Album Reviews

Amidst the streams of asinine tripe we’ve been subjected to from heavy music in the past few years, it’s something to be thankful for that occult rock is enjoying something of a resurgence these days. Despite not having a strict “sound” so to speak, it’s always a pleasure when a …

Reviving The Animus are a band that came onto the scene in 2011, with a distinctive edge of Djent metal.  They are a five piece from Barnet London. On vocals we have Kevin Lowdermilk, dual guitars Alexei Zalesskiy and Jay Bryant, bass guitar Miguel Paredes and Jack Keller-Miall on drums. Their Debut EP ‘Infinitely Unlimited’ is out now …

Of late it’s great to see that Scandinavia is not just the domain of symphonic metal, dark or otherwise. There are some right rip-roaring retro styled rock bands coming through and making waves, with Free Fall being another one of these. Brothers in arms to the likes of Graveyard et …

Vocalist/guitarist Lee Pistolero fronted The Gypsy Pistoleros for three critically acclaimed albums and an EP not long ago, but after an acrimonious split, Lee parted company with the Pistoleros. And now he’s back, doing it his own way, with a change in musical direction, complete with a new hairstyle and …

Uncompromising display of bludgeoning Death Metal from Danish female fronted Metalers.   Danish Female Fronted Metalheads Illnath return with their fourth full length album ‘4 Shades Of Me’, and what a resounding success it has turned out to be. Now, we all know that the tag ‘Female Fronted’ gets thrown …

Excellent E.P. from Yorkshire’s bright young stars.   Formed in the deep dark wilderness of Yorkshire, Waking Theo have just released this highly impressive three track E.P. With a full length album proposed for later this year, this could be seen as an appetite whetting for what is to come. …

Finnish power metal band Stratovarius are due to release their new studio album, Nemesis, on 25th February.  Fans have already had a taster of what to expect with the song “Unbreakable” having been released as an EP last month. Brief comments on a few tracks The opening to ‘Unbreakable’ with …

The Lidocaine is a rock/metal band from Finland.  The band formed in 2007 and in 2009 released their debut album, “Voices and noises of Kiling Koling”.  In 2011 they started work on their second album,  “On the road to Miero” which has just been released in February 2013. Brief comments …

Skadika are a metal band from Cologne, Germany.  The band was founded in 2005, and after evolving their musical style released their debut album, Winter, in 2010.  In 2012 the lineup changed leaving singer Jule as the only remaining founder member.  Since changing the lineup the band have recorded their …

I’m always fascinated by the etymology of band names, just as I am with that of words in general.  To me, the name ‘Chariots Of The Gods’ immediately takes me back to my teenage years and the works of the madcap Swiss author Erich von Daniken – the person more …

Over the past 25 years or so, Suffocation are one of a handful of bands who have towered over the US death metal scene, producing a handful of classic genre-defining – and, indeed, re-defining – albums, such as iconic debut ‘Effigy Of The Forgotten’, the majestic comeback ‘Souls To Deny’ …

Sink hail from Finland and have been torturing humans with their mix of black metal and drone for ten years. The band lurks somewhere in the dark reaches of your mind that is only presented when that blackened room is opened. This is an album that defies categorization. It is …

Northless immerse the soul in depressive Doom magic.   Northless really have an uncanny knack of being able to make Doom and Sludge sound even more intense and depressive than many others are capable of. This three track E.P. is a prime example of that, throwing out dark, malevolent waves …

Great White celebrated their 30th anniversary last year with a special gig at the Key club on the Sunset strip in Los Angeles.  The band formed in 1982 if you count back 30 years from 2012 but 1982 wasnt the start of the band.  The band really formed in 1978 …

Witchburner are a thrash metal band from Germany.  Their old school thrash metal reminds me on venom.  The voice of the singer ‘Pino’ often sounds like Conrad ‘Cronos’ Lant sometimes like Lemmy. The first song ‘Sermon of Profanity‘ starts melodically and later it gets more power but not so much power …

Intronaut scale the heights and plant their flag firmly at the summit of Progressive Metal.       So here we go, it’s been what seems like aeons since ‘Valley Of Smoke’ hit the ground running back in 2010 but now Los Angeles post-prog supremos Intronaut are poised to unveil …

Wednesday 13 are back with another helping of their distinctive blend of humour horror punk rock shenanigans in the form of ‘The Dixie Dead’, which was released on the 18th February 2013 via DevCo/Cargo. The album starts with the tantalising ‘Death Arise Intro’ track before we are catapulted in to the …

Greek band Alter Self haven’t had an easy life since their inception in 2007, with multiple line-ups and military obligations getting in the way since their initial self-funded EP release in 2009. Seven Deadly Blessings is their first full album release and gives them a proper chance to show just …

Bournemouth band Voodoo Vegas formed in 2006, and have spent the last few years touring as much as possible, both within the UK and in continental Europe, playing gigs in German, France, Belgium and Italy.  Last year they launched a PledgeMusic campaign to raise funds to record their debut album.  …

Australian band Unitopia play Prog rock but with other influences.  The band formed in 1996 but it wasn’t until 2005 that they released their debut album – “More than a dream”.  Two more albums have followed since then (“The garden” and “Artificial”), and now we have a new album from …