Review | Earth Lux – Earth Lux

Metalville Records

French guitarist/singer/composer Steph Honde started this ‘new band’ Earth Lux in 2023 with Brazilian drummer Fred Mika. They had to recruit some people to help them out and found some well-known names in the rock circuit. On keyboards Steve Mann (MSG/Lionheart), on bass Michael Voss (Casanova/Mad Max) and on vocals Mark Boals (Ring Of Fire/Yngwie Malmsteen/Shining Black). I think this is more a project instead of a new band, as Mann and Voss are busy with other bands and studio-activities, while Boals lives in America doing all kinds of things. Anyway, they have managed to complete a full album with eleven songs.

INTENTION

It was the intention of Mika and Honde to make an album filled with melodic hard rock with clear influences from the classic seventies. They have succeeded in that as especially the guitarwork by Honde has at stages some classic seventies features. What they have not succeeded in is to deliver an album that is consistent through and through as the songwriting at stages is lacklustre to say the least.

Sure, with songs as the forceful opener such as ,,Shine On Me’’ the start is pretty good. The high-pitched voice of Mark Boals is still very impressive and throughout the album this man proves to be an asset for this outfit. But even Boals can not hide the fact that the level of songs is not consistent. There are several tracks there that just do not do it for me, such as closer ,,Lorraine’’, a half-baked ballad that just will not convince me.

EARTH LUX – THE CONCLUSION

‘Earth Lux’ surely has its moments. Boals sounds great and the fact that Honde does a duet with Boals on the very seventies sounding rocker ,,Kyrie Eleison’’ (Honde must be a fan of Robin Trower) certainly adds something extra, as Honde is certainly not a bad vocalist. ,,Kyrie Eleison’’ is for me one off the few real highlights here. But an album with eleven songs needs to contain at least nine or ten acceptable songs and that is just not the case. That Earth Lux does get away with the label ‘satisfactory’ is mainly because of the musicianship that is being displayed here with Boals’ soaring vocals and a powerful yet quite simple straight in your face sound and production. I had, especially after I saw who was in the line-up, expected a little bit more though.

Release date: 23 August 2024