REVIEW: MARKONEE – See the Thunder

 

MARKONEE – See the Thunder (2009)

Escape Music

See the Thunder, the second album by Markonee, was released in 2009 through Escape Music, a label known for melodic rock and AOR. The vinyl edition, pressed on blue vinyl, appeared the same year on the Italian label RoboPhone. The production is credited to the band and Oderso Rubini, with mixing and mastering by Beau Hill, whose name has long been tied to polished, radio-friendly 1980s hard rock. That fits the direction the band takes here. The line-up consists of Gabriele Gozzi on vocals, Stefano Peresson and Carlo Bevilacqua Ariosti on guitars, Luigi Frati on bass and Ivano Zanotti on drums. Peresson also plays keyboards and handles musical direction, while Ariosti serves as executive producer.

The album is generally classed as melodic hard rock and AOR, and its sound looks back to the early 1980s rather than to modern metal. Discogs files it under hard rock and heavy metal, but the music sits closer to the melodic end of that range, and Heavy Harmonies includes it among its 2009 melodic rock and AOR releases. It balances hook-driven rockers with ballads and follows a clear melodic template. Compared with the band’s 2006 debut, The Spirit of Radio, this is the more direct record. The debut had some rock and even progressive touches, whereas here the band commits fully to the hard rock and AOR sound of the 1980s. The result is more focused, though some listeners may miss the earlier album’s breadth.

Several reference points come through. Def Leppard seems to be the strongest influence on the overall sound, in its layered, melodic and polished approach. The title track has a noticeable Stryper flavour, and a fondness for Guns N’ Roses also seems apparent. In the background there are touches of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and Whitesnake, which add some bluesy, riff-driven weight to the melodic surface. These are stylistic echoes rather than imitation, and the album works more as a tribute to an era than as a copy of any one band.

The album lists ten tracks and runs for about 38 minutes: “Way 2 Go”, “Women & Whisky”, “See the Thunder”, “Shores of Another Sea”, “The Big K”, “The Cross Between the Lines”, “Brand New Day”, “Back on Me”, “Cherry Blossom” and “I Believe in Father Christmas”. Songs are kept compact, with only one passing the four-and-a-half-minute mark, which suits the genre. The closing track appears to be a cover of the Greg Lake song of the same name, an unusual choice for a hard rock record that gives the album an off-beat ending.

The artwork is worth a few words. The front cover shows a plasma globe, with blue, violet and red tendrils of light radiating from a glowing centre against a black background. It suits the title well, since the image looks like electricity caught in motion. The band logo sits at the centre in ornate, almost psychedelic lettering, with the title below it in smaller lowercase type. The look is closer to art rock or the 1970s than to 1980s AOR, so the cover does not fully signal the music inside, though it is striking and memorable. The back cover feels very different. It shows the five members, photographed by Alex Ruffini, in a lavish, baroque-style room with a chandelier, dressed in white shirts and dark clothing. The staging is theatrical and confident, with the tracklist and credits laid over the photo. Together, the two covers suggest a band that takes its presentation seriously.

Overall, See the Thunder is a confident, well-produced melodic hard rock album. It will appeal mainly to fans of classic 1980s hard rock and AOR who value strong hooks and polish over innovation. It does not reinvent the genre, but it plays to its strengths and follows the debut with a more consistent, focused record.

Nick Parastatidis