Album Reviews

This job has a lot of pros and cons; and sometimes it is hard to continue after you hear bland act after bland act, or worse something by Avenged Sevenfold. So, it is rare to have an album that has nothing that you feel the artist could improve on. The …

The words ‘comeback album’ are very often banded around the music industry for a number of quite trivial reasons. Hindsight generally plays a big role in this, particularly if it’s a case of the artist or band merely needing to sell more copies of the album than the previous release …

Following on from 2011’s ‘This is Gonna Hurt’, Sixx:A.M. have returned with their third full length album; Modern Vintage which is out now. From the very first track ‘Stars’ the listener is under no illusion that this is a record full of big sounding choruses and catchy hooks. James Michael’s …

    This is one of those three track E.P.’s that certainly leaves you clambering for more. As fast as a speeding bullet from the off, ballads sure are not the order of the day, with brutal riffs a plenty, over spilling with dynamic quality and precision, to get you …

    From the first pluck of the strings, I just knew this was going to be a good album. With raunchy, lascivious little Bad Habits bringing to mind all manner of naughtiness, this is one earthy showcase of what real retro rock sounds like! I’ve said this before, and forgive …

When I first came across young Armagh metallians Sentinel, opening a charity gig in Belfast, I must admit that I wasn’t overly impressed:  but then, as I said, they are young (drummer Jordie Kelly is still only 15!) and it was only their third ever live performance… Move the clock …

Sometimes, no matter how well you think you know your local music scene, you suddenly find you don’t know it quite so well as you did, as something comes completely out of left field and makes you ask “where the fuck did that come from?”. In this case, I had …

Black metal is a genre which, in many ways, is split straight down the middle – between those who seek to live merely on its past glories and those who desire to drive it forward and re-establish its relevancy in the modern era:  those content to don the antiquated corpse …

Definitely – and defiantly – one of the most impressive acts to have taken to the New Blood Stage at this past summer’s Bloodstock, East Anglia’s SynaptiK have subsequently produced a debut album that is fervent, fresh and vibrant in equal measure. Straddling, with consummate ease, the death, groove, progressive …

X-Drive released their début album Get Your Rock On via Frontiers Records on 25th August 2014. Based in Los Angeles X-Drive is the brain child of Jeremy Brunner, who although relatively unknown is joined by some big names. James LoMenzo from White Lion on bass, Fred Fischer from Midline on …

In the music business making it to 30 years is to be admired and obviously something should be done to mark such a momentous occasion. TNT have put together a spectacular with an orchestra, some ex members and a cast of special guests to give the fans a one off …

  Whilst some bands can take yonky donks to write and record an album, Plainview went for the fuck it approach and went straight into the studio to see what they could come up with. Having only a few weeks before decided in a pub one night that they missed …

Senser, what can you say about the crossover legends that hasn’t already been said before. They changed the alternative music landscape forever in 1994 with the release of their debut album ‘Stacked Up’; an album of pure inventiveness that influenced a generation. I remember hearing it for the first time …

Australian rock legend Jimmy Barnes is to release a new album, Hindsight.  It’s his 15th solo album, and over the 30 years of his career, both as a solo artist and as a member of the band Cold Chisel, he’s racked up 14 number one albums.  For Hindsight, he hasn’t …

30 years on, Connecticut Metallers Steel Prophet have released a re-issue of their 1997 album Into The Void but there is a surprise. With this album comes a re-release of their 1996 EP Continuum for this to become a double album. Sounds like 2 for the price of 1, especially …

It was back in March of 2012 when I got to hear this band of brothers for the first time. I thought then that I was listening to something just that extra bit different and interesting! Now here we are at the back end of 2014 and bracing our self’s …

If there’s one thing you can give credit to Electric Wizard for, it’s sticking to their guns. Time to Die, their eighth studio album released at the end of last month, continues that trend. Throughout their now 21 year history, they’ve never swayed to the mainstream, never gone along with …

Panopticon are a North American Folk Metal project from Kentucky, USA. The word Panopticon in terms of the 18th century building has quite a sinister meaning which is worth researching if you like your history.  The band released their 5th full-length album, Roads to the North on the 22nd of …

Arguably two of the greatest singers metal has had in the last 20 years have once again come together. Russell Allen (Symphony X) and Jorn Lande (Jorn, Yngwie Malmsteen, Masterplan) have released 3 previous albums with Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear ) taking the duties of writing, producing and playing nearly everything …

Canadian Black/Goat Metal band Necroholocaust have now delivered a full length after an 11 year existence and a myriad of 7” split releases. They continue the tradition of Christ bashing violence as laid down by forefathers such as Blasphemy and Conqueror. From the beginning this is utter chaos, riffs bashed …