Rough Angel
Hear the Angels Rock

US Heavy Metal weights Rough Angel have to release their recordings from 1993. Recorded at Paramount Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA and engineered by Csaba Zvekan himself. These recordings originally intended for promoters and industry are now available for the public. That is what the statement from the label says about this EP that is now being released for all to see, it is a four track EP with no cover art and it is being compared to classic bands like Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, the talk is also about lava and doom. Csaba Zvekan who remastered these recordings had to say: “It's unbelievable how these recordings are almost two decades old and still have the power to convince the listener. The music and lyrics are still current especially these days. I got goose bumps remastering this piece of music. It definitely is a gift for all the friends and fans that are out there.” Maybe it is, it is always interesting when releases are reawaken and such but this was never released so what will be the value in that? Of course, if it is a good album as Zvekan states it is some value but if it is another set of songs sounding much like anything else then it is just a waste of time and space and resources.

Musically it is of course a bit rough on the edges, as the name would indicate but also as the era would. But it sounds more dated than two decades I would say, Led Zeppelin would be a fair comparison, something like the Communication Breakdown stuff sounds about right. Not that special in terms of originality if I am honest, it sounds pretty much like typical seventies hard rock. There is about twenty minutes of music on this EP so you can play it many times in a short amount of time, the songs are quite coherent and none stands out as really different. As I said it sounds pretty dated when listening to it, not like anything that is released today.

The point of this EP would be as a curiosity for you who enjoy Zvekan’s work and wants to know all he has done or for you who collect music in this particular style, or for you who is looking to know all music within the genre. It is not that brilliant, neither is it unique in any way, the music feels average at best so the need for releasing this EP as anything but a curiosity mainly for fans of Csaba Zvekan is nonexistent as this has been done before, lots of times. I would also say that it has been done better many of those times as well so for me this four track EP does not offer anything that I have ever wanted, but I am not a fan of Zvekan or bands he is in or has been in. The reviews for this album are ranging from uninteresting to rather good, none of the more extreme ratings have I found while looking through reviews for this album. So I guess there are some who finds this good while most seem to find it average or just below.

So if you are a Zvekan fan or a fan of hard rock of the seventies you should look into this little EP, if you are not then there are much better things to focus your attention on. So as a curiosity I see a need for this EP, as anything else it does not quite cut it but then remember it is an old remastered recording.