Mark Ashby

no longer planetmosh staff

The Answer – Cormac Neeson

Northern Ireland’s hardest working hard rockers, The Answer, release their new album, ‘Raise A Little Hell’ (reviewed HERE), this coming Monday (March 9).  The supporting tour kicks off in the band’s hometown of Belfast tomorrow (Friday). So, a couple of weeks ago, PlanetMosh’s Belfast team caught up with frontman Cormac …

Read More »

Trucker Diablo – ‘Rise Above The Noise’

Exactly a year ago, mid-Ulster hard rockers Trucker Diablo shocked fans by announcing that they were putting the brakes on and going on an indefinite hiatus.  Guitarist Simon Haddock had already announced his intention to quit the band, due to family commitments:  a show at a small social club on …

Read More »

Black Whiskey – ‘Heavy Train’

Given that vocalist Simon Gordon once fronted acclaimed Brit tech deathsters Xentrix, it may come as somewhat of a surprise to many to find that this debut album from the beautifully named Black Whiskey (any band that combines my favourite colour with that of my preferred tipple – and with the …

Read More »

UFO to land at Steelhouse festival this summer

The legendary UFO have been confirmed as headliners for the Saturday night of this year’s Steelhouse festival, which takes place at Hafod-Y-Dafal Farm outside Ebbw Vale in south Wales on July 25 and 26. The veteran classic rockers join previously announced Sunday night headliner Dee Snider, as well as Tyketto, …

Read More »

The Answer – ‘Raise A Little Hell’

Good bands, like a really fine Cabernet Sauvignon, truly do get better with age, improving on the palate as they in turn develop and mature:  but, like wine, they also need the right environment in which to do so – and, with a new three-album deal with Napalm Records tucked …

Read More »

Desecration – Belfast, Voodoo 19/02/2014

School night gigs in Belfast – possibly in common with most other locales – are notoriously difficult to fill, unless of course they involve a “big name” touring band.  But, increasingly, Thursday nights seem to be becoming the “new Friday” and so a healthy crowd of 70 or so grinders …

Read More »

Goat Semen – ‘Ego Svm Satana’

Goat Semen - Ego Svm Satana artwork

Having released their first demo away back in 2002, this debut album by Peruvian devils Goat Semen has been more than a decade in the making.  In the intervening years, the band have released a few split EPs, deliberately designed to tantalize their fans – among whom they have reached …

Read More »

Doro added to Steelhouse line up

Teutonic metal goddess Doro (pictured right) has been added to the bill for this year’s Steelhouse Festival, which takes place at Hafod-y-Dafal Farm, just outside Ebbw Vale, on July 25 and 26. Other additions include Massive Wagons and Merthyr Tydfil teenage trio Florence Black.  Doro will play on the Sunday (July …

Read More »

Satyricon to release ‘Live At The Opera’ DVD

Satyricon - Live At The Opera cover

Norwegian Black Metal legends Satyricon have signed a worldwide deal with Austrian metal label Napalm Records for release of their upcoming DVD, ‘Live At The Opera’. Frontman and band mastermind Satyr explained the story behind the project: “The whole thing started with us doing one song, ‘To The Mountains’ a year and a half …

Read More »

The Vintage Caravan to release second album in May

The Vintage Caravan - Arrival artwork

Icelandic classic rock trio The Vintage Caravan will release their second album, ‘Arrival’, on May 18, via Nuclear Blast. Commented the band: “We are so excited for the release of the upcoming album. It’s definitely a step forward for us musically and we are incredibly happy with how natural the recording process was …

Read More »

Jupiterian – ‘Archaic’ EP

Jupiterian - Artwork

Hailing from São Paulo, Jupiterian play the sort of funereal doom-laden sludge metal that is darker and denser than the rainforests which surround their home city. This EP was originally released in Brazil last July (and subsequently has been succeeded by a second EP, ‘Proclamation’, in the latter part of …

Read More »

K K Downing – ‘Metal’ perfume range

Just before Christmas, former Judas Priest guitarist K K Downing revealed that, despite a prolonged period of silence, he had not totally left the metal scene behind, by revealing that he was releasing not a new album but a range of fragrances named after the genre in which he in turn …

Read More »

Tigertailz replace CrashDiet at HRH AOR

Welsh glam legends Tigertailz have replaced CrashDiet on the bill at next month’s HRH AOR, after the Swedish sleaze rockers were forced to pull out.  PlanetMosh’s favourite new kids on the block, StOp sToP have also been added to the event’s Sleaze stage. While it had been widely reported for …

Read More »

Portrait – Belfast, Voodoo 01/02/2015

Portrait live at Voodoo, Belfast 1 February 2015

I suppose, in the interests of journalistic impartiality, we better start this review with a declaration of interest, and that is that Terminus bassist David McCallum is a PlanetMosh contributor.  The band play with a dark, thumping groove that has a ball-shaking intensity and equally dense and brooding vocals, delivered …

Read More »

Unleashed finish recording new album

Unleashed

Legendary Swedish Viking death metal outfit Unleashed have just finished recording the as yet untitled follow up to their critically acclaimed 2012 ‘Odalheim’ album. Scheduled to be released via Nuclear Blast in the spring, the album was recorded by producer and guitar player Fredrik Folkare in his own Chrome Studios in Stockholm, Sweden. Unleashed frontman Johnny Hedlund stated: “Warriors!!!  Unleashed are …

Read More »

Exxplorer – ‘Symphonies Of Steel’

Exxplorer - Symphonies Of Steel artwork

Sometimes an album, or even a band, is of its time.  This re-issued debut from New Jersey (at the time) upstarts Exxplorer definitely falls into that categorization – but, in a good way. Quite rightly, when first released three decades ago, ‘Symphonies Of Steel’ was regarded as a groundbreaking album, …

Read More »