Avi Rosenfeld is a guitarist/songwriter who grew up to his father playing plenty of Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, and Rainbow albums around the house. Now here he is as an adult, and those early hard rock sounds are permeating the original music that he's creating with a wide assortment of guest musicians on his album Very Heepy Very Purple V. Yes, that title is very indicative of what's in store for the listener here, so if you don't have a soft spot for the already mentioned Heep, Purple, and Rainbow, there won't be any reason to investigate this fifth installment in his tribute series. However, if those three legendary heavy rock acts are near and dear to you, then by all means this will be an album to seek out. Different vocalists are used on each track, so you'll get varying flavors throughout, but the guitar/Hammond organ punch is ever present, with Rosendfeld's Blackmore-meets-Mick Box guitar licks very tasty at every juncture. There's an epic feel in spots, as on the classy "Babylon" (featuring some sizzling Hammond courtesy of Carlo Peluso), and the bluesy hard rock of "Wanna Play Like Ritchie Blackmore" contains arrangements that are right out of the Machine Head playbook. "Delilah" has a mystical feel not far removed from Dio era Rainbow days, with vocalist Arpie Gamsz doing his best Jorn Lande impression, while heavy rockers "Dealer", "Valhalla", "Silver Johnny", and "Breaking Bad" deliver more of those splendid Heep/Purple styled jams, the latter being a sizzling instrumental. There's even a few adventurous prog pieces, such as "Kanata" and "Desert Butterfly", as well as neo-classical metal on "Sea of the Lost and Pharohs", which reminds of the solo material of Uli Jon Roth.
Obviously, this project is a labor of love for Avi Rosenfeld, and while Very Heepy Very Purple V isn't going to break any records for originality, his honest homage to some of the greats of the '70s is much appreciated and easy to enjoy.
Track Listing
1) Desert Butterfly
2) Babylon
3) Wanna Play Like Ritchie Blackmore
4) Delilah
5) Valhalla
6) Dealer
7) Kanata
8) Breaking Bad
9) Silvery Johnny
10) Sea of the Lost and the Pharohs
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