Here's a cool little oddity from the pairing of High Spirits/Dawnbringer mastermind Chris 'The Professor' Black with Finnish musicians Jussi Lehtisalo and Tomi Leppänen, both of whom have worked in Circle, Pharaoh Overlord, and various other projects. Their debut for high Roller Records is titled Paranoia, with 10 songs that vary in style from classic '70s hard rock, to '80s synth pop, swirling psychedelic space rock, and most importantly, traditional heavy heavy. The vocals & keyboards remind a lot of Hawkwind, but some of the riffs and song structures have that intelligent, yet tongue in cheek quality that brings to mind vintage Blue Oyster Cult. "Where is Home" sports some super crunchy riffs along with oddball synth blips & bleeps, while "Six Silver Suns" and "Gone Again" are just good old fashioned catchy hard rock songs. It's not hard to get swept away by the infectious grooves and tasty riffing of "Never Ending No", and tunes like "The Mover", "Devil and Doctor", and "Too Young to Die" bridge that gap between Hawkwind's early '80s metallic era with BOC's psychedelic metal quite nicely.
I have to say, Paranoia has been a pleasant surprise, an album full of classic sounds, catchy hooks, and precise instrumentation. Well done gentleman, and I look forward to more!
Track Listing
01. DevilAndDoctor
02. GoneAgain
03. StopFoolingAround
04. TooYoungToDie
05. SixSilverSuns
06. IWasTheSonOfGod
07. SomethingNasty
08. WhereIsHome
09. NeverEndingNo
10. TheMover
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