Talking about “Eye Of The Storm”, Nikolo Kotzev says: “Here’s the second Brazen Abbot album. As always – a labour of love with many memorable tracks. The great Joe Lynn Turner and the Europe guys gave it a special flavour. With this re-release Brazen Abbot comes to life once again! Enjoy!” Brazen Abbot was originally conceived as a studio project by Bulgarian guitarist, producer, and songwriter Nikolo Kotzev. The band has since performed live on several occasions, particularly in the early 2000’s. A unique feature of Brazen Abbot is its use of multiple singers on each album. Göran Edman and Joe Lynn Turner have contributed with vocals on most of their records. Initially, Kotzev planned to work with a single vocalist, Göran Edman (ex-Malmsteen) but, due to contractual restrictions, he could only record two songs for the debut album. The “Voice of Rock” Glenn Hughes was then lined up to sing the remaining tracks, but similar issues limited him to three songs. To complete the album, Thomas Vikström (Talk of the Town and later on Therion) was brought in, and Kotzev was so satisfied with the outcome that he decided to continue the multi-singer approach for future albums. However, during live performances, Joe Lynn Turner (ex-Malmsteen, Rainbow, Deep Purple) usually handled all lead vocals. Several Brazen Abbot members also participated in Kotzev’s rock opera Nostradamus (2001). During the rock opera’s development, Brazen Abbot was temporarily on hiatus. Former members of the band include Mic Michaeli, John Levén, and Ian Haugland, all of whom are also members of the legendary rock band Europe. “Eye of the Storm” is the second album from Brazen Abbot. Released originally in 1996 on the Japanese label Zero/JVC and shortly after by the German label USG Records, “Eye Of The Storm” sees the addition of the awesome singer Joe Lynn Turner to the line-up. His influence is particularly evident on songs like “Twist Of Fate”, “Line Of Fire”, and “Road To Hell”, while the Europe influence can be found in “Wake Up Everybody”, with a great vocal performance from Thomas Vikström. Göran Edman also appears on lead vocals stamping his mark especially on the power-ballad “Everything’s Gonna Be Allright”. The album cemented the reputation that Brazen Abbot managed to achieve with their first album and offers a truly solid and brilliant melodic hard rock release for all the fans of the genre.

LINEUP

Nikolo Kotzev – Guitars, keyboards, violin
Ian Haugland – Drums
John Leven – Bass
Mic Michaeli – Hammond
Joe Lynn Turner – Vocals
Thomas Vikström – Vocals
Göran Edman – Vocals