Kaminari - Kaminari

Year of Release: 2002
Label: independent
Catalog Number: n/a
Format: CD
Total Time: 25:22:00

Kaminari, which is the Japanese word for Thunderstorm, is a five-piece band from southern Germany. The band was founded in 2001 and consists of: Roland Seidel (vocals), Bern A. Wick (lead guitar), Timo Reichle (guitar), Markus Beck (bass) and Pascal Vannier (drums). Kaminari is their debut album and surprisingly (for an independent band that is) it's produced by Achim Köhler (Primal Fear, Sinner etc). Furthermore Kaminari has supported bands like Chinchilla, Valley's Eve, Dark Sky and Cyberya on their tours, which might give you an impression where Kaminari stand musically.

The band blend hard rock with traditional heavy metal and the result is rather impressive. The music emphasis on heavy guitar chords and vocalist Roland Seidel's rough mid ranged vocals. Being somewhat dark in sound and with plenty of balls, Kaminari will probably appeal more to fans of melodic metal and heavy metal than the average hard rock fan. Well, it really depends which song you listen to; some draw influences from 80s hair metal while some are more in the Maiden school of metal.

All 6 songs (one being an edit) are good, no fillers, yet I do miss a standout track or two to top it all. It seems like the band is pushing forward the track "My Black Colours" due to the fact that the sixth song is a radio edit of just this very song. This slow-tempo rocker is good, but I am not sure it's the best track off the album.

The musicianship is creditable yet they do not show off like many other bands of the genre, this is very straight forward and structured. The production sounds great, so there is no doubt they got the right man for the job.

Kaminari has made a fine debut album. I am not blown away by this material, but it's good quality stuff that is well worth checking out. If they can keep the same quality that is evident here for a full blown release, I am sure it's just a matter of time till they get picked up. Heck, and Köhler's name to show for probably won't hurt. :-)

Similar To: Gotthard, Iron Maiden, Sinner

[This review originally appeared July 2003 at the ProgPower Online review site -ed.]

Tracklisting:
Fire And Dice / My Black Colors / Stairway To The Galaxy / Babylon / Guardian Angel / My Black Colors (Radio edit)

Musicians:
Roland Seidel - vocals
Bern A Wick - lead guitar
Timo Reichle - guitar
Markus Beck - bass
Pascal Vannier - drums

Discography:
Kaminari (2002)
Faraday's Daydream (2004)

Genre: Other

Origin DE

Added: January 17th 2005
Reviewer: Bjørnar Bevolden
Score:
Artist website: www.kaminari-music.de
Hits: 3593
Language: english