• 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 ]

Lovell's Blade: Stone Cold Steel

Melodic Hard Rock/Metal

3.5/5.0

Website Facebook
Divebomb (US) / Into The Limelight (EU) Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 01.02.2017

Apparently there's been trouble in the ranks of legendary Dutch hard rock and heavy metal band Picture. Pete Lovell (vocals) bailed from the band in 2016 to form his new act Lovell's Blade, taking Mike Ferguson (guitar) and Andre Wullems (guitar) with him. They're joined by Patrick Velis (bass) and Noel van Eersel (drums). Lovell and company didn't waste time writing their new debut album, Stone Cold Steel. (By the way, Picture continues with their original line up.)

Lovell's Blade

Suffice to say, Lovell's Blade doesn't stray far from their roots with this new material. Essentially, they still play melodic heavy metal with a significant rock groove. There's some brisk heavy riffage and some solid blistering solos. The rhythm section delivers a deep and thundering undercurrent, yet adds rock groove. Then you have Lovell's clean, melodic, yet raspy and whiskey soaked vocals. That pretty much sums up the sound.

As for the songs, I had some ambivalence to the album at the start with Legend In A Day and Dynamite, which didn't connect with me, and still haven't. They simply seem generic and bland. But things got much better with Rollin' On, a storming rocker and groove monster, and very catchy. The songs that followed, such as Devil's Daughter, Nothing To Lose, the speedy Out For Blood, and the arena anthem Rise And Fall, also turned up the rhythm and groove, yet delivering more AOR sensibility as well. Into The Sun was something of anthemic ballad, rather long at that, making it a bit tiring. But the guitar solo soared. Then unexpectedly with the last two songs, Inside Out and As Much As I Can, my ambivalence returned and I lost interest. Counting that out, I mostly liked the middle five songs, with Into The Sun getting an honorable mention. Nevertheless, with Stone Cold Steel, Lovell's Blade delivers classic hard and heavy melodic rock goods, and fans of the same should explore this album.

Lovell's Blade - Rollin' On

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

With Stone Cold Steel, Lovell's Blade delivers classic hard and heavy melodic rock goods, and fans of the same should explore this album.

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 ]