A few years ago I reviewed 2 CDs of the Austrian band BLACK ROSE. If I remember it well, they played a mixture of AOR, Melodic Poprock, Hardrock and some Pop. Sometimes they reminded me of Canadian AOR acts from the 80s such as HAYWIRE, BYSTANDER, HOINEYMOON SUITE and LOVERBOY. Well, it became quiet around the band up until now, because the band is now called BADHOVEN and they have just released their CD 'Behind the masquerade'. Without any doubts, this is the band's best CD release so far, because the new CD is filled with high quality AOR/Melodic Poprock in the style of HAYWIRE, BYSTANDER, HONEYMOON SUITE…

There are 12 tracks on the album and the production is very impressive. Almost all the included tracks are very good, with the exception of 2 poprockers ("Rockin' old radio" and "Let yourself be beautiful"), but what you basically further get are 10 great AOR tracks. My favourites are "Behind the masquerade" (uptempo AOR a la BYSTANDER), "Dying for that miracle" (AOR/Melodic rockballad a la Aussies ROXUS), "Movie of my life" (semi AOR/Melodic rock) and the fantastic AOR ballad "Spirit of the lake" (ALIAS meets ROXUS). But also very good are the pure 80s uptempo melodic poprockers "Girl like you", "All or nothing" and "I am" (all 3 very much sounding like LOVERBOY and HAYWIRE). "Wasted time" is also a great AOR song in the best 80s tradition (bit like old FM, ZINATRA, HONEYMOON SUITE), but sadly disturbed by a saxsolo.

Nevertheless, if you're a fan of Canadian AOR a la BYSTANDER, HAYWIRE, PRISM, HONEYMOON SUITE, LOVERBOY, HARLEQUIN etc. etc., then do check out the Austrian band BADHOVEN, as they capture that style and that's something to admire, because there aren't any Canadian bands playing it anymore. More info at: http://www.BadHoven.com and e-mail them at: BadHoven@chello.at

Rating: 8,5/10 (Review by Gabor Kleinbloesem)