Released by: Frontiers Records
Release Date: January 20th, 2012
Genre: Melodic Hard Rock
Links: http://www.dariomollo.com/
Line Up:
Mollo / Martin
Dario Mollo- Guitars, Bass, Keyboards
Tony Martin– Vocals
Roberto Gualdi – Drums
Fulvio Gaslini – Bass
Dario Patti / Brian War – Keyboards
Tracklist:
01. Wicked World
02. Cirque Du Freak
03. Oh My Soul
04. One Of The Few
05. Still In Love With You
06. Can’t Stay Here
07. Wardance
08. Don’t Know What It Is About You
09. Blind Fury
10. Violet Moon
11. Wicked World
Certainly people will remember the classic rock vocalist Tony Martin from his 2 stints in Black Sabbath eventually becoming the second longest vocalist with the band after Ozzy left, 1987 to 1991 and again from 1993 to 1997. Even though known primarily as a lead vocalist Martin is a multi instrumentalist who has worked with many side projects through the years. One of his collaborations rose above and beyond when he teamed up in the late 90’s with Italian guitar player/producer Dario Mollo, Tony Martin wrote lyrics and melodies for the amazing tracks that Dario had already had assembled for a future project, and thus The Cage was born.
The first 2 Cage projects received a nice following then with the Classic Rock crowd, and now they teamed up once more with the behind the writing prowess of Dario and the melodic arrangements of Tony. As for Martin goes; anything that he is involved in usually deserves a good listen, cause even at his age the man is a vocal icon and still sounds great. Not to my surprise the collection of songs on the Third Cage album are all high powered Hard Rock/Metal tunes with a conjure of tight guitar tones and melodies that will blow a fuse or two to compliment Martin’s ear shattering vocals.
The album opens with the group first’s single of choosing “Wicked World”, which doesn’t really stand out as much even when I listen to the video I couldn’t assimilate that style of the song to that of the record just because it features some varied styles all combined into one. The power of “Oh My Soul” is one of the premier tracks on the album, featuring some excellent guitar work by Mollo, a slower number which focuses on Martin’s metal-esque pipes with keen intent. The inspired metal anthem “Wardance” brings flashes of the great Dio, a true metal hymn that stands out as another premier tune with a mind blistering guitar solo and riff that dominates it’s core. Some of the slower tunes remind of Black Sabbath era days circa “Cross Purposes” 1994 another album which Tony appeared in, the reason I say this is because Martins vocal atonement at slower ballad tunes, it just sounds great and moving and on the last track here “Violet Moon” you get that feeling.
Alright forget that Tony looks like Peter Gabriel now a days or that he has been awol for a while in terms of releasing new material as a complete album, this project here marks his return back to the scene with vengeance. Leave it to a nice collabo from a talented guitar player/producer like Mollo to deliver a peak record with one of the legendary voices in the scene for a long time. It works great because the guitar sound here is what resonates well with me, the sound itself is fresh, crisp and mean all into one, this lets Tony do it’s thing on the vocal front. The writing itself is pretty straight up forward but it tags side by side with the theme of each track. Is nice to hear Tony back in business and I believe they have aspirations to hit the road this time around for loyal fans to hear them live in the flesh. Good record must listen!!!
Written by Denys
Ratings   Denys   8/10
About Author
