If you are not familiar with Ian Parry, now is the time to put that right. He possesses, not only in my opinion, one of the most powerful yet melodic voices in rock and is a bit of a musical genius to boot.
Spells with Vengeance (surely one of the best “Euro metal” outfits of the 1980/1990 spawning such greats as Arjen Lucassen), Elegy (surely one of the best progressive metal bands of the 1990s) and his career-defining jaw-droppingly awesome five album long epic prog-rock/metal odyssey which was the Consortium Project put Parry right up there with anyone else you’d care to mention.
Now we have his latest offering – the “Society of Friends”. As the title suggests Ian has called up some tasty names to add their weight to proceedings as the Rock Emporium gets off the ground. It’s a bit like the glorious Consortium Project with most (but not all) of the progressive bits chopped off to give a splendid classic/melodic metal album with hints of the 1970s and 1980s throughout.
More than enough power to give it some kick. More than enough finesse and melody to make one think of something like period Whitesnake sort of before they went too far in to MTV territory.
Parry sings up a storm. He’s on top form indeed. So is the musicianship. Top, top notch indeed. The Vengenace connection is maintained with Barend Courbois putting in some tight lines and Timo Sommers (son of Jan) shredding away gloriously amongst the punchy yet clean riffage.
The “Society of Friends” Parry has called up boasts an impressive cast list all playing their part to full effect. This is not one of those “look at the names so it must be good” then it isn’t jobs. The Rock Emporium is the real deal.
As a taster, check out Stone Cold Fever. A cautionary tale is told lyrically and the punch is packed.
https://youtu.be/yzLqYpE5Q6s
The rest of the album is first class melodic metal/classic rock in a similar vein. Nothing not to like here. I hope there’s more to come from the Rock Emporium.
Indeed, I’ve just discovered that Ian has done the vocals on an album by Eternity’s End titled the Fire Down Below featuring the remarkable guitarist Christian Muenzner who also plays here on Society of Friends. I’ll get my hands on that and review in due course. UPDATE: here’s the review.
In the meantime, Ian Parry’s Rock Emporium demands your attention!
UPDATE FROM IAN PARRY.
I’ve received an email from Ian about the worldwide release via CD Baby. Here it is with the link to CD Baby and a “radio sampler” video giving a taste of some of the track on the album.
“Non-Stop Productions and Ian Parry are proud to announce the official worldwide download of the debut Rock Emporium Remaster vi.a CD BABY. http://cdbaby.com/cd/ianparrysrockemporium The CD Baby Link for Ian Parry’s Rock Emporium album “Society of Friends” official download contains 2 bonus tracks and the album has been remastered “LOUD N PROUD”. (For Europe & Japan the download and CD album version is available via Escape Music UK). As always thanks again for supporting our music.
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