German Axel Rudi Pell of course needs no introduction.The German hard rock and heavy metal guitarist  since he left the band Steeler has released 17 solo albums which began with the debut solo album "Wild Obsession" back in 1989. Axel Rudi Pell's musical style is best described as melodic heavy metal,with guitar heavy compositions,mystical themes and ballads. .Pell has worked with many vocalists including Jeff Scott Soto,Rob Rock and since 1998 Johnny Gioeli (Hardline).In his career he has sold over 1.6 million albums ,with 37.5 million streams,also maintaining a long term partnership with Steamhammer/SPV Records.Touring wise Axel Rudi Pell is frequently on the line up of many european festivals like the famous Waken Open Air.

It's been a while since I listened to an Axel Rudi Pell record,so I thought it was about time that I revisited his music.Opening as always with a musical intro to build up the suspense and mystery,then straight into a melodic metal track with tight rhythm,great guitar work as you come to expect,vocally the tone is great,but Johnny Gioeli sounds like he is struggling to keep up with the lyrics, which  seem a little rushed and a bit of a reach especially in the chorus."Breaking Seals" is a great track classic melodic metal,a banger of a track which features UDO of Accept who I'm sorry to say ruins the track completely with the growling tone which sounds terrible,which is a crying shame as musically its a cracking track.The album after a shady start finally starts to come to life with the title track and first single "Ghost Town" which shows how good vocally after all this time Johnny Gioeli is and to this day sounds as strong as ever.

The rest of the album is full mid to fast tempo rockers where Axel Rudi Pell is on fine form with his guitar playing,he gets the right balance,doesn't go over the top or too flashy with his guitar playing.Tracks such as "Holy Water" and one of the best tracks for me "The Enemy Within" which has a definite Tony Martin, Black Sabbath era sound about it,"Hurricane" has some intense rhythm work and fast tempo riffs which blasts out of my speakers,with Gioeli selling the track with some stellar vocals.The ballad moment of the album is "Towards The Shore" which has some great guitar and keyboard tones,to make this a strong track,which is another album highlight.The album ends with "Higher Call" which at over seven minutes long,but because of the fluent flow it doesn't seem that long,with no long winded interludes of key,or guitar runs,it has a mid heavy tempo which gives the track the right balance,and again Gioeli commands the track with his vocal note,also the way he emphasizes the lyrics,an epic track to end this album.

When I first started playing "Ghost Town" I was disappointed by the opening tracks,for an Axel Rudi Pell album they were poor and he has produced a lot better material in his nearly 40 year career.I like collaborations and guest singers but UDO was way out of his depth on "Breaking Seals"  he was outclassed by Goeli.Thankfully after the lack lustre start "Ghost Town" turned a corner with some solid tracks. However like i said Pell has produced a lot better in his long career,so if you are new to his music ,i would advise you to listen to something in his back catalog first, before listening to this album.Die hard fans will no doubt relish in the release of "Ghost Town".