Mad Max – Stormchild Rising
Label: Steamhammer/SPV
Release date: August 24th, 2020
Website: www.facebook.com/MADMAXband
MAD MAX from Münster/Germany put out their thirteenth album and their 35+ years run and like always they do not disappoint. Frontman Michael Voss (CASANOVA, WOLFPAKK, MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST) has a very unique voice. “Stormchild Rising“ is mostly melodic hard rock as it should be. The “Stormchild“ character on the artwork, reaching back to the iconic 1985 album of the band, has been beautifully revived by our own editor Kai Brockschmidt. The lyrics this time, though, are pretty shallow at times (e.g. “Ladies & Gentlemen“) and a couple of tracks are rather average (“Rain Rain“, “Kingdom Fall“ or “Take Her“) songwriting-wise. But the powerful album opener “Hurricaned“, the melodic and groovy “Gemini“, which is reminiscent of the mighty SCORPIONS, or the the highly melodic “Eyes Of Love“ are absolute highlights of the genre. Lots of diverse and powerful guitars by Jürgen Breforth make „Stormchild“ pretty heavy on most of the songs and a sophisticated, pristine production completes the picture here. All the songs will work on stage for sure, too. Comes, amongst others, with a guest appearance of Oz Fox (g, STRYPER) on “The Blues Ain’t No Stranger“. Good to have bands like MAD MAX around.
7/10
Martin Stark
Tracklist:
1. Hurricaned 3:29
2. Talk To The Moon 4:13
3. Eyes Of Love 3:33
4. Ladies And Gentlemen 4:51
5. Mindhunter 4:36
6. Rain Rain 4:25
7. Gemini 3:52
8. Kingdom Fall 5:02
9. The Blues Ain’t No Stranger 4:17
10. Take Her 3:32
11. Busted 4:51
12. Ladies And Gentlemen (Single Edit) 3:40
