Let me tell you a story:
It was long time ago, back in 2006, when I walked in my home town and decided it's time to buy some new Metal albums. I immediately caught the bus to the only Metal shop in my area. When I came in I immediately recognized the good stuff like the new IRON MAIDEN album, tons of W.A.S.P., NIGHTWISH's last DVD and others that I instantly added to my shopping cart.Then suddenly I saw something interesting in the G area - it was the last GOTTHARD album "Lipservice" that looked like as if a photo was taken in the first casino in Las Vegas. I don't know why, but I grabbed it, because it was time to taste some of the better bands.

This album made me a huge GOTTHARD fan and since then I just can't imagine the 21st century Rock scene without them. Then, two years ago I received the shocking news that the band singer, Steve Lee, died in a motorcycle accident. It was the end for me, and I just couldn't even think that the guys will continue without his amazing voice. But they did it. They continued the legend. Of course, you can replace the original singer and sometimes can bring good results like when Bruce Dickinson replaced Paul D'iano, or when Ronnie James Dio replaced Ozzy (yes, yes I think that Dio's vocals are better than Ozzy's), but it didn't end well in the GOTTHARD case.

Nick Maeder reminds of Steve Lee in some ways, but in the end he didn't seem to me as professional and as talented as Lee was.But if we put the vocals aside and focus on the music and the text we will find out that GOTTHARD is still GOTTHARD, only with different vocals (like the new NIGHTWISH). The album begins with "Starlight" which kicks off this album with an explosive start, and continue with other great songs like "Remember It's Me" and "Shine", "Fight", and of course "Where Are You?" (Dedicated to Steve Lee). If we start talking about the music and the songs themselves, we will find a very good album that continues what the guys did before.Don't get me wrong, the new album is good and it's really worth a listening.