CHINAWHITE – Evolution? (2021)
Established during the second half of the ’80s, Dutch melodic hard rock band CHINAWHITE has released four albums and gained a strong fan base at their homeland, Germany and around. With two original members still on board – guitarist / keyboardist Peter Cox and bass player Sander Stapper who actually play ‘bass guitar’ as the instrument is present up in the mix and define the band’s sound – the band keeps rocking after all these years.
After the good reception of their 2018 ‘comeback’ album tiled ‘Different’, the rejuvenated band did not need 9 years this time… no, ChinaWhite have wasted little time and deliver another set of crunching rock tracks on their new opus “Evolution?“.
From the powerful riffs of the hard rocker opener ‘No Perfect World’, the emotional ‘Somehow’, to the instrumental prowess in tracks like the ‘Evolution (?)’ or ‘Found’, the band are in top form and manage to avoid an all too formulaic sounding album.
Most of the songs here are guitar-driven, punchy hard rock with melody all over, well worked harmony vocals and cool choruses. There’s a strong rhythm section, sharp guitar riffs and fine solos.
As happened with the previous album, Chinawhite asked American vocalist Phil Vincent (D’Ercole, Tragik, Cranston) to take the singer’s slot. It’s cool to hear him doing something different – all songs are written by Cox & Stapper – in fact, at places, if you don’t tell that’s Phil Vincent I wouldn’t guess.
Faithful to ChinaWhite’s style, the sound of “Evolution?” inspired by the ’80s but with a modern, clean production, well mixed and mastered.
It’s a guitar driven affair, traditional hard rock with some progressive twists for variation. A very solid recording, interesting all the way.
Highly Recommended
01 – No Perfect World
02 – Motor Queen
03 – Lonely At The Top
04 – Screamer
05 – The Alternative Way
06 – Somehow
07 – Through To You
08 – Rock It
09 – Pills And Thrills
10 – Evolution?
11 – Found (A New Religion)
Peter Cox – guitars, keyboards, additional voices
Sander Stappers – bass guitar
Bart Fleuren – drums
Phil Vincent – lead and harmony vocals
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