_{“The Grand Design” is the new album from Khymera and it was released through Frontiers Records on 4th December. It’s one of those albums that sits in that melodic rock / AOR grey area for me personally; with some of the tracks being a little too melodic for me. However, there are others that certainly tick the box. Fans of the genre will definitely love the album as vocally and musically it delivers by the bucket-load!}

_{Khymera started off as a project between Italian producer/musician Daniele Liverni and Kansas singer Steve Walsh who provided lead vocals on all but two of the tracks on the self-titled debut album in 2003. Lead vocalist on the other two tracks was Dennis Ward, the bass guitarist from Pink Cream 69 and Unisonic. Ward then took over the lead vocalist role for the subsequent albums “A New Promise” (2005) and “The Greatest Wonder” (2008) and retains that role for “The Grand Design”.}

_{The fourth album from Khymera is the first not to include Liverni, with Ward providing vocals and bass guitar, Felix Bohnke playing drums, Michael Klein playing guitar, Jim Rykbost playing piano and Eric Ragno playing keyboards. There are also backing vocals by Pete Newdeck from Eden’s Curse, Tainted Nation and Blood Red Saints (who also released an album via Frontiers on 4th Dec - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/back-stage/music-reviews/2374-ni-rocks-recommends-qspeedwayq-by-blood-red-saints.html ). Ward and Klein wrote all the tracks on “The Grand Design”, with some input from Paul Logue of Eden’s Curse.}

_{I played “A Night To Remember” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 20th November, though my favourite track from the album at the moment is probably “Streetlights”. Other favourites from the 12 tracks on the album would include “Never Give Up On You”, “Tell Me Something” and “Land of Golden Dreams”.}

_{About “NI Rocks Recommends”}

_{The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation, not a traditional “review”!}

_{My musical tastes cover most things rock; from the not too melodic to the not too heavy. The albums that I’ll be recommending are merely those that I would buy myself and which you’ll be hearing played on my shows on Rock Radio NI.}

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