Marc Storace has been one of THE voices of rock ‘n’ roll throughout his career, his joining Swiss rockers Krokus in 1979 was a huge turning point in their shared histories. Often drawing comparisons with Bon Scott, Storace was approached to replace in AC/DC when the legends lost their iconic singer in 1980, his whisky-soaked vocals perfectly matching the band’s barroom boogie.
Storace
Live And Let Live / Crossfire (Frontiers Music Srl)
Release Date: Out Now
Words: Paul Monkhouse
Turning down the chance of an audition out of respect for Bon and also his Krokus bandmates, Storace stayed with the Metal outfit, and they cut their own swathe through the rock world, becoming a much-loved outfit globally.
Whilst Krokus announced a farewell tour in 2018, the pandemic stopped everything in its tracks and, revitalised, the band decided they were having way too much fun and thankfully went back on their decision to say goodbye. Never someone to let grass grow under his feet, Marc had launched a successful solo career some years ago and this double dip of Live And Let Live and Crossfire brings twice the thunder.
Live And Let Live
Originally issued three years ago, Live And Let Live is a double set featuring one studio and one live set, the first to feature the Storace name as a band in its own right.
Opening with the hard rocking title track, this is a heavily ’70s influenced feast that brings a rough-edged thrill to their material. With that distinctive voice, Storace brings a real grit to proceedings, and the Nazareth-style Carry The Burden and dirty Led Zeppelin blues of Broken Wings are real highlights.
At times measured, the delivery of the songs shows care here, and mid-paced heavy hitters like High On Love and Lady Of The Night bring heft but add some swing. An album of many moods, the switch between the ballad Don’t Wanna Go and the great, furious rock of Love Over Money is seamlessly done.
Semi-acoustic campfire romp Paradise closes in relaxed style and the whole has a warm glow rather than a frenetic punch, the singer being given a chance to spread his musical wings in a nice display of what he is capable of.
Twinned with this, the live album sees the band in fighting form on their Swiss tour, mixing material from the new album and throwing in two numbers by Krokus and one by Storace’s pre-Krokus outfit Eazy Money.
The band sound both tight and fresh, backing the frontman with their own verve, adding a sense of urgency to the material and fire-breathing numbers like Midnite Maniac, Hellraiser, and Telephone Man certainly grab the attention.
Finely capturing the atmosphere, this souvenir of the tour is a great testament to the band and crackles with its own intensity.
Crossfire
Bringing things bang up to date, Crossfire is the latest offering from the band and producer Tommy Henrikson has captured the fire and fury of Storace perfectly. Coming off of his own Crossbone Skully project, the Alice Cooper/Hollywood Vampires guitarist and polymath brings a dirty rock ‘n’ roll edge to things and tapping into the visceral thrill of the music.
“Tommy Henriksen, in spite of his tight touring-schedule with Alice Cooper, The Hollywood Vampires and his work with his Crossbone Skully, actually made time to produce my Crossfire album,” Marc says. “Hell yeah, that’s what I call a good friend! Creating the songs with T felt like magic. He even got the incredible Olle Romo, Mutt Lange’s very own engineer, to mix the album. Unbelievable! It was like a match made in heaven!! Play It Loud.”
Big, ballsy and with no compromise, the album is most definitely a modern rock record with elements of some of the classic bands that conquered the world with the influences of AC/DC and Def Leppard being found in its grooves.
Storace has never sounded better and with rampaging monsters in the form of Screaming Demon, Adrenaline and Love Thing Stealer, there is more than enough here to keep any old-school Heavy Metal fan happy.
With some ferocious playing, the voice made to sing this material and the vibrant and sympathetic production, Crossfire deserves to be heard.
One of the best albums of his career, Storace is as loud and electrifying as ever.
Storace – Crossfire is available from here, and Live And Let Live is available from here.
