Rock from Germany: on 17th June, the German rock band April Art releases their second album, P.O.K.E.R.F.A.C.E.. I ran into the release on a promotion platform and just felt that their sound could be an interesting one for Flyctory.com. Here is my album review.
April Art – About The Artist
April Art are a rock band from Gießen, Germany. The band consists of four members. Lisa-Marie Watz is the lead singer of the band, Chris Bunnell plays the guitar, Julian Schütze is April Art’s bassists and Ben Juelg is the drummer of the band. The band is active since 2019. In 2019, they released their debut album Rise & Fall.
April Art – P.O.K.E.R.F.A.C.E. – Track by Track
The twelve track album lasts 34 minutes.
1. Pokerface
After a short introduction by Lisa-Marie Weitz, the title track aims for full rock power. The song has a certain metalcore touch. I love Lisa-Marie’s voice – maybe also as I feel a certain Doro Pesch timbre in it. No reference to Lady Gaga, by the way. Am I the only one who feels that the verses have the same rhythm as Funky Cold Medina by Tone Löc?
2. Change
The song opens with some sort of metal-rap: the verses come with a mixture of screamed and spoken words. Overall, Change nicely works with different rhythms and moods. I like the vibe, which makes you keep on moving to the rhythm. Good one
Do me a favor, don’t bother
Cause it’s absolutely strange
The only constant is change
3. Interlude: Manifest
Three of the twelve tracks of the albums are interludes. Manifest is the first one, which reminds a bit of club sounds and synth pop. I wouldn’t really need these ones.
4. Rising High
I am rising high
Into the falling sky
I won’t get off this ride
I will fight until I die
Rising High has been a single release by April Art. If I confused you with my Doro Pesch reference above – maybe this one is convincing you. The band is playing a bunch of festivals this summer – I am sure, the crowds will love this one.
5. Sky Is The Limit
Is the sky really the limit in this one? The song is making extensive use of spoken words in the verses again. Cool blend of rock and alternative elements. The short and simple chorus again creates an easy to remember musical reference. April Art simply forces you to keep the lines in your mind. Well done!
6. Warrior
Warrior is the rock ballad on this album. Interesting to see how gentle the lead singer’s voice is sounding in here. Not an absolute blast, but a really solid listen.
7. My Way
My VIew is simply a good alternative rocker with synth elements. The song does not feel too much like metalcore, though. It is very melodic rocker, which stays in your mind. Cool.
8. Interlude: Leave It Behind
This interlude just features 28 seconds of a demo-alike demo recording.
9. See The Light
These 2:41 minutes don’t come with a lot of lyrics, but to me, it is one of the most favorite listens. Nice rock vibes.
10. Start Over
Start Over comes with a very slow and quiet beginning and then turns into a rather energetic midtempo alternative rock song. Good one.
11. Interlude: Letters
Two songs… and an interlude. No more words
12. Superhero
If you start the closing songs of your second album with the lyrics I am a Superhero, that at least does not feel like a lack of self-confidence. The song is coming with strong contrasts, very hard and rocking part and also very quiet and melodic elements. I however feel that this track does not deserve the Superhero status.
April Art – P.O.K.E.R.F.A.C.E. – Spotify
Here is P.O.K.E.R.F.A.C.E. on Spotify:
April Art – P.O.K.E.R.F.A.C.E. – My View
April Art is an interesting and talented band, which is able to show a nice range of musical facets. The album comes with some ups and downs, but overall, it is a really good listen. If you like alternative rock and are not too afraid of metalcore elements, you should dare a listen
2022 Rock Music Reviews
Here are all my Media Reviews related to rock music in 2022:

Nevena – Nevena

Sündflut – Basta! EP

Neufundland – Grind

Isafjord – Hjartsatjaki

Amberian Dawn – Take a Chance (A Metal Tribute To ABBA)

Boppin’ B – Saxbomb

Nickelback – Get Rollin’

L.S. Dunes – Past Lives

Rook Road – Rook Road

The Moon City Masters – The Famous Moon City Masters

Fireside – Bin Juice

The Backseat Lovers – Waiting To Spill

Massive Wagons – Triggered!

Wally – Alles halb so wild

PG Roxette – Pop-Up Dynamo!

Chez Kane – Powerzone

Simple Minds – Direction of the Heart

Orianthi – Rock Candy

Allee der Diktatoren – Dieses kleine bisschen Wut

Magical Heart – Heartsonic

Monster Truck – Warriors

Melissa Naschenweng – Glück

Richard Marx – Songwriter

Kill Strings – Limbo

5 Seconds of Summer – 5SOS5

Billy Idol – The Cage EP

Starcrawler – She Said

The Afghan Whigs – How Do You Burn?

Bad Baron – Ace of Hearts

Bandaid Brigade – Sex is Terrifying

Drei Meter Feldweg – Durak

David Paich – Forgotten Toys

Mani Orrason – The World Is Big and You Will Never Find Me

Versus Goliath – Liebe & Chaos

Manntra – Kreatura

LustfingeR – LustfingeR

Whiskey Myers – Tornillo

Dawes – Misadventures Of Doomscroller

She Bites – Super Hero

Heischneida – Heischneida II

The Faim – Talk Talk

Blind Channel – Lifestyles of the Sick & Dangerous

Journey – Freedom

Grey Daze – The Phoenix

G. Love & Special Sauce – Philadelphia Mississippi

Kasalla – Rudeldiere

Mary Keey – Digital Me

Monotrone – 1 (One)

Junipa Gold – Something Divine EP

Karaboom – Follow Your Heart

Craig Finn – A Legacy Of Rentals

Shameless – So Good, You Should….

VoixxBradler – Blast

Marius Müller-Westernhagen – Das eine Leben

49 Winchester – Fortune Favors The Bold

Dana Fuchs – Borrowed Time

Amber Run – The Start (Act II) EP

Silver Dust – Lullabies

Cold Years – Goodbye To Misery

Carson – The Wilful Pursuit of Ignorance

Hi! Spencer – Memori EP

Papa Roach – Ego Trip

Joe Satriani – The Elephants of Mars

Jon Spencer & The HITmakers – Spencer Gets It Lit

Pup – The Unraveling of PUPTheBand

Circle of Friends – The Garden

Max Paul Maria – Paradigm Beach

The Jeremy Days – Beauty In Broken

Der Sonne zu Nah – Schwerkraft

Tame The Abyss – They Vanished At Dawn! EP

Der To – Hand aufs Herz

Sunrunner – Sacred Arts of Navigation

The Dogs – El Verdugo

Mike Campbell & the Dirty Knobs – External Combustion

Lo Moon – Modern Life

The Search – Extras

Corey Taylor – CMFB… Sides EP

Klaus Lage – Je wahrer die Liebe

Sarah Shook & The Disarmers – Nightroamer

Ard – Take Up My Bones

Goodbye June – See Where The Night Goes

Urge Overkill – Oui

Amos Lee – Dreamland

Slash feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators – 4

Jeffrey Mitchell Ross – Waited A Long Time

Rolo Tomassi – Where Myth Becomes Memory

Pictures – It’s OK

North Mississippi Allstars – Set Sail

jackie – Hey Angel EP

Katie Henry – On My Way

Herman Rarebell & The Hurricane Orchestra – Scorpion’s Songs Symphonic

Claus Trophobia – Space Rock Voodoo

Yard Act – The Overload

Billy Talent – Crisis of Faith

Gampe – Tiny House Blues

Autumn’s Child – Zenith

Noah Guthrie – Blue Wall

Skillet – Dominion

Jamestown Revival – Young Man
Postings about Concerts
All postings about concerts I visited:

Ron Pope (23rd September 2023, Cologne)

Home Free (20th September 2023, Hamburg)

Randall King (15th September 2023, Cologne)

Heart To Heart Event (29th August 2023, Düsseldorf)

Ben Zucker (28th July 2023, Monheim)

Seepark Biker Days Pfullendorf 2023 – Day 3 Concerts (2nd July)

Seepark Biker Days Pfullendorf 2023 – Day 2 Concerts (1st July)

Seepark Biker Days Pfullendorf 2023 – Day 1 Concerts (30th June)

Seepark Biker Days Pfullendorf 2023 – A Preview

Rock of Ages UK Tour – A Personal Farewell and Thanks

Rock of Ages (9th June 2023, Solingen)

The Deslondes (6th June 2023, Cologne)

Everette & Austin Jenckes (23rd May 2023, Cologne)

Kip Moore (14th May 2023, Cologne)

The Longest Johns (21st April 2023, Cologne)

Rock of Ages Opening Night – Red Carpet Impressions

Rock of Ages (German Tour Opening Night in Munich, 5th April 2023)

Matthias Reim (24th March 2023, Oberhausen)

Weird Al Yankovic tours Europe 2023 – My Reprise

Mitchell Tenpenny & Morgan Evans (3rd March 2023, Hamburg)

Weird Al Yankovic (19th February 2023, Tilburg)

Julian Taylor (15th February 2023, Cologne)

Kane Brown (27th January 2023, Cologne)

Brett Young (19th November 2022, Cologne)

Milky Chance (18th November 2022, Cologne)

Alexander Ludwig (2nd November 2022, Cologne)

Five Weird Al Yankovic Shows in Florida – Some Concert Pictures

Carly Pearce & Sarah Darling (12th September 2022, Hamburg)

Lindsay Ell (with Kyle Daniel & Shy Carter, 23rd August 2022, Cologne)

Gipsy Kings & More Than Words (11th August 2022, Cologne)

Johnossi (12th June 2022, Cologne)

Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 5, 29.4.2022)

Kicking Off The Weird Al Yankovic Tour 2022 (Day 3, 27.4.2022)

Grand Ole Opry Show (18th March 2022)

The Country Music Week turns Digital

Björn Heuser (28th May 2020, Drive-In Show, Bonn)

The Bourbon Room / Rock of Ages Hollywood

C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 3 (08.03.2020) – The Main Stage

C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 3 (08.03.2020) – Splitter

C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 3 (08.03.2020) – The Side Stages

C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 2 (07.03.2020) – The Main Stage

C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 2 (07.03.2020) – The Side Stages

C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 2 (07.03.2020) – Splitter

C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 1 (06.03.2020) – The Main Stage

C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 1 (06.03.2020) – The Side Stages

C2C Country To Country Berlin – Day 1 (06.03.2020) – Splitter

Country 2 Country 2020 in Berlin – A Preview

Olivia Lane (8th February 2020, Hassocks / Brighton)

Brett Eldregde / Lauren Jenkins (29th January 2020, Amsterdam)

Brandy Clark (29th January 2020, Amsterdam)

Brett Eldredge / Lauren Jenkins (24th January 2020, Cologne)

Noah Guthrie (9th December 2019, Cologne)

James Barker Band (20th November 2019, Zurich)

Mrs. Greenbird (Frankfurt, 7th November 2019)

Ben Zucker & Van De Forst (6th November 2019, Cologne)

Willie Jones & Tyler Rich (29th October 2019, Cologne)

Logan Mize (26th October 2019, Cologne)

Scotty McCreery (24th October 2019, Cologne)

Country 2 Country 2020 Lineup – My View

Andy Clark (19th October 2019, Dusseldorf)

Sarah Darling, Kenny Foster, Robert Counts (13th October 2019, Frankfurt)

Rock of Ages (Zons / Germany, 28th Sep 2019)

Lauren Jenkins & Austin Jenckes (16th September 2019, Amsterdam)

British Country Music Festival – Day 3 (15th Sep 2019)

British Country Music Festival – Day 2 (14th Sep 2019)

British Country Music Festival – Day 1 (13th Sep 2019)

Sound of Nashville Press Event & Logan Mize Concert (11th Sep 2019, Cologne)

Jillian Jacqueline & Lauren Jenkins (9th September 2019, Cologne)

Thompson Square (5th September 2019, Cologne)

Eric Paslay (3rd Sep 2019, Aschaffenburg)

Weird Al Yankovic – “Strings Attached”, Indianapolis (29th August 2019)

The British Country Music Festival (Blackpool) – A Preview

Wade Bowen (6th August 2019, Cologne)

Weird Al Yankovic, Strings Attached Tour (Bank of NH Pavilion, Gilford, 18th July 2019)

CMA Fest 2019 – My Meet & Greets

Visiting CMA Fest 2019

Write Like A Girl (London, 13th June 2019)

Christina Taylor & Carolyn Miller – Two Upcoming Country Artists

CMA Fest 2019 – Fan Events with Cassadee Pope and Jana Kramer

Kenny Foster & Friends at the Listening Room (Nashville, 6th June 2019)

Maren Morris & RaeLynn GIRL Tour 2019 in Amsterdam (22nd May 2019)

CMT Next Women of Country, Liverpool (10th May 2019)

My Favorite Country 2 Country Songs 2019

Country 2 Country in London 2019

“Sound of Nashville” in Cologne (6th March 2019)

Country 2 Country 2019 in Berlin

Danielle Hope at “The Crazy Coqs” (London, 17th Feb 2019)

Rock of Ages – My favourite Musical

Catherine McGrath at Arts Club Loft Liverpool

LINA @ Kunst!Rasen Bonn

Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 4)

Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 3)

Trip Report: On Tour with Weird Al Yankovic (Day 2)

My favourite Country 2 Country 2018 songs

A Day at the Country 2 Country 2018