Album Reviews

This EP by Liverpool’s Black Cat Bones is not actually as new as it pretends to be. It was recorded last year and this is a re-release; this edition is being marketed, distributed and managed by the band themselves. I first encountered Black Cat Bones last year when I wandered …

Milton-Keynes based pop punksters All Tied Up have recently signed to a new label. Stack-in-a-box Records is an new kid on the Indie scene and this 5-track EP is scheduled to be one of their first releases. So what do All Tied Up actually sound like? Well they are pretty …

Finland’s Von Hertzen Brothers are back with a new album, “War is over”, their seventh studio album. They’ve been making a name for themselves over the last few years in particular, not just in the Prog world, but also in the wider rock world. For this album the three brothers …

Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has released several solo albums over the years, starting with “Tattooed Millionaire” in 1995, and following that up with “Balls To Picasso” (1994), “Skunkworks” (1996) “Accident Of Birth” (1997) “The Chemical Wedding” (1998) and his final solo album to date, “Tyranny Of Souls” (2005). These …

Christmas albums (or even songs) from rock or metal acts are generally pretty awful with just a few songs becoming much loved classics. Tarja Turunen though is both a rock artist and a classical artist, so her Christmas album has the potential to be a success, especially as classical Christmas …

It took a few spins of Hands Of Fate, the fourth studio album by Savage Messiah to get around their new change of direction, but it has still blown me away. Their heads down thrash metal has been honed down to a heavy metal groove with no loss of power …

Black Aces a young hard rocking four piece from sunny Australia release their second album Anywhere But Here via Off Yer Rocka Recordings today followed by an appearance on the main stage at Hard Rock Hell XI tomorrow. Anywhere But Here is the follow up to their debut album Shot In The …

Ian Gillan has long been the voice of Deep Purple. While the band has had other singers over the years, Ian Gillan has been the vocalist for 34 years in total – the vast majority of the band’s life. Deep Purple are currently on their long goodbye tour so assuming …

In the world of rock the name Appice is well known as brothers Carmine and Vinny have between them played drums for bands including Vanilla fudge, Beck, Ozzy Osbourne, Ted Nugent, Rod Stewart, Dio, Black Sabbath, Heaven and Hell, and Last in line. They played together for the 2014 album …

At the end of November, BMG will be releasing “Blues and beyond”, a new collection of songs from Gary Moore. It’s being released following a Pledgemusic campaign and comes in several versions. The most basic is a 2 CD package which contains a selection of songs from his career and …

When you think of all the rock and metal bands you listen to, a large amount will be from the US or UK, but when you look away from the English speaking countries then Finland, Sweden and Germany probably make up a large proportion. One country that is strangely under-represented …

Jared James Nichols releases his new album, Black magic, on 27th October. The follow up to his 2015 album, “Old glory & the wild revival”, it’s an album that’s eagerly awaited by the fans. In the last few years Jared James Nichols has toured relentlessly, sharing stages with the likes …

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of their 1976 album “Leftoverture”, Kansas planned a 10 date tour that eventually extended to an 80 date tour. For the tour the band changed up their usual setlist and did a set that consisted of a hits type portion followed by playing Leftoverture in …

Year Of The Tiger is the new album from Buckcherry front man Josh Todd under the guise of Josh Todd & The Conflict.  Joining Josh are the Los Angeles trio of Steve Dacanay, Sean Winchester and Gregg Cash.  This album is rock and roll, hardcore, a bit punk but overall …

German band Tankard formed way back in 1982, and alongside Sodom, Kreator and Destruction are one of the big names of German thrash metal. They’re still going strong 35 years later, releasing their 17th studio album (One foot in the grave) earlier this year. They’re now re-issuing their first three …

A great singing voice clearly runs in the family for Mollie Marriott – her father is Small Faces/Humble Pie singer/guitarist, Steve Marriott. It does mean that she’s got a lot to live up to, but I saw Mollie Marriott’s gig at the Borderline in London earlier this year and was …

Rock band Saints of sin come from Christchuch on England’s South coast. Formed in 2013, they’re now getting ready to release their debut album, and having heard it I can say it’s definitely well worth the wait. Too many bands release their first album before they’re in a position to …

When a band announces that with their next album that they are “Going back to their thrash metal roots” it can be taken with a pinch of salt but when I heard Jeff Waters, founder member of Annihilator in 1984 say it on the Bloodstock Open Air Festival main stage …

When attending gigs I’ve always stuck with the same rule and that is to watch the opening bands. At the end of the day, that’s how the headliners started out so give them a chance, you may be pleasantly surprised and I certainly was when I caught Manchester based band …

Once again, the youthful trio Devils Henchmen deliver another high quality EP titled Control that follows their debut 2016 release of EP Hatred. The Liverpool based trio are coming on in leaps and bounds, fronted by lead guitarist/lead vocalist and chief songwriter Joseph Doolan. First track ‘Control’ surges in on …