment.

Reckless is an album that shamelessly takes influence from the anthemic music of the 80’s, but the modern production and the attitude filled vocals of Kane make for a record of songs that are arena ready. 8/10

Ignescent – Eternal (Frontiers Music Srl)

Ignescent are a modern heavy rock band from Chicago who are influenced by the likes of Flyleaf, Evanescence, and Skillet, cranking out radio and arena friendly heavy rock that has a very contemporary sound to it.

The anthemic, emotive vocals of Jennifer Benson are joined by a record of massive riffs, industrial atmospherics and emotive lyrics that hallmarks of the bands I mention and will get them plenty of airplay on US rock radio, previous singles having hit the top part of the Billboard chart.

Eternal is their newest album to hit Frontiers Music Srl and it highlights real life struggles such as anxiety and depression and puts them through a lens of hope, that has given them a faithful fanbase who can find catharsis in their music, as the mechanised heaviness is carved through with Jennifer’s passionate delivery.

Eternal features songs that have co-writes from Sameer Bhattacharya of Flyleaf on Joker and Fearless and Clint Lowery for Sevendust on Chariot Of Fire, and musically they are a fusion of these bands, even adding some rap.

How much you enjoy this album relies on how much you like the bands I have mentioned. It’s a slick modern metallic rock record, that does have a Christian theme to it so if that’s your thing then you’ll want to pick up Eternal. 6/10

Venus 5 – March Of Venus 5 (Frontiers Music Srl)

Frontiers music has always been a label that love a project. Putting together a group of vocalists and giving them songs that suits their vocals individually and together. Venus 5 is the newest one on Frontiers and it’s basically the idea of a pop girl group of talented singers from the metal spectrum.

The singers are Karmen Klinc, Jelena Milovanovic, Tezzi Persson (Hell In The Club), Herma (Sick N’ Beautiful), and Erina Seitllari, whether they go by names like Ginger, Sporty, Scary etc is unknown but it’s exactly the same idea as those manufactured groups but the music is heavier (marginally).

March Of The Venus 5 is their second album again produced by Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere), with a Italian house band it also features some songwring from Chyra’s Jake E and runs across the spectrum of melodic rock sphere from ballads to arena rockers with a slightly heavy edge.

The vocalists all work really well together across the album and the music is slick pop metal so if that’s your thing then March Of Venus 5 should be on your radar. 6/10

We follow him into adulthood as he climbs through the criminal underworld, commits an impulsive murder during a robbery, and begins an unraveling that ultimately leads him back to prison, closing the tale in a tense, cyclical ending.Social media links
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We follow him into adulthood as he climbs through the criminal underworld, commits an impulsive murder during a robbery, and begins an unraveling that ultimately leads him back to prison, closing the tale in a tense, cyclical ending.Social media links
Instagram
Youtube