Audio Porn
Jezebels Kiss

I immediately thought we'd already reviewed this album as I saw the cover art of 'Jezebels Kiss', but as my attempts to find any Audio Porn in the Hallowed archive it got up to me that we hadn't. The reason why I thought so in the first place came from the striking similarity in the artwork with the cover for 'Die Wahrheit Leigt Dazwischen' by Unherz, which Daniel reviewed a couple of weeks ago. Musically the two bands aren't too close, but they reminds a little bit about each other - all though Unherz is both heavier and faster. Thus this being the debut album of Audio Porn and their debut appearance at Hallowed what can we expect from these Canadian trio, which includes two former members of a band that probably by a "coincidence" share the name with this album…

Well, first of all let me make it very clear that this is a new project and not an album by any of he already existing Audio Porn formations out there, the most famous probably being the British rock band and the American hard rock band. This Canadian trio consist of Azriel St. Michael, Byron Black and Jeff Westlake, which in the order they were mentioned does the vocals, the drums and the string section. These 11 songs have been written by the combined head of Westlake and St. Michael and make up for 46 minutes of "classic" hard rock full of ideas and a modern touch.

One song really gets a gigantic grip on me that still hasn't come loose, which is the ninth song in the pack, called Breath Away and this really is a song that takes my breath away. I think the chorus nicely sums up my feelings for "my" dear Marie "If I could live a thousand years, I'd rather live one day to be with you…. you take my breath away. 'Cause I would die for just one day to hold you in my arms and be with you". I know it's cheesy and probably I'm a bit extra sentimental as we've just broken up but I really love you that much, Marie. I would die for one more day like the ones we had before it all came crashing down…

Anyway, sorry for the sidetrack, let's return to the music. We get striking guitars, nice choruses and dashing melodies but also quite rubbery songs with dull verses and most of the eleven songs not being anything special at all. I think the vocals are a bit flat and insipid, not at all like St Michael delivers at his very best throughout the album but only in a few of them. Somehow I feel the album doesn't live up to the standard you hear it has potential to give and only a few of these songs seems to get the whole thing together. In the case of this album my favorites are the songs Let Me Go, Butterfly and especially Breath Away and I think that you need to at least consider them when you're picking tunes for your music-phone, while the rest feels like something that only the fans of this kind of heavy rock 'n' roll will add.

Overall I'd describe it as a strong and solid performance full of potential. I like what I hear, I like what I see (when I look at the cover) and the best songs are so good they're almost criminal. Unfortunately I think that most of the material is a bit mediocre and somewhat uninspiring but as nothing is really bad and the best songs are what they are I still think it deserves a five out of seven. A somewhat weak, but still a honorable five and how hard I try I still don't get the top tracks out of my head. An album that absolutely deserves to be given a chance, but I think most people will settle with 2-3 songs instead of the whole album, unless you like the genre because then it's all one big treat!