The New-Jersey based Rivera/Bomma was formed late 2000. Named after founding musicians, vocalist John Bomma (previously with Hades), and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Rod Rivera. Their guitar driven debut album, 'Invisible Force', received favorable reviews around the globe, which encouraged the band greatly to tour, write, rehearse, record, and generally prepare for the important second album. Rivera/Bomma are a Christian Hard Rock band, playing a mixture of traditional hard rock and melodic American power metal - at times a hint progressive, due to the presence of majestic, but subtle keyboards. They are definitely not concerned with being part of any “flavour of the month” trend, rather they write and play from the heart!
INVISIBLE FORCE (2001, 2002) SECRET PORT
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Line-up: Johnny Bomma - Lead and Back-up Vocals, Keyboards Rod Rivera - Lead, Rhythm & Flamenco Guitars, Fretless & 5-string Bass, Vocals R.Sean Faust - Keyboards, Piano Edward Faust - Drums and Percussions Guests: John "JP" Primavera - Drums on 7, 9 Don Depaola - Jazz Guitars on 5c |
Some times I own CD's for several months before I write anything about them on this website. This particular album have been in my collection for over 3 years! So it is about time I added this band to my site. The truth is that Rivera/Bomma's debut album didn't exactly do much for me. They play a mix of classic metal, hard rock, neo-classic metal and power metal. They even throw in some flamenco rhythms in the instrumental tune. They are clearly influenced by Rainbow, Yngwie Malmsteen and Ritchie Blackmore. I also think they have a similar sound to early Narnia. The problem though is that the material presented on this album is too scattered. I can't seem to get it to flow properly. This album was originally release by the band themselves in 2001. So this re-issue also contains 2 bonus tracks. These 2 tracks are recorded later then the other songs, and they sound quite different from the earliest material. And since these songs are put in between the older ones, it creates an uneven feeling. Also, of the 11 tracks, there are the 2 mentioned bonus tracks, 3 instrumentals and 2 different versions of one of the other songs. That was quite a lot of the bad. What I do like about this album though, is that they seem to be going more towards a power metal approach on the newer tunes, and this is certainly something we need in the Christian metal circuit. There also is no denying the talent of guitarist Rod Rivera. So here's to hoping for a more professional sophomore release.
Killer tracks: Tarot Reader, Cry For Love, The Holy One
Johnny Bomma guest appearances:
Hades - '$aviour$elf'
Related artists:
