Album Reviews

Scottish Pirate Metal band Alestorm are back with their new album – their fifth studio album.  If you’ve listened to Alestorm before you’ll probably be expecting songs about Rum, Mead, Wenches, Pirates, Quests and Treasure.  If that’s what you’re expecting then congratulations, you successfully predicted the lyrical content of the …

  Biters a Punk/Rock ‘n’ Roll band formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2009 release their second album ‘The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be‘ via Earache Records today (19th May 2017). This follows their critically acclaimed 2015 début album ‘Electric Blood’ and several EPs. Energetic live performances with tales of …

        Anathema return with ‘The Optimist’ but how does it stand up to its most recent and perhaps most comparable predecessors , 2012’s highly influential ‘Weather Systems’ and 2014’s incredible ‘Distant Satellites’ I believe it was a certain Winston Churchill that once said “To improve is to …

If there is one thing you are guaranteed with any SikTh release it is that it will not be an easy listen.  No relaxing, sitting back and quietly enjoying it.  No sticking the tunes on in the car to while away those kilometres.  No headphones on to relax you off to sleep …

Laying angelic female vocals beside venomous male screams, She Must Burn are taking black metal on a new adventure. There’s a courageous spirit at the heart of She Must Burn, a determination to see their risks through to the bitter end. Female fronted black metal in itself so rarely hits …

The year is 2014. The new £1 coins were announced in the March budget, England crashed out of the World Cup in the opening round and the Church of England allowed women to be ordained as bishops. It also marked the first time that power metal titans Dragonforce recorded an …

Dig Deeper are a rock band from Norway.  They released their debut album in 2012 following it up with a second album in 2015, and now in 2017 they’re releasing a new EP, “Stars tonight”. There’s a definite psychedelic feel to the music, and when you throw in the vocals …

Blood command are a punk band from Bergen, Norway that formed almost ten years ago.  They’ve released three EPs and two albums with the last album (Funeral beach) getting great reviews, and now “Cult drugs” is their third album. The album kicks off with “CTRL+ALT+DELETE”, which I have to say …

Christopher Rayson is an English singer/songwriter who lives in France.  He’s about to release his debut solo album, “It’s been going on”. He cites Oasis, Crowded house, Fleetwood Mac and the Beatles as influences and recorded the album in a studio in France close to where Oasis recorded “Standing on …

In an ever-increasing digital age, the simple notion of being sent a physical copy of an album to review is a rather heart-warming move. So when Are You Listening?, the debut album by Swedish/British outfit The Franklys arrived with a handwritten note that hoped yours truly would enjoy the record, …

Prevail I is part 1 of Canadian Hard Rock/Metal band Kobra and the Lotus‘s upcoming double album release; a big and a brave move from the band that few newer bands have attempted to do.  However I feel with their incredibly high work ethic it is gonna pay off and showcase …

My first experience of Ghost Bath arose at the 2016 Bloodstock Open Air festival. They were the first band on the main stage at 11.30am Sunday morning and as I was reviewing and dashing between stages the plan was to watch the first half of their set and the second …

Jotnar , Spain’s purveyors of Melodic Death Metal have just unleashed their debut full length album titled ‘Connected/Condemned’ via Massacre Records, and what a breath of fresh air it turns out to be The bands line up and vision has changed and evolved a lot since the release of the …

I’ve been biting my nails to the quick for the past couple of months, ever since Inglorious announced the May 12th release of their second album, Inglorious II, via Frontiers Music.  The debut album was released to much fanfare at the start of last year and I had the opportunity …

Northern Irish band Blackwater Conspiracy formed from the ashes of two other bands – Swanee river, and Million dollar reload. Based in County Tyrone they’ve already got slots at Download festival and Ramblin’ Man Fair confirmed for this summer ahead of the release of the album.  Listening to the album …

Relax, this isn’t a review of anything by the worlds most annoying musician – the vegan Morrissey of The Smiths fame.  It’s also nothing to do with Marshall amplification, it is in fact a duo – Darren Morrissey and Greg Marshall.  Once I realised it wasn’t anything to do with …

Jon Lord was far more than just the keyboard player in one of the giants of 70s Rock, Deep Purple.  He was also an extremely talented composer, and by that I don’t mean he just composed bits of music for Deep Purple, he actually wrote orchestral music too.  He brought …

In my opinion an E.P should not be overly long and leaves you wanting more which is what Manchester based noisemongers Impavidus have done effortlessly with the storm they have whipped up in the studio for their latest release Eradication Of Mankind. The quartet go straight for the throat with …

Ed Banger and the Nosebleeds released their latest album Legal High on EBN Central (their own label) in March with an album launch party at the Star & Garter on 26th March 2017 (reviewed here). Legal High was recorded at Crack Studios in Hulme, Manchester and produced by Kevin Foy. Cast …

The Graveyard Shift is an album I have been impatiently waiting for to be released this year; since that first glimpse Motionless In White gave us with 570 9 months ago it’s had my interest, after months of waiting I am pleased to say I was not disappointed. Immediately I …