Album Reviews

The term overdone or unnecessary is thrown around a lot lately. But wow, is this trash an example of it! I love the original and 2008 version of this “Ecliptica” ; Sonata Arctica are one of my favourite bands but this has ruined my opinion of them for a while. …

Hailing from Germany, this is the debut release and reeks of bestial butchery. There are many adjectives to describe how insanely inhumane this tape sounds; the guitars are full of buzz and are razor sharp in their delivery. Vocally the band have used a dose of reverb to achieve an …

      ‘Vervain’, heralds Liv Kristine’s fifth solo album release, and is, without doubt, the strongest yet. I’ve been of the opinion for a considerable length of time now, that Liv, in a vocal sense, is riding on the crest of a creative wave at this moment. Her work …

In December last yaear, Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson performed a concert singing a mix of holiday classics, their own hits and personal favourites written by Joni Mitchell, Harry Nilsson, Bob Dylan and Sammy Hagar.  They were joined by special guests Shawn Colvin, Sammy Hagar, Richard Marx and Pat Monahan …

“In the beginning…” is the debut album from Canadian band Wolfeborne.  It apparently started as an “ambitious project to create a record that would redefine rock music for the current generation”.  At that point I stopped reading their bio – there’s only so much pretentious bullshit a man can take.  …

One thing I enjoy most about music is how different everybody’s approach is. It can be quite bizarre to think about how something so personal and individual to conceive is as equally personal and individual to listen to. Which often leaves reviewing an album   a daunting task. It is …

It may be four-fifths of a decade since Lordi firmly put their particular brand of comic book metal well and truly on the international map with their sensational, tongue-in-cheek win at the 2007 Eurovision Song Contest – an achievement which equally abhorred and united metallians across the continent – but …

English band Alunah have been doing the rounds for a few years now and have appeared on prestige festival line-ups such as Desertfest and Hard Rock Hell. Awakening the Forest is their third full length release and one that sees a step up from the previous 2 records. Being roughly …

The Milestones are a band I have literally stumbled across just recently, and it is hard to believe that this band are both, a Scandinavian band from Finland, and did start out 20 years ago. “Higher Mountain – Closer Sun” is the fourth such album from the band, who first …

Crazy Lixx are a five piece hard rock band from Sweden, who were formed in 2002 and released their first album in 2007. The current line-up consists of Danny Rexon – vocals , Andy Dawson – guitar, Joél Cirera – drums, Jens Sjöholm – bass and Edd Liam – guitar. …

If you ever feel little down, there is this American crazy rocker team, you could turn to. Just add Electric Six to your playlist . This band formed in 1996 and reached mainstream success with the “Danger! High Voltage” and “Gay Bar” singles in 2003. Ten years have passed since then …

There have been a few bands this year I have reviewed who seem to capture the feel and sounds from an eighties era I grew up in and know so well. In Faith’s debut “There’s A Storm Coming” is such an album that does so with a high degree of …

English metal rockers Threshold return with their 10th studio album ‘For the Journey‘ on Nuclear Blast Records. Threshold while being an English band are relative new to myself as their popularity is mainly across the channel in mainland Europe where their albums do chart in various countries national charts. I …

On 3rd November, German band The BossHoss will release the album ‘God Loves Cowboys’ to coincide with their appearance on Motörhead’s UK tour.  If you’ve never heard The BossHoss before then you’re unlikely to be expecting a band that’s quite so unique to be supporting Motorhead.  Their music can best …

1977 was the year KISS released their sixth studio album titled Love Gun. Their line-up was Paul Stanley, Ace Frehley , Gene Simmons and Peter Criss. This album was the last studio album to feature all of the original line-up, on all tracks. It was produced by KISS and Eddie …

Something I’ve always tried to do when going to a gig is to see the support acts. I’ve been surprised quite a few times that in some cases the supports were just as enjoyable as the main band. Triosphere are one of these bands for me. Almost 6 years since I …

Incinery have finally bitten the debut album cherry, with Dead, bound and buried , earmarked  shortly for release on November 7th 2014 with the occasion being  celebrated with an album launch party featuring In the Line of Fire and Balls Deep .The band have earned bragging rights after playing both …

We can all remember when female fronted bands were the band du jour for record companies. A lot of the bands were record label copy cats essentially. Like the hair metal scene of the late 80’s early 90’s there were a lot of strong bands that were caught up in …

I will admit I’m not au fait with Greece’s musical contributions aside from Firewind and that Iced Earth recorded a live album there many years ago. So a stoner groove laden rock band called Planet Of Zeus piqued my interested when it’s latest release “Vigilante” was up for review. Opening …

Veteran death metallers Obituary, from Florida, have returned with their latest studio album, titled Inked In Blood. The disc was crowd-funded by Kickstarter (later picked up by Relapse Records), so it should come as no surprise that these songs have been honed to a razor’s edge with demands from the …