ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, MAY 27, 2010
By Steve Newton
It’s been five long years since Vancouver rock vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist extraordinaire Erol Sora blew me away with his Demented Honour album, but from the sound of his new CD, Desire and Truth, he’s still Vancouver’s answer to Gary Moore.
In other words, Sora knows how to make his trusty Les Paul shreik, howl, and pretty well beg for mercy, all while giving fans of melodic, guitar-heavy acts like UFO, Rainbow, and the Michael Schenker Group reason to keep the ’70s-rock faith.
Whether taking his passionate playing from a whisper (“When You’re Gone”) to a scream (“The Storm Has Just Begun”), Sora commands attention.
He wrote all the words and music on this self-produced, 10-track effort himself, and his singing and songwriting is impressive throughout. To keep things solid he recruited such local stalwarts as Jason Solyom (drums), Brendan Mooney (bass), and Gregory Macdonald (keys).
Hear him lay waste to the frets on the raging “Invitation” and you’ll wonder if Iron Maiden might need a fourth guitar player after all.
I’m not kidding!
Here’s hoping Sora doesn’t keep us waiting another five years for his next high-octane blast of ”˜70s-style earbusting. Check this dude out here before Deep Purple gives Steve Morse the boot and hires him instead.