Author Archives: Odyssey

About Odyssey

I have had a life-long love of music, but from the first time I heard Kiss and Black Sabbath with my landlord's son in Nicholasville, KY in the mid 70's, I have been hooked on Hard Rock and Metal. While my tastes in music have done nothing but expand since then, Metal remains closest to my heart. In addition, I have played bass, still play guitar and have literally 1000's of CDs/MP3s, so my knowledge is long steeped and honest. I don't buy the whole splintered, sub-genres thing and choose to like bands and music based solely on individual merits. Obviously, this is always colored by my mood, what I need at any given point and time and what is generally pleasing to my ear. I also don't like to rip any music or band, instead having an open mind and ear for it all because I have a passion for it all. It is completely subjective and in a constant state of flux. Consider me a music "nerd" not a music "snob". As an extension of this love, I hope to share this passion with everyone here and learn from your passion as well! - Odyssey -

Review of Seven Kingdoms “Decennium”: Some Of The Best European Power Metal Now Comes From Florida

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Seven Kingdoms is:

Sabrina Valentine – Vocals
Camden Cruz – Guitar
Kevin Byrd – Guitar
Keith Byrd – Drums
Aaron Sluss – Bass

Fans of European style Power Metal have a lot to look forward at the end of the month; especially for those that, like me, love female fronted Metal of any type! There is just something about the timber of the female voice that runs straight through me, especially when they as good as the mighty pipes of lovely little Ms. Sabrina Valentine Cruz (not meant to be cute, she is really tiny!). I have listened to Seven Kingdoms for some time now and recently covered their killer show at The Haven in Winter Park, FL (Show Review). Simply stunning! Not only are they album perfect live, but bring such a fun and energetic persona to the stage. The furious and adroit abilities of guitarists Camden Cruz and Kevin Byrd effortlessly flow at ridiculous speeds while the rhythms and shared leads of Aaron Sluss’ bass lines are driven by the bedrock foundation of Keith Byrd’s blasting drums. Not to fault any of these killer players, Sabrina’s vocals are what hooked me a couple of years ago after first hearing The Fire Is Mine from 2012. Her voice emotes beautifully with such sparkling power and purity. Truly the voice of an angel and helps make Seven Kingdoms a damned addiction.

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Australian Thrashers Alkira: “Klotho” Review and Stream

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Alkira is:


Gregory Challis – Lead guitar/Vocals
Kyle Simpson – Rhythm guitar
Sean Grubel – Bass guitar
Ryan Quarrington – Drums


Artwork by: Aaron Schirmer

There are tons of really good, notable Metal bands that have originated down-under in Australia like Parkway Drive, Destroyer 666, AC/DC, Psycroptic, Mortal Sin, Airbourne, Karnivool, Wolfmother and many others over the years. With a wide variety of styles and sounds, there has apparently never been a shortage of pit worthy music to choose from. With a soul of technical Thrash and Punk, you can now add Alkira to that lauded list…

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State of the Art: Idaho – Vault7

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*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*

This month’s State is Idaho!

Week number two with our State of the Art: Idaho series brings us again to the capital city of Boise. This Hard Rock/Metal outfit has graced the stage with bands like Anthrax, Trapt, Zoso, Death Angel, Cover Your Tracks, Righteous Vendetta, Like a Storm and many, many others in their two year history. That’s right, only two years and they already playing with these legendary acts! Sounds like history in the making to me. The band, my friends, is Vault7!

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World Premiere Of 3 Kisses “Dead Man’s Hand”!

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In July, we covered Alaska for our State of the Art series, where we discovered a little gem of a band called 3 Kisses and immediately got behind them just prior to their killer release of Angels Bleed Black.  Primarily known as a fun, Punk/Alt-Hard Rock band, 3 Kisses has begun a slide into the heavier side of things with this, their latest release.  Shortly after our review, we were contacted by this stellar group of musicians and offered a behind-the-scenes, exclusive listen to their upcoming, 2017 album for our thoughts.  Damn!  Just, freakin’ damn!  All stops have been pulled out with this fiery album and is assuredly the most hard hitting and passionate albums to date (they now have nine, kick-ass releases since 2004, so these are big words)!  With zero throw-aways, this album rolls the dice with a new direction and proves that 3 Kisses can do anything they damned well please and do it astoundingly well.  When we were preparing our list of The Most Anticipated Albums of 2017, 3 Kisses simply had to be included based on what we had already heard and asked the band if we could include one of the tracks in our article, which they generously agreed to.  So, without further ado, it is with great pleasure that we are able to premiere 3 Kisses “Dead Man’s Hand” off of their upcoming, 2017 album!  Enjoy and just wait until you hear the rest of this album!  H…O…L…Y… Cow!

More on 3 Kisses can be found on:

Web  Twitter  Facebook  ReverbNation  Soundcloud  YouTube  MySpace

Review of The Caveat’s Absolutely Brilliant, Self-Titled Debut

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The Caveat is:

Michael Stancel – Lead Guitar

Kyle Neeley, Guitar

Nik Schafer – Bass

Paul Christiansen – Drums

Artwork by Mikey Stancel

After recently reviewing The Caveat (Review) I was given the opportunity to get my hands on a signed, pre-release copy by the generosity of the band. I have listened to the singles extensively since being introduced to this killer band by my friend Ben Gleason, the guitarist/vocalist for my number one spot on last year’s best album, Return to Nothing by Source, but was not quite prepared for the difference that organizing the singles into a cohesive CD makes. The singles are obviously good by themselves and stand strong individually but as a full album, they are nothing short of amazing! This is already a peremptory favorite for Best of 2017! There must be something in the water in Colorado…

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State of the Art: Idaho – Time 4 Change

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*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*

This month’s State is Idaho!

We move on to a new month and a new year with a brand new State of the Art series, this time covering Idaho. Bordered by Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, Canada, Idaho was the 43rd state to join the Union on July 3rd, 1890. While there is no certainty how the name was derived, it is most likely an adaptation of a word from the Shoshone, Plains Apache or Comanche Indians. With a current population of 1.7 million and covering some 84,000 square miles, “The Gem State” is the 39th most populated state and the 14th largest. Of course, everyone thinks potatoes when thinking about Idaho, and with good reason since the state provides a full one third of the country’s total yield each year. Hailing from Idaho’s state capitol of Boise come my first SOTA highlight of the year: Time 4 Change, who currently sit in the fifth spot on regional, ReverbNation charts for Idaho.

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Turbo Shokk Brings The Best Of Hair Metal With “Get Radical”

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Turbo Shokk is:

Ryan “Razor” O’Shea – Bass
Michael Arcane – Drums
Stack Manley – Vocals

Additional Musicians:
Hedras Ramos – Lead guitar

Tony Petrocelly – Bass and guitar/Production

To close out the year check, out Turbo Shokk’s debut release of Get Radical that was released less than a month ago on Edgewood Arsenal Records. New Year’s Eve is all about having fun; reminiscing about the past while looking forward to the future and Turbo Shokk fits the bill perfectly for both!

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Review and Stream of Tactus “Bending Light”: Where Overwhelming Technical Abilities Illicit Emotional Response

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Tactus is:

Jason MacKnight – Vocals

Ben MacLean – Drums/Programming

Steve Parish – Bass

Alec Dobbelsyeyn – Guitar

Adrian Barnes – Guitar/Vocals

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Review of The Blue Sunshine Family Band’s Dazzling, Self-Titled Debut

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The band’s name is The Blue Sunshine Family Band. They are from Santa Rosa, California. Now, go ahead and check out the beautiful and cool artwork by David Paul Seymour (also of various Wo Fat albums, Hendrix: Electric Ladyland (Redux), The Vintage Caravan, Ironaut, Doomstress and many others). Don’t listen to it yet though. Get a sound in your head that you think is going to fit. Thinking it is some sanctimonious, rehashed peace, love, rainbows and unicorns, hippie, acoustic crap? Maybe some weird, ethereal, atmospheric stuff with annoying, Far Eastern dissonance and sitars? A Pink Floyd tribute band maybe? No, no and, uh no. Said to have the “Heart of Metal. Mind of Jazz. Soul of Blues.”, The Blue Sunshine Family Band is a very heavy, fuzzy guitar based instrumental band that will simply blow your f’in mind!

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Odyssey’s 25 Best Albums Of 2016

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