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BLACKMORE'S CASTLE Volume II A TRIBUTE TO DEEP PURPLE & RAINBOW LION MUSIC LMC121 (Release Date: 25 February 2005)  Tracklist 1. Stormbringer - Domain 2. Lady Of The Lake - Michael Harris 3. Mary Long - Dogpound 4. Burn - Onion Riders 5. I Surrender - Daniel Flores And Friends 6. Kill The King - Baltimoore 7. All Night Long - Rolf Munkeys / Gerald Kloos 8. Maybe I'm A Leo - Man On Fire 9. Mistreated - Chris Catena 10. Lady Starstruck - House Of Shakira 11. Can't Let You Go - Takara 12. Soldier Of Fortune - Chris Heaven Late 2003 Volume One of Blackmore's Castle was released by Lion Music. A diverse album with 7 Deep Purple and 6 Rainbow tracks covered by various bands of the Lion Music label. These bands didn't choose for the common way of stick close to the original versions but we got a whole range of various styles including extreme heavy, trash, techno and even folk and industrial music. Thisa time there are 12 tracks, equally splitted between songs of Rainbow and Deep Purple. Domain kicks this CD off with a heavy rockin' version of "Stormbringer". Good vocals by Carsten "Lizard" Schulz on this track. "Lady Of The Lake" is done in a heavy way as well by guitarist Michael Harris. "Mary Long" has a fine guitarsolo, another heavy covered version. "Burn" has a weak sound, the mix is below standard. Very heavy drums. Good vocals here by Joe Lombardo. In the middle a very nice slow part with piano before it kicks off again to a heavy ending with thundering drums and fast guitar plus excellent keyboardwork. Pity about the mix. "I surrender" is done as a heavy powerballad version. Not bad! Baltimoore delivers a solid version of "Kill the King". The singer sound a bit Queen's Roger Taylor when he sings. The track was already available on Baltimoore's "Ultimate Tribute" CD. Rolf Munkes & Gerald Kloos give a real turn to "All Night Long" with derogatory drumpatterns, great guitar and good vocals. Not exactly Graham Bonnet standards, but a fine version. Man on Fire do a solid modern "Maybe I'm A Leo". Chris Catena gives us a fine version of "Mistreated" and House Of Shakira bring a heavy rockin' version of Starstruck. "Can't Let You Go" is a great version by Takara, a bit heavier than the original. The last track is "Soldier Of Fortune" by Chris Heaven. A fine emotional version. This Volume II is a better one than the Volume I of Blackmore's Castle. All songs are staying closer to the originals than on the first volume. Most are more modern, power metal versions in the vein of bands like Judas Priest, Stratovarius and Helloween. This CD just rocks. Play it loud! Rating: 4 out of 5  |