Wild Souls - Queen of My Heart (Album Review)

Hard rock and metal music can be found all over the world these days. Kavala Greece is a beautiful spot on planet earth and it is the home of Wild Souls. Their latest effort is called Queen of My Heart. Melodic hard rock with influences like Extreme, Poison, Van Halen and Whitesnake. The music has a real swagger. A real dose of self confidence.  

George Nikolaou handles lead vocals. Kostas Tsiligiris plays lead guitar. Michael Saraglou plays the drums. Athanasios Kalantzopolous plays guitar and Misconception Bdm plays bass. From the opening notes of "Nothing But Loving You" the band executes their plan perfectly. This feels like Motley Crue, and Van Halen and familiar primal urge territory. The chord changes aren't always predictable. There are melodic guitar fills and hooks that are big without being redundant or predictable. 

A searing guitar and drum attack begins "Night Groove" as the song rocks along like a train picking up speed. Nikolaou's vocals take on different characteristics for different songs. I heard some Gary Cherone here for sure. A synth keyboard and pulsating bass guitar open "Love Ain't No Lie" as if the band were paying homage to Bon Jovi's early hit "Runaway". "Ready To Rock" has some blues-metal overtones while reinstating that primal drum onslaught. 

This is music you crank loud with the top down in your vintage 70's muscle car. "Queen of My Heart" is a Vandenberg-like power ballad with string sounding keyboards and building acoustic and electric guitars. It's also a tune David Coverdale could have written. "Sexecellent" is exactly what you might think it's about. It's got some David Lee Roth swagger and lyrical references and a touch of "Panama" or "Drop Dead Legs" in it. 

The keyboards come back for "I Remember You". The band employs a thoughtful twin-guitar attack and at times some emotive vocal arrangements. These songs have instant appeal without being too derivative of one style. "Set Me Free" has a mono-bluesy intro and outro that echoes early Whitesnake. The body of the track is very reminiscent of "Love Ain't No Stranger" or something close to it. The guitar solo is a beautiful work of art. The retro keyboards are magical. 

One of my favorite tracks from this collection. "Snakebite" has a very Lynch Mob vibe to it as blues and rock collide. "Hold Me Tight" felt like a Stone Fury song with a less pompous vibe. A bit more straight ahead without the drama, but still with plenty of emotion. "Beyond The Stars" is very Blizzard of Oz with some fast guitar work and strong vocals and rocking chord progressions. Not to mention the drums and bass that chug along with abandon. "Street Eagles" opens with an actual eagle screech that then settles into a very moody and atmospheric hard rocking closer with big vocal refrains. 

It's arena rock that is designed to reach the cheap seats. It's all done with an ear for the classic characteristics of many different bands from the past. Each song has it's own unique qualities. This is a band that truly understands the past and is building on it. This is a fine collection of songs for old school fans of hard rock and metal.

Album Rating 9.5