melodic rock / gothic rock
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Every once in awhile, a band manages to build a bridge between the rather dark and often avoided gothic rock and more accessible arena rock. Decades ago, Him was such a band and so was The Rasmus. Now, it seems that another one of those acts is looming around the corner, waiting for the dark souls to let them in. This is the area where Killing Joke meets Bon Jovi and Tiamat meets Europe, the band.
The band is named 'Luna Rise' and resides in Austria. They claim to play 'Heart Rock', which obviously comes very close to Him's 'Love Metal'. It might also be the perfect way to describe the music. These are quite emotional and melodic rock songs, here and there with a hint towards industrial acts like Pain and Oomph. Yet, the whole constantly remains on a listener-friendly level and there's even some potential hit songs.
There is at least one hit, namely Ultravox' 'Dancing With Tears In My Eyes'. I quite like this one because I almost always dig rock versions of synthpop songs. Hell, I still think Orgy's version of 'Blue Monday' is one of the best covers ever. Luna Rise did a great job covering this track, but let's not forget about their own songs and the potential hit singles in opener 'Demons Inside' and 'The Storm'.
Looking at the band pics, I realize that these guys are still quite young, about the age where I started playing in my first bands. That means that Luna Rise still has the potential to grow and write even better songs than these. Don't get me wrong, there are some brilliant tunes on this album, my absolute favorite being 'Worshippin' Shadows', a well-written gothic rock songs that seems to come straight from the eighties.
The entire album often reminds me of the gloomier side of that decade, combined with the melodic rock scene where Van Halen and Billy Idol were headliners. The synths especially are a welcome throwback in time, making 'Until The Stars Have Come' one of the happiest sounding dark rock songs of all time. It's a weird contradiction but certainly one that has proven to be successful in the past.
The female guest vocals were a brilliant idea. Even more so, perhaps Luna Rise should find a female vocalist to alternate with the male vocals. It would give all the future songs that extra edge, that extra sentiment, that extra "it" to completely break through.
So yeah, I can see why Luna Rise is regarded a promising band. They rock, they write very decent songs and they know how to touch the young hearts. From now on they can only grow, and I would suggest that they do their very best to do exactly that. This album can be the foundation for a bright future.
​Serge
The band is named 'Luna Rise' and resides in Austria. They claim to play 'Heart Rock', which obviously comes very close to Him's 'Love Metal'. It might also be the perfect way to describe the music. These are quite emotional and melodic rock songs, here and there with a hint towards industrial acts like Pain and Oomph. Yet, the whole constantly remains on a listener-friendly level and there's even some potential hit songs.
There is at least one hit, namely Ultravox' 'Dancing With Tears In My Eyes'. I quite like this one because I almost always dig rock versions of synthpop songs. Hell, I still think Orgy's version of 'Blue Monday' is one of the best covers ever. Luna Rise did a great job covering this track, but let's not forget about their own songs and the potential hit singles in opener 'Demons Inside' and 'The Storm'.
Looking at the band pics, I realize that these guys are still quite young, about the age where I started playing in my first bands. That means that Luna Rise still has the potential to grow and write even better songs than these. Don't get me wrong, there are some brilliant tunes on this album, my absolute favorite being 'Worshippin' Shadows', a well-written gothic rock songs that seems to come straight from the eighties.
The entire album often reminds me of the gloomier side of that decade, combined with the melodic rock scene where Van Halen and Billy Idol were headliners. The synths especially are a welcome throwback in time, making 'Until The Stars Have Come' one of the happiest sounding dark rock songs of all time. It's a weird contradiction but certainly one that has proven to be successful in the past.
The female guest vocals were a brilliant idea. Even more so, perhaps Luna Rise should find a female vocalist to alternate with the male vocals. It would give all the future songs that extra edge, that extra sentiment, that extra "it" to completely break through.
So yeah, I can see why Luna Rise is regarded a promising band. They rock, they write very decent songs and they know how to touch the young hearts. From now on they can only grow, and I would suggest that they do their very best to do exactly that. This album can be the foundation for a bright future.
​Serge
