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Besides Boil, Ripe is another leading-card for the Mighty Music label. This Danish band was founded by bassplayer Bob Thunder (Jan Knudsen), also member of the resurrected band Evil. Everyone, who is familiar with the music Bob likes won't be surprised that Ripe is a pure true heavy metal band, with 80's roots and modern power metal influences. With Michael Bastholm Dahl the band has found a perfect singer. His voice is powerful and very persuasive. A lot of songs have nice melodies and do remind me a bit of Dream Evil. Perhaps a little less heavy and with more commercial refrains. One thing is for sure, you can hear that the band has a lot experience and knows how to write a good (power) metal song. After 5 songs of headshaking rhythms and riffs, the semi-ballad "A Moment of Forever" is a nice resting point. The track has the same vibe and composition like a Scorpions ballad, even the vocals is a bit Klaus Meine like. After that it is again full-speed ahead with "Stalemate Pressure". The guitars are heavy in the mix and by adding rather easy to sing a-long refrains this is an album that will be liked by many old-school metal fans and modern power metal lovers as well. Bob also invited some guests such as Michael Denner (Mercyful Fate, Force of Evil), Billy Cross (Bob Dylan) and Dagfinn Joensen (Fate) to play some parts. If you like the last Narnia album, or if you are into Dream-Evil or similar bands, this is something for you. I'm almost certain that you will push the repeat button after the last tunes of "Funeral for a Kitten".
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