Tragik Outlaw
by Edwin van Hoof
Staff Writer
Phil Vincent must be the hardest working musician in rock music today. Aside his many solo releases the man keeps surprising with his projects and bands on the side. Remember the crunchy rock offspring Circular Logik? Well, Phil now returns with his more melodic power band Tragik’s second CD…
Lucky for us, Phil always maintain a high profile with any of his releases. His songs are always hard rocking melodic outings with a focus on good harmonies and solid band performances, outlined by some excellent craftsmanship of the players involved. Thus we write the new chapter of Tragik which instantly captures the attention with the opening track. A power ballad?! Yes indeed! “…In the Name of…” is a powerful rockballad with towering orchestration in the best eighties tradition. Because he picked this song as a starter, the following “Two Timer” is a blow to the body. Hard hitting and powerful the song does contrast widely with the opener and the rest of the album benefits from the same diversity.
Not as crunchy and groovy as Circular Logik, nor is it as slick as his solo efforts. Tragik shifts shapes in between all of these. The up tempo power chords in “Go Down Fighting”, the more slick and fresh melodies on “Forgive Me.” It all adds up in the cocktail Phil shakes up for us.
The consistency of his releases has always been a questionmark. How on earth does Vincent manage to maintain the level of freshness and sharpness in his composing streaks? Perhaps the answer lies in the diversity of his outputs. Tragik simply offers the more diverse rocking side to his slick solo albums, as where CL hints towards the modern day rock society.
Outlaw again displays the other side of the diverse mind of Phil Vincent. More powerful and hard rocking, and blessed with a tacky cover. Tragik will certainly please a lot of fans of the genre out there!
Label: PVM Records
Tracklist
1 ….in the Name of….
2 Two Timer
3 On the Other Side
4 You are Everything to Me
5 What You Give
6 Everything Changes
7 Forgive Me
8 Just Can’t Get Enough
9 Loneliness
10 Who’s Gonna Make the First Move
11 Go Down Fightin’
12 Give it Up
Line-up:
Phil Vincent – vocals, keyboards, guitars
Damian D’Ercole – lead + rhythm guitars, bass
Dirk Phillips – drums, percussions
Steven Albanese – lead guitars
Billy Roux – lead guitars
Paul Colombo – lead guitars
Site: Official Site
HRH Rating: 7.7/10