Vescera: Beyond the Fight (Pure Steel)

Veteran vocalist Mike Vescera (Obsession, ex-Loudness, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen) launched a new project this year. The appropriately-titled Vescera finds the singer teamed with a trio of Italian musicians (guitarist Mike Petrone, bassist Frank Leone and drummer Fabio Alessandrini, basically ¾ of the band Nitehawks). Vescera’s debut album is titled Beyond the Fight, and it is going to satisfy fans of his earlier bands.

Vescera and company played it pretty safe here, giving fans the kind of melodic, classic heavy metal album Vescera is known for. It’s the kind of album Obsession fans should love. The hooks and melodies are almost Dokken-ish, but there’s enough steel to grab fans of Fifth Angel and Pretty Maids. Vescera sounds great, but that’s no surprise. Somehow he manages to maintain a killer range and plenty of power. Beyond the Fight has nine songs and totals just 37 minutes, but that just means there’s not much filler. “Blackout in Paradise,” “Dynamite” and “Vendetta” stand out, but the whole album is rock-solid.

Beyond the Fight hits that perfect balance between melodic hard rock and heavy metal, and it’s just a really enjoyable, easy to get into album overall. Obviously fans of Vescera’s prior work need to hear this, but just about anyone who is into bands like Pretty Maids, Eden’s Curse, Fifth Angel, Malice and Leatherwolf ought to give Vescera’s new project a listen.