Kashmyr - Kashmyr


Year of Release: 1995
Label: Mainstreet
Catalog Number: 27361 61502
Format: CD
Total Time: 63:00:00

Try finding this one for under $35 and you're lucky. This is one of those discs that were really limited in their pressing numbers, and I've only seen this one for about $35 and up. Fortunately, Sentinel Steel had some stray copies hanging out at Powermad and a couple of us grabbed them up.

I had been told a long time ago that the band sounded like a hard rock version of Whitesnake. Well, that's not entirely true, except that maybe the singer has tinges of David Coverdale in his voice, raspy, bluesy, etc. The music starts out as very good, catchy, melodic metal maybe consisting of some XYZ meets Dokken meets Whitesnake although not quite as polished as those bands. Unfortunately, what starts out as quality melodic metal, suddenly turns into some Motley Crue-ish type hard rock that reminds me of the leather and chains and chicks days of that band. Also, Kiss comes to mind, with the basic, hard rockish drum beats, and I can even imagine Paul Stanley singing to most of this material. Not bad, and I don't mind clones or similar styles, but in this case, it's a bit overwhelming, especially after the disc starts out so good.

THE STYLE:

When you hit the PLAY button, you're treated to some quality, catchy, melodic metal that reaches the styles of the aforementioned metal bands of the 80s. Catchy riffs, cool melodic chords start this disc off and maintain the pace for about 3 songs. Suddenly, the band turns a sharp corner, and heads off into a Motley Crue / Kiss type style, complete with basic drum beats, 3-chord structured songs and all. Fast forward to track 6, we have some nicely laid out, doomy, chime-laiden material that makes you wonder why the band veered off the track so fast and drastically. Think of early Black Sabbath here, which makes me think that the band had so many influences from the 70s / 80s, that they felt they had to pay homage to them. At 63:00, and a band obviously talented, it makes you wonder why they keep skipping around to each of their influences so much. Around track 8, the band reverts back to their own brand of melodic metal, with a nice, crunchy, opening riff, and chord structures that come right out of the Dokken book of melodoc metal. I'm not sure whether or not to put on a Kiss, Dokken, or XYZ disc at this point. Overall, the interest level drops when you realize that the band is just bent on skimming the surface of their own talents, and want to concentrate on other bands sounds. The 80's were great, but the hard rock sounds become all too boring, and I'd much rather pull out the ole' LP collection and play my Kiss / Whitesnake albums .........

THE BAND:

Not much to say in this area. It's the basic hard rock set up; drums, guitar, bass, vocals. The sound is very much guitar driven, as was all of those bands, but the guitarist here is not as effective as say, George Lynch, or the guitarist from XYZ, who I thought was really good. Those guys MADE you listen to that music; this band tries to re-create the sound, but can't match the intensity of the music they are trying to re-create.

THE PRODUCTION:

Excellent. Nice, thick, crunchy, punchy, sound. I can't complain here, everything sounds great, especially the nice, thick guitar sounds. The drums are full, punchy, and powerful. The vocals are right up front, and every word can be heard clearly. The bass is deep and driving as well.

THE SINGER:

The singer sounds like a cross between the guy from XYZ and David Coverdale of Whitesnake. Not a bad combination, right? Very hard to complain about this guy, especially if you like the aforementioned singers. You won't hear this voice in too many prog metal bands, but you can't mistake that style from the early 80s. He is a very powerful singer in his own right, and I wish he would stick with the melodic metal material, as he sounds just right for that style. Also, fans of Haven will like this guy too, as he has similar tones to him as well. Which brings me to that band; Kashmyr's quality material reminds me of a Haven-type band, although not as intuitive. Haven had that 80's sound, although a bit more inventive, moreso than the average metal band; but there is no mistaking the Haven sounds too.

THE COMMENTS:

Overall, I'd say stay away from this disc at $35. You'd do well to find a Whitesnake, XYZ live bootleg, or maybe that scarce Haven disc that no one seems to carry these days. Am I down on Kashmyr? No, just very bored of the style. Their cover of Prince's "Purple Rain" convinced me to put this one up on the trade list, as I had a hard enough time dealing with the Motley Crue type songs, but this one put it right over the top. The band has talent, they just choose to cover what a million bands have covered before in a different time. I'd much rather whip out my XYZ, Haven, or Whitesnake discs before I'd put this one ahead in the CD player. I do not recommend this disc at the price you will find it for. I'm assuming that only so many copies of this were made, and I think you will be highly disappointed at what you find for $35 and up.


Tracklisting:
Streets Of Desire / Light / Midnight Rain / Borderline / Peace To The Action / Warning / Dreams Of Heaven / Falling To Ashes / Middle Of The Night / Fight

Musicians:
Carsten Hisley - vocals
Davor Sertic -guitar
Bj?rn-Eric Dette - bass
Andreas Plattner - drums / keyboards

Discography:
Kashmyr (1995)

Genre: Other

Origin DE

Added: July 25th 1999
Reviewer: Larry "LarryD" Daglieri

Hits: 2562
Language: english

  

[ Back to Reviews Index | Post Comment ]