First Signal
is a exciting new studio project featuring a collaboration between two of the
scenes best known faces: Canadian singer Harry Hess (ex-Harem Scarem) and German
producer/bass player Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Khymera, Place Vendome etc.),
and the blueprint for the album is the classic sound of Harry Hess' old band
Harem Scarem, brought up to date with a few new twists and turns.
Harem Scarem went thru many phases throughout their twelve studio albums, but
the main focus on this,
First Signal's
self-titled debut album lies on the more riff orientated sound and the songs
have a lot of similarities with the material on the "Weight of the World" album,
without ever being a plagiarism of old times.
To help recreate the glorious sound they've been working with a great collection
of song writers, which includes Tom and James Martin
(Khymera, Sunstorm, House of Lords), Erik Martensson (W.E.T., Eclipse), Ronny
Milianowicz (Saint Deamon), Robert Sall (W.E.T., Work of Art) and Mark Baker
(Signal, House of Lords), and the result is magical and timeless.
Harry Hess
isn't the only former Harem Scarem member appearing on the album; Darren Smith
contributes with some background vocals. Harry Hess' vocal performance is close
to perfection for this kind of music, and the production by Dennis Ward is
impeccable. This little piece of magic recreated is done by Dennis Ward on bass,
Chris Schmidt on drums, Michael Klein on guitars and Eric Ragno on keyboards.
"First Signal" is a first class piece of melodic rock, and should hit the scene
with a big bang. Simply put: "First Signal" is one the most complete and
exciting melodic rock albums to see the light of day in a long time (together
with the upcoming Terry Brock solo-album); two albums of the highest calibre to
look forward to in August.
Great one!
