“Perfect Storm” is the debut album from Swedish melodic hard band Volster and it was released on 20th April by Rock of Angels Records (ROAR). The band take their influences mainly from the rock bands of the late 70’s and early 80’s and two of the band members had been in the band Masquerade together in the late 80’s and early 90’s. The title track “Perfect Storm” was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 13th April.
“Of Jupiter And Moons” is the fourth studio album from Italian melodic / symphonic / power metal band Temperance and it was released on 20th April by Scarlet Records. The band has a distinctive sound resulting from the fact that it features three vocalists in the line-up. However, on this latest album there is a significant change with the arrival of two new vocalists. The album’s title track was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 13th April.
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "Of Jupiter And Moons" by TEMPERANCE
Estate are a Russian power-metal band who released their second album, “Mirrorland”, through Mighty Music on 20th April. The Danish label also worked with the band on their debut album in 2014, but there have been a few changes in the band since then and the new album marks a bit of a change in direction. I included the lead-off single “Winter Kingdom” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 16th February and then on the NI Rocks A-Z Show on 24th April. The track “Stolen Heart” is featured on the NI Rocks A-Z Show on 1st May.
I’ve probably said this before, but Stryper were one of those bands that I never got into during the 80’s or early 90’s. Whether that was because I couldn’t see past the “Christian Rock” thing, I can’t say for sure, but probably. I certainly don’t remember going out of my way to check out their albums. However, over the past few years I’ve developed a growing appreciation not only of the recent Stryper albums, but Michael Sweet’s solo work and his collaborations with George Lynch. The latest Stryper album, “God Damn Evil”, was released on 20th April by Frontiers Music. I’ve featured the singles “Take It To The Cross”, “Sorry” and “Lost” on the Friday NI Rocks on 23rd February, 16th March and 13th April respectively.