For his sixth album in the Very Heepy Very Purple series, and 30th release overall (!), guitarist/composer Avi Rosenfeld has assembled a fine cast of guest musicians to help him create another action packed set of song that pay tribute to legendary hard rock acts Uriah Heep, Deep Purple, and Rainbow. With basically a different cast appearing on each track, the format might be the same but the overall flavors are different, allowing for a fair amount of variety throughout the album.
Hammond organ players George Barabas and Marco Quagliozzi both contribute some serious muscle to "Battles Rain" and "Sole Survivor", two raging rockers that will take you right back to 1974, and the energetic numbers "Crash Into the Burning Sun", "Help Me By Brother", and "Castles Burning" bring medieval, classic, and prog elements into play, chock full of soaring vocals, nimble guitar work, and plenty of tasty keyboards. The epic and quite majestic sounding "The Desert and the Wind" reminds a bit of Dio-era Rainbow complete with stunning Hammond & Mellotron from Barabas), and the kick ass "Dragon Slayer" is a MUST hear for any fan of MkII/III era Deep Purple, fueled by killer riffs, commanding Hammond, and Vahtango Zadiev's Bruce Dickinson styled vocal delivery. There's even a cool marimba solo (yes, you heard that right!) courtesy of Jay Sager to add another element to this fun heavy rock song. "State of Decay" is straight down Uriah Heep avenue with its juicy Hammond organ and wailing vocals from Rich Ray (think David Byron meets Bruce Dickinson), and Rosenfeld's acrobatic guitar work is all over the melodic closer "Lonely Ship".
For those of us who just can't get enough '70s styled hard rock in the mold of the bands mentioned above, Avi Rosenfeld has done a great job these last few years keeping the spirit alive. Memorable songs, indulgent Hammond organ & guitar, and powerful vocals all add up to make number six in the series a real winner!
Track Listing
1.
Battles Rain 05:54
2.
Crash Into The Burning Sun 04:14
3.
Sole Survivor 04:37
4.
Help Me My Brother 06:43
5.
The Desert And The Wind 05:19
6.
Castles Burning 04:59
7.
Shes A Woman 03:55
8.
Dragon Slayer 05:00
9.
State Of Decay 04:09
10.
Lonely Ship 05:20
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