If there's one thing that 2015 proved, it's that Europe had a strong hand in delivering some top notch Rock and Metal music releases. Sweden and Britain were good at delivering top notch music but then Denmark and Finland didn't slouch either as they were just as strong. Germany on the other hand did deliver some hard hitting belters as well but I can't quite remember if their hand was as strong as the other countries I've already mentioned. Time to find out if that was indeed the case and if it's not, then this year is a chance for them to step up their game, but until we witness that, let's backtrack to a few months ago in November of 2015, and the release of the debut from a new German Hard Rock group called BOOZE BUG.

Because this band are fairly new, I wasn't able to find any concrete info on them so I'll skip straight to the album review section which today is all about the Neunkirchen (their hometown) rockers debut CD "Booze Your Illusion"

Clocking in at around 33 minutes across 9 tracks of booze inspired Rock N' Roll, the album opens up with a short instrumental before launching into the first main vocal track "Glass of Demons" and here we are treated to some dirty and heavy Rock sounding rock music complete with dirty riffs, pounding rhythms, and dirty vocal melodies that leave a strong impression on the listener as to what to expect from this album, but in a good way, as it certainly sounds unique from the moment it starts.

The rest of the songs however, don't leave such as strong as of an impression as the opening number did. I don't know what it is but they just sound a little off to me in terms of the way the music is written. I will be fair and give praise to the group for giving the songs a bit of punch in places as at times it can be quite punchy and enjoyable in terms of the delivery but at times it can sound a little off and lifeless.

Some songs where the energy is good enough to deliver a memorable performance for example include "Booze Cruise (Leather Beasts)", "Good Things To Lose" and "Inspiration Salad" but songs such as "Welcome To The Dark", "Troublemaker" and "Wolverine" are the opposite. I do kind of appreciate the effort that was put into the latter's performance and songwriting, but the delivery and the mixing as a whole, leaves a somewhat sour taste, which is a shame as there are a few songs which are fairly enjoyable.

I think the main problem is the mixing and occasionally the performance too as at times, one can outweigh the other to deliver an enjoyable song one minute and the next a tune that leaves you feeling a little cold or a bitter taste on your tongue. I think the problem with the latter, is that at times the performance can sound a little too forced, most notably in the vocal department, but the other instruments are just as guilty as the delivery is okay but at times it feels like they're not really trying.

Also, the mixing seems to vary from song to song as at times it can sound just right but in places it can also sound either completely off or maybe needing a bit more tweaking to bring out the best in the music.

Bottom line, the debut from BOOZE BUG does have plenty of potential to be a good Hard Rock record but there are a few tweaks it needs to make to the melodies, the songwriting, the performance and at times the mixing too as there are some enjoyable songs but there are also some which are not as good making this a record of mixed halves. Give this a listen if you're curious as to what it's like as you may find positives where I found flaws and kudos to you if you do.

Performance - 6