BloodRock Records is a specialty imprint based in Genoa, Italy that gives its artists' albums the deluxe treatment-we're talking limited edition red vinyl and big booklets here. Next time they should spend a little bit of capital on some better production, because Graal's debut album Tales Untold seems ever so close to reaching the upper echelons of neo hard rock. But whereas the latest Black Bonzo album sounded like it was recorded in 1974, this album sounds very much like it was recorded in 2008 to sound like it was released in 1974. That's not a problem in itself, but when you are in the gatefold sleeve, colored vinyl business, it is probably a liability.
But to the material itself: if you love old school Deep Purple/Uriah Heep style hard rock with some gritty organ and great vocals, you will be very pleasantly surprised by this release. The guitars of Andrea Ciccomartino and Francesco Zagarese are perfect for the material, sounding somewhere between Ritchie Blackmore's chunky riffs and Alex Lifeson's love affair with the arpeggio in jams like the one at the end of "Two in a World". Andrea's muscular voice is possibly the band's greatest asset, although the lyrics betray a less than perfect understanding of English with lines like "Our throne will never be sit / our place will never see us." Unless you are a stickler for your lyrics its not a big issue-Deep Purples lyrics were never anything more than an excuse for Ian Gillan to sing anyway. But then at the end they had to go and foul up the great atmosphere with a damn pretty instrumental. This is a band to watch if you enjoy some prog in your hard rock.
Track Listing
1. Misty Morning
2. After
3. Two in a World
4. Silver Wings
5. Fairyland
6. Tales Untold
7. Last Day
8. Knife Edge
9. Broken Heroes
10. Walk of Clouds
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