Album Reviews

By the title you may think this is a covers album but German thrash metallers Destruction have not remastered some of their finest songs, they have re recorded them and to say they have breathed new life into them is an understatement! Thrash Anthems II was originally a pledge music …

Reuben Archer, the Peter Pan of hard rock without a shadow of a doubt has released one of my highlights of 2017 with his studio album Petrolhead from his band Personal Sin. Released by Toxic Records his songwriting suss with Lautrec, Lionheart, Wild Horses and Stampede was pure gold and …

2018 is already looking to be a good year for heavy metal as NWOBHM legends Trespass release their brand new studio album Footprints In The Rock via Mighty Music Label and distributed by Target. Formed in Sudbury, Suffolk in 1979 by Mark Sutcliffe, the front man still flies their flag …

True to its word of the press release announcing “For your all out hard rock enjoyment”, Jesses’s Divide have a sure fire winner with their upcoming release of their four track EP Other World’s Than These, due out on January 26th 2018 on Spotify, iTunes and other online providers Physical …

Another year and another Anvil album to crank up. Pounding The Pavement, their seventeenth studio release due out on January 19th 2018 via Steamhammer/SPV Records follows Anvil Is Anvil, a statement of who they are and they are still blazing a trail their way! Formed by Lips and Robb Reiner, …

Now this is how you make a live album! No overdubs, just a furious run through of your finest songs that sound like you are at the gig. Rose Tattoo, one of Australia’s finest exports, formed in Melbourne, Sydney in 1976 are still blazing away with tour dates penned for …

Well this is the heaviest and most brutal album I’ve heard for quite some time. Kingdoms Disdained, the ninth and latest studio album from Tampa Bay,Florida death metal band Morbid Angel, founded by original guitarist Trey Azagthoth in 1983. Released by Silver Lining Music, it is a constant assault to …

Matt Jones, frontman for Twisted Illusion, when he is not screaming his lungs over heavy progressive metal, has a knack of stopping you in your tracks with deft, heart wrenching balladry and he has surpassed himself with ‘Molly’s Smile’. It’s a charity single dedicated to Brian and Claire Mear who …

NWOBHM band Blitzkrieg, formed in Leicester in 1980 burst back onto the scene with a two track EP titled Reign Of Fire. Original lead vocalist Brian Ross still captains the ship and his eerie, operatic performance on the title track sets the tone for a five minute heavy metal masterpiece …

Grammy nominated guitarist Tommy Emmanuel releases a collaborative album, Accomplice One, in January. For this album he’s teamed up with a whole host of talented musicians to perform a mix of cover versions and original songs. The list of musicians includes Ricky Skaggs, Mark Knopfler, Jerry Douglas and many more, …

Joe Satriani is one of the very few guitarists where I look forward to hearing their next solo album. Why? Well all too often solo albums from guitarists are just a collection of guitar solos, sometimes with vocals, but all aimed at showing how good they are at playing guitar. …

The Fright have a sound that conjures up memories of Sisters of Mercy, The Mission, 69 eyes and Fields of the Nephilim but at the same time has a more mainstream rock feel to it with strong catchy songs with choruses people can sing along to. It’s a tricky balancing …

In March next year, Mascot label group artists Eric Gales, Quinn Sullivan, Gary Hoey and Lance Lopez embark on the Rockin the blues tour. Ahead of the tour, Mascot are releasing a compliation (conveniently available in time for Christmas). Rather than it being limited to the artists on the tour, …

Once again, Evil EyE Records have delivered the goods. This time by a deluxe double disc package version of Operation : Genesis + The Omega Void EP by American thrash metallers Euphoria. Do you remember the feeling you had when you heard Reign In Blood, Kill Em All or Bonded …

2017 has certainly been a fine year for finding new talent and my first experience of Wakefield based The Sourheads was at Rockwich Festival in August this year. Frontman Jake Coxon is a bona fide rock star in the making. Bare footed and bare chested he oozed Jim Morrison like …

Hot on the heels of her album “Chills & Fever”, released earlier this year, Samantha Fish has another new album – “Belle of the west”. It’s rare for an artist to release albums just a few months apart, but Samantha Fish has done just that. My initial expectation was more …

There are some musical ideas that could be a total disaster or a roaring success. One such idea is to cover Pink Floyd. We saw Scissor Sisters butchering “Comfortably numb” as a perfect example of why it’s a bad idea to cover Pink Floyd, but now Kyle Shutt has put …

They say all good things must come to an end, and with Black Sabbath that time has finally come with the band having retired following their farewell tour. It’s an odd time to do it – a year short of their 50th anniversary, but sadly they’re not young any more …

Electric ducks are a French band, but unlike say Trust, they choose to sing in English which immediately makes their music more accessible to an international audience. Formed in 2004 they released their debut album (Rock your fashion) in 2008, and followed that with two more albums (“Back’n’Forth” and “We …

Kiss the gun are a rock band from Salisbury. Their singer though comes from Georgia (the country not the US state) where she appeared on TV shows “Talented” and “The voice of Georgia” where she reached the semi-finals. The band only formed in 2016 and “Nightmares” is their debut album. …