Rob Rock – The Voice of Melodic Metal: Live In Atlanta

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Detractors of Impellitteri/Driver front-man Rob Rock will (rightly) immediately question the rather self-serving title to this hour-long live recording from the 2008 ProgPower festival in Atlanta. But Rock has been referring to himself as “The Voice of Melodic Metal” for some time now, and although his voice is somewhere derivative, it is still technically very good, so while not perhaps The voice, he’s still one of the best. His best material, however, lies with other bands, so here we have the usual mixture of solo songs, drawing primarily from latest album Garden of Chaos, with plenty of cliché anthems like Rock The Earth and Metal Breed amongst genuine anthems like This Time Is The Last Time. The standout performances on this set are not however Rock’s, but his guitarists Carl Johan Grimmark and Danial Hall, who deliver outstanding solos on In The Night and Only A Matter of Time. This show is also being issued on DVD, which will probably be of greater interest to Rob’s fans as the sound mix is lacking a little in bass, leaving the guitar tone quite thin, probably to make Rock’s voice as the dominent component. If you’re not a fan of Rock already, this won’t convince you, but if you are this will probably find its way into your collection without causing offense. His work with Impellitteri is largely better, so the uninitiated should start there.

Written by Andy Lye
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