{"id":19235,"date":"2012-03-14T19:43:18","date_gmt":"2012-03-15T00:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=19235"},"modified":"2013-01-29T10:05:44","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T15:05:44","slug":"unisonic-unisonic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2012\/unisonic-unisonic\/","title":{"rendered":"Unisonic | Unisonic<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Bartek Paszylk<\/span>
\nGuest Staff Writer —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Sure, we had to wait for this quite a bit but the important thing is that it finally happened. Vocalist Michael Kiske and guitarist Kai Hansen, both of Helloween\u2019s Keeper of the Seven Keys fame, joined forces in an actual band! Before this we could occasionally hear the two together on a couple of Kiske\u2019s solo tracks or on Gamma Ray\u2019s and Avantasia\u2019s albums. But Unisonic is the real deal; around 50 minutes of pure rock-metal genius \u2013 a treat for everyone who appreciates the talent of these two nice ex-Helloween fellows.<\/p>\n

Some might wonder whether Unisonic\u2019s self-titled debut album is metal, which would be a dream come true for most Helloween fans, or perhaps hard rock-AOR that Kiske seemed to have preferred in the recent years, but such genre labels matter not if the material is as good as in this particular case. If anything, the fact that Kiske mostly composes rock songs and Hansen usually stays faithful to metal only adds to the overall value of the album. Unisonic is, therefore, not just a thunderball of great guitar riffs but also sports some beautiful melodies, thoughtful lyrics and, most importantly, enough song-writing variety to keep us redefining the album with each single track. <\/p>\n

It starts off in the most anthemic way possible; the title track sweeps the listeners off their feet within seconds with some inspired guitar work and neck-wrecking rhythm, and then totally knocks them out with a powerful chorus. The next several songs \u2013 electrifying \u201cSouls Alive,\u201d optimistic \u201cNever Change Me\u201d and relaxed \u201cI\u2019ve Tried\u201d \u2013 also mercilessly attack us with their sharp hooks. Even in case of somewhat mellower moments, like near the end of otherwise springy \u201cMy Sanctuary,\u201d one can feel there\u2019s some cosmic energy boiling right under the surface, while \u201cKing for a Day\u201d marks a return to heavier, Gamma Ray-esque style. In yet another highlight – \u201cStar Rider\u201d – Unisonic successfully try their hand in atmospheric, sci-fi-scented songwriting. They finish off on a more melancholic note with \u201cNo One Ever Sees Me,\u201d an emotional track with great lyrics and a beautiful vocal performance by Kiske. <\/p>\n

Although Kiske and Hansen are the band\u2019s main stars, there\u2019s this feeling throughout the whole album that Unisonic \u2013 with Pink Cream 69\u2019s Kosta Zafiriou on drums and Dennis Ward on bass plus Gotthard\u2019s Mandy Meyer on guitar, is a very homogenous entity and not just a side project of two heavy metal veterans. Anyway, the word \u201cveterans\u201d sounds rather off here, doesn\u2019t it? After all these years Kiske and Hansen sound fresh and energetic as they\u2019ve ever had. Unisonic was never meant to become a clone of Helloween\u2019s early albums and it is anything but that, but it certainly does manage to recapture the youthful vibe of the vocalist and guitarist\u2019s groundbreaking 1980s efforts.<\/p>\n

Genre: Heavy Metal, Power Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nMichael Kiske (vocals)
\nMandy Meyer (guitar)
\nKai Hansen (guitar)
\nDennis Ward (bass)
\nKosta Zafiriou (drums)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n01. Unisonic
\n02. Souls Alive
\n03. Never Too Late
\n04. I’ve Tried
\n05. Star Rider
\n06. Never Change Me
\n07. Renegade
\n08. My Sanctuary
\n09. King For A Day
\n10. We Rise
\n11. No One Ever Sees Me
\n12. Over The Rainbow (limited-edition bonus track)<\/p>\n

Label: earMusic<\/p>\n

Web: http:\/\/www.unisonic.de\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 10\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Bartek Paszylk Guest Staff Writer — Sure, we had to wait for this quite a bit but the important thing is that it finally happened. Vocalist Michael Kiske and guitarist Kai Hansen, both of […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6772],"tags":[2317,1796,4903,2491,961,1097],"class_list":{"0":"post-19235","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2012","7":"tag-cd-review","8":"tag-dennis-ward","9":"tag-earmusic","10":"tag-heavy-metal","11":"tag-michael-kiske","12":"tag-power-metal"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19235\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}