Guitarist/composer Avi Rosenfeld is at it again, with his eighth release in his Very Heepy Very Purple series and 39th (!) album overall, once again pulling together a grab-bag of musicians & vocalists to help him page homage to his heroes Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Rainbow, Iron Maiden, Dio, and the Scorpions. Mostly guitar oriented but with ample Hammond organ & synth flourishes, the meat of the album is made up on some crunchy neo-classical riffing and solos, Rosenfeld falling somewhere between Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth, and Yngwie Malmsteen. In fact, in contrast to previous albums which definitely had that Heep/Purple influence, I hear more of Yngwie's Rising Force, and specifically those mid '80s albums like Marching Out and Trilogy, than anything else here. Most of the tracks have that melodic yet medieval metal feel that Malmsteen has been so well known for, and with the Swede's penchant for changing vocalists often, Rosenfeld's choice to have a different singer on every track instantly draws those comparisons. "Jon Snow" is the lone exception, a cool instrumental obviously based on the 'Game of Thrones' character, but other tunes such as "Serenade to the Heroes", "Right to Live", and "Seven Riders" hit hard with a mix of classic hard rock and progressive & power metal styles.
Musically, the album is quite good, though some of the songs are brought down a peg by overly histrionic vocals, which are often mixed kind of high and can overpower in spots. It might have been a better option to pick a few vocalists who have a more subtler approach for a few of these tracks, or give one a shot at the whole album, but overall most do a fine job and mesh well with Rosenfeld's style of classic hard rock and metal. If you've been following Avi's previous homages to Uriah Heep & Deep Purple, you'll certainly want to check this one out as well.
Track Listing
1.
Serenade To The Heroes 03:54
2.
Marco Polo 05:21
3.
Save Them All 04:04
4.
Jon Snow 05:04
5.
Ice Storm 05:33
6.
Right To Live 04:39
7.
Seven Riders 05:48
8.
Silent Killers 03:52
9.
Más Rápido Que La Luz 04:52
10.
Never Die 05:24
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