Rockportaal review Tragik!

Another very nice review from Dutch site Rockportaal. And again, find the original version here, and the translated version next:

With the album Tainted by Tragik in front of me, I am somewhat surprised. First of all, I am amazed that Tainted is the seventh album of this melodic hard rock band. In addition, I am lustily looked at by busty ladies from the artwork. But that has already been the case on previous albums. Do not judge a book by his cover, they say and that certainly fits like a glove for this seventh album by Tragik.

An album with a diversity at the top with the rock side as a continuous basis. Not always very very pompous like in ‘Til I See You Again’ and Nobody’s There and even rock / sweet as in Regrets. On the other hand Face Of Sorrow certainly fits in this list, although this composition is catchy due to a stabile guitar sound and ditto drum.

In Can not Take It Back, the rock side reveals itself for the first time on the album. The chorus is pleasant and catchy, even call it poppy and the guitar solo sounds so warm and familiar that Can not Take It Back still lingers. Later on the album is also the title track infused with a big rock sauce against the border of rock and roll. Striking on Tainted is the seventies sound that this modern band puts down. In terms of sound, it tends towards a band like Boston and the vocal / backing vocals in Tainted, but also in Nobody’s There and the long Not Over You (Listen) fit perfectly into the whole. That link to a band like Boston returns to Welcome Back, but then mixes with the Electric Light Orchestra at Mr. Blue Sky. Although certainly in Into The Great Unknown matches can be found with Styx at Mr. Roboto.

How wonderful that old time is put in a new jacket and in Not Over You (Listen) even goes back to the synthpop from the eighties (including drum computer).

Tragik shows a contemporary and special sound for which Phil Vincent is mainly responsible. His voice is particularly appropriate for the music on Tainted and in Heaven he shows that he does not need more than a piano and his voice to give a wonderful feeling to the listener in this extremely peaceful and beautiful composition. Nice is the acceleration halfway through the composition in which spacerock predominates and gives Tragik a more progressive side. Here too, the composition, like almost all other compositions, is enriched with a wonderful guitar solo.

All in all, Tainted is a special album that brings back memories and mixes rock and (synth) pop together. A special album that sounds nice and especially in the Boston / Styx / Elo compositions.

Thank you Maurice!