Album Reviews

Some bands release new albums almost every year, but Ayreon isn’t one of them.  Ayreon albums tend to appear every three or four years, and when you listen to them you can understand why.  Ayreon’s albums are all concept albums and the stories are all interlinked.  Arjen Lucassen had said …

Little River Band are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1975. Over the course of the last 40+ years they’ve sold over 30 million records and had 13 US Top 40 hits.  As you’d expect over the years the lineup has changed significantly as members leave and are …

Late last year, Danny Bryant released a new version of his song “Prisoner”, recorded with a nine-piece big band.  It was a hint of things to come as he followed that up with some live shows in Europe, and is now releasing a live album recorded at those shows.  He’s …

Dirt Box Disco who, in their own words, describe themselves as ‘Born in the UK from the malfunction of a terrible musical chemical laboratory experiment!‘ officially release their fifth album ‘Poppycock’ via STP Records today (15th April 2017) with an album launch show at the Star and Garter, Manchester today. …

Liv Sin embarks on a new chapter with her hard hitting debut solo album ‘Follow Me’ After thirteen years playing in Sister Sin, when the band finally called it a day in 2015 it must have been a very strange feeling for vocalist Liv Jagrell . However, obviously not a …

It may be a daunting task when your next studio album follows an excellent double live album release but with ‘Don’t Let Up’, San Francisco veteran rockers Night Ranger make it look easy. Self produced and released via Frontiers Music its the perfect album to blast out in the car …

          My Silent Wake return with ‘Invitation To Imperfection’, and what a return it is, following on as it does from 2016’s excellent ‘An Unbroken Threnody’     One word that can never be used to describe My Silent Wake is ‘lazy’, as they always seem …

Ram Raid is the second EP from Spunk Volcano & the Eruptions and their fourth release following their debut self titled EP and debut album Injection in 2014 and follow up album Shit Generation in 2016. Ram Raid was released at the end of last month via STP Records. Dirt …

The sun is shining, spring is springing and the remarkable debut album from Ash Wilson, Broken Machine, is threatening to smash the windows with its sheer brilliance; could anybody wish for anything more? Oh the pleasure that waxing lyrical about an album of so much quality gives. With the gritty opening …

Erja Lyytinen’s tenth studio album Stolen Hearts is an absolute triumph of inventiveness, resourcefulness, joy and heartbreak. An album so rich in diversity, it makes newcomers to the Finnish guitarist’s/ vocalists skills wonder where she’s been all their lives and ardent followers wonder where this album has been all her …

Emmure’s self-assured ‘Look at Yourself’ pits frontman Frankie Palmeri against their recent band member exodus and produces a neat collection of annihilating anthems, if nothing breathtakingly inventive. Having survived the mutiny of 2016 with only Palmeri still standing, it’s a pleasure for fans to see 2017 in with a rejuvenated …

Solennial is the fourth album from Birmingham based foursome Alunah.  If you like your doom metal a bit old style and with a folk slant then this is the album for you.  Band Members: Sophie Day – Vocals & Guitar, David Day – Guitar, Daniel Burchmore – Bass, Jake Mason – Drums. The album kicks …

After listening to rock/metal for almost forty years, albums that really grab me by the scruff of the neck are few and far between but the self titled tenth album by Tampa Bay death metallers Obituary can be added to the list. The atmosphere they create on this ten track …

        Four piece Bereft release an amazing four track album in the form of ‘Lands’   I just love the myriad of sub genres that Metal throws up, and Blackened Doom is one of my favourites. To be fair it’s possibly nothing new , the two genres …

Me and that Man are Behemoth frontman, Nergal, and John Porter.  It’s a radical new sound for Nergal – gone is the heavy black/death metal, and instead you have Nergal doing vocals and John Porter playing guitar (often acoustic) and doing backing vocals, and there’s even Harmonica used.  It’s a …

It’s almost exactly three years since Angela Gossow stepped down as vocalist of Arch Enemy and announced her replacement, Alissa White-Gluz.  At that point the War Eternal album was already written and recorded with Alissa on vocals.  Since then it’s been a long wait for a second album with her …

If it were ever to happen, Blaze Bayley O.B.E has a great ring to it I think. Since singing with Wolfsbane from 1988-94, Iron Maiden from 1994-99 and a solo career from then until the present day, he has doggedly flew the flag for British heavy metal. The title of …

Having witnessed firsthand his continued prowess on stage in early 2016, the release on CD and full gig DVD of Michael Schenker Fest from the Tokyo International Forum takes the experience the German provides to the next level and underlines what is sure to become a legendary show. There have …

After more than two years on the road touring their debut album, The Picturebooks have returned with their new album, Home is a Heartache, which made its official release on 10th March 2017. Much like their first record, this German duo continue to provide an eclectically rare sound, whilst still …

      Illimitable Dolor release an amazing self titled album which is a wonderful tribute to former musician and fellow The Slow Death band member Greg Williamson, who sadly passed away a while ago   Penned by Stuart Prickett (Guitar/Keys and Vocals) these four monumental tracks are as fine …