Some photos of Skalmold at the Robin 2 in Bilston on Friday night.

Some photos of Finntroll at the Robin 2 in Bilston on Friday night.

Alter Bridge are back with their fourth album – Fortress.  It’s been three years since their last album, ABIII, and the band have certainly been busy in that time, touring in support of the album as well as Mark Trmonti doing his solo tour and shows with Creed and Myles …

The Crunch release their debut album ‘Busy making noise’ at the end of October.  We spoke to band member Sulo Karlsson to ask about the band and their album.. OK for anyone unfamiliar with The Crunch could you give us a quick overview of who the band is? It’s me, …

The Crunch may be a new name, releasing their debut single earlier this year, but the members certainly aren’t new to the music scene.  Singer Soren ‘Sulo’ Karlsson was the singer with Blues-rockers Diamond Dogs, Bassist Dave Tregunna was in Sham 69 and Lords of the new church, Terry Chimes …

Prog metal masters Dream Theater are back with with their twelfth studio album – the imaginatively titled “Dream Theater”.  Their last album, “A dramatic turn of events” was their first since the departure of founder member Mike Portnoy, but the album was written before his replacement on drums, Mike Mangini, …

September 7th saw the second of two CD release parties from Revamp, to celebrate the release of their second album, Wild Card, which had just been released on Nuclear Blast. I bought a ticket, sorted out travel and headed over for what promised to be a great gig. This was …

This is the first release from Tigertailz since a turbulent period in the bands history.  Ace Finchum rejoined the band on drums and within two years was gone, Sarah Firebrand left the band, and then Kim Hooker left the band last year.  Kim Hooker was lead singer for all but …

Tonight’s show was opened by The Sixxis. Listening to them they seem an odd choice to support The Winery Dogs as their music has quite a strong Prog feel to it, so I’d have said they’d go down better supporting Mike Portnoy’s other supergroup, Flying Colors, than The Winery Dogs.  …

On Thursday, The Winery Dogs played their first UK date at a sold out Islington Academy in London.  The Winery Dogs have an impressive lineup – Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater, Flying Colors, Adrenaline Mob, Transatlantic, Avenged sevenfold – and many more), Billy Sheehan (Mr Big, Talas, David Lee Roth, and …

London based singer Grace Solero and her band are due to release their second album at the end of September.  The debut album, ‘New moon’ was released in 2009, so it’s been a long wait for ‘Hundred years apart’ but it’s going to be worth the wait. Grace Solero and …

Seven seas of sin is the second album from Ipswich band East Town Pirates Pirate metal ranges from the superb (Alestorm), to the great (Running wild) to the downright awful (Skull branded pirates), so not having listened to East Town Pirates before then I was curious to see where in …

Goodnight Wednesday are a punk rock band who come from Akron, Ohio.  The band was formed in 2006 and “The American nightmare” is the band’s latest release. One other important fact – they’re a Christian band.  Now before you all run off to read another review on the basis that …

Majestic is the musical project of Jeff Hamel, who writes all the music as well as palying guitar and keyboards.  He’s joined by other musicians and vocalists to record this album.  It’s a double album, with the first disc consisting mainly of a ten track opus. Musically it’s Prog rock …

SBS, or to give them their full name, Spicy Bits of Scandal, are a rock band from Lithuania.  The band formed in 1979, and by 1988 was playing gigs in Lithuania and abroad including festivals in Poland and Latvia.  Since then they’ve released three albums, supported Judas Priest and played …

Steroid Freak Pussy are a Leeds band  who formed in 2005 whose influences include L.A. Guns and Zodiac Mindwarp.  In 2011 they had a lineup change and went from a 5 piece to a 4 piece band.  Following this they headed to the studio to record this CD. This release …

I spoke on the phone with Floor Jansen, founder and lead singer of Revamp, and currently the singer with Nightwish (although it’s yet to be seen if she becomes their permanent new singer). We talked about the new Revamp album (Wild Card) which has just been released, the band’s upcoming …

Wretched soul are a death/thrash metal band from Canterbury.  The band played Bloodstock festival last year, and on 9th September will be releasing their debut album, Veronica. Brief comments on a few tracks… The album kicks off with ‘Where shadows ride’.  The guitars have a very traditional heavy metal feel …

‘Phoenix Rising’ is a new album created by two groups working together.  You have Japanese prog rock band Rovo, and Steve Hillage’s dance music project, System 7.  While Prog rock is known for experimentation, a union with an electronic dance music project still seems like a strange mix.  The two …

Jonny Lang is an American Rock and Blues singer/guitarist.  Although you wouldn’t guess from the photo on the album cover he’s in his 30s and has already had a long career, having released his first album in 1995.  This is his sixth studio album, and he’s also appeared on scores …