What can then be said about Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer?
“Kingmaker” is PRETTY MAIDS’ highly anticipated follow up to 2013’s critically and commercially successful release “Motherland”, a record that continued the “revitalized” path that the band set out upon with the now classic album “Pandemonium”.
It’s always difficult to follow a successful and inspired record, but “Kingmaker” shows Pretty Maids are still in the freshest and most vital phase of their career since the early 90’s.
The production is absolutely stellar thanks to Jacob Hansen (Volbeat), who has given the band a sound that not only reinvigorates them, but also incorporates the soundscapes of the past. Modern and classic at the same time, if you will.
What can then be said about Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer? One of the best song writing teams in the genre, hands down. Atkins’ voice just gets better and better as the years go by. Menacing and vicious one minute, melodic and soothing the next. Likewise, Hammer is on fire here and lays down some of his heaviest riffs in recent memory.
Every track on this beauty is worthy of attention whether it is an in-your-face melting barn burner such as the one-two starters “When God Took A Day Off” / “King Maker”, “Bullseye”, and “Humanize Me” or timeless melodic metal anthems such as “Face the World” and “Heaven’s Little Devil” or even a superb power ballad like “Last Beauty on Earth”.
This record has everything Pretty Maids could possibly ask for!
Don’t miss them when they play live in a city near you – you’ll be blown away by the explosion of Danish dynamite!
PRETTY MAIDS line-up
Ronnie Atkins – vocals
Ken Hammer – guitars
Rene Shades – bass
Allan Tschicaja – drums
Produced by Jacob Hansen
Track listing
01. When God Took A Day Off
02. King Maker
03. Face The World
04. Humanize Me
05. Last Beauty On Earth
06. Bull’s Eye
07. King Of The Right Here And Now
08. Heavens Little Devil
09. Civilized Monsters
10. Sickening
11. Was That What You Wanted
12. King Maker (Extended Version, digital bonus track)
TOUR DATES with Gotthard
FEB 9 Ravensburg (DE) – Oberschwabenklub
FEB 10 Regensburg (DE) – Airport Obertraubling
FEB 11 Ulm (DE) – Ratiopharm Arena
FEB 13 Frankfurt (DE) – Batschkapp
FEB 14 Hamburg (DE) – Markthalle
FEB 15 Hannover (DE) – Capitol
FEB 17 Osnabrück (DE) – Hyde Park
FEB 18 Oberhausen (DE) – Turbinenhalle
FEB 19 Freiburg (DE) – Zäpfle Club
FEB 22 Milan (ITA) – Alcatraz
FEB 24 Bilbao (SPA) – Santana 27
FEB 25 Madrid (SPA) – La Riviera
FEB 26 Barcelona (SPA) – Razzmatazz 2
MAR 2 München (DE) – Tonhalle
MAR 6 Wien (A) – Gasometer
MAR 7 Nürnberg (DE) – Löwensaal
MAR 8 Saarbrücken (DE) – Garage
MAR 9 Balingen (DE) – Volksbankmesse
