WILL WALLNER & VIVIEN VAIN – The Battle Of Clyst Heath (2014)
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British guitarist / ‘Guitar World’ columnist Will Wallner and Croatian singer Vivien Vain already surprised us two years ago with the very good self-titled debut presented here on the blog. Now WILL WALLNER & VIVIEN VAIN return with their second opus “The Battle Of Clyst Heath“, again with stellar guests.
If you are new to the duo, Will Wallner and Vivien Vain met after arriving in America from Europe. Discovering they shared similar musical tastes they began to write together. After a year performing around L.A. they ran into legendary drummers Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath / DIO) & Carmen Appice (King Cobra) who, after hearing the Wallner / Vain demo, agreed to perform drums on their debut album.
The project then evolved to feature several other high calibrer guests such as Brian Tichy, Rudy Sarzo, Tony Franklin, Jimmy Bain, Derek Sherinian and Tony Carey with Wallner and Vain performing all guitars and vocals respectively.
Most of the same seasoned musicians appear too on “The Battle Of Clyst Heath”, but now Will Wallner / Vivien Vain is an established solid band. Alongside Wallner / Vain there’s former White Wizzard drummer Giovanni Durst and current DIO Disciples / Hellion bassist Bjorn Englen providing the rhythm section.
The album opens with a unique guitar rendition of the theme track to cult science fiction film “Blade Runner” originally by Greek composer Vangelis.
“Blade Runner” is a cult movie, and it’s fun to listen the song origianally composed and performed with synths now re-worked on heavy electric guitars and a full rock band.
The songs which follow are inspired by events in British history during ‘The Wars of the Roses’. All is pretty killer stuff with some epic moments and lots of melodic passages.
One of my favorites is the groovy “Black Moon” which features Carmine Appice and Tony Franklin, the original rhythm section to John Sykes’ Blue Murder. The bass lines of Franklin are simply awesome.
The album closes with a special tribute to legend Gary Moore featuring Gary’s former bandmates Don Airey and Neil Murray alongside Vinny Appice on drums. Their cover of “The Loner” is great, really melodic yet at the same time full of blood and passion.
Will Wallner / Vivien Vain, with the help of such a top notch backing band, have put together a cracking forty-four minute dose of truly enjoyable classic (Melodic) Hard Rock.
Every track on here is truly solid. Wallner delivers some excellent riffs & solos with a style like a cross between Randy Rhoads & Jake E. Lee. On the vocal side, Vain keeps it simple, giving a straight down the line performance, and her powerful pipes are a very good match for Wallner six-string work suiting this stuff to a tee.
Fans of classy ’80s hard rock, you ought to check out “The Battle Of Clyst Heath”. You won’t be disappointed.
Easily Recommended.
01 – Blade Runner
02 – The Wars of the Roses
03 – Visions of Home
04 – Eye of the Storm (feat. Vinny Appice)
05 – Black Moon (feat. Carmine Appice, Tony Franklin)
06 – You Won’t Take Me Alive
07 – The Battle of Clyst Heath
08 – The Loner (feat. Vinny Appice, Neil Murray, Don Airey)
Vivien Vain: Vocals
Will Wallner: Guitars, Keyboards
Bjorn Englen: Bass
Giovanni Durst: Drums
Guest Musicians:
Vinny Appice – Drums on tracks 4, 8
Carmine Appice – Drums on track 5
Tony Franklin – Bass on track 5
Neil Murray – Bass on track 8
Don Airey – Keyboards on track 8
BUY IT !
www.amazon.com/Battle-Clyst-Heath-Wallner-Vivien/dp/B00OSCD2E2
www.wallnervain.com/shop.html
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