Label: Metal Mind Productions
Review by Tony Cannella
Wallner & Vain is the collaborative hard rock/metal project put together by English guitarist Will Wallner (former White Wizzard ) and Croatian power house vocalist Vivien Vain. Despite both being from Europe, Wallner and Vain met in America and secured a star studded line-up of guest musicians for their debut, “Rising”.
While “Rising” boasts a ton of talent, the most important thing is the material and fortunately the songs are definitely well written and recorded. Each song stands on its own and with the likes of the Appice brothers on drums, Tony Franklin, Rudy Sarzo and Derek Sherinian to name a few, how could you go wrong. Throughout the 38-minute disc, Wallner & Vain delivers 9-songs worth of some guitar-driven classic style hard rock and metal. Will Wallner certainly brings back the guitar hero vibe that is missing from so much current metal. Lead vocalist Vivien Vain eschews the operatic thing that so many of today’s female metal singers use and instead opts for a more straight-forward metal approach. From the opening intro “The Dream” and into “Dreamstealer” the band treats us to some top flight musicianship and songs. “Streets of Rage” features a rumbling guitar riff all the way through, which works well with Vivien’s vocals. Other highlights include: “Fourteen Twenty Eight”, “All That I Want”, the instrumental piece “Rising” and “Indestructible”.
I wouldn’t say that “Rising” is the perfect album but Wallner & Vain have delivered enough good music here to make this an overall enjoyable album.
Rating – 76/100
Tracklist
- The Dream
- Dreamstealer
- Streets of Rage
- Fourteen Twenty Eight
- All That I Want
- Miles Ahead
- Soul Monster
- Rising
- Indestructible
Line Up
- Vivien Vain – Vocals
- Will Wallner – Guitar
- Tony Carey – Keys on tracks 1, 2, 8, 9 (Guest)
- Derek Sherinian – Keys on track 7 (Guest)
- Tony Franklin – Bass on tracks 3, 5, 7, 9 (Guest)
- Rudy Sarzo – Bass on tracks 4, 6 (Guest)
- Jimmy Bain – Bass on track 2 (Guest)
- Carmine Appice – Drums on tracks 3, 5, 9 (Guest)
- Vinny Appice – Drums on tracks 2, 3, 4, 6 (Guest)
- Brian Tiche – Drums on track 7 (Guest)