Album Reviews

Following the release of The Fire Cosmic (2021) and Wings of Salvation (2022). Invocation is 11 tracks of wonder-inducing guitar solos, slide riffs and sultry blues-rock, featuring the singles The Fever, Getaway, The Strange, The Calling, and the latest single “Van Helsing”. Set for release by RED7 Records on Friday 17th May 2024, you can order …

Welcome back young upstarts Jayler who blew me and many friends away when they fired out a two hour set with no break at my local venue, the Cosey Club in Haslington on March 31st 2024. When the last note ended and the applause subsided, there was an eerie hush …

Welcome back to Midlands based thrashers Vicious Nature. Their title lives up to its name throughout their new five track EP Shadowlands, independently released on May 10th, 2024, on the same day as heading off to play European dates in Poland, Belgium and Germany. Opening track ‘And So It Begins’ …

August 9th 2024 cannot arrive soon enough as blues sensation Elles Bailey releases her Beneath The Neon Glow album via Cooking Vinyl Records, and has just released ‘Leave The Light On’, second single taken from it, and another bonus is a 16 date UK Autumn headlining tour! To my ears …

Taken from his last studio album, the chart topping Battles, comes Jack J Hutchinsons most melodic track to date from it, Said track is ‘Love Is The Law’ that still packs a punch from the lumbering grooves that drives this laid back bombast of a belligerent, bluesy ballad along that …

Once again, the resurgence in the blues comes up with another quality release, point proven by ‘Saratoga’, latest single on Ruf Records from Eddie 9V (9-volt), but you can add another two zeros to that due to the party starting energy it unleashes! At the tender age of 15, he …

Welcome back Demon, as they unleash a brand new studio album and celebrate their 45th anniversary with the aptly titled Invincible on May 17th 2024 via Frontiers Music s.r.l Formed in Leek, Staffordshire in 1979 by Dave Hill and Mal Spooner, they made their mark early on with three solid …

Plague of Angels, the new band on the block, are ready to release their first interesting and unique single. Plague of Angels is a brand-new band made up of some well-known and seasoned musicians from the metal scene. The brainchild of Mark Mynett (Kill II This), Jeff Singer (Kill II …

Welcome back Llanelli, South Wales based noisy bastards Scarlet Rebels. It seems an age since I last reviewed their album See Through Blue just over two years ago and now they treat us with a new single ‘Secret Drug’, taken from a forthcoming studio album ‘Where The Colours Meet’, due …

Welcome back Nashville, Tennessee based Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown, releasing a brand new single ‘Snake Oil’, taken from forthcoming eleven track album Electrified, released on May 10th, 2024 on their very own independently owned and operated Rattle Shake Records, which perfectly describes four minutes of a fiesty fist fighter …

Welcome back Phoenix, Arizona based thrash metallers Flotsam And Jetsam as they release a brand new single ‘I Am The Weapon’, which is also the same title of a forthcoming 2024 studio album. Time goes so fast as I can remember buying their debut album Doomsday For The Deceiver in …

Birmingham UK based noisy bastards Gnawing Hunger don’t just release their new single ‘The Great Illusion’, they UNLEASH it! Sonically it reminded me of Hell Awaits era Slayer, mainly because of the superhuman drum battery that doesn’t let up throughout these three thrashtastic minutes of an aural assault to the …

Following on from the behemoth ‘Grey Morality’ single, Birmingham based noisemongers Vanitas return with thought provoking new single ‘Lies’, a feminine anthem exploring the idea of weaponised incompetence and acting as a rallying cry for women everywhere to express their anger at the patriarchy! It’s a myriad of mindboggling time …

Sheffield’s post-black metal quintet Ba’al is ready to release their best music yet… Three years on from their brilliant debut album “Ellipsism” Ba’al deliver to us, three new tracks in the form of the “Soft Eyes” EP. Building upon the post-black metal of the debut, “Soft Eyes” shows a more …

The Milk Men return, delivering a brand new, self released gold top rated album Holy Cow! on Friday, May 3rd 2024. It’s not quite ten green bottles standing on the wall, but they smash their way through ten speaker rattling songs of raunchy rhythm and blues, including a couple of …

Welcome back NWOBHM stalwarts, Praying Mantis! Formed in London 1973 by the Troy brothers Tino and Chris, they have just released their thirteenth studio album Defiance via Frontiers Music, containing eleven tracks of the highest quality! Album opener, ‘From The Start’, brims with confidence, delivering with aplomb, four minutes of …

It’s barely a matter of weeks since The Milk Men released ‘One Man Band’, a single taken from forthcoming studio album “Holy Cow”on Friday, May 3rd but now release from it ‘Hungover’, proving that Ernie didn’t have the fastest milk cart in the West! It’s a guitar picking, finger clicking …

Welcome to Maziac from Planetmosh, a new band to me who have won me over immediately with their single ‘Stoic’, taken from a forthcoming studio album Test Of Time, due for release in the summer. The self titled “Eclectic London based alt/prog metal 3-piece” kick out the jams full throttle, …

Michael Angel breaks the chains from his other band Fugitive to come up with a much heavier animal titled Treeman, and releasing a four track firey EP Omnia, following on from first single ‘Society’, which also kicks off the EP with futuristic samples that vie for attention with guitar tones …

As Ted Nugent once said, “You can’t keep a good dog off your leg”, point proven by those crazy Canadians, Anvil as they return to give 2024 a boost with brand new single ‘Feed Your Fantasy’, taken from a forthcoming, twentieth studio album titled One And Only via AFM Records …