Axxis - Back To The Kingdom

Year of Release: 2000
Label: Massacre Records
Catalog Number: MAS CD0238
Format: CD
Total Time: 49:03:00

Massacre Records has been signing quite a few band of the melodic metal genre lately. The latest signing is German rockers Axxis who have released a few great albums in the late 80s and early 90s. After a couple of disappointing albums and a slight change of style, the band is, as the title implies, returning back to what they know best: quality hard rock.

Opening track "Shadowman" is an awesome slice of melodic metal, with big guitars, catchy hooks and a big chorus. We are served a mix of up-tempo melodic heavy songs, a couple of ballads and a few more rockish tunes. A couple of songs are coming off really heavy and energetic which proves the band to be back on form again. A couple of songs fall through as too simple, coming off as dull and uninspiring. Although some songs don't come up to the standard of opener "Shadowman," there are enough quality songs to be found here to keep the average melodic hard rock fan satisfied. Overall this is absolutely a CD worth checking out. On top of this the CD has a good clean production.

Fans of the band's earlier albums, or fans of melodic hard rock in general, with big guitars and big choruses, will find enough good songs on this album to satisfy their appetite. A warm welcome back to Axxis! Check it out!

[This review originally appeared November 2002 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Shadowman (4:33) / Like A Sphinx (4:08) / Flashback Radio (3:54) / Heaven In Black (3:40) / Only God Knows... (4:01) / Sea Of Love (3:50) / White Lights (3:35) / Why Not?! (2:59) / My Little Princess (3:28) / Without You (3:59) / Ice On Fire (3:36) / Nana, Hey, Hey, Kiss Him Goodbye (3:42) / Bonus track (digipack version) Be A King (3:38)

Musicians:
Bernhard Weiss - guitars, vocals
Harry Oellers - keyboards
Richard Michalski - drums
Guido Wehmeyer ? guitar
Kuno Niemeyer - bass

Discography:
Kingdom Of The Night (1989)
Axxis II (1990)
Access All Areas (1991)
The Big Thrill (1993)
Matters of Survival (1995)
Voodo Vibes (1997)
Back To The Kingdom (2000)
Collection Of Power (2000)
Eyes Of Darkness (2001)
Time Machine (2004)
Paradise In Flames (2006)
Best Of - Ballads & Acoustic Specials (2006)
Doom Of Destiny (2007)
Utopia (2009)
reDISCOvered (2012)
Kingdom Of The Night (White edition)(2014)
Kingdom Of the Night II (Black edition) (2014)
Retrolution (2017)
Monster Hero (2018)

20 Years Of Axxis (DVD) (2011)
25 Years Of Rock & Power (DVD) (2015)


Genre: Progressive/Power Metal

Origin DE

Added: November 26th 2004
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Artist website: www.axxis.de
Hits: 2607
Language: english