Back in 2003, Kickhunter made waves with their debut album, Hearts and Bones and toured with some seriously big names. Yet, despite three further critically well-received albums, they seemingly disappeared.
Now, after nine years they’re back with a fresh lineup (Stefan Aurel – Guitars, Jc Wesenberg – Vocals, Rollie Feldman – Guitars, Ansas Strehlow – Organ, Karsten Kreppert – Drums, Gerd Lehmkuhl – Guitars and Tim Schwarz – Bass) and a brand new album called Now Or Never, which also features Helloween bassman Markus Großkopf on one track.
A glance at the track listing and the missing years seem to melt away, ’Louder & Faster’ is a crowd-ready rocker; ‘King of Rock ’n’ Roll’ is a slower, bluesier rock (with aforementioned Markus on bass and special mention to Melanie Kirschke who adds some class backing vocals throughout); ‘Motherlode’ is a brilliant southern tinged rocker with glorious Hammond sounds adding to the party. Then there is ‘Back and Free’ which starts with a Sweet style drum intro to a slightly glam-tinged slice of proper rock.
If you find yourself in need of a ballad, then the piano-led beauty of ‘I Sing This Song Forever’ provides all of the lighter waving potentials you could wish for. My current favourites, however, have to be the (early) ‘Snake tinged, mid-paced bluesy rock of ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Mind,’ and the good-time boogie (and brilliant guitar solos) of ‘I Want It.’
So, after that run down, if you like the sound of a band with three guitarists that blend the sounds of Purple, Skynrd, Whitesnake and Sweet, then look no further as Kickhunter manage to bring originality to that considerable background and even insert a Germanic metal edge to it all
Now Or Never is out on 9th June via Metalapolis Records
