Aslan – Candle

Aslan
Candle
1996 (no label)
Riverview, Florida, USA

Gerald Alderman – Lead vocals, guitars
Shane Akers – Guitars
DeWayne Collins – Keyboards
Bobby Marko – Bass
Mike Powell – Drums

1. It’s Not Enough
2. Cry
3. Candle
4. On and On
5. Best of Me
6. Shadow
7. Closer
8. Lay Me Down
9. Come Home
10. The Letter
11. Old Man

Wow – who is this? All the info that I can find on this demo anywhere is on the cover above. But the recording is very high quality, and the band plays a very polished version of pop-keyboard metal. I have to be looking in the wrong places, because for something like this to go unnoticed in the metal underground circles is very odd. To be honest, it doesn’t sound like the Aslan from Kentucky or Canada. But it could be an unheard demo by either, or simply another band to add to the list. Some of the music here dips into the pop rock territory of the lighter moments of White Heart as well. But again, if you like the genre, they play it really well. To be honest, it is a bit too soft for my tastes and I still like it. There is also an unlisted joke song at the end about, well, being an old man. The old problem with this is that the first song has some skips in it like it was a damaged CD. Kind of weird to hear on a tape.

Update: information above was updated due to the comment from guitarist Shane Akers (below), as well as details from a Jesse’s Vineyard memorial website. Turns out it was also a CD, the band was from Riverdale, Florida, and they changed names to Jesse’s Vineyard (who signed with Rustproof Records to release Unclear Near). Before this release, they also have a 1995 demo called One Desire. Before being Aslan, the band also went by Oasis and also had a demo under that name. Original cover of the CD of Candle looked like this:

Aslan – Aslan

Aslan
Aslan
1990 (no label)
Clinton, Kentucky, USA

Side 1

1. Tear Down the Walls
2. Breakaway
3. Open Your Heart
4. Shadow of Your Wings

This one was rough – low song quality, loud hiss that got louder the closer to the music starting, and strange drop-outs suddenly in a few songs. MP3s were available of this one online at one time, and they were rough as well. Seems like this was the case across the board. Too bad – they do late 80s commercial metal well. It also sounds like it was recorded decently at one time, but maybe they decided to distribute a copy of a copy of a copy. This tape didn’t have a cover, but I have seen other images with a simple cover as well. Just means there was very little info other than a rural route address in Clinton, Kentucky about the band. They also have a slightly longer demo from 1989 called Tear Down the Walls that has “Tear Down the Walls” and “Breakaway” repeated from this one, with four different songs (“Take Me Back,” “Old Man Goin’ Down,” “Lost In The City,” and “TNT”). The line up for the 1989 (which probably shares some if not all of the same members as this 1990 one) was:

Rick Green – Lead vocals

Randy Heflin – Lead guitar

Bruce Chandler – Keyboards

Brian Harper – Bass
Rusty Clutts – Drums and percussion

Missing Information: Band members