Impera,
the band is the brainchild of drummer J.K Impera who acts as the commander in
chief in this state of rock.
”I
started the band three years ago, and originally ex-Mötley Crüe vocalist John
Corabi was on board to handle vocal duties”, J.K. says. ”However, our schedules
couldn’t be matched, so I opted for a good friend of mine, who also happens to
be one of Sweden’s best rock vocalists ever, Matti Alfonzetti”. In that choice
alone, he found the goose that laid the golden egg!!!!
The whole
band consists of solid musicians who have earned their wings through hard work
with an impressive number of world-class stars over the years. Their combined
CV reads as a who’s who in today’s rock. In various constellations they have
played with Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick from KISS, Brian Robertson from
THIN LIZZY, John Levén from EUROPE and many
more. Guitarist Tommy Denander alone has played with almost everyone. His track
record is jaw-dropping, having made solo albums with key members of TOTO and
performed on albums with Michael Jackson, Paul Stanley, Alice Cooper, Ricky
Martin and Celine Dion. He recently toured Japan
and Europe with Joe Lynn Turner of RAINBOW/MALMSTEEN fame, Toto’s Bobby Kimball
and Chicago’s
Bill Champlin. He is considered one of the world’s best session players and has
contributed his axe work on an unsurpassed 2000+ albums. Yikes!!
Keeping
the bass at a level where earthquake sensors go haywire, Mats Vassfjord is no
stranger to bands, having toured with Scaar, and Grand Design and Laney’s
Legion.
Alfonzetti
has been a sought-after voice for years with domestic success with Bam Bam
Boys, Road To Ruin and Skintrade, as well as international stints with Red
White & Blues, Scott Gorham from Thin Lizzy and British band Jagged Edge
with whom he shared stages with the likes of Lita Ford, David Lee Roth, Vixen
and Dan Reed. J.K. Impera himself can brag about having played with a number of
KISS members, Graham Bonnet, John Corabi, to mention a few.
The name
is Latin for “ruler”, but will Impera truly rule the airwaves?? IMPERA’s style
lies firmly on a classic hard rock ground with a dose of strong melodies
collected from the AOR-world.
There are
some vocalists that can make a good album great, and some have the ability to
truly polish a turd. Matt Alfonzetti is such a vocalist. I have to add here
that this album is no such turd to begin with, Im just stating a fact. His
presence alone will surely made a difference to Impera’s bank balance over the
coming months. Its nothing fancy here, just pure unadulterated classic rock
tunes. ‘Turn My Heart To Stone’ is a great choice to open up the album, decent
riff, and an even better chorus. The classic rock /melodic rock vein is in rich
form from the off, with the likes of the high tempo 'Shoot Me Down' in particular,
along with 'Sunset Rider' and 'Kiss Of Death' being definite highlights. Lots of
people with think that this has been done before, but what hasn’t? I know
plenty of my classic rock / melodic rock chums that will lap this stuff up in
droves…and rightly fucking so!! It looks like the band have consulted the Heavy
Metal Songbook Manual, as there a a few songs that have done the rounds before…I
mean the song titles. 'Kiss Of Death, More Than meets The Eye, and Is This Love',
but thankfully they don’t attempt to cover the originals
We have
four very experienced guys doing what they do (very well) and the end result is
a walk in the park to them, with a polished album indeed. At least 50% of the
tracks are very good indeed, with the other half being reasonable but nowhere
near that turd I first talked about
If I
could give just one bit of advise to the founder J.K.Impera…drop the makeup
matey, you look a bit of a twat. (See pic below!) It's a good job the albums good!!
SCORE:
75/100
Out on
Escape Music from 19.10.12
Or here –
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Legacy-Of-Life-Impera/dp/B00910X0X4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350498678&sr=8-1
Tracklist:
01. Turn My Heart To Stone
02. Kiss Of Death
03. Break The Law
04. Shoot Me Down
05. Sunset Rider
06. Tell Me
07. More Than Meets The Eye
08. Is This Love
09. Show Me The Money
10. Deadend Street
For more
info: www.impera.org
/ www.Escape-Music.com
line-up:
J.K.
Impera (BRUCE KULICK, GRAHAM BONNET, VINNIE VINCENT, JOHN CORABI, BRIAN ROBERTSON)
– drums
Tommy
Denander (TOTO, PAUL STANLEY, MICHAEL JACKSON, ALICE COOPER) – guitar
Matti Alfonzetti
(JAGGED EDGE, SCOTT GORHAM, SKINTRADE, ROAD TO RUIN, RED WHITE & BLUES) –
vocals
Mats
Vassfjord (VINNIE VINCENT, JOHN CORABI, SCAAR, GRAND DESIGN, LANEY’S LEGION) -
bass
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