KAISAS – Degitalize (2014)
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Founded by Greek guitarist Babis Kaisas, KAISAS pleasantly surprised us two years ago with their debut (presented on 0dayrox) featuring renowned UK vocalist Tony Mills (Shy, TNT) at the mic.
Now Kaisas returns with a new line-up including melodic hard rockers Heaven’s Edge vocalist Mark Evans and drummer Allen Brunelle (Mystic Force) and a second effort entitled “Degitalize”.
Kaisas plays Melodic Hard Rock with some US ’80s glam / hair influences, in a style that evokes Alice Cooper (the ‘Kane Roberts’ era), MacAlpine (Eyes Of The World), Q5, some Dokken, etc, with a sound inspired in the late Eighties / early Nineties.
The overall feel on this new record is much more commercial than on debut which featured a bit of classic metal in it, now Kaisas is focused on stronger melodic choruses and warmer instrumentation.
”Rockin’ In The Digital World” (with lyrics against digital media) and “No Offence” provide a strong opening and declaration of intent.
If you are fan of Aldo Nova’s work definitely you will like “Poisoned Heart” is based around a stout guitar riff that the other instruments allow the space to breath and it’s one of the highlights.
There’s strong compositions on the dynamic “Bloody War”, the rockier “Stand And Fight”, “Strangers In The Night” and the moving mid-tempo “Wounded And Alone”.
Closing track “Helen” – a good ballad with some Poison in mind – might have been better sequenced at the middle of the album, and then Kaisas could have used one of the more epic penultimate pieces such as the harder “The Highlander” or “Roar Of A Distant Thunder” to end the disc in an upbeat rocking manner.
As on debut, Kaisas like to add a cover on his albums. This time they have reworked Cutting Crew’s classic “(I Just) Died In Your Arms” which is a touch darker and grittier than the original and it’s another favorite from the CD. Results a little annoying to say that a cover version is among the highlights album, I know, but, honestly, it’s different enough from the original for Kaisas to be proud of what they’ve done with it.
But we have more. In the digital release of “Degitalize” they offer as bonus track another cover; Def Leppard’s “Hysteria”. A risky choice for sure, but it’s nicely done (with an extended solo) and a good addition on the record.
“Degitalize” is a good, classic Melodic Hard Rock album with good songs, double-tracked guitars a-plenty, lots of reverb ambiance and some good old-fashioned eighties rock harmonies.
Babis’ guitar work is more than competent (he also handles bass) and Mark Evans sounds every bit the great rock voice he is. Kaisas is quite tight as unit and the performances are solid. Perhaps what it isn’t that solid is production, on some tracks with some improvable flaws.
Anyway, “Degitalize” well worth a listen if late eighties/early nineties MHR/AOR is your thing, because Kaisas are faithful to the genre and are good at this game.
01. Rockin’ In The Digital World
02. No Offence
03. Poisoned Heart
04. Bloody War
05. Wounded And Alone
06. (I Just) Died In Your Arms
07. Stand And Fight
08. Strangers In The Night
09. Baby Don’t Cry
10. The Highlander
11. Roar Of A Distant Thunder
12. Helen
13. Hysteria (digital bonus)
Mark Evans – Vocals
Babis Kaisas – Guitars, Bass
Allen Brunelle – Drums
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