Avi Rosenfeld does what it says on the tin for the XIV-th time….

Release Date: available now

Label: Bandcamp

Format: digital

So – in the aftermath of all the fuss about the new Uriah Heep album, Chaos & Colour, one that we and several of our readers agree upon, is a real return to form, our attention is drawn to Very Heepy Very Purple.

A quick trip to the online pages of the maestro and there are indeed masses of volumes of which this latest release is the fourteenth. A bit of catching up to do, but it’s not like you don’t know what’s in store. No more and no less than the tropes of Heep and Purple, hints of pacey Dickinson-fuelled Maiden and classic era Rainbow with Dio-styled drama. You’d swear you were listening to some branch of the main tree; there were indeed many of them that emerged hanging onto the coattails of their masters.

And yes indeed, as the opening cut confirms, I Got A Riff and they come thick and fast. Stabs of Hammond coated with inspired and totally apt guitar lines and solos. The range of singers adds a variety to the familiar and the set is uut together to make the sense of drama palpable. In The Mass Grave sounds slightly tongue in cheek with a hint of musical theatricality but Avi never strays too far from the main path. The Catch The Rainbow sounding Bridge Of Lies (which actually includes the lyric “catch the rainbow…”) addresses the sensitive side while the pace of the opening is matched by The Longest Day.

Knights, castles and the old dungeons and dragons fantasy scenes are a constant presence as the influences from the glory days of classic hard rock and metal are revived. It’s a seemingly endless, wave of nostalgia. Dipping into the Rosenfield online presence also reveals another series of tributes that references those on the fringes. The factory of heavy bluesy riffs and hard rock deviations really is overflowing with riches.

Recommended for anyone who might need an extra shot or injection of purple rainbow-ed heepiness. Great fun all around.

Here’s Black Rocks ft. Harry ‘The Tyrant’ Conklin (Jag Panzer)

Avi Rosenfeld online: Website / Facebook / Youtube

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