This is the birth of a new band and this is always exciting. From the beautiful Quito, capital of Ecuador, a couple of young lovers decided to go 80’s metal all the way to the bone, even on their names.  BITTER VELVET is so new that it took me a while to find information about them. Unleashed Fears is their first musical collaboration with 8 tracks and a nice album cover. I know a few good bands from Ecuador like BASCA, DESCOMUNAL or AZTRA, and the country is a fertile ground for heavy music with many different degrees of heaviness. Let’s check what this dynamic duo has to offer.

The album starts with a nice riff and high energy tune in “A Monster In Disguise”. In the very traditional 80’s metal style with great guitar interludes and fast solos all over. A good start for a first album. As this is the first song everybody will listen to, and you have to deliver. The type of rock is guitar oriented hard rock from the school of VAN HALEN. “Princess Within” comes next and the energy gets even higher. With a semi speed melodic metal and yet another good riff, we start to understand the band’s proposal. A good melody with epic flavors and a catchy chorus plus incredible guitar work. Speaking of princesses, the band introduces Malixe ( I hope I got the name right) as the singer. A young and pretty girl ( as per the only picture I could find on  the net) and you can feel the youth in her voice, perhaps too much. It gives me the impression that somebody very young is singing and is missing that extra power punch. She has a great range dont get me wrong,  but when I think of girl power in my vocals, I think about Lzzy Hale from HALESTORM who also has great range, and great power output. Is it the mix, the recording? Maybe triple the vocals?

 The third tune is “Long and Lonely Fight”. Another good tune with a great drum and bass duet introduction. Crazy fast solos all over especially on the mid section when the song changes to a faster tempo that goes until the end. Since all the other instruments are performed  by Sage Zavage, I wonder if he actually played the drums or if it was programmed. In any case, good job. We reach halfway point with an ode to Heavy Metal in “Heavy Metal Bomb”. In the best 80’s style riff, it reminds me of the gold old RATT with the exquisite guitar work of Warren De Martini. The album continues with well composed tunes with interesting changes in the melody and good lyrics. With a great cello and violin introduction, the duo flirts again with speed metal double bass drum insanity with “Whispers of You”. In a sea of distorted open chords, we are presented again with great solos and a nice bass interlude in the end.

 We are already in the sixt song and no ballads so far. Is this good or bad? The band keeps the energy up with “Tangled Web”. The melody is great and shows the great range of singer Malixe. Just missing that extra power again bearing in mind that I believe the singer may be quite young. Ooops! Keyboards…Guitar…and back to heavy. Maybe not quite that heavy. “Illumination” sounds a little like pop rock (God forbid!) to me. Very basic riff and a very teenage angst vibe, the song feels out of place in the album. I would be more compatible if we had a dramatic and epic ballad typical from 80’s rock. This tune sounds like a theme song for the teen show ICarly ( I never watch it I swear). Not very impressed with this one, however it is the tune that matches the youth in the vocals the most.

 We end the journey with “Bad Girl” and in my opinion, the highlight of an album that has a lot of good songs to choose from. Great riff with a lot of variations and creativity followed by a good melody. We're back in the 80’s rock and Sage Zavage shows what a great guitar player, bassist and drummer he is (share a little man!). Flawless performances in all songs but I believe he exceeds more in the six strings. A great debut for the young couple that I am sure will develop more and come back with more surprises. The only thing that bothered me a little is the lack of power in the vocals despite a great range. If it is a voice issue, as you know, the voice changes either by aging or by training and perhaps this should be looked after. If this is the recording and production, this should be looked after as well. I am sure we will be surprised next time. By the way, a real video on Youtube would only help.