Album Reviews

The greatest selection of albums, reviewed and rated

Belzebubs – Pantheon Of The Nightside Gods

Hailing from the abysmal forests of the mystic North, Belzebubs have possessed a stealthy, cult status throughout their existence. Originally formed in 2002, the band has succeeded in creating a thrilling blend of melodic blackened death metal, guttural growls and whimsical solos, forged with progressive twists and cinematic soundscapes. Accompanied …

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Queensryche – The Verdict

Queensryche need little introduction and it is great to see them continuing an excellent run.  The media hype around the big rift with Geoff Tate at last seems to be subsiding and giving both parties the chance to get on with what they do best. “The Verdict” sees another original …

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Falling Eden – Our Time Is Coming

Our Time Has Come sums up Falling Eden perfectly now they have released their debut album that has taken a few years to see the light of day. The Crewe/Stoke On Trent based 5 piece have penned 9 songs that hit hard due to a very in your face production. …

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Through The Noise – Dualism

Through The Noise  are a five piece Hardcore Metal band from Malmo in Sweden. Formed in 2013, the band boast a unique raw and aggressive sound, very similar to Linkin Park and Sworn Amongst, a band who I recently reviewed their latest release ‘Reclamation’. Dualism is the second album from …

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Mad Spanner – Life Absurd

There must be something other than water in the River Severn as it flows through the normally sedate Shropshire town of Shrewsbury to addle the brains of Mad Spanner when they came to write their latest album, the aptly titled Life Absurd as it seems to have turned them into …

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Six Sins Till Sunday – Masks

Six Sins Till Sunday  are an unsigned / independent Southern/Groove Metal outfit from Plymouth releasing this their debut album. Formed in 2012, they released an EP in each year of 2013, 2014 and 2015 titled ‘Six Sins Til Sunday’,  ‘Nex Ratio’,  and ‘Time To Kill’  respectively. Having not heard any …

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Gasoline Outlaws – Light Up The World.

Gasoline Outlaws are the second band this year that have until now slipped under my radar. Latest studio album Light Up The World should have been released on April 5th but for a problem not of their own but from their Pledge campaign means it won’t see the light of …

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Dead Man’s Whiskey – Under The Gun – Reloaded

Released a couple of years prior, Dead Man’s Whiskey have now reissued this their debut album as an expanded version. The whole thing has been re-mastered and has also introduced two new songs, ‘Raising Hell’  and ‘Racing Bullet’. These guys are another band that sit outside the comfort of my …

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Atorc – Under The Raven Banner

Formed in 2012, the battle-hardened folk-metal warriors of East Anglia have become a force to be reckoned with on the UK metal circuit, sharing stages with the likes of Evil Scarecrow, Whispered, Manegarm and Grimner, and received praise for their diverse sound and powerful live show.  The group have now released …

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Left For Red – Human Complex

    Left For Red show their primary colours with the release of this impressive album ‘Human Complex’ I guess it was a kind of conformation of the quickening of time as you get older moment, when it suddenly dawned on me that this bunch have been in existence for …

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Sworn Amongst – Reclamation

Sworn Amongst have returned to the studio, having signed to L.A’s Famined Records and released what I can only describe as a mercy-less onslaught of Groove Metal. Well, I say Groove Metal, but there’s something different here. There’s an element of Melodic Death Metal too. These guys ooze passion and desire. …

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Torqued – The Coup de Grâce EP.

There must be something in the water (or scrumpy) in Postbridge, Devon for Torqued to create the totally unhinged recently released The Coup De Grâce EP. The trio of Marc Cleave, Kurt Johnson and Rimmy Sinclair have created some of the heaviest music I’ve heard in quite sometime as they …

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Obey – Swallow The Sun

So, can Obey overcome the tricky third album syndrome with their new opus Swallow The Sun? Of course they have and with ease! It’s taken 3 years since they served up Maelstrom but the wait has been worthwhile as opener ‘Back Home’ draws you in from the off by a …

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Raised By Owls – Dreadful

Raised By Owls are a Death Metal band from Derby releasing this, their first full length album on the back of nine singles and one EP. The band were formed in 2016 and don’t hold anything back with their witty and hilarious sense of humour which they capture perfectly within …

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The Treatment – Power Crazy

“Power Crazy” is the fourth full-length album from hard rock band The Treatment, released earlier this month via Frontiers Music Srl.  The Treatment formed in Cambridge over ten years ago. Whilst “Power Crazy” is the band’s  fourth album it’s the first album to feature their new third vocalist, Tom Rampton. …

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Hellfire – Mania

‘Mania’  is Hellfire’s third full album release after ‘Metal Masses’  (2016) and ‘Free Again’  (2017). The four piece unit are from San Francisco, California and were formed in 2010. I was quite apprehensive about stepping out of my genre zone again for this one, but I’m glad I did. There’s …

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Blacklist-9 – Mentally ill, legally sane

‘Mentally ill,  Legally Sane’  is the debut album from California groove-metal band Blacklist-9. What’s interesting about the band’s line up is that drummer Lonnie Silva and guitarist Kyle Silva are father and son respectively. The two began writing material in their garage and recruited local musicians to complete the line-up. …

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Blaze Bayley – Live In France.

To say that reviewing Blaze Bayley albums kept me busy is an understatement as the hardest working artist I know of has just released his Live In France double album via Blaze Bayley Recordings which makes it 4 in 2 years in between a relentless touring schedule. The gigs I’ve …

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Snowy White and the white flames – The Situation

British guitarist Snowy White has been a member of Thin Lizzy, woked with Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac), been a backing guitarist for Pink Floyd, has toured with Roger Waters as part of his band on “The Wall live” tour, and has been releasing albums regularly since the early 1980s. This …

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Jordan Rudess – Wired for madness

Jordan Rudess is the keyboard player in Dream Theater, a role he’s held for twenty years. He’s also a successful business man having formed a software company in 2010 to create new music tools to run on tablets and computers. Alongside this he’s also a busy solo artist with “Wired …

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