Well, these guys sound a couple decades too late. If you like your “hard rock” trying to masquerade as ‘80s-tinged “heavy metal,” then Sonic Bliss will wow you instantly. Too bad for them the formula really shows its age instantly from the first seconds of “Sahara” and its tired chugga-chugga lead rhythm guitar and Rene D. Berrios’ cartoonish vocals. “Babe I’m Dying” has to be a parody, right? It’s everything critics complained of bands like Styx and Kansas being, but even those groups never got this dopey. And someone told these dudes that covering Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” with overloaded, screaming guitars and cheeseball gut-busting vocals was a good idea. At best, these guys could make the reel for one of those episodes of “American Idol” featuring some of the funnier auditions, but they’re not destined for anything great. Not by a long shot. (Karloffian Records)
