Artist: Krokus
Label: Frontiers Records
Release: 2006
Rating: 3/5
“Karamba i karambita!” A full 30 years have passed since the debut of “the Swiss Saxon” “Krokus” (1976)! Not a single original founding member is left in the band today! The longest-serving member of today’s Krokus is singer Marc Storace, who joined the band in 1980 for the album “Metal Randez-vous”. Three years after their last studio release, “Rock The Block” (2003), the band is still firmly in the saddle, preaching the classic hard ‘n’ heavy gospel of rock, soaked through with the core standards of rock ‘n’ roll “drive”! 15 albums, with classics like “Tokyo Nights”, “Bedside Radio”, “Headhunter” and “Screaming In The Night”! Krokus won’t quit! “Hellraiser” is the answer! Krokus remain legends and the very definition of a one-of-a-kind cross between the raw, eruptive rock ‘n’ roll energy of AC/DC and the classic, all-embracing melodic metal stance of good old The Scorpions.
“Hellraiser” is an album in the truest sense of the word! Hell, resurrected! Across all 14 tracks. The band softens the album’s image a little with the songs So Long and Angel Of My Dreams, but otherwise the record is marked by flowing, expressively polished riffs that hit you right out of the gate, laced with artful twin harmonies in thirds. Add to that the tight, short, punchily pulsing guitar solos of Mandy Meier (who has also done stints with the legendary Asia and fellow Swiss Gotthard), while the main trademark is Marc’s voluptuous singing, whose timbre recalls Biff Byford (Saxon)! The rhythm section is venomous! It carries a whiff of Accept, or of the “eighties” Judas Priest school. The bass line has a solid footing that stomps and grinds the ground beneath it with real conviction! Of course, Stefan Schwarzmann (Running Wild, U.D.O., Helloween, Accept) breathed some of that Accept-style magic into the band with his drumming. Check out the anthem Fight On. It’s a classic that pumps you full of adrenaline in an instant. The chorus carries all the true “evergreen” rock ‘n’ roll hallmarks, and you simply can’t resist it. Magic! And it’s not the only tune like that!
A week after its release, the album shot straight to number two on the national Swiss chart of best-selling records. “Hellraiser” proves that these guys are loaded with essential rocker “groove”, and Krokus, even after a full 30 years of existence, still ride tall and sound fresh in 2006 with the new album, as if this were the debut of 20-year-old greenhorns and not the routine work of seasoned old foxes! “Hellraiser” is a must for all devotees of the cannon-like, “one-two-three-four” blazing classic “hard rock / heavy” school of the eighties! After the return of Vengeance with the “Back In The Ring” album, “Hellraiser” is another record of this year that ruthlessly conquers with honest, raw rock ‘n’ roll energy, like few new albums of this kind from the younger generation do! Hot, hot, hot!!!
Lineup
Marc Storace – vocals
Mandy Meier – guitar
Dominique Favez – guitar
Tony Castell – bass
Stefan Schwarzmann – drums
Track List
1. Hellraiser
2. Too Wired To Sleep
3. Hangman
4. Angel Of My Dreams
5. Fight On
6. So Long
7. Spirit Of The Night
8. Midnite Fantasy
9. No Risk No Gain
10. Turnin’ Inside Out
11. Take My Love
12. Justice
13. Love Will Survive
14. Rocks Off!
Running time: 51.01
