Album Reviews

Leslie West is back with a new album, Soundcheck.  It’s his sixteenth solo album and for this one as well as his own songs he’s chosen to do some cover versions – “Eleanor Rigby” (The Beatles), “People get ready” (Curtis Mayfield), “You are my sunshine”, “Stand by me” (Ben E …

It’s safe to say that when it comes to heavy metal guitarists some of the biggest names have come out of European countries, from Yngwie Malmsteen (from Sweden) to Jari Mäenpää (Wintersun and from Finland.) Yet there is one name who for over a quarter of a century has stood …

Mason Hill is the self-titled debut EP from Glasgow based heavy rock band Mason Hill.  They are Scott Allan Taylor (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Bird (guitar, backing vocals), Craig McFetridge (drums) and Mathew Ward (bass guitar, backing vocals).  Produced at Foundry Music Lab in Motherwell by Sandy Jones this is one of …

Inglorious’ is the self-titled debut album from the rising Hard-Rock band, INGLORIOUS, set for release on Friday 19th February 2016. In their short time together, the band have already begun to make a name for themselves, with upcoming plans to support The Winery Dogs on their European Tour in January …

It was one of those “you had to be there moments” – and one where I’m fortunate to say, “yes, I was”.  It was the Saturday afternoon of what was then supposed to be the last ever Firefest, and a band wandered onto the stage who proved to be not …

Skunk Anansie formed in London in 1994.  They are guitarist Ace, bassist Cass, drummer Mark Richardson and singer Skin.  In ’96 I saw them open for Bon Jovi in Glasgow and remember being blown away by the absolute powerhouse that is Skin.  By that point they were riding high and …

R40 Live, Rush’s 10th live album is so named to celebrate their 40th anniversary with drummer Neil Peart in the band. They have actually been in existence since 1968, formed by current guitarist Alex Lifeson with bassist Geddy Lee joining a few weeks later before their second gig. This 3xCD …

Three years in the making, numerous headlining European tours, and now two studio albums, Hard Rock and Glam-inspired band, Chase The Ace, aren’t a band that messes around. “Hell Yeah!” is their second album which was released on 24th November, but available to fans and converts up and down the …

Undoubted frontrunners of industrial melancholy Killing Joke present fifteenth full-length ‘Pylon’ accompanied by strong anti-political sentiment, however sadly a little too repetitive for adrenaline-soaked music lovers. On the bright side, for fans of dull five-minute epic tracks that may as well be cut down to 3 for all it repeats, …

Scandinavian symphonic metal mostly hinges quite fundamentally on a dominant frontwoman, of which Amberian Dawn’s seventh opus ‘Innuendo’ is a prime example. Fear not, this is not another carbon copy Nightwish-come-Delain.  Amberian Dawn are bursting with attitude and self-assurance that accompanies Capri Virkkunen’s bewilderingly diverse vocals. With air punch-inducing, heavy …

Silent Jack a hard rocking four piece from Birmingham released their debut album ‘Play The Game’ on 30th September 2015 following a campaign on Pledgemusic. Their debut album follows a seven track EP Snakebite and was recorded at Arkham Studios, under the guidance of producer Alex Cooper and self-released via their own label …

This fifth album by Brazilian fantasists Dragonheart is one which is truly deserving of the term epic – as not only does it clock in at a little under the hour mark (which is pretty long by today’s attention-deficit-seeking standards) but it marks the completion of a trilogy which the …

The last studio album from Soldier entitled Dogs Of War gave them a hard act to follow but current release Defiant shows Soldier are still in a strong song writing vein. Although slightly more melodic it still rocks hard and shows the NWOBHM survivors are a force to be reckoned …

Just when you think you’ve heard it all and feel as though you could define almost any artist within a single boundary or genre, a duo like The Bloody Nerve show up and change the game completely. Since their formation in 2013, the Nashvillian duo, made up of Stacey Blood …

This second album from northern California’s Shadowkiller is a very loose concept album, based around the the pain and suffering of the German forces fighting to save themselves, their families and their homeland at the tail of the Second World War, but dealing with the horror of conflict on the front line …

Captive City is the debut EP from Manchester based alt-rock trio Sly Antics, due for release on December 22nd.  Normally I’m a pretty unbiased reviewer but they’ve offered to send us a packet of Haribo in return for a good review so I’m tempted to just give it 5/5 and say …

Folky acoustic guitar and fiddle introduce listeners to the eponymous 2015 release by Sweden’s metallic and mighty Manegarm. A definite change of pace from 2013’s Legions of the North, featuring many more quiet, acoustic, moody moments, the new disc brings a welcome dynamic back into metal. As with Manegarm’s previous …

The Kluster-Fux, a hardcore punk bank based in Co. Offaly, in the midlands of Ireland formed in June 2015, by former members of Corrosive Machine and Strichnine, released their debut E.P. Kill The President earlier this year and have played extensively in their home country with bands including GBH and DOA. With …

Live dvd’s are always hard to review, as unless there is new music to be heard, you are already preaching to the converted. This dvd was recorded at the ProgPower festival back in 2014, the idea was to celebrate Pagan’s Mind first appearance at the festival back in 2003, by …

Flying Colors is the band founded by former Dream Theatre drummer Mike Portnoy and Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse. Alongside them are Neal Morse (Spocks beard, Transatlantic), Dave LaRue (dixie Dregs), and Casey McPherson (Alpha Rev). So you’ve got a mix of musicians with backgrounds in classic hard rock, prog …