KORITNI - Welcome To The Crossroads (2012)

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The Franco-Australian Hard-Melodic Rock combo KORITNI already have two studio albums (plus a live and an acoustic one), being their last one 'Game Of Fools' highly praised by the fans and critics.
A good one indeed, but their new effort "Welcome To The Crossroads" simply blows out of the water not only anything previously released by the band, but many other recent material by major acts of the genre.

The difference on "Welcome To The Crossroads" fundamentally resides in the stupendous, powerful production handled by leader and singer Lex Koritni. It has great dynamics that let each instrument breathe and shine but all integrated into a punchy and compact sound.
To a great extent, this result also must be credited to the first rate mix & engineering by legend Mike Fraser (Aerosmith, Chickenfoot, Queen), Dean Maher and Daniel Leffler. Add to this the collaboration of prestigious guests such as Jeff Scott Soto, Rusty Brown (Electric Mary) and Jeff Waters (Annihilator).
So we have a terrific sound, tech and musicians... what about the songs?

On "Welcome To The Crossroads", Koritni delivers bomb after bomb of polished hard rock with intense riffage, not forgetting the melody and the fun.
Lex is a complete singer with a flexible register, always in control and harmonic, with a timbre that reminds me Gary Cherone (Extreme). One of the highlights of this band is the formidable rhythm section, specially Chris Brown's excellent drumming which together the fat groove of Dean Hunter's bass provides a mammoth foundation for the biting guitars.

Opener and title track "Down At The Crossroads" is an irresistible rocker with a tap-footing chorus, where the always effective Jeff Scott Soto shares the vocals with Lex on the second part of the song.
One of the winners is the following track "Better Off Dead", catchy and fun to death. A smokin' tune with sharp guitars and a stupendous vocal duel between Koritni and Rusty Brown's raspy vocals.
"Party's Over" adds some heavy funk in the Mr. Big style Ritchie Kotzen-era, a truly party song as the next; the hot hard rocker "TV's Just A Medium" which features a slamming guitar solo by Jeff Waters (Annihilator) and terrific gang choruses.
Now we have another highlight, the Melodic Rock heaven of "Lost For Words", an extremely melodic and catchy tune full of magic and a hit potential. It's one of those songs that you never get tired to listen, as its structure, arrangements and punch moves your Melodic Rock fiber. Great, great one.

Next, we have two unstoppable rockers; "In The Sydney Summertimes" and "Sometimes". The latter starts slowly and bluesy, but then explodes into a melting melodic hard rocker.
The semi-midtempo "Money Talks, It Says Goodbye" is groovy with a scorching guitar solo, while "Let's Go Crazy" rocks with melody and shows Lex's versatility, revealing the different intonations that he is capable of.
This is also ascertainable in his fantastic performance on"Hold On", a top class electric ballad to die for, driving by a memorable melody. Seriously, a fantastic song!
For the end we have more variation, as "Take it Like a Man" begins in a country western way including acoustic guitar, banjo, slide... before exploding into a big heavy rock with an enormous chorus. A power-track that ends with the same atmosphere as starts.


You will be surprised by the quality of Koritni's "Welcome To The Crossroads". In all departments.
Every song is catchy, fun and feature interesting arrangements & hooks, the musicianship is terrific, the vocals are strong and varied, all surrounded by a first rate production. Even the artwork is excellent.
Do yourself a favor Hard Rock & Melodic Rock fan, and get a copy pronto. This is a dazzling, extremely impressive CD, one of the best of the year without a doubt.
Highly Recommended.


01 - Down At The Crossroads (feat. Jeff Scott Soto)
02 - Better Off Dead (feat. Rusty Brown)
03 - Party's Over
04 - Now a Word From Our Sponsors
05 - TV's Just a Medium (feat. Jeff Waters)
06 - Lost For Words
07 - Sydney in the Summertime
08 - Sometimes
09 - Money Talks, it Says Goodbye
10 - Let's Go Crazy
11 - Hold On
12 - Take it Like a Man


Lex Koritni: Vocals
Eddy Santacreu: Guitar
Luke Cuerden: Guitar, Vocals
Matt Hunter: Bass
Chris Brown: Drums
Jeff Scott Soto - guest Vocals
Rusty Brown - guest Vocals
Jeff Waters - guest Guitar solo



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www.amazon.co.uk/Welcome-Crossroads-Koritni/dp/B0072KTUV6