Album Reviews

It became quite fashionable for industrial/EBM bands to go more and more aggressive – more metal. Hanzel Und Gretyl is no exception. They started their metal approach some time earlier and when 2014 knocked on the door they were already working on the new album. This new Dark and heavy …

Pub quiz time – what happens when you take band members from Sikth, Gallows and Cry for Silence, throw in a Radio 1 DJ who was also a member of A and shut them all in a room before giving them the name of an illegal drug with flesh-eating side …

@planetmosh reviews Something Supernatural by .@Crobotband on .@nuclearblasteu I have no idea what Crobot are smoking, but it’s certainly giving them one hell of a trip.  This album should have been named Everything Supernatural, as every track takes us through a nightmare collection of devils, wizards, necromancers and the legendary chupacabra.  …

Solo projects are something of a lottery – whilst allowing an artist the freedom to express their own musical direction in a way they can’t with their main band, the natural comparison to the works of their main project will be inevitable. Spare a thought, therefore, for Richard Z. Kruspe. …

In November 2012, Within Temptation played their biggest concert to date, their 15th anniverary show – Elements.  The concert was held at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, and was sold out with fans travelling from all over the world for it.  The band put on a huge show and had an …

The musical brainchild of Troy Van Leeuwen (Failure, A Perfect Circle, Queens of the Stone Age) and Serrina Sims, California’s alt-rock Sweethead takes it’s name from a vintage “vulgar” David Bowie song, and it’s sound from the various eras of rock music. “Antony”, this first piece, recorded and shelved, not …

“New Life”, by Warsaw native One (name: Adam Malicki), is a random find from a boredom-trawl on Twitter that asks for your attention. Freshly released, this single is a guitar-heavy instrumental track that opens with a waltzing, cracked funhouse flair. Rapidly shifting gears to synth-laden blues rock, and then to …

Spanish film maker Danny Garcia, who has previously released “The rise and fall of the clash” has made a documentary about former Heartbreakers and New York Dolls guitarist, Johnny Thunders.  To make the film he interviewed around 50 former bandmates and friends and has put together a film that tells …

Sky valley mistress are a rock and roll band from Blackburn that has just released their latest EP – “Rivals, hounds & rebel sisters”. There’s a strong Blues influence in the music, and you might detect influences such as Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath but what hits you immediately is …

I love Machine Head; they’re innovators of groove metal… but this one is as dull as dishwater.  There are points that almost hurt reviewing this album, because it gets close to being outstanding – then the vocals come in and ruin it. On the surface, this is a good album. …

There's no argument that In This Moment are one of those bands that tend to be something like Marmite - people seem to either love them or hate them. Butcher Babies are another one of those type of bands. Thing is, I LIKE Butcher Babies and think they are unfairly maligned. I've got the same kind of feeling about In This Moment. What I've heard, I've certainly not been turned off by and I am interested in hearing more. Blood was pretty good. How will Black Widow, the band's latest effort (which arrived in my letterbox this morning) fare?

Dirt Box Disco, the Midlands answer to St Winifred’s School Choir, release their Christmas single I Don’t Want Anything For Christmas via STP RECORDS/Deadfly Recordings on 17th November 2014 and available to order here. It’s like some strange (S)punk cross between Grandma by the aforementioned St Winifred’s, All I Want For …

Ragnarok Juletide is a Christmas album – but please read on before running off as this is actually a good album.  It’s a project that has been a success for many years in Finland under the ‘Raskasta Joulua’ (‘Heavy Christmas’) banner, and is a symphonic metal project featuring an impressive …

London based Neonfly, are Willy Norton on vocals, Frederick Thunder on guitars, Patrick Harrington on guitars, Paul Miller on bass and Boris Le Gal on drums. They have managed to get onto some pretty cool and important supports slots lately, including Power Quest, Magnum, Sonata Arctica and Dragonforce. They lit …

The primary intention of this Italian black metal crew is to resurrect the darkened spirit of the Nineties Norwegian scene, and particularly the energy brought at that time by the likes of Ulver, Darkthrone, Borknagar and Burzum. To a degree they succeed, as this self-titled debut is a very raw, …

At first glance this latest offering from Foreigner does seem to be a compilation album released just in time for Christmas, however it is not, it is a live album featuring the best of their defining album and many more hits. The band recorded these live at the Borgata Hotel’s …

The latest in a new generation of blackened metal acts to emerge from the previously very un-metal (apart from the likes of Aborted and Enthroned) domain of Belgium, Saille (pronounced sahl-yeh) plough the sort of dark gothicism meets extreme brutality route previously explored by acts such as Akercocke. A concept …

It takes a brave decision by any band to continue following the death of not only a founder member but also one regarded as the cornerstone of the act concerned.  Some – such as Led Zeppelin – have decided not to attempt to replace such a key element, while others, …

You know the old saying “Don’t judge a book by the cover ” right! Well if you judge the cover art of this new album by Electric Mary, it really is as good inside as the eye catching and risque’ outside which definitely draws you in. That said, when you eventually …

For many bands, the difference between their first and second albums can be a jump of almost cosmic immensity:  how to capture the energy and enthusiasm of your debut opus while at the same time applying the lessons learned from the earlier process and using them to adapt/moderate/progress your sound …