When it comes to choosing a support band for your tour, you are spoiled for choice, as there is a wide variety for you to choose from. So what do you if you want to have a support act follow you across Europe? The answer is: head to either Sweden or Germany for your band as both countries have produced some excellent bands and musicians. That's not to say other European countries haven't as they have but the Germans and the Swedes are in a class of their own with one being all about Hard Rock and another being all about Melodic Rock so what do you get if you are a German band who are both a Melodic and a Hard Rock band? Your answer is CHALICE that's who.

Hailing from Hamburg in Germany, this 5 piece band have 7 studio albums under their belt which includes their latest release "Overyears Sensation" and they have also toured across Europe as supports for some pretty big names in the business including DEEP PURPLE, URIAH HEEP, DORO, ASIA, MAGNUM, TESLA and bucket loads more. With an achievement like that, they must be good so it's my job to see if they are and also to see if Germany is just as good at Melodic Rock as the awesome Swedes.

Released last year in 2014, "Overyears Sensation" is the seventh release from CHALICE which is their first album in 7 years. In those 7 years, the band must have used that time to polish, refine and enhance their performance and sound to deliver a great performance for album number seven and all their time out on the road was the perfect chance to do just that as a live stage is the ultimate testing ground to work on and refine your sound.

Does their new album pay off from all that time out on the road and all those years since their sixth album was out? Even though I haven't heard any of their previous releases, I will say that this new album of theirs is simply amazing. Clocking in at around 53 minutes, "Overyears Sensation" is a fine blend of that traditional German Hard Rock which we are familiar with along with some excellent Melodic Rock songs which you would usually expect from Sweden but here, this German band have been able to take the genre and make it their own and this album is proof of that.

The opening track "You Better Get Used to It" is a fine example of that and the next songs that follow are all in a class of their own including the funky "Rock N' Roll Machine", the beautiful "Sign of the Times", the heavy and awesome "Glorious Again" and the catchy epic title track "Overyears Sensation" are just a few examples of CHALICE's distinctive and unique sound which blends together excellent German Hard Rock and those all too familiar catchy and beautiful melodies of Melodic Rock.

Having toured with the likes of DEEP PURPLE and URIAH HEEP, you get the distinct impression that CHALICE were influenced by these bands and there's a couple of songs where the keyboard melodies seem to remind me of those bands such as "Don't Tell Me Lies" and "Shake the Earth" but then paying homage to the big names is not a bad thing of course but whether or not this was intended remains to be seen.

Production wise, the sound is crisp, clean and superb for an album of this type which means that you get to hear and enjoy every song and when you do, you are able to appreciate the work that went into seven years of work including the heavy guitars, the melodic keys, the pounding beats from the drums and of course the vocals which sound just right for an album of this type with no real faults whatsoever.

Bottom line, "Overyears Sensation" by CHALICE is 12 enjoyable slices of European Rock music and the Germans have shown us that it's not just Sweden who excel in making good Melodic Rock music, which means that the Swedes had better watch out as CHALICE are one band who are definitely worth keeping an eye on.<