{"id":50603,"date":"2015-11-12T12:49:14","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T17:49:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=50603"},"modified":"2015-11-12T12:49:14","modified_gmt":"2015-11-12T17:49:14","slug":"casablanca-miskatonic-graffiti-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/casablanca-miskatonic-graffiti-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Casablanca | Miskatonic Graffiti<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Sr. Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Casablanca\"Now here’s something you don’t see every day. Swedish Hard Rock band Casablanca, which features former Alice Cooper\/Electric Angels guitarist Ryan Roxie as well as members of bands like Sahara Hotnights and Melody Club, has a new album out, and it’s a concept album based on H.P. Lovecraft’s \u201cThe Old Ones\u201d stories. That’s right, a Swedish rock band doing a Lovecraft-themed concept album. Why the hell not?<\/p>\n

It’s safe to say that Casablanca went all out for Miskatonic Graffiti<\/em>, their third album to date. The band made a strong impression early on with their energized take on the ’70s glam rock and ’80s glam metal sound, and there is still a good measure of that sound on the new album. But the mammoth 10-minute leadoff track \u201cEnter the Mountains\u201d lets you know this isn’t your average melodic rock album. Miskatonic Graffiti<\/em> has the hooks, the melodies and the retro charm we’ve come to expect from Casablanca, but there’s also an almost Progressive Rock side to things.<\/p>\n

So we’ve got a Progressive Glam Rock concept album here, and oddly enough the idea really works. Miskatonic Graffiti<\/em> is a smart, catchy, completely enjoyable album. Sure you have to give it a few spins to appreciate the larger themes, but songs like \u201cSister,\u201d \u201cName, Rank Serial Killer,\u201d \u201cShe Was the One\u201d and the title track are so melodic and infectious that playing them over and over again is hardly a chore. And you can’t help but be impressed with what the band pulls off with the epic \u201cEnter the Mountains\u201d and closing number \u201cExit the Mountains.\u201d<\/p>\n

Casablanca really makes a strong impression here, and goes a long way towards making themselves stand out in a pretty crowded Swedish melodic rock pack. Miskatonic Graffiti<\/em> is as addictive as it is ambitious, and is an album that anyone who appreciates the ’70s and ’80s rock styles \u2013 from T-Rex to Electric Angels to Hardcore Superstar to White Lion – should enjoy. It’s definitely not your average everyday rock n’ roll record.<\/p>\n

Genre: Rock, Melodic Rock, Hard Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nAnders Ljung (v)
\nErik Almstrom (g)
\nMats Rubarth (b)
\nJosephine Forsman (d)
\nRyan Roxie (g)
\nErik Stenemo (g)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tEnter the Mountains
\n2.\tCloser
\n3.\tThis Is Tomorrow
\n4.\tMy Shadow Out of Time
\n5.\tRE: Old Money
\n6.\tSister
\n7.\tName Rank Serial Killer
\n8.\tMiskatonic Graffiti
\n9.\tShe Was the One
\n10.\tExit the Mountains<\/p>\n

Label: Despotz<\/p>\n

Website: www.facebook.com\/casablanca<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.75\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Sr. Columnist — Now here’s something you don’t see every day. Swedish Hard Rock band Casablanca, which features former Alice Cooper\/Electric Angels guitarist Ryan Roxie as well as members of bands […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":50604,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[11843,11839,2317,11841,1103,2901,11840,2387,11842],"class_list":{"0":"post-50603","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-alice-cooepr","9":"tag-casablanca","10":"tag-cd-review","11":"tag-despotz","12":"tag-hard-rock","13":"tag-melodic-rock","14":"tag-miskatonic-graffiti","15":"tag-rock","16":"tag-ryan-roxie"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50603","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=50603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}