(label)
27 December 2013 (released)
22 February 2014
There’s something a little pompous about naming an album after yourself, particularly when it is your first EP and even more so when its a genre as ostentatious as late 70s-80s style hard rock. But this plucky, young Romanian-born Canadian upstart is clearly going for a statement of intent throughout his self titled album so there is absolutely no holding back.
Drawing from elements of ‘European Celtic/Folk’ this heavy metal enthusiast betrays his generation, opting for ACDC or Iron Maiden style anthems that are loud and catchy like the theme music of a 90s WWE wrestler. Considering he is only in his mid-twenties, Gabriel Olteanu’s understanding of effective composition is up there with the great bands who dominated the period in which this much loved genre thrived. He's not pushed the boat out in terms of delivering something different, but he sounds effortlessly clinical in providing the common aspects of the genre which prove his expertise.
Though pretty much faultless in its execution, from its lyricism right through to its packed stadium-style intensity, one fails to see just where a three track glam rock record, which wouldn’t sound out of place in a compilation that includes Def Leppard, fits in in modern times. It will take a lot more than the handsome frontman to pull in the Bieber-obsessed pop masses, so could this just be a brief stroll down memory lane for metal heads?
