Album Reviews

Lord formed in the Outback area of Australia and were initially known as Dungeon.  They relocated to Sydney and by 2005 had toured with bands including Nightwish, Megadeth, Opeth, Yngwie Malmsteen and more.  They’d also released 9 albums and a DVD. Then in 2005 they had a change of lineup …

Mysteria are a female fronted band from Finland.  They formed in 2005 and have released an EP (Out of the blue) in 2007, the ‘Prefatory’ album in 2011, and have now released ‘QED’. Brief comments on a few tracks.. The album kicks off with ‘Time to go’, and the opening …

Grand 60 was formed by Peter Lundh.  he had been involved in a TV rock band competion but when it came to the third season he decided to leave and form his own band to enter into the competition.  Despite not progressing past the first round, they got a very …

Wisconsin band Deep Sleep Operator play Sci-Fi themed hard rock. This, their debut album has recently been released. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this album – the press release plays up the sci-fi angle, but other than a mention of hard rock there was little to tell me …

This is the debut EP from Brazilian band Bad luck train. So, what to expect?  The simple answer is high energy Kick-ass rock.  Nice guitar work, good solid drums and vocals that work well with the music – this is good rock music.  I can see it appealing to fans …

A sad but fitting end to the Trail Of Tears story.   My love affair with Trail Of Tears began with the release in 2007 of the amazing ‘Existentia’, an album I stumbled upon whilst hunting out new Gothic bands for my collection, they were also one of the main …

Lenny Wolf is back with a new Kingdom Come release, I say Lenny Wolf as he uses Kingdom Come as a vehicle to display his many talents, supplemented with guest and session musicians. However on this release, Kingdom Come’s 13th studio album, Lenny not only sings, but he also plays …

This four track E.P from South London based metalcore band The Last Legion is an inspiring effort in this now over crowded genre. They blend strong technical metal intent with an aggressive attitude, hardly new, but they do it well enough. The musicianship within the band is skilled and vocalist …

“All Around The World” is the 8th studio album from Sweden’s Glam/ Melodic Hard Rock group Bai Bang. “Livin’ My Dream” from 2011 was one of my favorite albums of the year, simply because it never strayed too far away from the trusted 80’s formula for rock music songwriting, wild …

Love them or hate them  Airbourne are here to stay and if they keep making albums as strong as Black Dog Barking then their future is safe. I’ve been a fan since the release of Running Wild in 2008, seen them many times and they have always destroyed whichever indoor …

The first notes of Immolation‘s ninth and latest studio album, Kingdom Of Conspiracy, blare out from my speakers as I sit down and begin to listen. I reminisce: they were a killer band ‘back in the day’. Then I quickly realize: they still are. This newest disc drives that home …

‘Tales’ is a Gothic masterpiece, one of the genres best albums of the year so far.   The bands roots lie within the beautiful borders of the Canary Islands, where their earlier recordings were a much more Doom Metal affair. Although  Tears Of Martyr have retained aspects of those earlier …

Japanese Metal is on the up and this band are at the forefront.   The internet can be blamed for a great deal of the worlds evils that’s for sure, however one thing it can be proud of is the not inconsiderable part it has played in opening the ears …

What can be said? Joe ‘Satch’ Satriani has been at this music composing and recording game for longer than many of the readers of this review will have been alive. Many musicians cite Joe Satriani as one of their core influences, due to his consistently high-quality musical output across decades. …

This is easy-listening, good time, rock and roll at its very best, performed with great aplomb and a natural blues swagger from an artist whose maturity brings a huge richness and diversity to the tracks on this album.

I like it when new bands are formed and they do old school thrash/speed metal.   Intöxicated are a speed/thrash metal band from Osnabrück, Germany.  They were formed in 2009 and this is their first full lenght album. Their lyric themes are Alcohol, Partying, Sex and Motorcycles. Their music style …

Symphonic metal band Suncrown are one of the new breed of bands who’s members have never met.  They got to know each other over the internet, and with the benefits of modern technology recorded their parts separately before they were all mixed together.  It’s an approach that is getting more …

Finnish band White Flame formed in 2002, and ‘Cougar’ is their third album.  Musically they are rock – some hard rock elements, and some more melodic.  Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Reckless love, Gotthard and The Electric boys are all bands whose names spring to mind while listening to this album – …

‘Backstabber’ is the third album from Finnish band Masquerage.  The band’s singer, Kimmo Peramaki was formerly with Celesty.  The band was founded in 2000 but it was only in 2004 with the addition of bass player Mikael Kontolampi that the lineup was completed.  The band describe themselves as Melodic Metal/Hard …

Arrow-Haze are a Belgian band who count Pink Floyd, Dream theatre and Queensyche among their inspirations.  Given that then you might expect their music to be firmly in the Prog-rock camp, but in reality it’s not quite that simple.  Yes there is a strong Prog element, but there’s also a …