Gus Monsanto, voice of Timmo Tolki's new band,
Revolution Renaissance and of the recent
Takara album is also the voice of new French band,
Lightseekers.
Hired gun Monsanto is a passable vocalist with a strong, distinctive voice. He doesn't nail every note, and his shrill rasp in the higher registers will not be to everyone's taste.
Putting that to one side,
Lightseekers are quite something. I haven't been this impressed with a new French band since Manigance.
Strong songwriting and stellar lead guitarwork mark the album out as something very special indeed.
Most of the songs are collaborations between axeman, Pat Clavier and keyboard player, David Shabtai, who also produced.
The band's music - melodic hard rock with confident, well defined classical undertones - spins on Clavier's guitarwork. His fills, frills, riffs and solos are genuinely thrilling. His intros and mid track solos are often pivotal in launching many of these tracks into orbit, redlining our pulse rate at the same time.
The album rises rapidly on a swell of great songs and performances through the first 5 tracks, then climaxes with '
American Day' - like
Whitesnake coming face to face with Kamelot.
Arguably, the balladic next track,
'Forgotten Dreams' ratchets up the intensity level a degree or two further. A memorably melodic track with epic ambitions, grounded totally in the classics, with pianos, massed choirs and soaring strings all being orchestrated to maximum emotional effect.
Among the first 5 tracks, the energetic, pumped up
'Last Mission' and the powerful, gravity defying
'Lightseekers' are absolutely outstanding.
Elsewhere,
'Every Day I Die' dons a much heavier metal mantle and Shabtai's dominant keyboards add an interesting seventies hard rock vibe to
'Metal & Flesh'.
Truth be told though, you can dip into this album anywhere and come up with quality. Shabtai's production is inventive and imaginative, holding your interest, giving the band's music character and identity.
And yes, the bonus track for Japan is a cover of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah', and yes, they got there long before the X Factor did.
A band to watch, no question.
Written by
Brian Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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