Harry Oellers (AXXIS) – Colors, or painting with your imagination

English:CD-review
 Ina Martin    8 september 2022

Electro-industrial-rock/metal is the closest I can get to describing this release by AXXIS' keyboard player Harry Oellers. It feels like it should be a film soundtrack, and it brings to mind Vangelis, Hans Zimmer and Enigma, amongst others. It’s an album which gives you the guidelines to create your own narrative by closing your eyes and letting the music take you to your imagination’s playground. I will allow myself to quote a sentence from the press info, which I feel really sums it up in a way in which I probalby am not qualitifed enough to: "Imagine Alan Parson meets Vangelis and they decided to make Rockmusic under the influence of drugs like Emerson, Lake&Palmer, Tangerine Dream, Judas Priest and Jean-Michel Jarre."


Disclaimer: I have only very vague impressions of electro and industrial music, so I’ll be basing my review just on that and on my personal feelings. As such you could say that I’m getting somewhat out of my comfort zone with Harry’s “Colors”. The idea behind the title is that the songs are divided up into coloured areas for better understanding. For example, red stands for Rock-/Metal, purple for cover versions, green – for the private area, where you can hear Harry as a solo guitarist (Walking in The Desert Sunset) as well as a singer (Tell Me What Love Is).

Talk With Me is an energetic opener with a haunting keyboard motive which got stuck in my head on more than one occasion, and Journey into the Unknown feels like a continuation of Talk With Me's theme. If I were to label them in a music store fashion, I would put both in the Industrial section.

To Hell and Back’s ambient metal sound really stands out for me. At first I felt that it needed some vocals, but then realized I had to get out of the trap of always needling vocals, as this track it's plenty epic without them. It has a somewhat “Doom of Destiny” feel to it, which makes me particularly happy as that’s my most favourite AXXIS album.

Tales of a Gray World’s deceptively gentle violin opening makes way for a heavy drum sound, setting the undulating mood of the track, while Before the Battle features a distinctly oriental leitmotif. It's heavy, yet the addition of wind istruments adds gentleness.

Adorable Waltz is a somewhat contradictory track in that it’s upbeat, yet nostalgic at the same time. You might just find that your body starts swaying to the rhythm without a conscious intention of doing do.

Black Mystery has a movie soundtrack feel to it, invoking images of soaring above the earth, observing everything from a bird's eye view. It made me feel like I was flying to the place where my heart longs to be.

Tequila is the comic relief of the album, so to speak, and one of the two cover versions featuring in it (The Champs), yet still more than holds its ground among the heavier/more sombre tunes. As a matter of fact, this cover interprets the original with a much heavier sound, which I think really suits it. Both Tequila and the following Popcorn take familiar leitmotivs and play with them, interpreting them in a fresh way. Popcorn takes synth-pop and gives it a metal makeover, and the result is a really unusual and interesting combination.

Future Road has an upbeat 80s electro/synth-pop sound, and it’s possibly the most dance-y track, and it’s easy to imagine it being played in a club, the crowd happily dancing to it. The woman’s moans here and there puzzle me, I admit, but they certainly add an element of surprise.

I feel that Light Journey’s sound is best described as electro meets Hans Zimmer, while I feel good has a definite Vangelis and Enigma vibe to it, and prepares the stage for Walking in The Desert Sunset’s somewhat subdued, introspective mood. It’s the longest song in the album at over 8 minutes, and Harry can be heard as a solo guitarist. This song and the next one, Tell Me What Love Is change the mood of the album, closing it with a whisper rather than a bang. You can hear Harry singing in this wistful ballad, and his deep, mellow voice really suits the pensive atmosphere of the track.

Thanks to its wide variety of influences and moods, as well as the blending of different genres, "Colors" has something for everyone, be it a metal fan, electro/dance lover, or a heart which is moved by atmospheric ballads. Give it a go, and I promise you won’t regret it!

As it isn't available commercially, the CD can be ordered here: https://www.axxis.de/news.html or directly via emailing Harry: harry@axxis.de