SHYLOCK – Rock Buster (2010)

German melodic hard rockers SHYLOCK have been around for quite sometime, with their debut emerging in 2000 – now a decade later they deliver their fifth album “Rock Buster”.

Opening cut “Damn Good” is a fantastic way to start, and has a really bittersweet feel to it. Whilst the lyrics are positive the music and melodies have a very sombre tone, which I’m sure most would think wouldn’t work, but here it does immensely well. There’s some really catchy guitar work present as well, especially during the pre-chorus – and that big chorus has a really memorable melody.
Things crank up a rock notch with “Dawn”, and later on with “Just For U”, both solid tracks.
Next, the band covers Timex Social Club’s pop-plastic “Rumours”. The original song is horrible, but the band actually do a good job on it, obviously they rock it the fook up. Strange pick anyway.
“Sunshine vs. Rain” brings a sensitive side with this great ballad by the band, with an interesting guitar work and a great performance by Matthias Schenk that puts him in the elite status with fellow countrymen like Germany’s Claus Lessmann (BONFIRE) and Michael Voss (MAD MAX, CASANOVA).

“Rose Of Cairo” has an unbelievable catchy chorus, a serpent snake-charmer melody with some oriental twist.
I love the next track called “Strong”, maybe my favorite here, a classy european mid-tempo in the best FRONTLINE / BONFIRE tradition.
“The Moment” is another highlight, a very commercial sing-along tune sounding a lot like CASANOVA. This should be their rock-radio single, it would be playing on every rock station in the U.S. if it got the right support.
“Wrong Planet” is a little different song, specially the arrangements, and is worthy of mention just for the awesome guitar work. Just listen the solo. This is a serious contender for the best of the year.

“Rock Buster” is not as instant as its predecessor (‘Devotion’), although after a couple of spins the album started to grab me, especially after I played it while I was pre-occupied with something else and caught myself singing along to “Rose Of Cairo”.
Shylock have managed to deliver a classy melodic hard rock album, well produced, full of pounding drums and bass, and coupled with some big ass riffs / solos and very good melodies.
I hope the Melodic Rock world will take notice of “RockBuster”, one of the best european releases of the year in this genre.

01 – Damn Good
02 – Dawn
03 – Rumours
04 – Sunshine vs. Rain
05 – Just For U
06 – Much
07 – Rose Of Cairo
08 – Strong
09 – Somebody Else
10 – The Moment
11 – We Are
12 – Wrong Planet

Matthias Schenk – vocals and acoustic guitar
Johannes Amrhein – lead/rhythm guitars and bass
Michael ‘Nudge’ Bayer – lead/rhythm guitars
Achim Thiergartner – drums

Additional Musicians:
Ondrej Hurbanic – keyboards and guitar
Bernhard Schwingenstein – bass

www.shylockmusic.de
IF YOU LIKE IT, BUY IT!