_{“The Great Divide” is the excellent fourth album from Allen / Lande and it was released through Frontiers Records on 17th October. The album marks a new departure for the band, but at its heart remains the collaboration between vocalists Russell Allen (Symphony X) and Jorn Lande (Masterplan). The previous three albums released between 2005 and 2010 featured the song-writing and musical talents of Swedish guitar player Magnus Karlsson. On “The Great Divide” the song-writing duties pass to Timo Tolkki, along with the recording of the guitars, bass and keyboards and the production of the album.}

_{There are some albums that grab your attention from the first play of the opening track and for me “The Great Divide” was one of those albums. Allen and Lande are outstanding vocalists and Tolkki provides some superb guitar input. Drums are provided by Jami Huovinen.}

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_{The first track I chose to play on the Friday NI Rocks Show on Rock Radio NI was “In The Hands of Time”, but I can guarantee that more will follow. Other favourites include “Down From The Mountain”, “Solid Ground”, “Lady of Winter” and “The Great Divide” but there really aren’t any weak tracks on the album.}

_{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. To be honest I’m not really a big fan of “Reviews” expressing positives or negatives which essentially just represent one person’s opinion. With “NI Rocks Recommends”, I'll not be giving marks or ratings or dissecting every aspect of the album; just telling you that something about the artist and the album and that I like it!}

_{My musical tastes covers most things from heavy melodic rock (anything too melodic bores me!) to the lower echelons of the metal genre (where it’s not ALL growling and screaming!). 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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