Album Reviews

If there are two words in the musical lexicon that fill most reviewers – and especially this one, if must be admitted – with fear, then they are ‘progressive’ and ‘technical’. Especially when they are conjoined. I mean, I’m of a generation when both terms were applied to bands like …

For those you who have been sitting under a rock, Dublin Death Patrol is a collaborative side project led by Testament vocalist Chuck Billy and his predecessor Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza (he was the singer in Legacy, the original version of aforesaid thrash legends, before going on to make his name …

Formed in Sweden in 2009 The Graviators are on a mission to bring back the sound of 70’s heavy metal.  With heavy yet melodic riffs, they immediately caught the ear of local record label Transubstans who helped them release their self titled debut in the same year.  The band began …

Yesterday saw the release of ‘REVELRY & RESILIENCE’, the second album from American rockers GYPSYHAWK on Metal Blade Records. Formed in October 2008, the band released their first album, ‘Patience and Peserverance’ in July 2010, an album recorded – as proudly stated on their blog – in the space of …

Dead Cowboy’s Sluts are a metal band from Paris, formed in 2010. They recorded their first album at the Studio St. Marthe in august 2011 called The Hand Of Death and were promptly signed to French label M&O MUSIC for the release of said album in 2012. Their style brings …

    Hamburg based hard rockers Lofft should really have a record deal by now judging by the quality of the 9 songs on their latest album, The Bitterness Of Life.It is currently available on cd directly from Lofft’s website  and digitally via major outlets  Amazon, iTunes,Spotify etc. Fans of …

Essex rock band, Held by Horses, were formed in January 2011.  A few months later they released their self titled debut EP, and are now ready to release their second EP – “In History”.  In terms of live shows, they’ve played gigs with bands such as Missing Andy, Mallory Knox, …

Best known these days as front woman for symphonic metal band Leaves Eyes , Liv occasionally veers off the Metal beaten path and does her own thing. “Libertine” represents her fourth solo effort, and sits quite happily in the Pop Rock camp. The album manages to encompass a fairly broad …

A recent name change from Bison (uk) to Bisongrass has not deterred this hard hitting 5 piece metal band. Formed late 2010 in Aberdeen, Bisongrass have their self titled debut album available as a hard copy on September 15th via their own record label Sweaty Beef Records and digitally via …

Sound Storm are a symphonic heavy metal band formed in 2002 in Turin, Italy.  Having released various E.P’s, 2008 saw them release their first full length album “Twilight Opera” celebrating it’s release at the “Ilha Do Ermal” festival in Portugal alongside the likes of Sepultura and Firewind.  The band toured …

Formed by Guitarist and composer Chris Frost back in 2006, Splintered Soul have undergone various lineup changes since then and with their debut album expected later this year, have chosen to release a three track EP.  They describe their music as “Cinematic metal”, and it does seem a fairy good …

When power metal is done well, it is done bloody well. When it’s done badly, it’s done bloody atrociously. The second album by re-united Sicilian trio Holy Knights falls somewhere between these two extremes. Way back at the turn of the 21st century, Holy Knights could have been, in words …

It’s been an eventful year for In this moment.  Two of the bands founding members (Guritarist Blak Brunzel and Drummer Jeff Fabb) quit the band as did their long term manager. While Brunzel and Fabb work with an American Idol contestant, Singer Maria Brink and Guitarist Chris Howarth have rebuilt …

  The majority of my album reviews are heavy rock/metal but when i was asked to review Ian Hunter’s latest album, When I’m President  i was delighted as i grew up with early 70’s music , an era when his previous band  Mott The Hoople were in their heyday. After …

Magnum are a British institution as far as I’m concerned, as they were the first band I ever saw, I was 14 at the time ( Wigan Pier ) and I’ve followed their career, both ups and downs ever since. ‘On The 13th Day’ will be the bands 18th studio …

Formed in 1999 by guitarist Andrea Martongelli, Arthemis are an Italian heavy/thrash metal band and are about to release their seventh album, We Fight, through fledgling record label Off Yer Rocka Recordings. I was first introduced to Arthemis nearly 2 ½ years ago on the sun kissed island of Ibiza at the …

Due to be released on 27 August 2012, ‘Unsung Heroes’ is the latest offering from Finnish folk-metallers Ensiferum. This is an interesting album and one that certainly gives your ears food for thought.  There are a variety of elements collected together throughout the 10 songs and at times can appears …

The Burning Crows plough a rich vein of good-time, old-fashioned sleazy, snarling rock ‘n’f’n’ roll that traces its roots back to the likes of Mott The Hoople, Slade and Bad Company and, more especially, latterday reprobates such as Dogs d’Amour, The Quireboys and The Wildhearts. Indeed, mention of the quintessential …

If you think back to bands such as SixTh then this genre of ultra tech/ djent has been around for some time, however, with bands such as TesseracT, Periphery and Meshuggah perhaps bringing it more to the public eye and out of the groove Metal shadows, it can be no …

Reunions are such a tricky business. A band will never be followed under such scrutiny and (often biased) critique than if they’ve disbanded and eventually reunited. You can double up the cynicism if we’re talking about a band who were universally lauded and respected within their genre during their original …