Valkyrian Music

Epitaph
Fire From The Soul
Released 18th March 2016
Hard Rock/Prog-Rock
Released via M.I.G Music GmbH

‘Fire From The Soul’ is the new album from the legendary German hard rock band Epitaph. The band was originally formed back in 1969 and in 1974 they became famous as the first German rock band to tour the USA promoting the ‘Outside The Law’ album. They had a hiatus during the 1990s before reuniting in 2000. This album features a handful of guest musicians including Tim Reese (Truckstop), Pete Sage (Santiano) and Klaus Henatsch (Nektar).

Starting off is Nightmare which has that stadium rock feel to it. Everything about that track is practically an invitation to join the overgrowing crowd of fans gathered at some open air show on a warm summer’s day and sway or air-guitar along to the catchy twin-guitar melodies. There’s nothing nightmarish about this so far. In fact I’m actually enjoying it. Man Without Face is another, infectiously catchy, guitar-driven track with a chorus that sticks in your head and makes you want to get up and dance. It’s not all about the guitars here, though. Singer Cliff Jackson’s melodic vocals and the additional choir on some of the tracks such as No One Can Save Me and Spark To Start A Fire create this positive vibe and overall pleasant atmosphere.

There are also the occasional retro, ’70s prog-rock elements on here with keyboards, a violin, acoustic guitars and epic ballad -style vocals being at the forefront. The title track is a good example of this style. Luckily this doesn’t sound dated but rather it puts a new spin on the genre while paying tribute to the band’s roots. The bonus track Love Child also caught my attention due to the memorable chorus and the uplifting guitar sounds.

Overall this was a very pleasant first encounter with Epitaph. I was apprehensive about it due to the band being often described as “prog-rock” – a genre which I’m not particularly fond of. Fortunately ‘Fire From The Soul’ proved to be a very accessible and enjoyable hard rock album.

4/5

Iza Raittila

This entry was posted on 17th March 2016 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Review with tags '70s prog-rock, Epitaph, Hard rock. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.