Album Reviews

I don't know what else I can say but please give this band 16 mins of your life and you won't regret it. The album is now 3 months old and it is criminally underrated. And being unsigned the band don't have the funds to promote themselves the full. Do you like Metal and Headbanging? Well so do they and trust me when I say they made an EP worth Headbanging to.

Staffordshire based The Midwich Affair in just under four minutes power out a song that straddles the line between indie and hard rock with latest single ‘Hard’. It lives up to its title with a no holds barred delivery that burst through my headphones as lead vocalist Vicky Travis channels …

You know that feeling when you play an album for the first time and one song jumps out at you so you keep going back to it? After the first spin of Maverick, the new studio album from Glasgow based King King, I got chills after at least three of …

  Casually listening to Wyatt Wendels show on Planet Rock radio a few weeks ago on my night shift my ears pricked up when ‘None Of Your Business’ by Mike Ross caught my attention. It had one foot in the blues and the other in a quirky Frank Zappa kinda …

Now then. Ever since ‘Superscud ‘ drifted through my eyes back in 2000 I’ve been a huge fan of Raging Speedhorn, and I’ve been lucky to catch them twice in the space of seven months with both line-ups. Supporting Phil Anselmo & The Illegals in Manchester (June 2019), and then the …

I first came across Yersin the Saturday before lockdown at Blossom’s in Stockport. Blew the roof off they did. The North East grindsters are one of the most brutal bands I’ve heard in a long time. This latest offering is nothing short of fabulous. Title track and opener ‘Guilt ‘ …

Arjen Lucassen is back with another Ayreon album. The amazingly talented multi-instrumentalist is unusual in that whereas most musicians with several projects will sit down and write for a specific project, Arjen writes and goes where the music takes him, so a writing session may evolve into a new Ayreon …

Links to the band can be found below :- https://www.voodoosix.com/ It’s been too long since we’ve had any new music from Voodoo Six, in fact it was the Make Way For The King album in 2017. So here we are waiting for October 16th 2020 for the highly anticipated follow …

By now I’d imagine most metal fans have heard Amaranthe at some point. The band have ben going for a decade, releasing their self titled debut album in 2011, and have been busy touring ever since, either on headline tours, support slots or festivals. They stand out from the crowd …

One man Manchester mutha Smogg returns with the first part of a double header entitled ‘Entertaining Evil ‘, and it’s brutal. As soon as opener ‘Sulphur-Exhaled ‘ begins you’re battered with speed, ferocious drumming and Pantera style riffage. It’s relentless. It’s unforgiving, and ‘Damned In Exile ‘ holds no mercy …

It’s not very often I use the phrase “Riff after riff after motherfu**ing riff” but this Nottingham based trio called BlitZ, formed in 2015 have easily garnered that accolade with their second studio album, the stadium rock of Fight To Survive. ‘One In A Million’ is a ballistic opener and …

Back in the day, my introduction to rock music was to buy live albums, so for me to discover Rory Gallagher, essential purchases were Irish Tour 74 and Stage Struck and that was all I bought so I’ve jumped at the chance to review the upcoming The Best Of Rory …

When the NWOBHM genre started to get into the music magazines like Sounds, Kerrang etc and bands of that ilk were getting played on the Friday Rock Show, it was a very exciting time for me in my late teens. I bought as much as I could at the time …

Let’s be honest, 2020 has been a sh*t year. From the Australian bush fires, to the explosion in Lebanon, and of course the plague that’s swept world and caused nearly one million deaths worldwide. It’s like the world is in a never ending state of grieving. And one of those …

Well stone the crows! NWOBHM legends Raven have really upped their game with new studio album Metal City. Brothers Mark and John Gallagher remain from the original line up formed in Newcastle Upon Tyne 1974. For many years I’ve said this is where NWOBHM started and I still do. Released …

Metamorphosis, the follow up album to the debut The Art Of Manipulation seems to be taking longer to arrive than the Scorpions depart on their farewell tour! Second albums can be strange things when they have to follow a groundbreaking debut which is what Ward XVI, the Preston based lunatics …

The stars seem to have aligned once more, as Elmsfire release their long awaited new album , ‘Wings Of Reckoning’ Formed over 20 years ago now, the band has seen a few line up changes along the way but the core of guitarists, Doro and Germano remain. Now with a …

In 2016 Ace Frehley released an album of cover versions – “Origins vol. 1”. It featured songs by acts as diverse as Cream, Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, and Led Zeppelin plus some KISS songs. Now he’s back with a second covers album, “Origins vol. 2”. This time there …

Kiss the gun formed in 2016 in Salisbury and in 2017 released their debut album, Nightmares which is a great album, particularly for a debut from a small band. In 2018 they replaced their singer with Abigail Austin, and now two years on they’re releasing their second album (the first …

Formed in 1983, German hard rock band Mad Max have a brand new album. Their last album (35) was released in 2018, 35 years since the band formed. Thankfully the new album isnt called 37, it’s Stormchild rising. One thing it does have in common with it’s predecessor is that …

Vicious Rumors come from the Bay area, home to many of metal’s greats over the years, and have been around for a long time now having released their debut album in 1985. Despite that they’re nowhere near as well known as some of the other bands from the bay area …

Polish Thrashers Sanity Control introduce themselves with this rather brilliant debut album. The Warsaw based quartet were formed in 2018 and release this album independently. Opener and title track ‘War on Life ‘ parallels itself with early 80’s thrash. There’s hints of Slayer and Exodus (always welcome). But the production …

Back in the day before the internet, I discovered rock bands through Sounds magazine. My album purchases then in the mid 70’s were live albums as they were more or less a greatest hits release. So my first ever live album was On Your Feet Or On Your Knees, a …

In just a few weeks time it should have been Wacken Open Air, and one of the acts that was due to perform was former Accept frontman, Udo Dirkschneider with his band U.D.O performing a special set with the Musikkorps der Bundeswehr (the concert band of the German armed forces). …

With a band name like that and a debut album title to, don’t expect to use too many brain cells for The Sex, from Northampton based knobbers The Big Dirty! If you consider yourself a powerful woman that knows what she wants, we recommend you to try with the best …

If like me, you remember “Hysteria” being released then you’re officially old – it’s over 30 years ago. It’s an album that saw Def Leppard’s popularity explode and they were constantly in the charts and on TV as the album spawned seven singles. To celebrate the 30th anniversary in 2017 …

Aleah is a heartfelt and fitting tribute to a beautiful soul I was genuinely struggling as to how to approach reviewing this album, I’m a great believer in that music should stir the emotions, and this album certainly does that. To lose such a shining talent at the ridiculously young …

Thrash Titans Poltergeist return to wreak havoc with their fifth Metal offering titled ‘Feather Of Truth’ The importance and longevity of the Thrash genre to the Metal world can not be over emphasised, whilst it may have dipped in popularity in the late 90’s, early 2000’s, its resurgence over the …

Powerwolf release their first greatest hits album in July. Entitled “Best of the blessed” it’s a mixture of original versions and re-recorded versions of songs, and to make it even more appealing, the second disc is “The live sacrament” – a live album recorded on the Wolfsnächte tour in 2018, …

German band Beyond the black are back with a new album – Horizons. It’s their second release since a major lineup change in 2016 shortly after the release of their second album. Since that time though the band has gone from strength to strength and the linup has remained stable. …

British band Vega have been around for over a decade now and have released five studio albums in that time as well as playing plenty of gigs and festivals. I first saw them live in 2011 and was very impressed, and their next album (What the hell) wasexcellent. Sadly for …

A multi-national collaboration between Poland and Australia has presented this interesting mix of progressive metal with touches of death metal and flourishes of sci -fi inspired keyboard madness. Opening track “Cascading Darkness” is full on straight out of the gate, chunky chugged guitars being complimented with melodic leads that are …

Pirate metallers Alestorm are back with their sixth studio album. While critics will no doubt moan about how they must be scraping the bottom of the barrel for pirate themes to sing about, the band won’t care and nor will their fans, and if you’ve seen the crowds they attract …

Dion has been making music since the 50s having had 39 top 40 hits in the late 50s and early 60s including “The Wanderer” and “Runaround Sue”. He’s not stopped making music and now aged 80 he’s releasing his latest album. For this album as the title suggests, Dion has …

Over the last few years, Dissonance Productions have released some very impressive albums  and Dark Revolution from vintage rockers Tokyo Blade is another worthy addition to their roster! Founded in Salisbury, Wiltshire in 1979 but known as their current title since 1982, eleven tracks hit hard and heavy in just …

Smogg was originally meant to be a Doom metal project, hence the name ‘Smogg’, a suffocating blackened blanket of sulphur and impenetrable smoke to choke and oppress the listener into a submissive beaten heap adopting the foetal position begging for it to stop…… says the start of the bio, and …

      German Power Metal champions Goblins Blade unleash their hard hitting debut album in the form of “Of Angels And Snakes”   It’s great to come across a band you haven’t heard before, and especially one as good as Goblins Blade. The band tread a tried and tested …

At the end of March Dakesis released their latest album Fractures. As such this review is a bit overdue but I’m going to take the view that April didnt happen (if it did then surely we’d remember doing stuff), so that means the album has only been out a couple …

Carl Canedy is probably best known for being the drummer of The Rods but things are about to change as he releases his solo album Warrior with his side band Canedy, available now digitally and on streaming platforms with CD and vinyl formats available in August on Sleazy Rider Records. …

Violent fun with a vital message – a succinct summary of fresh faces Capra from Lafayette, southern Louisiana. With only two releases under their belt, they’ve already made waves in their immediate surroundings, and it’s clear why. Their metallic hardcore twist is infectious, bursting with creativity and vigor as though …

Born to Destruct a four piece Punk band from Cambridge have just released an eight track EP Book of Destruction Rock n Roll alongside album Destructageddon which follow 2018 release God of Destruction. Read a detailed bio here. If you look back at the previous album titles over the years …

  No lows, just highs on this bruising new album The Lowdown from Belfast based Baleful Creed. Currently available on their bandcamp page, these ten songs hit hard and heavy as opener ‘Mr.Grim’ is far from grim as it lumbers along on a steadfast stoner stomp and wailing wah-wah solos …

Irish Street Punk band Hooligan formed in Dublin back in October 2009. Fast forward ten years and they have released their sixth and latest 7″ EP Dublin City Rockers via Advance Records on vinyl. The more observant amongst you may recognise frontman David Linehan as guitarist in The Blue Carpet Band. …

Since their beginnings in Dereham, Norfolk 2010, Bad Touch have consistently released impressive music and that work ethic sees them on another high with their soon to be released fourth studio album Kiss The Sky via Marshall Records on June 19th 2020. Available on white vinyl, CD, or digital download …

  Gypsy’s Kiss are back! Who you may ask? But a fair few Iron Maiden fans will know of them. Formed in late 1973 by lead vocalist/guitarist David Smith and Steve Harris on bass guitar (yes, that Steve Harris), they were known then as Influence but changed their name in …

        Swiss hard rock exponents The Order return with their sixth and most powerful album to date, in the shape of Supreme Hypocrisy   As you look back and reflect on how many Rock and Metal bands you must have listened to over the decades, sometimes you …

On May 1st 2020, Essex based metallers Spidervayne release their latest single ‘Sundance’ via Roulette Records and digitally distributed by Cargo Distribution. It’s a great appetizer for a forthcoming studio album as it eases in on laid back guitar lines and a haunting vocal drawl. The lyrics are very thought …

For sheer ballistic riffing, the This Is Hell album from Burnt Out Wreck released in November 2019 rocked on all levels. Fast forward to 2020 and they’ve just released ‘Positive’, the second single taken from it. It’s one of the more laid back tracks on the album but the grooves …

I first fell in love with Bloodyard at Hammerfest 2019 in Prestatyn. Towards the end of night 3,drained and withered from the rigours that media does to you during a festival. The interviews, the photographing and of course, the beer. I stood alone at a table just catching five minutes …