{"id":14452,"date":"2013-10-18T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2013-10-18T00:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=14452"},"modified":"2013-11-07T13:49:20","modified_gmt":"2013-11-07T13:49:20","slug":"album-review-impera-pieces-of-eden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-impera-pieces-of-eden\/","title":{"rendered":"IMPERA – Pieces Of Eden (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

IMPERA
Pieces Of Eden<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nEscape Music (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Sweden\u2019s Impera is the brainchild of one J.K. Impera (aka Johan Kihlberg), an extremely talented musical journeyman known for his work with John Corabi, Bruce Kulick and Vinnie Vincent, among others. J.K. is known for his drumming ability but with his band has injected new life into the melodic rock arena.<\/p>\n

Pieces Of Eden<\/em> is Impera\u2019s second release, which follows on from 2012\u2019s superb Legacy Of Life<\/em>, and again features the talents of vocalist Matti Alfonzetti (Jagged Edge \/ Skintrade \/ Scott Gorham \/ Road To Ruin \/ Red White & Blues), guitarist Tommy Denander (Toto \/ Michael Jackson \/ Alice Cooper \/ Paul Stanley) and bassist Mats Vassfjord (John Corabi \/ Vinnie Vincent \/ Scaar \/ Grand Design). The result of this supergroup is a real treat for fans of heavy rock.<\/p>\n

Those impressed by the recent opus from Impera\u2019s UK label mates Lawless (Rock Savage<\/em><\/a>) should clamp their ears around this modern take on harmonious metal and succumb to the breathtaking grooves of the likes of \u2018Beast Within\u2019, \u2018These Chains\u2019 and the glorious \u2018All Alone\u2019.<\/p>\n

Pieces Of Eden<\/em> is a stirring rock extravaganza and one which, although it may not appear in the trendy charts, is proof that this type of music is timeless and harkens back to the halcyon days of the late 80s when struttin\u2019, traditional heavy rock was on everyone\u2019s lips and quite literally in everyone\u2019s hair too, but this is no cheesy time machine in search of hazy memory.<\/p>\n

This is a ten-track slab that combines effortless harmony with heavier grooves. The sound is polished and the vocals soulful, and it\u2019s the sort of bombastic pomp that should, by right, fill arenas.<\/p>\n

\u2018Smalltown Blues\u2019 is a straight up rocker played just for kicks, but at the other end of the spectrum we\u2019re endeared by the smokin\u2019 hot \u2018Since You\u2019ve Been Gone\u2019, which acts out like a typical late 90s roller in the more simmering Whitesnake vein.<\/p>\n

A cover of Paul Stanley\u2019s \u2018Goodbye\u2019 (originally featured on the Kiss man\u2019s 1978 self-titled solo album) has a bubblegum edge to its sprightly guitar sound, courtesy of a guest contribution from Lars Chriss (Lion\u2019s Share), with solos from Bob Kulick, who also played on the original version. Meanwhile, album closer \u2018Fire And The Flame\u2019 is a slow burner that ascends with a darker guitar riff and hard hitting drum backbone.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s nigh on impossible to pick a weak track such is the tight musicianship and hearty vocals, as the likes of \u2018Easy Come\u2019 are lead into the ears with those energetic guitars and Alfonzetti\u2019s strong delivery.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not easy to play straight up rock nowadays and maintain an edge that keeps the audience excited and energised, but Pieces Of Eden<\/em> is an accessible foray that boasts technical know-how to enable it to rise beyond the mediocrity of some by-numbers rock. This is a fine effort and should appeal to a wide audience, and even more so on the live stage.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

IMPERAPieces Of Eden Escape Music (2013)Rating: 7.5\/10 Sweden\u2019s Impera is the brainchild of one J.K. Impera (aka Johan Kihlberg), an extremely talented musical journeyman known for his work with John Corabi, Bruce Kulick and Vinnie Vincent, among others. J.K. is known for his drumming ability but with his band has injected new life into the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,763],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-impera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14452"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15069,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14452\/revisions\/15069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}