HAN JIN OAKLAND – When I saw the band’s name I thought of a band from Japan or as least an Asian founder of the formation. But no, this band is from Germany! And I ask myself how did one come up with such a name.

Whatever, what counts is the music and HAN JIN OAKLAND aren’t able to score many points. The quintet’s Hard Rock is way too average for my taste. Just typical Hard Rock without the last kick. The songs are varied, partly fast, partly slow, short and brought straight to the point. For Christoph Pelzer (v) it’s difficult to handle the faster parts, though. He’s singing the slower parts much better.

It needs a couple of reruns for the songs to set in the listener’s ears, but they won’t stay there for too long, cause they’re nothing special. Though, “Dying On Floor Number Six” is a cool, speedy Rock number with a calm chorus. You can abandon the rest of them, some passages are able to enthuse, but they will never reach the status of a classic.

So, it’s ok for a demo and the packaging in a DVD-case is immoderate, but that’s about it. (Online June 15, 2006)