Released By : AOR Heaven
Genre : Classic Rock
Links : http://www.demonseye.com/tsw/index_e.php
Tracklist:
01. The Unknown Stranger
02. Sins Of The Father
03. The Best Of Times
04. Ain’t Nothing Better
05. Evil Comes This Way
06. Heaven Again
07. A Foolish Man
08. Midnight In Heaven Or Hell
09. Far Over The Rainbow
10. Brand New Life
11. Le Vent Lament
12. Bonus track: The Best Of Times (extended version)
DEMON’S EYE are a German band that started their career as a DEEP PURPLE tribute band, one that was so good that actual ex-members of DP have sung their praises. After spending some time doing this, the band started toying around with some original material and soon realized that they were onto something and decided to pursue it and see how far they could take it. This led to a chance meeting with one of the worlds most underrated rock singers Doogie White (LAPAZ, CORNERSTONE, YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, RAINBOW) and a little while later he decided to join them in their crusade to bring back the classic sound of DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW influenced classic rock.
With my intro paragraph out of the way now I can tell you that the rest of this review has been re-written a few times now as the longer I held onto this album the deeper I became enthralled in all it has to offer. I initially began writing this review after my second full listen through the album and while I was pretty impressed I was not quite mind blown either, so I was writing to that effect but as I did so I listened to the album another couple of times and found myself liking it a bit more making what I had written so far no longer valid, which sent me back to the drawing board. While I stared the second version of this review I was still listening to the album and then something crazy happened…. All of a sudden I realized THE STRANGER WITHIN was giving me the same feeling I get when I put on one of my favorite DEEP PURPLE or RAINBOW albums, and that’s when it finally hit me….. This album is absolutely bloody amazing!!
Simple fact here is that if you are a fan of RAINBOW or classic DEEP PURPLE, this should easily be the next album you buy, it really is nothing like anything else being released at the moment and the band actually sound more like DEEP PURPLE than DEEP PURPLE themselves have sounded for the last decade or so and now that the album has fully sunken into my brain I am willing to call it a modern day classic and something that will sit very proudly in my collection. And guess what…. It’s better than anything DEEP PURPLE has released since the eighties!! There has been a lot of talk so far about DEMON’S YE sounding a lot like RAINBOW and Doogie White sounding very close to Ronnie James Dio, which of course I do agree with, but I am surprised that there hasn’t been much mention of the fact that Doogie also brings to the table a vocal approach that is very reminiscent of Ian Gillan in his better days…wails, screams and all. We also need to make a special mention here for guitarist Mark Zyk who has obviously built his entire guitar playing style around the influence of Ritchie Blackmore and he does a great job of sounding like him but still adds enough individuality as to not come across as a straight-out imitator, it’s a fine line sure but Zyk certainly seems up to the task. Keyboardist and Hammond Organist Florian Pritsch has also obviously taken a vast load of inspiration and influence from the one and only John Lord and really adds that classic seventies vibe to the overall already amazing sound.
I won’t do a song by song analysis here as each track would deserve its own paragraph, but I will note a few of the real standouts with a little more information. The opening track UNKNOWN STRANGER for example deserves a special mention as once the rolling drums bring song in to full fruition you will be instantly transported back to a time when DP reigned supreme. The next highlight comes in THE BEST OF TIMES, which is a slow progressive rock tinged tune that will have lighters flashing in crowds across the globe. In fact the song is featured twice, once as a standard version and then as a bonus track at the end there is a seven minute extended version which is purely mesmerizing. A FOOLISH MAN is pure classic era RAINBOW and features probably one the best vocals I’ve ever heard from Doogie White. MIDNIGHT IN HEAVEN OR HELL mixes some classic DEEP PURPLE with some blues rock in the style of somebody like BAD COMPANY and really comes off as something special. The nine minute opus FAR AWAY FROM THE RAINBOW is a great song that you could swear should have been written by Ritchie Blackmore and will more than please fans from both camps.
All I can say now is that I hope this turns out to be more than just a project and that Doogie White becomes a fully-fledged member of DEMON’S EYE, they really are a perfect match and once the wider rock community gets a hold of this album I’m sure it’s going to be huge. There truly is nothing coming out these days that sounds anything like this and if you are a fan of DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW or even just a fan of classic rock and early heavy metal in general there is no question as to whether you should get this one or not. Mark my words, THE STRANGER WITHIN is one of the big albums of 2011 and will appear very highly in just about every rock fans best of list come year’s end.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating : 10/10