CROSSFIRE

Crossfire, Turkish semi prog thrash metal band, was formed by guitarist Kaya Sevinc in 1999. It took them 3 years to finally form their original line up and unique sound. Ever since they have been one of the most popular bands in the Turkish Heavy Metal scene. Crossfire honed their sound by combining power and thrash metal with the classical metal approach. Their "Decisions of Hate" (2002) demo was an underground favorite that lead them to hit the road for a massive tour including 2003 Metal Bash Festival in Hamburg, Germany... more

BRYAN BELLER (Steve Vai, Mike Keneally, Dethklok)

Bryan Beller has maintained a frenetic, multi-faceted career as a bassist, composer, writer and clinician for over fourteen years. On his own, Beller released his debut solo album, the jazz/rock-flavored VIEW, in late 2003. His second album "Thanks In Advance", a deeply personal narrative set to advanced jazz/rock compositional confidence, came out a few weeks ago. more

New Grass Revival / On The Boulevard

New Grass Revival are one of the pioneers of progressive bluegrass. Formed in 1971 by Sam Bush (mandolin/vocals), Curtis Burch (guitar), Ebo Walker (bass) and Courtney Johnson (banjo), they immediately got the attention from the industry both in a good and bad way. First of all, they were often told that their music was not bluegrass, and they knew it wasn’t “bluegrass” in its traditional sense, and it wasn’t what they were trying to achieve anyways. They were blending rock, soul and blues rhythms with the traditional bluegrass music. They were not wearing suites, but instead they had a more casual style along with long hair... more

Souljourners / Mind Control (2007)

Once in a while a band comes along…

…it sounds cliché, I know. But it happens so infrequently as a music fan that one must make note of it. As a long time fan of heavy music, I’ve had the once in a while thing happen to me here and there. It happened in 1986 with Queensryche’s Rage For Order, in 1988 with King’s X’s Out of the Silent Planet, in 1992 with Dream Theater’s Images & Words and, well, I’ll stop there. But now it is a new decade and a new century. Fitting for me, then that I am treated to a new aural delight to mark the change.

Generally speaking, Souljourners is a heavy progressive rock band. Four guys who hail from Temecula, California and who, as recently as 2006 were voted Best High School Band by the Southern California Music Awards. Give these guys a good listen and you’ll be amazed at that last sentence. That’s a small part of the draw for me as a listener. Mind Control is proof of what can be done, even from a young age, when one is committed to their instrument and their musical integrity.

This cd offers 12 tracks of heavy music goodness infused with 21st century hard music virtuosity. This band represents their progressive sound with a polished maturity that most young bands simply cannot achieve. All around the band bring well-trained and spot-on musicianship of the highest caliber. The guitar playing and the keyboards stand out on this metal feast. The arrangements of most of the songs are reminiscent of the 70’s Kansas school of songwriting. As Kansas did before them, Souljourners give the listener verses and refrains after the hook-laden fashion of well-written popular music but then interject frenetic jazz or classically influenced passages. The rhythm playing needs to be tight for their chosen genre and Souljourners delivers.

Hearing what Couts does on the guitar is nothing short of amazing: a solid shredder that sounds like he’s been honing his craft for longer than his age should allow. And although he can more than handle the frenzy that the metal would call for Couts plays with true feeling that connects to the listener as genuine and transcends simple metal or hard rock playing. Knowing that Couts solidly carries the role of front man by doing lead vocals and being the sole guitarist yet does both so well makes the listening all the more sweet. Although his young voice tips the hat to vocalists like James Hetfield (Metallica), Scott Stapp (Creed) and Chad Kroeger (Nickelback), it is obvious that he is growing into his own sound. There is plenty of room in the music for a wider vocal range. It will be very interesting to see how he has matured on their sophomore release.

Mind Control features 12 solid tracks. Predestination and Sapphire World are instrumentals which are well placed among the others. Each of the remaining 10 tracks which include vocals average at between 6-6½ minutes, with Medicated Memories clocking in at over 8½ minutes. While this may seem a bit excessive, keep in mind that Souljourners holds the listener’s attention by virtue of song arrangement, creative writing style and pure musicianship.

Souljourners’ secret weapon in their sound is the skill and talent of keyboardist Paul Ellingson. Among the band’s obvious assets-exceptional writing/arranging and the overall high musicianship level, the keys remain the true secret weapon simply because they add so much of a unique characteristic to the band’s sound and yet, are not overbearing at all. This is very difficult for a keyboardist to do. For many bands, the keys player either stands out too much and steals undue attention away from their bands collective sound or their parts are self-relegated to the realm of the unnecessary through too-minimal writing. Ellingson shines simply because his parts are well-written and well-placed. The keys do not come off as pretentious and they are an excellent complement and sometimes counterbalance to the guitars. But while he may come off as meek he certainly is not weak. The keys attack in Sapphire World, Tangent Universe and The Avenger!

Souljourners’ Mind Control comes highly recommended as one of the most ferocious and passionate hard rock releases in recent history. If you are a fan of heavy progressive music you are out of the loop if you are missing this cd.

NELSON LEE