VELVET THUNDER

City Of Lights is a new melodic rock band put together by the British guitarist and songwriter Neil Austin and Greek vocalist Manos Fatis with Before The Sun Sets being their most impressive debut release.

Austin brought Fatis into the band having heard him sing with the bands Odyssey Desperado and Hideaway, both quality AOR outfits, and was blown away by his crystal clear and most powerful and honey dripping vocals. They then brought in the Eriksson brothers Robin (bass) and Mats (drums) from the Swedish melodic rock band Degreed with Neil Austin playing rhythm guitar and programming. The crucial and critical lead guitar solos being entrusted to a series of high quality guests with Nathan Doyle playing on Racing On The Redline, Heart’s On Fire, Heat Of The Night, Dying Light and Midnight Club with Daniel Johansson (also from Degreed) on Give Me Back My Heart, Snake Eyes, Before The Sun Sets. Jonathan Carlemar plays on Snake Eyes and Joanna, Matt Farmer plays wah wah guitar on Snake Eyes with Mike Kyriakou on just the one song with Emily. All are exceptionally talented and each adds their own individual touch of class to the proceedings and then they also introduce Mikael Blanc (Degreed, Paralydium ) playing keyboards on Before The Sun Sets and piano from Joel Selsfors (Creye) on How To Love.

Together they have all helped to produce a seriously slick and glossy AOR album suffused with burning passionate ballads and harder edged rock songs with the band having something of Ten and Joe Lynn Turner era Rainbow about the delivery. The guitars and keyboards combine beautifully to create a lush sound over which the stunning vocals of Manos Fatis hold sway and this is one singer you simply have to hear as his voice is simply divine.

There are a lot of very fine melodic/AOR albums around at the moment with this release by City Of Lights being up there with the best and in Manos Fatsi they have a singer who is most definitely destined for stardom.