Kharma - Wonderland

Year of Release: 2000
Label: MTM Music
Catalog Number: 0681-13
Format: CD
Total Time: 70:01:00

Ah, this is a real gem. Some of the songs on this album were actually written back in the 80s, when Kharma went by the name Vanessa. Some of the songs from their famous demo have been re-recorded for this CD, as well as some newly written songs, and wow, what an album! Worth noticing is that the vocals are handled by vocal-god Gøran Edman (Malmsteen, Glory, Street Talk, Reingold, John Norum, Brazen Abbott).

Although this band is based in Sweden, it doesn't have the typical Swedish AOR sound. Some songs are pure hard-rock, some more AOR-ish and some songs have a distinct pomp influence. Besides the straight-ahead hard rock songs, I can hear a lot of Queen and Robbie Valentine influences in parts of this material. This is prime time AOR or melodic rock, whatever you call it. The melodies and choruses are in focus all the way, but the instrumentation and production is absolutely supreme as well. You will find a nice mix of catchy rockers and beautiful ballads on this album. Kharma show great skills in the songwriting department and they certainly deliver the goods as production, songs, instrumentation and vocals are top notch.

Only a couple of songs strike me as mediocre, which affects the final rating, but the rest of the material is absolutely awesome and should not be missed by any fan of AOR or melodic heavy. Kharma comes as a breath of fresh air to the AOR scene as this must be some of the best and most refreshing material of the genre so far this year.

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

Tracklisting:
Free Yourself / Wonderland / Knowing You / Forever / In Chains / Standing Alone / Part Time Lovers / Angel Eyes / Ray Of Sunshine / Spell On You / Don't Close Your Eyes / Hold On / Wings Of History / Bonus: Cold As Ice (Japan Only)

Musicians:
Gøran Edman - lead and backing vocals
Dragan Tanascovic - lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars
Atilla Szabo - keyboards, backing vocals
Joel Starander - bass and background vocals
Imre Daun - drums and percussion

Guests:

Mats Olausson ? keyboards

Discography:
Wonderland (2000)

Genre: Melodic Rock/AOR

Origin SE

Added: December 29th 2004
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Artist website:
Hits: 2270
Language: english