Year : 2016
Style : Melodic Heavy Metal , Melodic Power Metal , Male & Female vocals
Country : Switzerland
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans + Video
Size : 175 mb
Bio:
Rizon was founded as a school band in May 1977 by Mattias Götz (vocals), Christian Götz (guitar) and Marco Küderli (keyboards), with Marcel Hodel on bass guitar and René Hupjan playing drums. At that time they were playing cover songs while beginning to write their own music. During this early period there were frequent changes in the line-up which, to some extent, hindered the development of the band. By the time Tom Lindegger joined as drummer in 2001 they were playing largely their own compositions. Tom began shaping the rhythm section using his intense and diverse style, a crucial step forward. With the additions of Jim Dodd (bass), John Wardle (guitar) and Franziska Germann (vocals), Rizon`s distinctive sound began to emerge. The resulting mixture of energetic rhythms, harmonic guitars and symphonic keys overlayed with powerful male/female vocals led the band to christen the sound “Melodic Power Rock”.
Evolution 2005
During the recording of their debut album “Evolution”, John Wardle left the band and was replaced by Mark Wietlisbach (former Leroy, Steve Whitney Band and Purple Lizard guitarist). Mark recorded the lead solos, adding a new style and resonance to compliment the rhythm guitars. The finished album was released, and Rizon went on to perform at well known venues including: Alpenrock House-Kloten, Rock City-Uster and Dynamo in Zürich.
Sudden Life 2008
In the spring of 2008, the band worked on their second album “Sudden Life” at “HOFA” studios in Karlsruhe,Germany with producer Dennis Ward (Krokus,Alannah Myles etc). It was released under the “Karthago Records” Label. Following the release party in October at Dynamo Werk 21 in Zürich, they embarked on a short tour of Switzerland taking in venues such as Z7 in Pratteln, supporting “Tyketto”, The Rock City in Uster, The Tibis club in Bern and once again the Alpenrock House. After about twenty concerts, the final show was staged on the 12th of December at the “Old Casino” Wettingen. This was the last concert together with Franziska, who then parted company with the band. She was replaced a few months later by Seraina Telli, completing the current line-up.
Masquerade 2012
After an intense period of songwriting in 2010, the band recorded in spring until summer 2011 thirteen new songs in their own "Ringstufios", which were grown in the meantime to about 100 square-meters and are located in Volketswil ZH. The concept of the double-leaded vocals was consequently developed further and the female vocals gained more space on the new songs compared to Evolution and Sudden Life.
The new album "Maquerade" was this time accomplished in the far north of Europe: Nino Laurenne from the Sonic Pump Studios in Helsinki mixed the album. Nino did mix and produce beside his own band Thundestone several well known acts, such as Apokalyptika, Lordi, Amorphis and many others. The mastering was done by Svante Forsbäck in the Chartmakers Studios in Helsinki. Svante did bands with huge international success, such as Rammstein, Sonata Arctica and Sunrise Avenue. The album "Masquerade" is released, after the fusion of "Karthago-Records" with "Pure Steel Records", in winter 2012 under the same label as before "Karthago-Records". Bass player Jim Dodd left the band in October 2012 and was replaced by Tilo Preller, a routined Metalbassplayer. Rizon kicked off in January 2013 their Masquerade tour after which, changes on different positions as guitarre, bass-guitarre and female voices were anounced.
Power Plant 2016
In spring 2014, Reto Hähnel took over the lead guitar and since then is influencing strongly the specific sound of Rizon. The line-up of Rizon was completed during fall 2014, first with Maik Kindermann on the Bass-Guitar and shortly after Rahel Fischer joined the band with her fantastic voice. At this stage, the songwriting was almost completed an the first half of 2015 was dominated by the recording session for the new album “Power-plant” wich will be released most likely in early 2016. The band is looking forward to go on tour and play and promote the album live to a broader audience.
Album:
My recollection of past Rizon works is a little fuzzy. But that's to be expected. It's been four years, and I've listened to and reviewed more than a thousand new albums since then. One, Rizon is a large band with seven players, notably two vocalists, male and new female singer Rahel Fischer, and two guitar players. Two, they like to pack a lot of tunes into an album. The previous Masquerade hand thirteen songs. The latest, Power Plant chops things down to twelve, yet better than 52 minutes of music.Once more Rizon plays melodic heavy metal with a significant rock groove. But the emphasis is definitely on heavy metal. Most every song boasts sharp and strong riffage with a thundering rhythm section powering them along. Additionally, as with previous materials, Rizon delivers plenty of lead guitar theatrics, solos abound and sizzle. Synths add atmosphere and embellishment, with the riffage, give Rizon a bombastic impact. Sometimes they have a greater presence as within New Age Dawn, the piano in Freedom Of Life Part 1, and symphonic start of Part II. As for the vocals and vocal arrangement, at the outset Matthias Gotz has the more commanding presence in the first few songs, with Fischer backing him up. But her voice becomes more present in duet with If You Rule The World, then even more prominent in the following Lost Without You, a metal anthem. She takes the lead for I Follow You, before Gotz joins in.In the end, I found the songs I liked best were those that effectively merged the melodic heavy metal with pure groove and more than a little AOR catchiness, namely Nevermore, Timebomb, and Feel The Heat. But fundamentally, Power Plant is Rizon simply being Rizon. They've found their sound in melodic heavy metal, maybe even heavier than in the past. And I think they've finally struck the proper balance between male and female voices. Hopefully, Rahel Fischer will stick around for the next album. All in all, entertaining stuff and recommended.
Line-Up:
Rahel Fischer - Vocals (2014-present)
Matthias Götz - Vocals
Christian Götz - Guitars
Reto Hähnel - Guitars (2014-present)
Maik Kindermann - Bass (2014-present)
Tom Lindegger - Drums
Marco Küderli - Keyboards
Tracklist:
01. Nevermore 04:09
02. Feel the Heat 03:50
03. Midnight Sun 03:08
04. If You Rule the World 03:43
05. Lost Without You 04:04
06. I Follow You 06:43
07. Me 05:03
08. New Age Dawn 04:29
09. No Way Out 06:03
10. Timebomb 06:26
11. Freedom of Life (Part I) 00:45
12. Freedom of Life (Part II) 04:20
+ Video "Feel The Heat" (Official Video)
Download links for all albums only on our blog here: http://goodmetalandhar.do.am/
