{"id":52801,"date":"2016-08-24T19:07:35","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T00:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=52801"},"modified":"2016-08-24T19:07:35","modified_gmt":"2016-08-25T00:07:35","slug":"arkhams-razor-carnival-of-lost-souls-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2016\/arkhams-razor-carnival-of-lost-souls-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Arkham\u2019s Razor | Carnival of Lost Souls"},"content":{"rendered":"

by John Kindred<\/span>
\n– Publisher —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Arkham\u2019sGuitarist Neil Hibbs has joined forces with vocalist Lee Small (SHY, Skyscraper, Phenomena), forming the band Arkham\u2019s Razor and releasing the band\u2019s debut album Carnival of Lost Souls<\/em>. The band is rounded out by bassist Mart Trail (Fury, Tainted Nation), drummer Erik Engebretsen (session musician from Norway) and guest keyboardist Geoff Nicholls (Black Sabbath).<\/p>\n

The connection between Hibbs and Small revolves around the band SHY. Hibbs worked with former SHY vocalist Tony Mills (ex-TNT) solo album Vital Signs<\/em>. Small took over as SHY\u2019s frontman when Mills left to join TNT in \u201906. Hibbs then joined Small\u2019s band, SHY, for live performances. <\/p>\n

At some point the duo interactions as guitarist and vocalist became the prime ingredients needed for the formation of Arkham\u2019s Razor. The band combines elements of Hard Rock, Metal and some Prog, whipping those genres into a heavy metallic concoction of 11 blistering songs. <\/p>\n

Music fans are in for a treat if they never have heard Small\u2019s vocals before. Glenn Hughes, The Voice of Rock, has been quoted as saying, “When I hear a singer, the first thing I hope to hear is soul \u2013 you can’t buy it \u2013 it comes from within. Secondly is tone and how it resonates with you \u2013 the singer, and, in turn, the listener. Lee Small is one of these special singers. He lives and feels the moment, may you shine, my friend.” Hughes knows a thing or two about all these elements. And when you hear Carnival of Lost Souls<\/em>, you will understand exactly what Hughes is saying.<\/p>\n

Again, it\u2019s difficult not use the terms \u201cheavy\u201d and \u201cmetallic\u201d to describe the music on Carnival of Lost Souls<\/em>. Hibbs\u2019 guitar provides a consistent rhythmic crunch and searing solos, and Engebretsen\u2019s percussive attack provides the thunderous steady beats Trail\u2019s bass molds with the drums, emphasizing the low-end heaviness \u2013 with the musical sound bed laid out before his, he delivers soulful and emotionally charged vocal melodies. <\/p>\n

Hibbs and Small deliver quality ear-grabbing tunes. Their explorations within different genres of Rock work extremely well. They are able to merge heavy with melodic and soft with aggressive arrangements without the dynamics clashing together or losing momentum. The production is stellar; it\u2019s nice to be able to hear the bass and drums standout during each song. The music has a lot of oomph, a lot of energy and lays down a steady groove. Combine that with the listenable vocals, memorable choruses, strong songwriting, excellent musicianship, and Arkham\u2019s Razor\u2019s Carnival of Lost Souls<\/em> will most certainly find its way to many 2016 top 10 lists as the year comes to a close.<\/p>\n

Carnival of Lost Souls<\/em> is an album that you know you are going to like by just listening to the first song.<\/p>\n

Genre: Hard Rock, Heavy Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nLee Small (v)
\nNeil Hibbs (g)
\nMart Trail (b)
\nErik Engebretsen (d)
\nGeoff Nicholls (k)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n01. Carnival of Lost Souls
\n02. Vaudeville Lillie
\n03. Skeleton Swing
\n04. Neon Haunted By Your Love
\n05. The Asphyx
\n06. Gangland Wonderland
\n07. T.V On the Radio
\n08. Afterlife
\n09. Sin\u2019orita
\n10. Visitor from the Grave
\n11. Positive\/Negative Man<\/p>\n

Label: Lynch Music Group<\/p>\n

Web: https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arkhamsrazor\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by John Kindred – Publisher — Guitarist Neil Hibbs has joined forces with vocalist Lee Small (SHY, Skyscraper, Phenomena), forming the band Arkham\u2019s Razor and releasing the band\u2019s debut album Carnival of Lost Souls. The […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":52803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13652],"tags":[12708,12709,2317,1103,2491,12711,12712,12710,10809],"class_list":{"0":"post-52801","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2016","8":"tag-arkhams-razor","9":"tag-carnival-of-lost-souls","10":"tag-cd-review","11":"tag-hard-rock","12":"tag-heavy-metal","13":"tag-lee-small","14":"tag-lynch-music-group","15":"tag-neil-hibbs","16":"tag-shy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52801","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=52801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}