Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Pell, Axel Rudi
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2014
Running time: 57:16
Rating: 4/5
A few more words about the new, already sixteenth studio album from »the German Richie Blackomore,« or, to put it bluntly, the master of six-string theory, Axel Rudi Pell. When the man drops a record, you know exactly what to expect. You know it’s the German answer to the great works of the seventies, when the most important records of rock pioneering were made. For Axel, those are definitely the first three Rainbow albums!
Axel Rudi Pell is an extremely seasoned guitarist, composer, arranger and producer. He got his chops in the eighties in the German band Steeler, then went off on his own musical path. »Into The Storm« is an album that already got its first promo tour of the old continent in the middle of this February. The second leg follows this September, and over the summer we’ll be able to catch Axel Rudi Pell at a festival or two – the best chance of that is at this year’s Bang Your Head!! festival in Balingen, Germany.
Well, dear rockers! "The great, inconsolable Rainbow devotee" has made one change this time around. And you can hear it across the whole album, even though it doesn’t budge the style one bit. Axel replaced longtime lineup member Mike Terrana and recruited a drumming legend into his ranks! The illustrious Bobby Rondinelli. Rondinelli is the guy who once played with Rainbow, as well as for giants Blue Öyster Cult and Black Sabbath. Rondinelli played near Slovenia back in 2005 with The Lizards. They did a show in Treviso, Italy (as the opening act for Glen Hughes).
Still, »Into the Storm« brings one more difference compared to the earlier records. Besides Rondinelli, it brings a different atmosphere. It looks at the world in a darker way than its predecessors. It has a slightly modernized production, a beefier guitar sound, and a rhythm section that’s noticeably more contrasted and emphasized. Bobby Rondinelli is a distinctly physical drummer. His swing is instantly recognizable. It has character. Just like his fills – the rolls. Not every drummer pulls that off. Terrana was like that too, and still is. Terrana also carried his own personal drumming dossier, which enriches most of Axel Rudi Pell’s studio output. But Rondinelli drums noticeably differently in a technical sense. And that’s a good thing. Because it gives Pell’s well-known compositional mold a much-needed boost, a refresh, a dynamic upgrade! Right from the first track, Rondinelli lays down some typical cannon-shot fills, and it’s not hard to draw parallels to what he brought to the bands mentioned two paragraphs back. The sound is extremely sharp and avalanche-like this time. If you’re not prepared, you might start bleeding from the ears in an instant! The stark contrast between the guitar phrases and the rhythm section is built up further by the keyboards’ pronounced curtains of atmosphere!
Johnny Gioeli remains the standard. Magnificent in his vocal delivery. Just like way back when he first joined Pell’s crew for the album »Oceans Of Time« (1996)! A singer with a unique vocal color, fully active again in his home band Hardline, he fascinates with his trademark juiciness. It remains a superb blend of highly dominant melodic purity and a raspy, guttural edge. Tower Of Lies is the typical pompous opening stomper, cut according to the orthodox Axel Rudi Pell recipe. With it, the album immediately starts to fit right into the frame of expectations. Burning Chains sits just a hair’s breadth behind it. Once again Pell is strongest when writing mid-tempo hard rock suites. You could call them mini epic suites, since every track is packed with transitional ornaments, cleverly seasoned with the brilliance of the unique touch of Pell’s nimble hands, which serve up some breathtaking solo escapades! With the exception of Hey Hey My My, with its refrain »rock ‘n’ roll can never die,« which, as a cover of the Neil Young original, somehow doesn’t quite "hang together" with the rest of the material, "Into The Storm" is otherwise a typical Pell product. The album’s peak is of course the closing epic suite Into The Storm, planted at the tail end of the record. The track, which runs over ten minutes, is also seasoned with »arabesques,« which, once again, is nothing new for Pell.
Axel Rudi Pell fans will add this album to their collection too. Everyone else who doesn’t know the guy will be thrilled with it, right up until they realize the previous fifteen sound pretty much the same. And the third group of us will conclude yet again: »Good, as expected, and despite the title, no earthquakes!«
Line-up
Johnny Gioeli – vocals
Axel Rudi Pell – guitar
Ferdy Doernberg – keyboards
Volker Krawczak – bass
Bobby Rondinelli – drums
Production
Axel Rudi Pell
Tracklist
1. The Inquisitorial Procedure (1:48)
2. Tower of Lies (4:26)
3. Long Way To Go (5:32)
4. Burning Chains (5:23)
5. When Truth Hurts ( 6:46)
6. Changing Times ( 6:05)
7. Touching Heaven (7:02)
8. High Above (4:49)
9. Hey Hey My My (5:01)
10. Into the Storm (10:35)
