Album Reviews

Slabdragger return with a truly monolithic new release in the form of Rise of the Dawncrusher. With songs upwards of fifteen minutes, this release takes you through a journey of not just the concept, but heavy music itself. Strap yourselves in and hold on tight, this is a long album. First up is …

Irish death-groove trio Dead Label return with their second album, Throne Of Bones. Recorded at East West Studios on Sunset Boulevard towards the end of last year, it sees the band maturing into a well-oiled machine. Dead Label toured sections of the States between their visits to the studio and …

I have to start this review by saying it was actually very hard for me to write. As a massive fan of Mr Wildheart I really wanted to be objective about this – after all if we all liked the same music you’d never argue with your friends or be …

Jesus Chrüsler Supercar are a trio of death ‘n’ rollers from Stockholm.  They play energetic, vibrant rock mixed with punk fury, with references to death and thrash metal, and even a hint of stoner mixed with grunge.  They play it loud.  VERY loud.  And they play it fast.  VERY fast. …

While Post Pop Depression has been billed as a collaboration, it’s Iggy Pop‘s name on the album’s marquee and spine. Producer, multi-instrumentalist, and co-writer Joshua Homme and Pop are both revered musicians and celebrated collaborators in their own realms. Homme worked with John Paul Jones and Dave Grohl in Them …

With this, the the band’s tenth album, Amon Amarth take their penchant for their epic evocations and retelling of the ancient myths and sagas, the feats of bravery and heroism which soak the bloodstained page of their homeland’s history, to next level by producing their first concept album.  Based around …

The lads from Germany are back with their new full length album “Starless.” I am going to go track by track as there is a lot to say and some of is not good. The main issue here is tone and the feel of the album. There are points on this …

                  Once seen, never forgotten, could be said of Spunk Volcano the larger than life guitarist from Midlands Punk Rock band Dirt Box Disco. He of the one-eyed, safety pinned balaclava with inbuilt orange woolly mohawk does his bit to keep the …

The new album from Ben Poole opens with the hard hitting “Lying To Me” a big, powerful, rocking number with a steady, hard bluesy riff and serious soloing which certainly grabs your attention. “I Think I Love You Too Much” slows things down a notch or two, and on this …

Boss Keloid are fast becoming a strong contender in the sludge/stoner/doom community throughout the UK. Having shared stages with the likes of Gurt, Slabdragger and Raging Speedhorn, they are on their way to changing the shape of the sludge sound with intelligent writing and impressive vocals. Boss Keloid begin with a huge slab of sludge in …

      Sometimes, just now and again, an album comes by that makes you want to do bad stuff. With ‘Wrank’, Mastiff have achieved that status   It has been said that Edvard Munch played this album on his iPod shuffle as he created and painted ‘The Scream’ in …

A storm is gathering as Cairo Son gear up to release their latest album. With helpings of stoner rock, grunge and blues and layers of great vocals, is it a storming success that the London three-piece hope for? Storm Clouds begins with the groove laden stoner rock sounds of “Lost in the Shadow”, a great opening track …

For a number of years-and two previous albums-Beholder have been crafting a good name for themselves in the British underground metal scene. They have come a long way in the past couple of years, but with the release of Reflections they could find themselves thrust into the world of the …

Moving forward from his professional motorcycle racing career, the multi-talented James Toseland has managed to make a name for himself in the music industry within an impressively short space of time as the frontman for Hard Rock band, Toseland. Two years after the release of their critically successful debut album, …

Stevie Nimmo will release his second solo album on 4th March.  His debut solo album was the acoustic “The wynds of life” which came out in 2010.  Why the 6 year gap?  Well as some of you will know, Stevie Nimmo hasn’t been taking it easy in those six years …

“Georgia Pine” is the second EP from Birmingham band Broken Witt Rebels, and is due for release in April.  If you haven’t listened to the band before, they have a sound that is part Indie rock, and part bluesy Southern rock.  While that may sound like a slightly odd pairing, …

Fable is a young talented songstress from the south coast producing dark, energetic electronica sounds altogether separated from the music produced through todays electronic pop culture. I caught Fable performing ahead of The Cult at their Manchester show on Saturday, and was fascinated by her lively and creative performance. My …

It is hard to believe that the English seaside resort of Brighton could give birth to a band as vicious sounding as Jonestown. Their debut July 2014 release EP The Erebus And The Terror showed promise but their debut album Aokigahara raises the bar even higher. Available digitally from March …

                        Reckless Love are a Finnish Glam Rock band who, these days, perform their own music and songs, after initially starting out as Reckless Life, a Guns N’ Roses tribute. They release their fouth album InVader via Spinefarm records on …

Let’s all be honest with ourselves here: Anthrax are forever going to be the runt of the Big 4 litter. There was never any question that they would open the shows with Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica back in 2011/2012, and they will always be lower than them on festival bills. …