Before being asked to review this album I must be honest and say I hadn’t come across this band before so for the benefit of others like myself here is a short breakdown of who the band are.

The band is Vytas Lemke (keyboards), Frank Fischer (bass), Philip Griffiths (vocals), Ludwig Benedek (drums) and Matze Wurm (guitar). The band have released  “Beyond The Mirror e.p” (2000),”Field Of Names” (2001),”A Different Point Of You” (2003/2004) and now in 2007 their latest release “Focus”.

I have lived with this release for a week now and can say that “Alis Eye” area very unique sounding and highly original band. The music and lyrics all combine to make some intriguing music.

The opening track “I’m Your Lie” is a quirky and moody piece, which sounds unlike anything I have heard before. It’s rock with a progressive edge. It covers lots of ground going from muscular to mellow in the blink of an eye.” In Denial” sees the band getting funky and is reminiscent of Extreme during there Punchline phase.

“The Call” sees the band flexing some hard rock muscle and has a nice big swagger to it. One can see this song being a bit of a crowd pleaser live. With “Enlighten Them” the band show another side to themselves. An accordion drives this song along with some super drumming from Benedek. The Red Hot Chilli Peppers would kill for a track like this and if the band got this to Shakira it could possibly be turned into a commercial hit. There is also some super scampering guitar lines form Wurm which raise a smile on each listen.” Books” shows the band can also turn their hand at quality ballad style writing. This is a vocal and keyboard track and it works superbly. It’s all about melody and there are some lovely chord progressions.” Hold On” is a song, which also features more superb keyboard work from Lemke and the band all combine to build the song into something, which sounds bigger than the sum of its parts. The arrangement brought to mind Styx in the way the vocals lead the song.

Each of the eleven tracks on the album has its own little character and the more mellow pieces are at times quite engaging.

As mentioned at the start of the review Alias Eye has a very unique and individual sound and approach to their music. Anyone looking for something a bit different should seek out this band and give them a try. The recording and production are crisp and the band has left the arrangements uncluttered and tidy. At times I did hanker for a bit more “oomph” in as much as some of the songs have massive potential to be mini epics. Saying that what you hear is a real band with an honest and open sound with no studio trickery and I think that shows just how talented this band are. If you do pick up this c.d make sure you listen right to the end as without giving too m much away the lads show they have a pesky sense of humour.

All in all a very refreshing and intriguing listen.

Let us know your views on 'In Focus'

Track List

I'm Your Lie
In Denial
The Call
Enlighten Them
Books
History Lesson
Rhodesian Rhapsody
Hold On
To Be Or Not To Be ...Revisited
Falling
How We Perceive

Line Up

Philip Griffiths - vocals
Frank Fischer - bass
Matze Wurm - guitars
Vytas Lemke - keys
Ludwig Benedek - drums