Axxis – Monster Hero

Label: Phonotraxx Publishing  Playing Time:   Release: 05^th October 2018

Axxis, which are from the Ruhr area in Germany, have been active for 30 years. In that period of time they have already released 14 albums. A huge number! Now they are about to release album no 15 called Monster Hero . An interesting fact to mention is that the songs were written only by vocalist Bernhard Weiß and keyboard player Harry Oellers, who also played all the guitars on the recordings. This fact is interesting because it does not become obvious when listening to the album.

Also on album no 15 Axxis keep their well-known recipes: Modern Hardrock with catchy choruses that always borders closely on Power Metal. Like on former albums, there can be found again a lot of songs with catchy tunes. I have to mention the title track, ‘Living As Outlaws’, ‘Firebird’ and the cheesy ‘Give Me Good Times’. Thus everything is as expected. But I think that the albums meets the expectations way too much. All songs are too predictable: Verse, first chorus after a minute, verse, second chorus, solo, last chorus, then ending after roughly 4 minutes. No doubt: This structure is approved and it works. But we are talking about a band with a lot of experience in songwriting. In this case  you should expect something different. More variation, more unpredictable attempts, not only a sure shot. Due to this predictable approach, “Monster Hero” has become a nice album for background music at a party, but it does not capture your attention.

https://axxis.de