C.T.P. Christian Tolle Project – Point Blank
- Posted on 17-10-2018
This record is a rather interesting one. Truth be told, I had never heard about Christian Tolle prior to this album showing up in my mailbox one day, but the line-up looked really interesting and something told me that this would be right up my alley. Luckily, I was not wrong about that.
Christian Tolle and his talented cohorts dabble in fiery and pounding hard rock/metal with huge and anthemic riffs to it that will make you tap your feet and fingers while thinking "This is pretty damn cool and catchy". Having Doug Aldrich (ex-DIO, ex-Whitesnake, The Dead Daisies) on board and listening to him rip it up on guest lead guitar is marvelous and the underrated vocalists that are David Reece (ex-Accept, ex-Bonfire) and John Cuijpers (Cooper Inc., Ayreon, Praying Mantis) do a great and inspiring job here. The band as a whole are right on the money and the production is crisp and powerful, but more importantly; the tunes that constitute the album are well-written, memorable, and varied. They harken back to how wild and vibrant rock music sounded in the 70s and 80s, but Tolle’s tracks have a rather modern sheen to them as well. There is even a cover rendition of Rainbow’s classic "Since You Been Gone" to be found on the disc and it is quite entertaining and fun to listen to even though it does not exactly improve on the original version. The highlight of the record is the driven and passionate "Too Late" as well as the epic "Before I Fall", but overall we are dealing with a solid and well-arranged album that rarely loses momentum.
"Point Blank" will be out in late October and I suggest you check this gem out if you dig energetic and hook-laden music. This is great stuff indeed!