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Silent Force without D.C. Cooper? Skeptically, I started listening to the band's 2014 album Rising from Ashes. The first song out of the gate, "Caught in Their Wicked Game," had me thinking this might not be so bad after all. Speedy, double-kick drums, excellent solos and the not-unpleasant-but-not-D.C. Cooper vocals of Michael Boorman all seemed to come together into a reasonable facsimile of the classic Silent Force sound. Boorman has a grittier delivery than Cooper but is still a fine Power Metal vocalist. Then the album starts taking turns, some of them rather sharp, and morphs from the outright Power Metal of the opener into something much more akin to today's melodic Heavy Metal with some rather obvious late 80s Hard Rock/Heavy Metal influences. I often found myself thinking that some of the songs on Rising from Ashes would not have been out of place on Whitesnake's self-titled 1987 album. Keyboard-heavy songs like "There Ain't No Justice," "Turn Me Loose" and "You Gotta Kick It," while still heavy, have a slick, almost sterile, production, MTV-friendly melodies and slightly cheesy "girl trouble" lyrics and are just missing the Mercedes with Tawny Kitaen on the hood. Don't misunderstand, the gents in Silent Force are pros and the playing is top notch. With names like Mat Sinner and Alexander Beyrodt, should we expect anything less?

I don't dislike Rising from Ashes, but its commercial sensibilities are too much. If you like the latest LOVE.MIGHT.KILL record or you still can't get enough of "Still of the Night," Silent Force has an album for you.