SHYLOCK is a melodic Hard Rock band from Germany. Throughout their career they released five albums ("Shylock" in 1999, "Pyronized" in 2001, "Welcome To Illusion" 2004, "Devotion" in 2007, "RockBuster" in 2010) and right at the beginning of the new year they salute with a sixth, "Walking Tall" via AOR Heaven.

The title track, "Walking Tall", is a fantastic opener, SHYLOCK show energetic music with perfect melody and unforgettable choruses. They actually cracked something deep inside, and I stepped out as fan. Such an amazing Rocking guitars & a splendid rhythm section. "Rock DNA" is another astonishing introduction of a true, energetic Rock anthem, filled with a wall of sound, smashing melodies, fantastic guitar solos & robust heavy riffing. On "I Can't Wait Now" there is another strike of a riff attack along with a touchy chorus with attractive, though common, lyrics "I can't wait now 'cause I need to feel your touch". "Bridges" is a piece of the 80s, striding with impressive riffing, exploring some heaviness, canny soloing with yet another winning chorus.

An interesting song is "Sliding Through Emotions" with cool riffs, very well performed, and memorable peak moments surging with "We're sliding through emotions, we are freaky mouth, Nothing's going to stop us now 'cause love is what we found", pretty neat for the genre. I liked the  stimulating main guitar riff on "She Came Along My Way" while also presenting a flamboyant chorus that will stick hard onto one's mind. "Right Now Or Never" displayed an impressive intro and yet additional melodic moments and creative rhythm guitar riffing. Worth noticing "Touch My Soul" where it contains everything that is in a Hard Rock song. I would also not deter from softer examples such as "Away From Here" and the quixotic "Anything".

Matthias Schenk, surely the band's powerhouse, has a really nice voice which sounds similar to Klaus Meine (SCORPIONS), Mark Fox (SHAKRA), Claus Lessmann (BONFIRE) and Steve Lee (GOTTHARD), a heck of a pleasure listening to him again and again. SHYLOCK never ceased being melodious and catchy. They have been in the business of making Hard Rock with AOR inducements for quite some time, paving simple and enjoyable listeners. SHYLOCK put into this album their wide experience that provided great songwriting and ample skills. As I mentioned, I didn't take me long to fall for it.