Album Reviews

      Following on from their debut E.P. ‘Anubis’, The White Swan have released ‘The White’, another E.P. format release and well worth checking out Brimming with dark doom and stoner riffs, this three track really packs a powerful punch and wades in at an impressive 18 or there …

Silky smooth and exquisitely produced by Fred Mollin, blues-soul singer/songwriter Jo Harman has delivered with just her second solo album People We Become, a tour de force that sets her creative bar  – and that of her peers –unbelievably high for future projects. From the scratchy radio-intoned introduction of No …

It’s a busy summer for Kai Hansen – his “Thank you Wacken” live solo album comes out in late June, and then a month later one of his bands, Unisonic, release their live album, also recorded at Wacken, and of course he’ll be busy preparing for the Helloween Pumkins united …

On the eve of the release of their acoustic album, Simple Minds played a special show at the Hackney Empire for BBC Radio 2 as part of their “In concert” series.  Alongside their well known hits they played some cover versions – Patti Smith’s “Dancing Barefoot”, David Bowies “Andy Warhol” …

”Checkerboard lounge: Live in Chicago 1981” was originally released as a CD/DVD bundle in 2012 and is now being released as a standalone CD in a month that see’s Eagle Rock also releasing two other Rolling Stones live CDs – “Some girls: Live in Texas ‘78” and “Ladies and gentlemen: …

“Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones” was a concert movie filmed at four shows in Texas on the 1972 “Exile on main street” tour.  It was released in 1974.  After that initial cinema run, it was largely unavailable apart from a VHS release in the 80s, until 2010 when it …

“Some Girls, Live in Texas ‘78” was recorded in 1978 on tour at the Will Rogers memorial centre in Fort Worth, Texas soon after the release of the “Some girls” album.  The video was released in 2011 by Eagle Rock Entertainment as a DVD or CD/DVD bundle, and now the …

London based heavy rock band AT THE SUN released their debut release Breathe EP on 3rd June with a launch party at The Water Rats, London. The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by John Mitchell at Outhouse Studios. AT THE SUN was formed by rhythm guitarist Kieron Heavens and bass player Alex Matthews who …

You can tell a lot about a person by the KISS compilation album they grew up on. While some hail ‘Tears Are Falling’, others laud ‘Plaster Caster’, but everyone raises the roof for the best known classics. ‘KISSWORLD’ is a compilation that gives with one hand and takes with the …

When it comes to legendary bands, The Who are certainly one of the top names with a career that has spanned several decades  and seen their music as the soundtrack for moviews, as well as releasing a string of hits.  When the Isle of Wight festival was resurrected, it was …

Last year Status Quo embarked on a tour that was intended to mark the end of an era – the final Status Quo tour with a full electric set.  In the end it became even more of an era ending tour as Rick Parfitt was forced to pull out due …

When Edgar Froese, the founder of Tangerine Dream died in 2015, many including myself wondered if that was the end of this pioneering band.  Happily it isn’t and the band are about to release a new album, their first since the death of Froese. I don’t think any band has …

German rock/metal legend Kai Hansen releases a live album later this month.  From Helloween to Gamma Ray and Unisonic, Kai Hansen has been a big part of the German (and international) music scene for over thirty years (hence the XXX title of his recent studio album). Last year at Wacken …

Renegade Priest is a talented multi-instrumentalist who has been writing and recording songs for 30 years, but is only now releasing his debut album.  He’s not just a priest in the sense of his artist name – in his day job he’s a Church of England vicar. On the album …

      Ethos return to the limelight with their second full length album ‘Shade And Soil’ tucked firmly under their wing. Following on from 2012’s well received debut ‘Vessels’, writing actually began back in 2014, showing how much of a labour of love this album has become. The attention …

New York’s Suffocation is one of a select few bands who sounds like itself. …Of The Dark Light, the act’s latest release, upholds the band’s mission of sonic destruction. This is a band who figured out it’s deadly sonic recipe early in it’s career, stuck with that formula, and is …

A rightly deserved place in the big four bands of German thrash metal, Kreator have come a long way from their beginnings as Tyrant in 1982, then Tormentor, then Creator, the word chosen from ‘Mountains’, a Manowar song before finally settling with Kreator. On June 9th 2017, BMG will be …

  Of Fate And Sanity is the debut album from progressive death metal band Apallic.  A follow up to their Somnium EP released in December 2015.  Hailing from the north west German town of Emden, the five piece, who formed in 2014, according to their website have produced an album the concept of which deals …

Last year, Ritchie Blackmore made a long awaited return to rock after years of only playing folky medieval music with his band Blackmore’s night.  He played a tiny handful of gigs in Europe and none elsewhere, with a  new Rainbow lineup that featured an unknown singer, Ronnie Romero on vocals.  …

It has been 12 years since Life of Agony‘s last record and many question marks as to whether or not we would ever see another one. The re-energised band hit the festival circuit a few years back and proved without a doubt they were still a force that could cut …