NIKOLO KOTZEV’S Nostradamus

The Bulgarian musician Nikolo Kotzev has gathered an impressive team of stars for this project about the visionary Michael Nostredame. Glenn Hughes, Joe Lynn Turner, Alannah Myles and last but not at all least; Jorn Lande, to name a few, have vocal roles in this opera, along with the rhythm section from Europe. Kotzev himself does a few blistering guitar solos, and here and there he pulls out the violin, which is an instrument the man actually is extremely confident with, having played it since he took his baby steps. There’s a lot of good music here, and it goes over the top when Jorn Lande enters the picture as the angry inquisitor who wants Nostradamus burnt. All songs are not equally strong though. Lyrically, Kotzev takes the listener back to the time a century after Nostradamus’ death, where a warrior who drinks from the visionary’s skull suffers death himself, then tells the story of Nostradamus’ life as a ghost. This is by all means a quality record, and Kotzev says it was important for him that all the singers gave the record a ”common expression”. Myself, I would have preferred if those singers were picked from different schools, here they have all worked with the master Ritchie Blackmore, or the copycat Yngwie Malmsteen. Only Mister Lande is the only guy who brings variety into picture, apart from the female singers Sass Jordan and Alannah Myles of course. No matter what, check this piece of work out. It is truly a gift to many, more than the fans of Rainbow and Deep Purple.