26/01/04

THUNDERSTONE / THE BURNING

With Stratovarious re inventing themselves and employing a Female vocalist the Euro Metal crown could be up for grabs and Thunderstone have risen to the challenge ion the shape of their 2nd CD The Burning.

Like fellow countryman Stratovarius, Children Of Bodom and Sonata Arctica their brand of music is full of Power with a strong Melodic content and faultless musicianship. Their vocalist (Pasi Rantanen) sounds at times like a cross between Michael Vascera and David Coverdale (when he used to scream) the interplay between guitarist Nino Lauenne and keyboardist Carl Tornak is so awe inspiring that at times it’s hard to know where one begins and the other ends, like Stratovarius at their best. It’s impossible to listen to tracks like "Break The Emotion", "Side By Side" and & "Evil Within’" and not get drawn into the energy of the songs.

I cannot recommend this CD too highly this will make my best of 2004 and it’s only January. Initial copies come with 6, yes 6 bonus tracks, their version of "Welcome Home Sanitarian" is so different it gives the song a whole new dimension and they do a very good one of "Diamond & Rust" as covered by Judas Priest and a version of the Manowar song "Heart Of Steel". The other 3 songs are demo versions of songs from the first self titled CD.

TOTAL PLAYING TIME = 74 mins + 16 TRACKS