Torture Tunes
Sunstorm
Edge of Tomorrow
You might have heard this powerful voice hit you between the eyes in bands like Rainbow and Rated X, or you might have followed his 25+ year solo career. If not, not only have you missed out on great vocal action, but good hard rocking music.
Joe Lynn Turner’s latest outfit, Sunstorm, heads down a heavier path in their third release, Edge of Tomorrow. His new crew is Allessandro Del Vecchio (Voodoo Circle) on keys, Simone Mularoni on guitars, Nik Mazzucconi on bass and Francesco Jovino (Primal Fear) on drums. This super group serves up a hot, fiery plate of hard rock for you to feast your ears upon.
“Don’t Walk Away from a Goodbye” and the title track, “Edge of Tomorrow”, are a grand example of what a passionate band can do. Slamming down borderline heavy metal with each strum and beat, the conviction draws you in.
Bringing back the late 80’s, “Nothing Left to Say has a thick circa 1989 Whitesnake feel with the big snare sound and flashy guitar solo. “Heart of the Storm” rips you back to the future with huge tones in the rhythm section and moody keys which add smoothness over the rocky foundation of the song.
“The Sound of Goodbye” has that Bon Jovi power ballad atmosphere. The great backing vocals and the bridge before the solo make this mid-tempo ditty bigger than it already is. “The Darkness of this Dawn” brings the tempo down a few more clicks for a couple of minutes. The ballad gets heavier and more passionate as the song progresses.
Back to the grind of post metal, “You Hold Me Down” gets busy with some pretty fancy guitar work. Then, like a splash of cold water after a hot shower, “Angel Eyes” turns things down to a crawl. This ballad stays at the slow progression throughout but has a gnarly guitar solo.
Sunstorm
Edge of Tomorrow
(Frontiers Music Srl)
Written by: Tim Duran
8 out of 10
Putting a bit more pep to the step, “Everything You’ve Got” has a power pop vibe with a hard rocking solo. Keeping the mid-tempo range, “Tangled in Blue” is a toe tapper and finger snapper. It’s not very heavy or speedy; but musically, there’s a lot going on when you listen for it.
Keeping the fire at a mid-flame, “Burning Fire” ends the record. It’s not as hard rocking as the title suggests, but the keys take over the second solo slot in this number. It’s a good song, but for everything else happening, it would have been a good opener - not a closer.
That brings us to the downside of this album, Edge of Tomorrow or “Don’t Walk Away from a Goodbye” would have wrapped it up nicely. In some places it feels a bit over produced, but that’s just me being anal. Upside, every song is very well done and fairly well placed to keep the record flowing evenly. The guitar work is amazing, the keys are nicely done, and the rhythm section is tight and in the pocket.
Tim Duran, HMS
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