VELVET THUNDER

As if to emphasise the ever growing influence of Brazilian musicians in melodic rock we now have the debut album by Mayank, a new hard/melodic rock band which features the vocal talents of the quite amazing Gui Oliver, a singer who would bring style, class and authority to just about any band you could name. You may know him through his other outfit Landfall which is another fine Brazilian band which grew out of the ashes of Auras (of which Oliver was the singer) as well as Wild Child and is certainly worth checking out.

Oliver has recruited well with the Perfect Plan guitarist Rolf Nordstorm, drummer Nicholas Papapicco and the man with the golden touch, Alessandro Del Vecchio, supplying bass, keyboards and backing vocals as well as producing, mixing and mastering the album. As if there is no end to his talents Del Vecchio also wrote the songs and this man certainly knows how to compose incredibly marketable AOR material. It appears that this is a band for the future too and not just a project which is good news as there is a chemistry between the musicians and, together, they have produced a most excellent melodic/AOR album that not only takes inspiration from the giants in Journey and Toto but also incorporates the earthier sounds of bands like FM and Strangeways, this is truly mid-Atlantic melodic rock and any American fan will surely hear the love and high regard that Mayank has for all things Journey but there is a more biting edge with a touch of Whitesnake thrown in for good measure.

Gui Oliver has a voice that commands your attention and is perfect for melodic rock but he could very easily handle heavy metal too. His range and pitch is sublime and he has the power to thrill and drives the album forward perfectly is a great foil for the outstanding guitar work of Rolf Nordstorm as he plays beautifully fluid and effective solos throughout the album. Expect lots of vocals harmonies and hook laden tracks as Oliver and team play they delicious brand of melodic rock that is obviously inspired by the masters and Mayank show that they have the talent and capability to become just as illustrious.

This self titled debut is a virtually perfect album and one that shows that there is so much more to come from this very talented band.