SCREAM ARENA - "House Of Pain EP" - 2009


The debut EP from UK's "Scream Arena" was enough to get me quite interested in the band. The title track was a nice mix of Metal and Rock with traditional overtones. They seem to have all the elements together, vocals, guitars, bass and a kickass drummer. They have a good edge to the music as they take the better part of the 80's and expand on it. "Goodnight L.A." was a nice rocker that leaned towards the AOR side, but again, they seem to like to crank it up a little so it came out pretty powerful. Maybe most impressive was the cover they did of the King's "Heartbreak Hotel". They really rocked it up twisted the song without losing the original's magic. At times the band reminds me of fellow UK Rocker's "Shy" with their used of the gang vocals and down and dirty style. Can't wait to hear a full-length from the guys.

KNYGHT - "Bet Everything EP" - 2009


Considering their ages and experience, you would have to be impressed with this Italian band. If you like the early 80's glam bands coming from L.A. you will appreciate what the band is doing. The songs right now are geared to a younger crowed, mainly females. But if you think about it, what was on your mind at 18? Yeah, the same place mine was, so you you can't blame them for that. There is some great potential for the band, I realize "potential" is a bad word sometimes, but I think even the band has to realized they are just getting started. Lead singer "Tommy" has some good range, but he needs to work on control a bit, his accent is also quite strong when singing, which is a mild distraction, but still it stood out a bit to me. Overall, the band has some great talent and with time they are going to get much better and develop a style of their own. I give them a lot of credit, at 18 there's no WAY I could have done what they have done.