Album Reviews

13 tracks? THIRTEEN tracks to review on the debut album Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time from Nuneaton based trio Dig Lazarus! How dare they! I’m only joking as this very impressive release via Rock People Management kept my full attention from start to finish. ‘Sermon’ is a curious …

Rewind over 40 years to when I was about 17/18 before the internet came to be, so any music info came via magazines or The Friday Rock Show on Radio 1. Sounds magazine was my musical bible and in the late 70’s there was an upsurge of up and coming …

To these ears Joe Bonamassa transcends from just being a guitar hero into a storyteller with a lead vocal to match on his latest single ‘Time Clocks’, the title track of the album of the same name due to be released on October 29th 2021. It’s the third single taken …

New Massacre album “Resurgence” is certainly that – a return to the values of old school American Death Metal…to be Released October 22 via Nuclear Blast Records Best known for the awesome HP Lovecraft inspired 1991 album “From Beyond”, Massacre released 2 more studio albums in 1996, and 2014. Neither …

Normally November is a nondescript month but fear not for 2021 as Stoke On Trent nutters Black Coast release another single ‘Mental’ from their forthcoming studio album Outworld on the 19th. An added bonus is the album launch at The Underground in Stoke the same day. The song certainly lives …

Recently released on Joe Bonamassa’s independent KTBA (Keeping The Blues Alive) Records, also produced by Joe and Josh Smith, Joanne Shaw Taylor releases her seventh studio record The Blues Album. These 11 tracks of blues covers originally released by Albert King, Peter Green, Little Richard, Magic Sam, Aretha Franklin, Little …

Australian Black Metal band Ichor have just released their second full length album “The Black Raven” Though they formed back in 1993, it was not until 2018 that Ichor released their first full-length album. Hosting six tracks of icy cold slow to mid-paced BM, nevertheless, it was a solid piece …

You can’t keep a good band down, point proven by Edinburgh based noisy bastards Thirteen, showing that sometimes 13 can be a lucky number with their latest EP Ego Trap released today on October 1st. I’ve seen them at a few rock/metal festivals over the years and their punk rock …

Norwegian industrial rock band Zeromancer release “Orchestra of Knives” – their first studio album since 2013’s “Bye Bye Borderline” First things first, for those not acquainted with Zeromancer, they have been releasing their blend of industrial electronica and rock since 2000. Orchestra of Knives will be their 7th studio album …

One of my major highlights of 2021 has come from mindblowing Montreal party starters The Damn Truth and you could certainly bet that they would be the last to leave! Their third studio album Now Or Nowhere was unleashed on April 25th and a go for the throat nine songs …

Only two months after releasing their ‘Breakout’ single, London based five piece band Dead Man’s Whiskey follow it up with a five track EP of the same name. Due for release on Friday, October 21st 2021, the Breakout EP makes giant strides point proven by opener ‘Sleep When I’m Dead’. …

I’ve been a fan of Blaze Bayley since he sang for Wolfsbane in 1984 -1994 and subsequently when he joined Iron Maiden from 1994 – 1999, releasing two fantastic albums X Factor and Virtual XI with them, then up until the present day he has embarked on a successful solo …

Well this is a classic example of Groundhog Day as TWO Blackpool based bands, both with Rock People Management have recently released their debuts, the first being Avarus with their Parallels EP. Made up of seven seismic tracks it hits the ground running with opener ‘Plight’ as a quickfire rant …

After one listen to 9, the debut album from Blackpool based Takeaway Thieves, you’ll be ringing 999 for an ambulance to check your vital signs after being blown away by the attitude of these 9 songs, point proven by album opener ’13 Feathers’. It’s not unlucky 13 for the listener …

I first came across When Rivers Meet in November 2020 when I was asked to review their debut album We Fly Free and its eccentricity got them an easy 5/5 rating from myself. So fast forward to 2021 with ‘Testify’, the first single taken from forthcoming studio album Saving Grace …

Taking a step back from his usual guitar histrionics, Troy Redfern shows a softer side to his repertoire with recently released ‘Stone’, the 4th single taken from the highly impressive The Fire Cosmic album. A lilting intro sets the scene perfectly with dreamy guitar lines and a heart melting vocal …

Not content with resting on their laurels from recently releasing a monstrous cover of ‘Cant You See’ by The Marshall Tucker Band, the self proclaimed “Norfolk Rock And Roll” band Bad Touch belt out their latest single ‘Twenty-Five Miles, a force of nature cover of the 1968 Edwin Starr soul …

Is it my 58-year-old ears playing up or is 21st Century Love Songs the heaviest album created by The Wildhearts? Recently released on Graphite Records, it’s an absolute monster, to say the least! It races along in the fast lane as the rabble-rousing intro to the title track heads off …

It’s a busy Bank Holiday Weekend for Blackpool terrors Takeaway Thieves as they release their second single ‘Spider’ today that’s taken from their forthcoming debut album ‘9’ due for release on September 17th 2021 via Rock People Management. On Saturday they spread their rollicking rock and roll onto the main …

VADER: Polish death metal classic “De Profundis” gets a new lease of life. Originally released back in 1995, Vader’s classic second album has been remastered, re-issued, and brought roaring into the 21st century. The original CD release had no lyric sheet and a rather basic insert. This has been addressed …