Impera - Empire Of Sin

[Stefan]

 

 

From Escape Music:

 

Impera is: Matti Alfonzetti – vocals (JAGGED EDGE, SCOTT GORHAM, SKINTRADE, ROAD TO RUIN, RED WHITE & BLUES) / Tommy Denander – guitar (TOTO, PAUL STANLEY, MICHAEL JACKSON, ALICE COOPER) / J.K. Impera – drums (BRUCE KULICK, GRAHAM BONNET, VINNIE VINCENT, JOHN CORABI, BRIAN ROBERTSON) / Mats Vassfjord - bass (VINNIE VINCENT, JOHN CORABI, SCAAR, GRAND DESIGN)

Special guest lead guitar John Leven on “Thunder in your heart”

All songs written by Tommy Denander, Matti Alfonzetti, Johan Kihlberg
Except THUNDER IN YOUR HEART written by Johan Kihlberg, John Levén, Matti Alfonzetti
All songs published by Copyright Control

Produced by Johan Kihlberg
Co-produced and mixed by Lars Chriss
Cover artwork & booklet design by Carl-André Beckston
Mastered by: Mike Lind

Impera are a melodic rock “supergroup” that consists of a guitar player who, seemingly effortlessly, delivers stunning solos and riffs of that classic, timeless grit you thought were killed off by grunge coupled with a pounding bass that will put you through the wall. Add blistering drumming that’s as solid as it is technically challenging and on top of all that, add a vocalist that sings circles around the competition. There’s no keyboard player, no nonsense, no fuzz - just rock and roll!

The whole band consists of solid musicians who have earned their wings through hard work with an impressive number of world-class stars over the years. Their combined CV reads as a who’s who in today’s rock. In various constellations they have played with Vinnie Vincent and Bruce Kulick from KISS, Brian Robertson from THIN LIZZY, John Levén from EUROPE (who guests on this new album) and many more. Guitarist Tommy Denander alone has played with almost everyone. His track record is jaw-dropping, having made solo albums with key members of TOTO and performed on albums with Michael Jackson, Paul Stanley, Alice Cooper and Ricky Martin. His own Project “Radioactive” has recorded some fine melodic rock songs.

“We all started to play because of KISS”, J.K states. We’re huge KISS-fans and collectors and even good friends with them. KISS is the reason we discovered how great rock and roll is. And following their tradition, you can count on a stage show that will take your breath away, complete with fireworks, smoke, fire and all hell’s breaking loose! The amount of powder used in a single show would put the defence of a small European country to shame.

When “Legacy of Life” (ESM244) hit the streets back in October 2012 everyone was so excited with the fresh sound these four guys had injected into the melodic rock industry. The follow up “Pieces of Eden” (ESM259) was a grand extension from this powerful foursome and so it leads us into 2015 and a new album “Empire of Sin” will be unleashed upon us. This time Impera turn on some real feisty hard rock with songs like “The Beast is dead” and “Don’t stop”. It’s nice to see John Leven make a guest appearance on “Thunder in your heart”, a song he co-wrote and it’s a song that really hits the spot.

Impera have matured and honed their sound to perfection and this is their best outing yet.

 

www.impera.org

 

www.facebook.com/pages/Impera/329944293762910

 

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9SUilZ9xM-k/VIXcAGQOPhI/AAAAAAABBVw/CaazkhzBG_4/s320/impera-empire-of-sin484.jpg

 

Tracklist:

 

01. The Beast Is Dead

02. Evil (Become A Believer)

03. Don't Stop

04. Hole In The Sky

05. End Of The World

06. Thunder In Your Heart

07. Lights In The Sky

08. Darling

09. Lost Boy

10. Fly Away

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sobIz94QmeY

Edited June 6, 2022 by Stefan

[Geoff]

Sounds better than the last album, but that wouldn't be hard to do. 'Never enough' is my pick of the 3, but 'Light in the sky' is pretty good too. I definitely feel like Alfonzetti could be doing better things with his time and am saddened that he does not occupy his time with greatness, but it might be a half decent album.

[The Rocker]

Sounds better than the last album, but that wouldn't be hard to do. 'Never enough' is my pick of the 3, but 'Light in the sky' is pretty good too. I definitely feel like Alfonzetti could be doing better things with his time and am saddened that he does not occupy his time with greatness, but it might be a half decent album.

Agree on why he isn't doing MUCH better things with his talent. He should hook up with Frontiers or even Erik Martensson!!!

[Geoff]

 

Sounds better than the last album, but that wouldn't be hard to do. 'Never enough' is my pick of the 3, but 'Light in the sky' is pretty good too. I definitely feel like Alfonzetti could be doing better things with his time and am saddened that he does not occupy his time with greatness, but it might be a half decent album.

Agree on why he isn't doing MUCH better things with his talent. He should hook up with Frontiers or even Erik Martensson!!!

 

 

The truth of the matter is - and why it's so sad - is that in his prime, he could teach Martensson lessons in song writing too. When it clicks for him, he is a master song writer and doesn't need help from people like Martensson... he just needs to quit wasting time with shit like Skintrade and this and concentrate on his own material. His last solo album was still fantastic. Those Jagged Edge songs are eternal classics. Great talent, sadly not utilised as it could and should be.

[Geoff]

So this one turned out to be not too bad. 'Never enough' is a really killer cut, and I also really like 'Evil,' 'Thunder in your heart,' 'Lights in the sky' and 'Lost boy.' Some good hard rock riffs and musicianship and some good solid songs. Not a world beater, but you could do worse than to check this one out.