SPANISH CLASSIC ROCK STILL ALIVE AN ROCKING! The Storm is a pioneering Spanish hardrock band that was founded in the early Seventies, they started to play covers from The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Cream and Guess Who. Soon after a fourth member on Hammond organ joined and the band changed their name from Los Tormentos into The Storm. In that time everybody was impressed by progressive hardrock, like Led Zeppelin, and especially Deep Purple. The band too, and decided to change their musical direction, hardrock with omnipresent Hammond organ work. The Storm joined gigs with known Spanish rock bands Smash and Maquina! and gradually became pretty popular among the hardrock aficionados, nicknamed 'the Spanish Deep Purple'. In 1974 The Storm released their eponymous debut album (see review), and the single I've To Tell You Mama/It's Allright even reached the top in the Spanish charts! Storm also impressed Freddy Mercury when they were support-act for Queen during one concert in 1974, the sky looked very bright. But unfortunately due to different reasons things didn't work out as planned and foreseen, and between 1976 and 1978 there were no activities. But in 1978 Storm reunited (no longer The Storm) and one year later their second album entitled El Dia De La Tormenta (see review) was released, with a lot of changes: a new bass player, vocals in Spanish, and a new musical direction, more towards melodic progressive rock. I notice elements from Dutch masters Focus and Earth & Fire, and 70s and 80s Camel. Storm disbanded in 1981 but since 2011 the band is active again, supported by the Spanish prog label 5 Lunas Producciones, with remastered CD reissues from the 2 studio albums in 2023, and a double LP (2020) and 2-CD (2022) (see review) featuring a live concert from May 3rd, 2019 in Seville. The current Storm members are Diego Ruiz (drums and backing vocals), José Ramón Torres (bass and backing vocals), Ángel Ruiz (lead vocals and guitar), and Maese Muriel (keyboards), the only member that didn't play on their first two albums. These musicians have delivered a new album entitled Eternal Youth, recorded in July 2024. Listening to this new album I notice that Storm presents 9 powerful, fresh and inspired harder-edged melodic rock songs, with hints from Medina Azahara and Thin Lizzy. The keyboards layers (lots of Hammond organ) are an extra dimension in the Storm sound, reminding me of Deep Purple and Uriah Heep but also Atomic Rooster. Lots of powerful and exciting soli on guitar, Hammond and synthesizer in Oveja Negra, Te Lo Digo Yo, Eternal Youth and El Dia De La Tormenta. In Memoriam (4.05) : An intro featuring soaring Hammond with percussive beats, then a mid-tempo, embellished with Hammond and strong vocals, reminding me of Medina Azahara. In the end a swirling Hammond solo. No Es El Final (4.33) : This is a fine ballad that starts with twanging acoustic guitar and soaring Hammond, topped with wonderful native vocals. Gradually the music becomes more lush and dynamic, culminating in a compelling Hammond solo with tremolo, in the second part a sensitive electric guitar with howling runs. Wow! The bonustrack is the same song but with singer Manuel Martinez from Medina Azahara, very distinctive. Experiencia Completa (3.37) : This heavy track contains exciting work on guitar (wah-wah drenched, like Mick Box), raw English vocals and again great work on the Hammond. 5 Lunas (Collaboration by Daniel Escortell, bass player from Derby Motoreta's Burrito Kachimba) (7.51) : This is the most epic composition on this new Storm album. First strong interplay between the Hammond and guitar, what a powerful and dynamic sound. Then flashy synthesizer flights and a bass solo. Next the mood shifts to heavy and bombastic. The final part delivers dreamy Hammond and a moving guitar solo, then the music turns into an up-tempo with propulsive guitar riffs and Hammond, and a fiery guitar solo with wah-wah, wow! **** Erik Neuteboom (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
