• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

September 2023

• Rockett Love: Galactic Circus
• Kerrigan: Bloodmoon
• Taz: Shipwrecked, Vol 2
• Taz: Wake Up & Sweat, Vol 1
• Ronnie Romero: Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters
• The Flower Kings: Look At You Now
• Vega: Battlelines
• Blackbird Angels: Solsorte
• Primal Fear: Code Red
• Eclipse: Megalomanium
• Seventh Wonder: Mercy Falls (Reissue 2008/2023)
• Seventh Wonder: The Great Escape (Reissue 2010/2023)

August 2023

• Hurricane: Reconnected
• U.D.O.: Touchdown
• Streetlight: Ignition
• Sarayasign: The Lion's Road
• Neal Morse: The Dreamer - Joseph - Part One
• Rian: Wings
• Icon Of Sin: Legends
• Lancer: Tempest
• King Kobra: We Are Warriors
• Dark Sky: Signs Of The Time
• Hell In The Club: F.U.B.A.R.
• Kent Hilli: Nothing Left To Lose

July 2023

• Turkish Delight: Volume Two
• Winterstorm: Everfrost
• Scream Maker: Land Of Fire
• James Robledo: Broken Soul
• Houston: Relaunch III
• All For Metal: Legends
• Withering Scorn: Prophets Of Demise
• Bloodbound: Tales From The North
• Kikimora: For A Broken Dime
• Degreed: Public Address

June 2023

• Night Legion: Fight Or Fall
• Midnite City: In At The Deep End
• Pyramaze: Bloodlines
• Shakra: Invincible
• Vypera: Race Of Time
• Stardust: Kingdom Of Illusion
• Pride Of Lions: Dream Higher
• Joel Hoekstra's 13: Crash Of Life
• The Defiants: Drive
• Ray Alder: II
• Art Nation: Inception
• False Memories: Hybrid Ego System

[ More Music Reviews ]

Mindcrime: Checkmate The King

Hard Rock/Heavy Metal

3.0/5.0

Website Facebook YouTube
Red Cat Records
Words: Craig Hartranft  Added: 17.09.2014

I suspected as much when I was pitched the band for review. Mindcrime began as a Queensryche tribute band in Italy about five years ago. (If you check their Facebook page, they do a good job of ripping off the band's logo.) In recent years they've been working on original material, with Checkmate The King being their debut album.

Mindcrime: just hanging out.

The good news is Mindcrime doesn't intentionally sound like Queensryche within these eleven original songs. The bad news is that neither the band or the songs sound all that interesting. Most times the songs sound chunky, flat, and overly deliberate in their presentation like they were either over-rehearsed or put together by, well, a cover band. Until Once Upon a Day, I struggled to endure the first half of this album.

But there are some high points. A anthem or ballad, Once Upon a Day had an interesting arrangement using both acoustic and electric guitar, but yet still seemed laborious. A similar song is You Always Believed in Me which has this light start with guitar and voice. As for the rest of the songs, sadly, nothing really caught my attention or interest. However, across the album, the lead guitar work is quite good and interesting, probably the best thing about the album. Bruno Baudo' vocals not so much. He's adequate, but seemed to sound the same on nearly every song. And being a former Queensryche tribute band, I'm not sure if he has anything in common with Geoff Tate. This, in turn, makes me wonder if they're any good at being a Queensryche tribute band. Give the band kudos for their effort, but there's more work to be done before I'm willing to listen again.

The good news is Mindcrime doesn't intentionally sound like Queensryche within these 11 original songs. The bad news is that neither the band or the songs sound all that interesting.

Alphabetical Index

Formed in 1999 by singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Erik Martensson, Sweden's Eclipse is well into their third decade of making music. In the recent past, their recordings and reputation have ... [ Read More ]