Album review: THE GRANDMASTER – Skywards

October 13th, 2021 by brianmc

Frontiers [Release date 15.10.21]

Grandmaster is vocalist Nando Fernandez of Brazilian metal band, Sinistra, paired with incomparable metal guitarist Jens (Edguy) Ludwig. It’s a match made in Frontiers’ HQ.

The songs have been written by, and the album produced by the label’s inhouse man, Alessandro DelVecchio.

Ultimately, there is less here than meets the eye.

Much of Skywards is designer label hard rock/melodic metal from the lower divisions, with songs cut and tailored from a long out of date template.

Del boy’s clinical, precise approach fails to engage. The musicianship is impressive, the melodies are okay, and the arrangements are awash with finely formed orchestrations, but it’s often hard to find an emotional pulse.

Highpoints, ‘Lunar Water’, ‘Someday Somehow’ and ‘Skywards, Earhwards’ are robust, carefully crafted slices of melodic metal, buoyed by Ludwig’s sparkling, melodic axework, which compensates in part for Fernandez’s strangled vowels and over theatrical delivery.

But elsewhere and too often, tracks like ‘The Tempest’, ‘Dead Bond’ and ‘Turn The Page’ are formulaic and lacklustre. They lean heavily on Ludwig’s excitingly sophisticated guitarwork to carry them through.

And so the album becomes hogtied by its own format, introducing an attention eroding predictability as the music unfolds. **1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)