Band:	Double Dealer
Album:	Double Dealer
Style:	Heavy metal
Website:	http://www.vap.co.jp/dd/
Release date:	2000

01. The Long Way Road
02. Pandora's Box
03. The Enemy
04. Deep Blue Sky
05. Primitive Life
06. Inner Voice
07. Too Young And Vane
08. Look At Your Face
09. Leave As It Is Now
10. Raise Your Fist
11. Fire Drake [instrumental bonus]

Japan is not necessarily the first country that comes to mind when evoking Metal but a handful of bands have made their way into the European scene throughout the years. One of these bands is Concerto Moon and it explains why "Double Dealer" is even in my hands right now. Indeed, under this moniker several members of Concerto Moon are hidden alongside several musicians from another Japanese combo known as Saber Tiger. As both bands play old school Heavy Metal, the genre of the album was settled from the beginning.

The important factor of Double Dealer is that the duo of musicians that create the driving force of Concerto Moon is here, namely guitar prodigy Norifumi Shima and keyboard phenomenon Toshiyuki Koike. Takenori Shimoyama [Saber Tiger] handles the vocals in his peculiar raspy voice, exclusively in English, who sound definitely better than Concerto Moon's vocalist. Kohsaku Mitani [bass, Concerto Moon] and Yoshio Isoda [drums, Saber Tiger] complete the line-up.

While the new voice over Shima's guitar lines has a clear-cut style, it might still be a turn off for many listeners. It's way too hoarse, and the vocals sound forced to the extreme at times. On the other hand, Shima and Shimoyama composed all songs together and they all carry that Heavy Metal stamp, which makes this album so interesting.

To anybody that has knowledge of Shima's guitar solo abilities through Concerto Moon, the album is like a museum of solos in itself with tremendous works on every single track, with a special bonus track that is basically an unbeatable monster solo. But even more important, some songs are really catchy [well, once you've overcome the peculiar singing] such as 'The Long Way Road' and 'Pandora's Box'. Some tracks will grow in you with time such as the sad 'The Enemy', the ballad 'Deep Blue Sky' and the weirdly put together 'Inner Voice'.

At the end of the day, Double Dealer debut album is one of those albums that I would recommend to any Metal fans and especially to any guitar scholar out there. Now let's see what those guys have in stock for the future.


Highlights: 'The Long Way Road ', 'Pandora's Box', 'The Enemy', 'Inner Voice' and 'Fire Drake'