Exclusive Interview with Michael Kiske (Unisonic, ex-Helloween, Place Vendome, Avantasia, ...)

When you ask people about the most iconic and most popular singers in Rock & Metal, you'll definitely get to hear his name very often: Michael Kiske! Back in the 80's he coined the genre of Power Metal with his band Helloween. The two Keeper-Records are still classics to many Heavy Metal fans out there and the teenager at the microphone has become a serious singer and songwriter in many ways these days. In promotion of the new Place Vendome album I had the opportunity to talk with Michael about his current activities with this AOR project, his new band Unisonic, the forthcoming Kiske/Somerville album, Avantasia and of course about his very exciting past. Michael Kiske tells his story. Check out what he had to say!

CD-Review: Lawless - "Rock Savage"

Let's bring back the 80's! That seems to be the idea of the guys from LAWLESS - a new Hard Rock band from the UK with members of DEMON and PERSIAN RISK. I've to admit I've never heard from Paul Hume (Vocals), Howie G (Lead Guitar), Neil Ogden (Drums) and Josh Williams (Bass) before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Let's see if they can set a sign.

CD-Review: Stryper - "No More Hell To Pay"

After a cover album ("The Covering") in 2011 and a record, which consists only of re-recordings ("The Second Coming") earlier this year, the Christian Metal heroes Stryper are back with completely new song material since their 2009 output "Murder By Pride". I enjoyed this album very much, but their new effort "No More Hell To Pay" shows Stryper from a very different side.

CD-Review: Place Vendome - "Thunder In The Distance"

Since the last ten years Michael Kiske is very active again in the music world. After appearences in Avantasia, Avalon and Unisonic, he decided to do another Place Vendome album. You still remember this project? It's some kind of Pink Cream 69 mixed with AOR in the vein of Toto, Journey and Asia. The previous album "Streets Of Fire" (2009) was a little gem. After four long years, the follow-up "Thunder In The Distance" will hit the stores very soon.

Special: JOHNNY LIMA starts Crowdfunding campaign to finance his new album "My Revolution"!

Singer/Songwriter/Producer JOHNNY LIMA is about to release his new album next year and he needs your help: As you might know he is an Independent artist and has to finance every record and every gig on his own. It is no wonder that Johnny chooses the crowfunding path now, although I'm a bit suspicious when it comes to this topic. But this campaign makes sense: it's just some kind of pre-payment here. You get a Limited Edition of the forthcoming album with 15 tracks on it (instead of 10 - 11 songs). Read Johnny's message here and don't forget to support him. If you like Def Leppard, Mötley Crüe and Bon Jovi, you can contribute this one blindly!

Message from Johnny:

"Hey everyone!! I'm trying to raise some money to help finance the new album so I started a campaign on Indie GoGo. This will be your only chance to get a Limited Edition 15 song CD and may be the only way to get the new album on CD if I can't get a licensing deal with a record company. The official release will only have 10-11 songs on it. So this one is going to be really exclusive and limited and only available through the campaign. Please spread the word!"

http://igg.me/at/johnnylima/x/4944946 

CD-Review: Giulio Garghentini - "Believe"

Until I got the promo of "Believe" I wasn't familiar with the name Giulio Garghentini, although he works since 20 years in the music business. Beside his activities as a vocal teacher he has been part of bands like Mantara and Darkfire (which I also don't know). He also worked for the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" and since 2007 he's the front man of Dream Company - a Bon Jovi cover band. With "Believe" Giulio offers his first solo album and the promotion lines promise a record packed with 10 (Hard) Rock songs, but while listening to the entire album I experienced a lot of surprises.

CD-Review: Wisdom - "Marching For Liberty"

The Hungarian Power Metal band WISDOM released their third effort "Marching For Liberty" these days and somehow this band passed me by in the last years. The cover artwork impressed me very much this time, so now they have my attention. I was prepared for a journey through a fantasy world. Let's see if it was worth the ride.