Michael Schenker´s Temple of Rock- Spirit On a Mission (2016)

Michael Schenker´s Temple of Rock- Spirit On a Mission (2016)

By: Ghost Writer

It's been on my MP3 player for almost a year, personally I'm a big fan of Michael Schenker playing since his early psychedelic days with the mighty Scorpions (On the bizarre Lonesome Crow), his heavy metal defying tenure with UFO, or the various incarnations of the Michael Schenker Group, including Temple of Rock; Schenker is an amazing guitar player, one of the best ones in the world, massively influential in the development of modern heavy metal, a man whose exuberant solos unveil tremendous amounts of melody and whose glaring riffing served as a foundation for a large amount of modern shredders.

Temple of Rock is the latest embodiment of the legendary Michael Schenker Group, and in a way, despite the years, is a dreamed return to the roots, as two ex-Scorpions join the band, Herman Rarebell and Francis Bucholz on drums and bass respectively, giving this band a definitely solid hard rock foundation, add to that the prevailing classic voice of Doogie White, a veteran singer who played formerly with Rainbow and the Yngwie Malmsteen band, not a Klaus Maine clone, but a singer with a silver voice closer to that of Dio, Tony Martin or David Coverdale.

As I told you before, I have been listening in a quite active way to Schenker work through the years, personally, his participation with UFO is my cherished one, doing a towering guitar work along Peter Way, a phenomenal bassist, here, Schenker obviously gets empowered by his former Scorpions band mates, veterans who sound revitalized thanks to the new environment, first song on this Spirit on a Mission is a total classic, Live and Let Live rocks with unbridled fury, the rhythm section flies with majestic power throughout the whole song while White voice soars high, here we get the change to listen not only to Schenker master fret work, but also the attack of fellow guitarist and keyboardist Wayne Findlay, but is Schenker wizardry while playing lead guitar which immediately recalls his days on the almost thrashing UFO, Schenker soloing is lethal as always, augmented here by such impressive company, making this first track an exquisite welcome to this rock fest.

A few days ago I was raving about Carlos Santana returning to his roots on Santana IV, in a way this Spirit on a Mission works the same for Schenker, giving him a better foundation and strength enough to attempt again flying high, and that's what we get on Communion, where Schenker's talent for creating contagious melodies is put in full display, making him a perfect match for White hugely dramatic performance creating an impressive team capable of reaching epic heights, and in this precisely song, creating something close to a timeless classic.

Vigilante Man sounds awesome while I imagine it played along some scenes from the Netflix series Daredevil, is a formidable cinematic song with high reaching guitars, Schenker encompassing greatness riff after riff and also sporting an overwhelming chorus, in what might be possibly White's brightest moment in the set of songs, with Bucholz and Rarebell in full devastating mode, and then getting even more intense in the thrashing anthemic Rock City.

Crushing riffs and wailing vocals make the rest of the record such an enjoyable experience, as they get close to classic Sabbath metal on Saviour Machine, neoclassical on Something of the Night, Spirit On a Mission is a massive conjunction of talent,  with the parts, the ex Scorpions rhythm section, the powerful commanding pipes of White and the metal warrior riffs and sensitive soloing by Schenker, easily make this record one of the best things the guitars has done in years, assured to please even the more demanding follower of heavy metal and hard rock alike.