Germany, a country that certainly delivered last year in terms of good Rock and Metal music. The music they gave us ranged from heavy ass-kicking Hard Rock to symphonic sounding Metal music and also the occasional Melodic Rock release/song here and there too. If anything, they've become a close rival to Sweden for making great sounding European Rock & Metal music. Time now to see if the band featured in this review can help get this year off to a good start for Germany's contributions to the Rock and Metal scene. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, THE NEW ROSES.

Formed in 2007 in Wiesbaden in Germany, THE NEW ROSES are a 4 piece Hard Rock band who released their debut self titled EP in 2012, before releasing their debut full length album a year later in 2013. Even before their EP was released, the group already had some impressive accolades to add to their belt, as they had toured with the likes of ZZ TOP, BLACK STONE CHERRY, ROGER CHAPMAN, DIE TOTEN HOSEN and Joe Bonamassa to name a few. Three years have passed since the release of their debut album, and the time has now come for this German quartet to release another album, and that is exactly what we have got here in 2016 with their second album, "Dead Man's Voice", so let's see what it's like shall we?

Clocking in at around 44 minutes across 11 new songs, the sophomore album from THE NEW ROSES is chock full of memorable and energetic Hard Rock songs. Starting off with the opening number "Heads Or Tails" and closing off with "From Guns & Shovels", with nine other songs in between, this is one of those records that sets out to do what it achieves and succeeds, which in the case of this CD, is to create and deliver enjoyable music.

Straight off the bat with the opening number, you are given a good idea of what this band is all about, which is rocking out and making fun songs, complete with upbeat energy, heavy guitars, nutty solos, pounding beats from the rhythm section, and punchy vocals, which all come together to create some enjoyable tunes.

The performance does start off a little bumpy as there are moments where the vocals do get a little buried under the melodies, often making it hard to hear the lyrics; but if you look past that and just focus on the performance, then all is forgiven as the performance is certainly good that's for sure.

Aside from the opening and closing songs, there are other enjoyable slices of European Hard Rock to be had on this album including "Partner In Crime", "I Believe", "Ride With Me", "Not From This World", "What If It Was You" and "Try (And You Know Why)".

The mixing and the production have all been balanced out well to bring out each song's energy and punchy melodies, to add a unique twist to each song, allowing you to enjoy what this German Hard Rock quartet have been able to create and offer to us.

Bottom line; the sophomore album from THE NEW ROSES is 11 enjoyable slices of European Hard Rock, complete with punchy energy and memorable moments, making this one of those records that has good replay value and enjoy-ability every time you spin it. Highly recommended if you like European music or great sounding energetic Rock music.<