When one thinks of Heavy Metal from Italy, you could be forgiven for instantly thinking of LACUNA COIL or even FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE. But the reality is there are many great Italian bands out there, and here today we are looking at 5IVE YEARS GONE, a young Hard Rock band that have released their independent debut album "Rock 'n' Roll Rebirth".

The artwork is nothing to write home about, in fact it is very reminiscent of some of the old eighties bands that dominated the circuit. But we are here for the music. Straight away we are shown influences of the band, with an introduction, and in fact, a track structure that BON JOVI themselves would have been proud to have produced. "Mary Jane" is a great, no frills and no mess about introductory track that throws the listener straight into the heart of the band.

This clear influence from the more Classic Rock bands of times past continues into and through "The Way You're Pleased" as the music follows a relatively simple structure and hits all the right notes for another feel good track. "All I Know" is once again following the structure and stylings of the band's influences. There are some great demonstrations of musicianship with some fantastic guitar playing throughout.

"Never Be The Same" comes around with a little more meat to the bones of the music than we have previously seen. A little bit more attitude but still following this almost stripped back style of music before erupting into an upbeat guitar break that injects a bit of life into an otherwise almost stale track. As "Outta My Head" begins, we once again have a glimmer of the musical talent of the musicians within 5IVE YEARS GONE as the guitar runs and licks that bring us into the main body of the track are quite impressive, however, other than some impressive guitar playing this is another song that is just that, nothing more.

I'm going to jump forward here to "Don't Shoot Me" as it instantly stands out as something a bit more different. An almost different style of music permeates through this track than we have seen this far. A bit more attitude and personality than the generically structured tracks that follow an old standing formula for song writing.

As I listened to the final four tracks, I have to admit I found myself quite bored. It seems that every track was balladesque, or almost whining after a lost partner. There were flashes of what could have been brilliance and development past this theme but these were short lived.

Overall, there were plenty of good things to take away from this, the over all standard of musical ability amongst all members was high. It was just the overall simplicity that the tracks seemed to have been formed on, combined with something I can't quite put my finger on being missing. But I have every faith that 5IVE YEARS GONE will build on this solid release to go bigger, better and further in the years to come.