Artist: Sora, Erol
Label: MTM Records
Release: 2006
Rating: 3.5/5
The guy who played Postojna a few years back as part of singer John Lawton’s (ex – Uriah Heep, ex-Lucifer’s Friend) touring crew, and who has already recorded four albums with the venerable Mr. Lawton, is a renowned session guitarist from Vancouver (Canada). While living in L.A., he worked in the studio with bands like Survivor and Quiet Riot.
So when the John Lawton Band fell apart, Erol found the time to put out his own material. He didn’t have to look far for musicians, either. The locals jumped in to help, and what a bunch of players they are: drummer Lance Chalmers (ex-Trooper), bassist Kevin Dahl, keyboardist Gregory Macdonald (Big John Bates, ex-Peppersands) and Louise Porter (The Rumours). Sora boldly took on the vocals too! “Demented Honour” is a fresh-sounding record! It’s Erol Sora through and through! Erol wrote all the material, and on guitar we’re dealing with a player who grew up under the heavy influence of blues and rhythm n’ blues, which shows in the songs themselves. Make no mistake, though, this is hard rock first and foremost. The riffs are well-crafted, melodic and stick the moment you hear them. The transitions are seasoned with refined, filigree-fine embellishments, and in the solos you can feel that yearning “bluesy feel”. The production is lively, with a little of the guitar’s live rawness left intact. The perfect counterweight is a bombastic, classic, “rock”-tight attacking rhythm section! Hammond organ is tastefully added to the songs. It sits in the tracks almost unnoticed, but just enough to wrap them in a fine, barely-there veil, a sort of costume that, alongside the passionate riffing and soloing, lifts the drama and the atmosphere of the songs even higher.
Erol’s excellent vocals are a huge surprise. I say excellent for someone who’s first and foremost a guitarist. It reminds me of Dave Meniketti (Y&T). Erol hits that level for real. Slight shades of Gary Moore and old “eighties” Ozzy aren’t hard to pick out in Erol’s voice. Stylistically the music touches on, once again, the interesting Y & T, then classic Whitesnake, Bad Company for the “bluesy feel”, even Thin Lizzy for the bursts of twin harmonies, and you can also look to good old “non – blues” Gary Moore from the turn of the eighties into the nineties. In short! It’s a classic approach to hard rock, the prototype of which is Deep Purple, but “frizzed up” for the modern day, along the lines of the bands mentioned above, who also count Purple as their forefathers! The album combines practically everything. The opening stretch is poisonously “spiked” in true rocker fashion, but there are also moments that are much softer and more subtle (acoustic elements come in), and that nudges the album toward AOR and even pop rock.
Let me sum up! This is an energy-charged, classically seasoned “hard rock” album, with exceptional freshness and vividness. In other words, high dynamics! The songs are decorated with expressive motifs and punchy choruses that get under your skin from the first listen. “Demented Honour” is an easy-listening album, spiced with juicy lead guitar work, pulsing riffing and the determination of an attacking rhythm section. An album that’s bursting with energy and expressiveness, without a pinch of “sugar” in it. An album you pop into the car “player”, crank the “volume” to the max and drive straight to the seaside!
Lineup
Erol Sora – vocals, guitar
Gregory Macdonald – organ
Louise Porter – keyboards
Kevin Dahl – bass guitar
Lance Chalmers – drums
Production
Erol Sora
Tracklist
1. Highway To Nowhere
2. Guilty
3. Along The Way
4. Barstool Corner
5. NYC
6. One Way Ticket
7. Piece Of Paper
8. Broken Dreams
9. If You Ever Need Love
10. Rain
Running time: 46.30
