TALES OF MIKE
“Landscape Of Sorrow”
E.P. Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Tales Of Mike is the solo project of German heavy metal guitarist Mike Hess. Born in the early seventies, Mike got his first taste of metal and rock by way of ‘I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll’ by Joan Jett And The Black Hearts – learning to play guitar by using his brothers guitar!

Years later Mike purchased his own guitar, practicing endlessly to hone his skills, writing and recording a song as a tribute to his late brother Markus (R.I.P. 2010). Mike contacted vocalist Gonzalo Civita (Tribal, Heleh) to sing the song – both musicians thoroughly enjoyed working together, then went on to record more songs. The result, the three song E.P. ‘Landscape Of Sorrow’, released in 2023…

…under the banner Tales Of Mike, featuring a wide array of metal styles! Rooted firmly in the heavy metal genre, ‘Landscape Of Sorrow’ E.P. also incorporates elements of doom, death and black metal. All instruments are played by Mike, with additional guitars from fellow German musician Henrik Schaller.

The E.P.’s first song, the tribute ‘RIP (Landscape Of Sorrow)’ is (as you’d expect) an emotionally charged and sombre stroll of doom metal. Featuring both clean and harsh vocals, the song echoes the mid tempo heaviness of legends Black Sabbath, and I can honestly say ‘RIP (Landscape Of Sorrow)’ would not be out of place played at a funeral. Excellent work Mike, in terms of both lyrical and musical content.

‘LSD Butterfly’ picks up the pace and intensity, thundering on at a much more traditional heavy metal pace, with classic sounding “metal” vocals, punctuated with harsher growls and scowls. Very much aimed at the head bangers of the world, ‘LSD Butterfly’ is a glorious gallop that every metalhead will thoroughly enjoy. And if you thought that was intense, ‘Under The Pale Moonlight’ is the harshest song out of all three on offer, blending harsh and clean vocals alongside a thunderous backdrop of ferocity.

Overall, fourteen heavy hitting and intense minutes of metal featuring a myriad of styles ‘Landscape Of Sorrow’ E.P. hits hard and hits deep.

TRACKLIST

RIP (Landscape Of Sorrow)
LSD Butterfly
Under The Pale Moonlight

https://talesofmike.bandcamp.com/album/landscape-of-sorrow-ep-2023
https://www.facebook.com/TalesofMike

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