Before the Sun Sets

2022 release. City of Lights is an exciting melodic hard rock collaboration between British newcomer songwriter/guitarist Neil Austin and Greek vocal sensation Manos Fatsis (Odyssey Desperado/Hideaway). They deliver hard-edged melodic anthems driven by crunching riffs and lush keyboard textures combined with soaring, passion-filled vocal melodies. The project was born when Austin, armed with a collection of songs inspired by the classic hard rock sounds of the '80s and the new wave of current AOR bands, began the search for a vocalist who possessed the tone, range and emotion to take the songs to the next level. After hearing Fatsis' work on Odyssey Desperado's "Don't Miss The Sunset" and Hideaway's self-titled debut, he knew he had found the right man. The two connected via Facebook and together began working on honing the songs to perfection. When the time came to find a rhythm section, Austin reached out to members of his favourite band, brothers Robin (bass) and Mats (drums) Eriksson from modern melodic rock monsters degreed and after hearing the demos, both agreed to contribute to the album. Guest guitar soloists Nathan Doyle, Daniel Johansson (degreed), Christoffer Borg (Taste/ex-Art Nation), and Mike Kyriakou join in on the fun and the album also features appearances from Creye's Joel Selfors (piano) and degreed/Paralydium's Mikael Blanc (keyboards).