KING ZEBRA BETWEEN THE SHADOWS ALBUM REVIEW

REVIEWER – GRAEME WRIGHT

I’m relatively new to the King Zebra party, having only really become aware of them through their song ‘She Doesn’t Like My R’n R’’ which landed in 2021. I duly picked up the album ‘Survivors’ which was excellent, with an amazing collaboration between the band and Guernica Mancini (ex-Thundermother) on the song ‘Wall Of Confusion’ being the icing on the cake of a fine record. So obviously I was looking forward to the new release ‘Between The Shadows’, which is about to be released on the Frontiers label in April 2024. All you need to know about this album is that it’s excellent. It contains ten outstanding melodic Metal songs and there is no drop in quality on this record from the first note of opener ‘Starlight’ to the last beat of ‘Restless Revolution’ which closes out the album.

The band consist of a core of musicians from Zurich, Switzerland who are fronted by Eric St. Michaels (ex-China) who is from the USA. Michaels’s vocal style is the perfect fit for the brand of music this band purvey. He takes us back to the eighties effortlessly, combining a throaty gruffness with a melodic pitch that is second to none and he lifts this album to another plane. Opener ‘Starlight’ gives you a good idea of what to expect. Soaring harmonies, thunderous guitar work and a massive chorus that just has you tapping your toes and banging your head from the very first listen. ‘Children Of The Night’ is a full-on instant party record and has a sing-along chorus to die for which will surely become a huge live show favourite going forward.

‘Wicked’ is a slow build guitar driven track with more great harmonies while ‘Dina’ combines eighties Rock/Pop not heard since the likes of Night Ranger were at their peak. ‘Love Lies’ is another big tune, while ‘Cyanide’ is for me the best song on this album by a country mile. An ominous opening builds immediately to a full-blown Rock classic with hints of Alice Cooper and Ratt flowing through its veins. It’s a big song and one that is worth the price of admission on its own.

’With You Forever’ is light and mellow with the singer sounding at his most relaxed, while ‘Love Me Tonight’ is in a similar vein and is yet another AOR track of the highest quality with some superb guitar work. ‘Out In The Wild’ is a radio-friendly, windows of your car wound down type of song while the album closer ‘Restless Revolution’ is a Skid Row/Bon Jovi style hybrid and is an excellent way to finish this fine collection of breezy, summery American sounding Rock music played at its finest.

In conclusion, while the band’s previous record was really good this is a huge step up in both production values and sheer immediate songwriting quality. If you yearn for that eighties sound this will be right up your street.

BAND

Eric St Michaels – Vocals

Roman Lauer – Lead Guitar

Jerry Napitupulu – Rhythm Guitar

Manu Judge – Bass

Ben Grimm – Drums

ALBUM TRACKLIST

1. Starlight
2. Children Of The Night
3. Wicked
4. Dina
5. Love Lies
6. Cyanide
7. With You Forever
8. Love Me Tonight
9. Out In The Wild
10. Restless Revolution