Album Reviews

Some great punk rock anthems on here which will make terrific sing along at the top of your voice songs at live shows. Should appeal to fans of Dirt Box Disco, Spunk Volcano and The Eruptions, The Exploited and Sandie Shaw! Ok maybe not the latter, but I'd love to see Born To Destruct's Eufuckinphoric as the UK's entry for The Eurovision Song Contest 2017!

Now entering thirty five years on from their beginnings in San Francisco as a power trio known as Rubicon in 1979 onto the five piece Ranger until an enforced name change to Night Ranger in 1982 and apart from a hiatus between 1990-1996, they have steadfastly delivered some prime AOR …

Not a new band, one with quite a history and now unleashing their 7th album. Originally formed in Luxembourg in 1997 and evolved through time from a grunge quartet to become the very different animal that is presented here on this beautiful self-released  Double White Vinyl. The opening track “Birth. …

Hailing from Rochester, New York and trying to bridge the gap between uk82 and 2016 is somewhat of a tall order. Being on the Hells Headbanger’s label the expectation was something a lot more vicious and unruly.  Instead what we have got is a rounded take on the old uk …

Slipping the late, great Jeff Healey’s Holding On: A Heal My Soul Companion into the CD tray resembles throwing open the door to your much missed brother. As rich melted Bourneville chocolate mixed with liberal doses of sweetened marshmallow, this is an album not to have on as background music. …

With the announcement last year that drummer and songwriter Neil Peart no longer wanted to tour and the subsequent R40 farewell tour over, Rush fans have not had the best of years. To fill the gap and ease the pain slightly, the band have released a 40th Anniversary edition of their commercial …

Tilberi, the three song EP by Iceland’s Solstafir, starts out slowly, almost melancholic, and highly melodic. As with it’s contemporaries in the sonic land of atmospheric post-metal, Tilberi‘s tracks quickly evolve into something deeper, compelling one to listen further. Tilberi‘s mix is raw, retaining an almost ‘demo’ quality muddiness in …

When you hear the name Dropkick Murphys, you think loud, Celtic punk / rock and roll party music and as always there’s plenty of that, but there’s a more thoughtful side to the band too.  They established the Claddagh fund in 2009 – a charity to help support addiction recovery …

  January 2017 marks the release of the debut album from Akoma, titled Revangels. And although so early in the calendar, this surely has to be a contender for Symphonic Metal’s album of the year. Remember this bands name, for they are destined for the very top Symphonic, Gothic, Female …

To be honest I was never a fan of the David Coverdale/Glenn Hughes era of Deep Purple back in the day but my blinkered youthful naivety from well over thirty five years ago has been changed by this recent DVD release from ear@MUSIC. The previous line up with Ian Gillan …

Kentucky headhunters are a band that has been around in one form or another for almost 50 years, first as “Itchy brother” before splitting then reuniting with a new name – The headhunters.  Finding another band with that name led to a quick change to Kentucky headhunters, and thats what …

Lamb of God’s new EP isn’t just a typical “keep the fans happy till we write a new album” type of EP release, but instead is part of a charity campaign to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.  The choice of charity is linked to the title track – The …

From tragedy comes triumph! It has been almost a year since the sad loss of Motorhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. The day after his death, drummer Mikkey Dee announced that the band was over. Guitarist Phil Campbell, who had been in the band since 1984 has now put together the Phil …

Finland has always been a breeding ground for outstanding doom bands and Spiritus Mortis are no exception. The band formed in 1987 and has an impressive array of demos and split releases along the way – this is actually only their 4th full length release. It has been 7 years …

A mixture of  Rik Emmett’s touring band in the new guise of RESolution9, plus the additions of  legendary guitarist Alex Lifeson of Rush and Dream Theater front man James LaBrie, makes the album RES 9 something of a force of nature on tornado proportions.  Bundles of slick, powerhouse guitar, a thumping bass …

Andy Bennett is best known as a member of Ocean Colour Scheme, in which he played guitar for over a decade before leaving the band last year to focus on his own solo projects.  He’s just released his solo album, Thinkin’ Drinkin’ Singin’ via Swan Music. In terms of the …

        Obzidian return with their third full length album ‘Obliteration Process’, marking a triumphant follow up to 2014’s acclaimed ‘Concrete Psychosis’, and what a hefty slab of Metal it proves to be       ‘Obliteration Process’ is one of those albums that just does not mess …

Jon Lord is best remembered by rock fans as the keyboard player from Deep Purple.  His Hammond Organ sound was a key part of Deep Purple’s music, but he was far more than just an ordinary keyboard player – he was a composer too.  By composer I don”t mean he …

There are some bands that tour every year, while others like the Rolling Stones very rarely tour.  If you live in the US then you’d say Heart fall into the first category, while those fans in Europe and the UK would say they’re in the latter category.  It’s been 12 …

Testament have always been a staple of the worldwide thrash scene, first introduced to the world supporting Anthrax in 1987.  This is the 11th studio album, unfortunately their history has been fraught with continuing line-up changes, illness and the general fickleness of the music industry. Throughout this, Testament have continued …