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THE ARCHIVES
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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
The Archives
2002-2006
» CD REVIEWS
» INTERVIEWS
» LIVE REVIEWS
» SPECIALS
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BISS
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Face - Off
2005
AOR Heaven
http://www.b-i-s-s.com
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1. Breathless
2. Pyromania
3. Rejected
4. D.S.O.D.
5. Raise The Hammer
6. Calling
7. Big Life
8. Fire In The Night
9. Lady Of The Night
10. Wiseman
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This is the third Biss album since 2002, and again with a different singer in each album. Now it's Marc Storace's turn to handle with the vocals. If that name says nothing to you maybe you'll remember a classic hard rock band called Krokus which was compared with AC/DC two decades ago. Well, Marc was Krokus' singer, and he comes to replace the exceptional singers who recorded the two previous Biss albums: Michael Bormann (Jaded Heart) and Fernando García (Victory, Wicked Sensation).
Once more this album has been produced by Michael Voss, who has also produced Casanova and Silver albums, and whom you may remember as the lead singer of many hard/rock and melodic metal German bands such as Casanova, Mad Max or Demon Drive. He also played guitar for Bonfire for a short period of time.
Biss offers classic hardrock with metal influences, but you must not think they sound too old like if this album was recorded in 1985. That is far from reality because somehow they've managed to find a modern sound without loosing their hardrock identity. They sound melodic and heavy at the same time, and each song has an unique guitar riff and strong vocals. If you've already heard any of their two previous albums then you know what I'm talking about.
The opening song "Breathless" comes wrapped up in a clean guitar but soon it changes and becomes the heavier track, good enough to start the fire! The album continues with "Pyromania", a slow-paced song with a remarkable chorus, perfect for a single. If the two first songs are good, be prepared because the best is yet to come. "Rejected" is one of the highlights of the album, don't miss the heavy singing of Marc! It's amazing, what a voice, after years and years of singing he has not lost a bit of his vocal range. Besides that I had never listened to him singing in that aggressive way. "D.S.O.D." starts as a slow song with Marc relaxed but results into a great chorus and then the song speeds up. "Raise The Hammer" sounds like a 80s hard rock hymn, again one of those songs that slowly build themselves flowing to reach an epic chorus. "Calling" returns to the heavier side of Biss, it has a great guitar melody and one of the catchiest chorus in the album, another song that could have been a great success if it had been released 15 years ago. "Big Life" is also one of my favourites, great chorus and great guitar riffing. The remaining three songs don't lower the average quality of this album. We've got "Fire In The Night", a song with a classic 80s flavour, "Lady Of The Night", the ballad of the album, and "Wiseman". Sometimes bands leave the ballad for the last song, but I prefer Biss' choice, they place the ballad one song before the album ends and then they finish with a heavy track, "Wiseman", where you can hear again some very heavy singing which I had never heard before from Marc.
Maybe this album doesn't reach the standard set by their first one, "Biss", but I personally like this one more than its predecessor "Joker In The Deck". In regards of the new singer I bet you won't miss either Fernando García nor Michael Bormann. Take an 80s Krokus album and then take "Face - Off" and you'll realize that Marc not only hasn't lost anything, in fact he now sings heavier than ever!
submitted by Jaime 17.05.2005
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rating 1 - 5 Morrigans
5 = awesome, 4 = good, 3 = average, 2 = keep practising, 1 = sell your gear!
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