Album Reviews

The old saying of good things come to those who wait can certainly be applied to Mansfield based Sparta and their fans as it has taken almost 35 years for their debut album Welcome To Hell to see the light of day. Formed in 1979 by guitarist Tony Foster, they …

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 …

Few bands these days can claim to have been around since the birth of a musical genre, let alone say that they were part of a scene that would revolutionise the stale and tired UK blues-rock movement, creating a sound that would dominate the music world in one way or …

The cast list reads like a veritable rock and metal who’s who. Based on the pedigree present, “Rise Of The Animal”, the latest long playing offering from Wolfpakk, promises great things. Happily, I can report, it delivers on those promises… in spades. From the outset they nail their colours firmly …

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 …

I have to start this review with an apology to the guys in Divine Chaos. I’ve caught them twice in Glasgow over the past few years and loved them to bits from the off. Anytime I chatted with them the conversation always came round to the release of the album …

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 …

Robin Trower has been making music for over fifty years, first finding fame as a member of Procul Harum (he joined shortly after the release of “White shade of pale”, and then under his own name.  That in itself tells you a lot about what to expect – people don’t …

With a name like Voodoo Sex Cult it’s hard to not summon up some scary, heaviliy moral corrupt troupee who may or may not sacrifice the odd virgin for record sales. To be honest with names like the rev, the preacher’s son, redneck, the Castilian (a region of Spain,yes I …

@planetmosh reviews Live with the Curse by .@edenscurse A while back I reviewed a “live” album that sounded like it was recorded in a pub in the middle of nowhere on a wet Tuesday, attended by one man and his dog.  It was awful.  If you’re going to produce a …

When the Scorpions announced their retirement way back in 2010, the band let alone their fans would never have dreamed they would still be here in 2015 celebrating their fiftieth anniversary! Better still was the news of a new Scorpions album, Return To Forever to be released. It all started …

  American based solo project, Lamentations Of The Ashen return with a thunderous four track epic amalgamation of Funeral/Classic Doom and Black Metal that is as enjoyable as it is adventurous. One of the very few problems I have with the Black Metal genre in general, is that it can …

Wow, what a fantastic surprise. Hello=Fire‘s heavy, dramatic, bombastic single, “Angle To See”, released in 2013 for Record Store Day and recently promoted by Schnitzel Records, represents a near-180 degree turn from the melodic, varied rock and pop heard on 2009’s eponymous debut. Hello=Fire mainman Dean Fertita‘s tenure in The …

Hailing from the depths of Lincolnshire Knock Out Kaine burst onto the UK rock scene at full throttle in 2012 with the release of debut album ‘House of Sins’. Followed up by an aggressive tour schedule with rock greats such as Love/Hate and Tigertailz plus an appearance opening for Status …

Maybe it’s just my age, or because I’m going deaf? Or perhaps shadowy echoes of my past, listening to the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and others. But I do love a band that uses a deep thumping base beat! Now it’s my chance to listen to The Driftwood …

Two relatively new bands from Northern Ireland have come together to unleash this monstrous split vinyl onto an unsuspecting public. Nomadic Rituals released a full length “Holy Giants” last year which was well received and this one track “The Great Dying” is picking up where it left off. Its 2 …

All That Remains have been maturing well since they formed in 1998, hitting position 13 in the billboard charts with their last album ‘A War You Cannot Win’. The Order Of Things is their seventh release due out on 24 February 2015 and is produced by ‘Josh Wilbur’ (Lamb of God/Gojira/Hatebreed). …

Damn me, it’s bloody great to see Furyon back! With a new album and follow-up to the ridiculously superb Gravitas, it’s been three years since their debut album first introduced their stomping hard-edged rock to our ears… and they’ve just picked up right where they left off. Lost Salvation continues …

From their 2006 beginnings as Reign Of Terror to a name change to Reign Of Fury leading to a two year split before reforming as a punk band called Ransom (featuring three current members of Reign Of Fury), their songs became more metal orientated so they reverted back to Reign …

Hailing from Greece, this fact you would grasp even before reading the accompanying text. This is a new duo being released on Iron Bonehead productions and this is the first demo tape. They are certainly paying homage to their fellow countrymen such as Rotting Christ and Varathon. Starting off with …