Album Reviews

@Planetmosh @AnybodyBC reviews ‘The Winter War Symphony’ by Frostbitten Kingdom. It is really hard to find your own way and sound in music these days. But it is always worth keep trying. That’s what I think when I listen to Finnish metallers Frostbitten Kingdom. Since the very beginning this band has been trying …

Is there life for Sabaton after, well, Sabaton? Judging by their recent tour and the mania that ensued during their show at Woodstock in Poland (captured on their live release Swedish Empire Live), you’d have to say things were pretty healthy. Pun intended given their lyrical content, the band have bravely soldiered …

The first Alien album (self-titled, 1988) is considered an AOR classic and I was fortunate to buy it on Import from Powercuts Records in Manchester. However the band’s career took a bit of a nosedive after that album, several line-up changes and albums of poor quality songs and production consigned …

The whole retro, vintage take on the classic era of Doom has been touted around now for some time, and let us be honest, in varying degrees of quality. It is one thing to pay homage to the riffs of the 60’s and 70’s but entirely another to produce something …

Haerken are a new European band, and their ten-song debut album, …Of Warriors and Kings, released in 2014, is a fresh face on the monolith that is extreme music. (At least for Latin, the ‘ae’ is pronounced “i”.) Modern, technical, crunchy, and fairly dry, the band’s sound could be described …

.@Planetmosh @AnybodyBC review ‘The Necrotic Manifesto’ by @abortedmetal released via @centurymedia Aborted is not the kind of death metal band that simply blends in among the others. These guys from Belgium definitely have something of their own and that hasn’t faded away during their 19 years in existence (even with lineup changes and the …

The King Lot are a three piece Hard Rock and Roll band from West Lothian, Scotland who I have never heard much about until now! The band members have been friends for many years, and have written and recorded in various bands and projects together as well as achieving commercial …

Let’s start this review with a little insight into the life of a (voluntary) music journalist… Like everyone else who writes for PlanetMosh, this reviewer has a day job.  Writing is a hobby, and we all do what we do for the love of the music we love – namely …

When Black Country Communion came to an end, two of its members, Glenn Hughes and Jason Bonham, decided they wanted to carry on working together.  Rather than simply finding a guitarist to act as a replacement for Joe Bonamassa they decided to start a new band and take a new …

Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s new album, “Goin’ home” is an album of cover versions.  That’s something that always divides opinion – some critics will say it’s lazy and a way to release an album without going to the trouble of writing new material, while others will argue that albums like this …

You know when you wreck your brain cells trying to remember thing’s, well I have just done that over this cd.I knew the name Pontus Snibb, I just couldn’t remember where from, that was the hard part, and I was not going to read the press release or use Google …

Before people say it, this latest book by Neil Daniels’ is not a re-worked version of his Iron Maiden: The Ultimate Unauthorized History Of The Beast (Voyageur Press 2012) book with a new cover. This is a completely new piece of work which takes a closer look at those all-important …

.@Planetmosh @AnybodyBC reviews ‘A Stab in the Heart of Christ’ by Killgasm released via Moribund Records. This year looks quite productive and May is no exception. Yet another band from sunny California, USA, Killgasm, are already releasing their second full-length album. I must admit, I was intrigued by the name as …

Rusted are a five piece hailing from Canada and have released their first album titled ‘Rock Patrol’. Mixed and mastered by Jonathan Lefrancois-Leduc at Silver Wings Studios. Arranged and produced by the band themselves and Silver Wings Studios.  They have been together for approximately four years.  OK now down to …

Osian is an alternative metal band from southern Italy, formed during the birth of the genre in the mid 90s. The band’s latest offering, Rhizome, is a six song disc that pays obvious homage to popular alternative music of that era: bands like Depeche Mode, Type O Negative, Ministry, The …

Appropriately titled, Livin’ In The Past by Poland’s Scream Maker is the band’s war cry and answer to the genre of power metal. With the help of star producer Alessandro Del Vecchio, they’ve nailed it: versatile, nicely ranged, fairly operatic, and genre-appropriate vocals matched to staccato archetypal guitar riffs, supported …

Industrial music influenced Italian metallers Avelion released a three-song EP, titled Liquid Breathing, in November 2013. Highly focused on electronic or digital sounding instrumentation, the band incorporates a lot of different keyboard sounds, mixed with digital “djenty” guitar. Avelion, who revamped their lineup in 2013, describes themselves as melodic progressive …

Another contender in the overcrowded, glutted digital music revolution, Scotland’s Aventus put their spin on rock and roll with their latest disc, called Valley of the Kings. The recording has a warm, analog feel to it, and is nicely balanced and enjoyable. The band mix doomy, sludgy riffs with more …

Edinburgh’s Colma Wolves have released a three-song EP, Orphaned. Songs begin slowly with distorted bass guitar, almost drone-like. The quality of Orphaned is best described as “basement practice room on an old four-track”, demo or hardcore-collector quality “only”. The recording is fairly muddy, and lacks the depth that would benefit …

Formed in 1988, Babylon A.D. hail from San Francisco, California. Former Arista recording artists, they dredged up at EP’s worth of previously-unreleased material. Titled The Lost Sessions, Fresno CA 93, and released on Perris Records, this EP serves as the band’s ‘appearance at the final UK Firefest’ teaser. The material …