Album Reviews

Having been a fan of Halesform for many years, having first seen them play live 8 years ago, I was looking forward to hearing the new album. I really love their first two albums (particularly the 2nd album “The strange case of..”, but wasnt so keen on the last one …

Polish Metal band Crystal Viper disappeared from the scene for a few years due to the health problems of frontwoman Marta Gabriel, but returned last year with live shows and the excellent new album “Queen of the witches”. They’ve now followed up with a 5 track EP – At the …

At the ripe old age of 70 Graham Bonnet can still belt it out with aplomb, point proven by current studio album Meanwhile Back In The Garage released by Frontiers Music Srl. At fourteen tracks long it’s a challenging listen in one go but the results are well worth it as …

            Ancient Lights bestow an epic debut album upon the world in the form of the self titled ‘Ancient Lights’. Such was the depth of material available to the band, that a double album format was deemed necessary, as well as others. The Doom genre …

Most bands that have been around for a while will have stuff that’s not been released – whether it’s songs that didn’t make an album, live videos or audio, or whatever. When you’ve been around as long as the Rolling Stones then you’re bound to have a ton of stuff …

Outlaws ’til the end, the new album from Devildriver isn’t a typical Devildriver release. For a start, it’s an album of cover versions. Not just any cover versions though…these are all Country songs. Yes that’s right, Devildriver playing Country music. By now some of you are probably thinking WTF? and …

Following the success of Tarja’s “Act I” live DVD, she’s now releasing Act II. The DVD was filmed on her Shadow shows tour, and consists of two very different shows. In the same way she released two albums with contrasting titles and themes, the shows filmed are very different. On …

P.H.O.B.O.S. arrive with an eight track album ‘Phlogiston Catharsis’ that will tear up the rule book as regards defining genres in Metal The concept of Industrial Doom becoming a happy bedfellow with Black Metal is certainly an intriguing one, and P.H.O.B.O.S. have succeeded in ensuring that nuptials did indeed take …

Eleven years after forming, Nottingham band Line of Fire have finally released their debut album. So why has it taken so long? Cynics will point to the fact the band was founded by Lawnmower Deth guitarist Paddy O’Malley, and since Lawnmower Deth have only managed to release a couple of …

Ryders Creed should surely call themselves Apollo Creed because of the way they come out swinging throughout their self titled debut album. Since they formed just over a year ago they have toured hard and it shows judging by how they have honed these ten songs down. Recently released on …

Ocean Machine: Live at the Ancient Roman Theatre is the Devin Townsend Project’s upcoming release; I was treated to an early copy of the DVD for review. With a just short of 3 hour live show filmed September 22nd 2017 and addition behind the scenes video too its a fantastic …

.           Blues Pills guitarist Dorrian Sorriaux has won plenty of praise for his playing in the band, but for his solo EP release, he’s taken a very different direction musically. It’s not Blues rock – it’s psychedelic Folk. It’s quite a laid back pace, and …

As this year’s Wacken festival approaches it’s time for their annual CD/DVD release featuring some of the best performances from the previous year’s event. These releases are a great souvenir for fans who were there and also are great releases in their own right. The sound is always crystal clear …

It’s hard to believe that “Luxury hobo” Big boy bloater’s last album came out 2 years ago. It’s a sign of how good it is that I still listen to it regularly, but he’s now got a new album – Pills. The big question is – how can he follow …

MIST at last release their Doom filled debut ‘Free Me Of The Sun’, following on from the well received E.P.’s that caught the attention of many a pair of ears Having already played such hallowed events as Bloodstock, Metal Days, Doom Over Malta and others, there can be no question …

It took me a while to get on the Ghost train. I stupidly dismissed them as a novelty band but their headlining set at Bloodstock Festival in 2017 got me on track and the journey is now even more full steam ahead with the release of their fourth studio album …

Megadeth have been around for 35 years now, and are reissuing their classic album “Killing is my business…and business is good”. The reissue carries the title “The final kill” and it’s been restored and remixed by Mark Lewis (Whitechapel) and remastered by Ted Jensen to match Dave Mustaine’s original vision. …

Something heavy this way comes from ROAR Rock Of Ages Records that goes under the name of Hellhound, the third studio album from metallers Monument! No cliche is left out as they hammer out nine songs of pure heavy metal with joyous vigour. Lead by the powerful vocal pipes of …

At last, the wait is finally over. Southampton based metallers Toledo Steel unleash their debut album No Quarter via Dissonance Productions on June 1st! Now back to a five piece the album opens up with ‘Behold The Machine’ but never mind the machine, behold these riffs that burst out of …

First caught this captivating band a few months ago opening a Cancer fundraising gig in Nantwich; proving my point to watch the opening bands as you never know what you might miss! The Surrey based The Asif Outlaws, fronted by Asif Ali were a joy to behold as they veered …