A band in name only, Brussels' Iron Mask is really the brainchild of guitarist Dushan Petrossi, but despite recurring turnover in his supporting roles and frequent contributions from whichever gun-for-hire strikes Petrossi's fancy, 2011's Black as Death sounds pretty cohesive from start to finish…

"World On Fire" is the 20th studio album by virtuoso guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen and was released on June 1st, 2016. The Swedish guitarist says he spent two years working on the record between tours - which he says made the songwriting process "inspiring." So once again we have a masterpiece by The Master that will be exalted up by fans and guitar maniacs which will go down as a classic Malmsteen release.

Japanese singer Haco's career ranged from the indie rock band After Dinner in the early '80s to the avant-pop trio Hoahio, often incorporating unusual sound sources and experimental musicians along the way. Happiness Proof is essentially very much a rock album with both punk and Japanese power pop surfacing as overt influences…

Bai Bang is a Swedish glam act that's funnily released a new wave/disco feel debut, "Enemy Lines", in 1988 and then jumped ship to release a pop-metal/melodic rock album three years later. Much sought after 2nd album from the Swedish Glam rockers, originally released in 1991 and much closer to the Scandi AOR stuff. Musically singer Diddi Kastenholt & Co. oriented not quite as strong on the Glam-/Poser rock sound as today, but focused even more on a classic Melodic Rock of the brand TREAT, DALTON and FATE.

American Anthems II has three CDs of great rock repertoire that has stood the test of time. it includes tracks from Kiss, ZZ Top, Foreigner, Toto and Tina Turner as well as Prince, Fleetwood Mac, R.E.M., Extreme and David Lee Roth. There's also newer anthems from The Killers, Train and Kid Rock.

The second Miss Behaviour-record is no older than three years but trouble with the old label made it quite hard to get hold of it. Two well-crafted bonus cuts, that originate from the very session, but were recorded shortly afterwards with the new line-up, round off approximately an hour of melodic fireworks. Miss Behaviour let the eighties come alive again, but manage not to sound old-fashioned. The fast "Cynthia", the ballad-like "Till We Meet Again" and at least a handful other tracks would most likely have been hits back in the days. Pure AOR - mighty keyboards all over the place, massive choirs and fantastic hook lines make this album a blueprint-record of the genre…

Avishai Cohen contributed all ten selections to Continuo, originals that are often influenced by Middle Eastern music. Cohen's bass dominates throughout, easily taking the most solo space. His trio with pianist Sam Barsh and drummer Mark Guilliana is tight, often being joined by Amos Hoffman on oud. The music is atmospheric, sometimes introspective, touched strongly by Western classical music and spontaneous in spots.