_{I have to admit I was intrigued when I read the press statement about the album “Swing of Death” - Jorn Lande & Trond Holter present Dracula!  A Rock Opera concept album about everyone’s favourite vampire (well mine would actually be Selene from “Underworld”, but that’s another story!) could either be an epic rock album or a pretentious, inflated disaster. Thankfully, it was the former and “Swing of Death” which is released through Frontiers Records on 23rd January is well worth checking out. The opening track “Hands of Your God” was the first track on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 2nd January.}

_{Jorn Lande is a Norwegian singer probably best known as the former vocalist in German band Masterplan and for numerous solo releases as Jorn. He is also one part of the Allen / Lande project which has now released four albums. The latest of these was “The Great Divide” released by Frontiers in October 2014. (http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/back-stage/music-reviews/1691-ni-rocks-recommends-qthe-great-divideq-by-allen--lande.html) .}

_{Trond Holter is a Norwegian guitarist who has worked with Lande in the past . Together they wrote all the tracks and produced the album.}

_{The album tells the story of Dracula as it is documented in the original Bram Stoker version, with Lande taking on the role of Dracula. An excellent Norwegian singer called Lena Floitmoen Borresen shares lead vocals on several tracks, taking on the role of Mina / Lucy from the book. Drums are provided by Per Morten Bergseth, with Bernt Jansen playing bass.}

_{There are 10 tracks on the album. Favourites include “Hands of Your God”, “Walking on Water”, “Masquerade Ball”, “Save Me” and “Into The Dark”.}

_{There are apparently plans to perform the rock opera in Norwegian theatres during 2015.}

_{Check out Jorn Lande’s website - http://jornlande.com/}

_{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 traditional “Reviews” which essentially just represent one person’s opinion. With “NI Rocks Recommends”, 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.}

_{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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