“Ghost Town” is the new musical offering from German guitarist AXEL RUDI PELL. Even though he’s one of those guitar virtuosos out there, Axel is not a Malmsteen clone whatsoever. If you’re familiar with his music you probably know by now that usually his albums are made of three to four Rock anthems, one or two ballads and a couple of long epic songs. This one starts with a mid-paced rocker with a base of drums and some arrangements on top. Surprisingly UDO makes an appearance in the second track called ‘Breaking Seals’. I always liked Joey Gioelli’s vocals. There’s some cool guitar melodies from Axel through the album as always. His solos are almost derivative at this point since they are more in the shredding category with a melody in some parts to tie it to the vibe of whatever he is playing. The production here is awesome. It’s crisp and aggressive. The drummer on the album is Bobby Rondinelli, the rest of the musicians are basically the same as always. ‘Holy Water’ is another anthemic Rock one, while ‘The Enemy Within’ is the first epic effort on the album. I wish it would have been a longer track so he could have played some insane great guitar parts in it though. ‘Hurricane’ took me by surprise because it is a very fast song, unlike what Axel use to write. ‘Towards The Shore’ is a pretty skippable ballad and thank God it is the only one. Up until now the album rocked. I can’t remember any of his ballads that I ever liked. Maybe because I’m not much of a fan of them. The record closed with two great tracks, another barn burner and the closing seven plus minutes banger ‘Higher Call’. This is the best AXEL RUDI PELL album in years. www.facebook.com/axelrudipellofficial, www.facebook.com/steamhammer