R.D. Liapakis is known for his band Mystic Prophecy, but together with band mate
Ragazas and some Stratovarius members he released the first album by Devil's
Train in 2012. With the same line-up
the second one simply called 'II' is
released. The style is still groovy southern bluesy hardrock, where influences
of Guns 'N Roses, Whitesnake, Soil, Black Label Society, Hellyeah, Badlands and
many others are emerged to fine sounding songs.
Bluesy chuggy riffs groove from start to finish and Liapakis' voice sees to
the right southern feeling. The song "Gimme Love" sounds a bit like an over the
top Van Halen song and the slow song "Mr Jones" breaths the 70's southern rock
feeling. Lazi Ragazas gives the music an extra boost with his variable and
swinging grooves. Add the rhytmn section from Stratovarius; Jörg Michael on drums
and Jari Kainulainen on bass, the songs sound very tight and steady. With "Born
to Be Wild" and "Immigrant Song" there are two cover songs, played well, but
both a little bit without too many differences compared to the originals. With
this second Devil's Train album the band carries on in the same style and on the
same high level as they did with their debut. I don't know which of the albums
is the best, but one thing is for sure, if you like the first album you will love
this one as well. Fans of this style can easily add 10 points to the above
rating.
So
get that lazy ass out of the chair and move to pick up some groove!
