HEROES AND MONSTERS is a brand-new supergroup/power trio. With the three members playing in a variety of bands, including Evanescence, Alice Cooper, Sheila E, and Black Label Society, these are seasoned musicians who have run the gamut of styles and genres. They've taken all of that and compressed it into a Hard Rock lovers' smorgasbord. Their debut, eponymous album was released on January 20, 2023, via Frontiers Music SRL. This is Hard Rock like you've wanted it for a long time. "Locked And Loaded" starts the album off and it immediately draws your memory back to the glory days of Glam/Hard Rock. You have a vocalist with a wide range, gritty lows and belted highs, and backing voices that harmonize in all the right places.

"Raw Power" has a definite groove to it, kind of like a heavier version of POISON from their first album. This is not the Will Hunt you are used to on the drums. There is no fitting into a more Symphonic/Goth Metal sound. This is straightforward rock. Stef Burns on guitar is a powerhouse, using power chords with some extra flair layered over the top. Todd Kerns on bass uses his instrument to fill the space up with some killer phrases that accentuate the riff beautifully. Like many albums in this style, there is a power ballad. For this record, it's "Angels Never Sleep." I gotta say, the vocals on this track sound to me like Tom Keifer and Brent Smith fused together. The melodic, lighter sections have a CINDERELLA vibe and the heavier could easily pass for SHINEDOWN. How cool is that?

The tuning on "Blame" is quite awesome. The bass and guitar work together to create a fantastic hook. There is a subdued power to this song. It feels like something is about to be unleashed, instead, you get a melodic chorus. The anticipation they build, followed by the unexpected shift to melodic is quite good, defying the logical and creating something new and different. They close the album out with another ballad, "And You'll Remain." The tempo is nice and slow, giving the song a chance to grow. The build is equally slow with the drums not even coming in until almost the halfway point. The second verse begins the swell that will peak, ebb, drive through a killer guitar solo, then drop as the album fades away. HEROES AND MONSTERS is one of those bands that pops up, seemingly out of nowhere, that you have to wonder if it will always be a side-project, or will it become something more. They have the talent, but they also have other bands they play. In. Even if this is the only thing we ever get from them, at least we got this. It is definitely worth it. Let's hope they find more opportunities to collaborate in the future!