Kev Rowland
Take one look at the cover, and you’ll know what this group is all about, just one man, Gus G. These days he is of course best known for being the current sidekick for Ozzy, although given the reception that Sabbath have been getting for the new album (and they destroyed Auckland on the first night of the world tour – easily one of the best gigs I have ever attended), one has to ask how much longer that gig will last. But, this band were originally formed in 1998 and he has also guested with groups such as Arch Enemy, as well as being known for many years as a guitar wizard, so it is more than a little unfair to just call him Ozzy’s guitarist, as his history is much more than that. In fact history was one of the reasons for this live album, as originally it was advertised as being an album that would be based on the 10th Anniversary shows and that lots of rarely-played material would be featured. That hasn’t transpired, but what we do have here is a very solid performance from the guys.
When visiting their website and going to the band page, what is apparent is that although it hasn’t been updated recently, the photo of vocalist Apollo Papathanasio has been removed as he is no longer in the band (although this isn’t mentioned). This is a real shame, as he is an incredible singer and he sounds as if he was really enjoying himself, and puts in a great performance throughout, even on the songs on which he didn’t originally feature such as “Between Heaven and Hell”. Gus is a great guitarist, and for the most part he plays the part of a guitar god well as opposed to showing off just because he can.
Of course fans of the band will be after this as it features the last recordings of Apollo, while anyone into power metal will really enjoy this, so it’s a shame that it also contains one of the most naff cover versions I have ever had the misfortune to come across. I mean, “Maniac” as a heavy metal song? Yep, the one from ‘Flashdance’. It is as bad as it sounds…
Overall a really strong and powerful album, just don’t play the penultimate number as it will leave you scarred…..