• New Music Reviews
• |
• Archives
• |
• News
• |
• Submissions
• |
• About
• |
• 
• |
• 

December 2024

• After Lapse: Pathways
• Illusion Force: Halfana
• Powell-Payne: Voilá

November 2024

• Sunstorm: Restless Fight
• Storace: Crossfire
• Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
• Lionville: Supernatural
• Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
• Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
• Lonerider: Down In The Dust
• Seventh Crystal: Entity
• Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
• Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
• Impellitteri: War Machine
• Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter

October 2024

• Casandra's Crossing: Garden Of Earthly Delights
• DGM: Endless
• Daytona: Garder la Flamme
• Fate: Reconnect 'N Ignite
• Frost*: Life In The Wires
• Aries Descendant: From The Ashes Of Deceit
• Fans Of The Dark: Video
• Radioactive: Reset
• House Of Lords: Full Tilt Overdrive
• Cleanbreak: We Are The Fire

September 2024

• Sinner's Blood: Dark Horizons
• Serious Black: Rise Of Akhenaton
• Eclipse: Megalomanium II
• SteelCity: Reverence
• Hydra: ReHydrated
• Heartwind: III
• Gabrielle De Val and the Dragonlords: Tiger
• Find Me: Nightbound
• The Nail: The Nail
• Timeless Fairytale: A Story To Tell
• Stryper: When We Were Kings
• Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
• Pure Reason Revolution: Coming Up To Consciousness
• Jordan Rudess: Permission To Fly

August 2024

• Siege Perilous: Creation's Call EP
• Paralydium: Universe Calls
• Mike Tramp: Songs Of White Lion Vol. II
• Bite The Bullet: Looking For Paradise
• All For Metal: Gods Of Metal (Year Of The Dragon)
• Hammerfall: Avenge The Fallen
• Jim Peterik & World Stage: Roots & Shoots Vol. 2

[ More Music Reviews ]

Mindflow: With Bare Hands

Modern Melodic Hard Rock

3.5/5.0

Nightmare Records
Website Facebook Twitter MySpace
by Craig Hartranft,  03.14.2011

Recently signed to Nightmare Records for a North American push and distribution is Mindflow's fourth album With Bare Hands. Mindflow hails from Brazil, but don't expect the thrash/death/groove metal of Sepultura or the progressive/power of Angra. Rather, Mindflow takes on more modern hard rock tendencies, sometimes nearing metal or invoking hardcore.

Breakout Me Out, the first single, and Reset the Future are equivalent to modern melodic hard rock you can hear across America. Alternatively, Corrupted shows a metal edge, and Under Alias adds the hardcore edge. The latter is, again, indicative of contemporary trends in the industry, which also means that Mindflow should find a receptive audience in America. If, of course, they can rise above the huge, nearly homogeneous, crowd of their peers.

One thing that might make a difference against their competition is the subtle progressive nuances carefully embedded in many songs, like Shuffle Up and Deal and Lethal. Another positive note is how Mindflow can offer some attractive accessibility with songs that deliver strong melody and big hooks like The Ride and the magnificent Breakthrough.

Yet even with their impressive talent and song composition, Mindflow still sounds like a band in search of itself and its sound. There's a lot going on here: it's varied and often intriguing, even if it's not necessarily congruent. Still, MIndflow's With Bare Hands is not the same modern hard rock fodder being pushed upon us in this day. It's definitely worth checking out if you dig contemporary scene.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

Even with their impressive talent and song composition, Mindflow still sounds like a band in search of itself and its sound. But, With Bare Hands is not the same modern hard rock fodder being pushed upon us in this day.

Alphabetical Index

The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]