Tag Archives: album review

Black Gremlin – ‘ Rock And Raw’

Black Gremlin Artwork

This debut album from upstart Italians Black Gremlin certainly lives up to its name, in that it’s raw – not surprising, since the quartet recorded its seven songs live in one day, and using a traditional 8-track reel-to-reel tape deck. The result is a heady little collection of songs that …

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Baleful Creed – ‘Baleful Creed’

Baleful Creed Album Artwork

One of the hardest working bands on the Northern Ireland scene, this debut full-length album from Baleful Creed is actually an amalgamation of the quartet’s three previous EPs bound together in one package. BC’s stoner-edged doom sound is very much rooted in the foundation of Black Sabbath – something for …

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The Devil Wears Prada – 8:18

Dayton, Ohio’s The Devil Wears Prada released their fifth studio album, 8:18, on Roadrunner Records. Featuring 43 minutes of modern melodic metalcore, the 13 song disc is titled after a passage from The Bible, Romans 8:18. Fear not, the album won’t alienate a secular audience: it’s too heavy to be lumped …

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Tesla – ‘Simplicity’

TESLA-SIMPLICITY-Cover

It’s an unwritten rule that reviewers are not supposed to talk personally or write in the same mien, but I am sure our dear PM readers will indulge this writer in a touch of reminisence… I remember well the first time I heard Tesla:  I was just over a hear …

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Coldwar – ‘Pantheist’

Coldwar_Panthiest_Artwork

Dublin’s Coldwar are a band who are not easy to like.  But, that’s the point:  they don’t want to be the sort of band that people ‘like’:  they want to be reviled, repulsed, exorcised.  They are confrontational and uncompromising.  They are in your face.  And they ram their (anti-)message down …

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Astralnaut – ‘Thieves, Beggars & Swine’

Astralnaut - Thieves EP Artwork

Armagh-based ten-legged groove machine Astralnaut have been kicking up dust – sometimes quite literally – on the Irish scene, both north and south of the border, for around about two and a half years now, particularly with their fiery and intense live shows, which have been consistently levelling venues with …

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Lionize – ‘Jetpack Soundtrack’

Lionize - Jetpack Soundtrack Artwork

The music business is a bit like politics, in that it is incestuous and often works on the basis of “it’s who you know not…” etc.  Take the example of Weathermaker Music, for example:  until now, every release issued by the label has had a direct link to Clutch (the …

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Vallenfyre – Splinters

UK death-mongers Vallenfyre have returned with 2014’s Splinters. Have you yearned for old-school death metal done right? This 11-song disc, released on Century Media Records, is a full-length album of pummeling buzzsaw riffy goodness. It has been tailor-made just for you. Try convincing someone that this didn’t come out of …

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Finntroll – Natten Med De Levande Finntroll

If there’s one band that conjures up the image of “folk metal”, it’s Helsinki, Finland natives and genre pillars Finntroll. Finntroll has a new release out: Natten Med De Levande Finntroll, a toothy 19-tune live album showcasing the band in full glory, performing at Amsterdam’s prestigious Melkweg Concert Hall on …

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Mekong Delta – ‘In A Mirror Darkly’

Mekong Delta - In A Mirror Darkly Artwork

For nigh on approaching 30 years, Mekong Delta progenitor and leader Ralph Hubert has not been afraid to explore the interconnections between classical music and extreme metal in a way in which has not been attempted since the first wave of overblown prog rock bands away back in the early …

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Haerken – …Of Warriors and Kings

Haerken are a new European band, and their ten-song debut album, …Of Warriors and Kings, released in 2014, is a fresh face on the monolith that is extreme music. (At least for Latin, the ‘ae’ is pronounced “i”.) Modern, technical, crunchy, and fairly dry, the band’s sound could be described …

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Icons – ‘Lifesigns’ EP

Icons - Lifesigns Artwork

Let’s start this review with a little insight into the life of a (voluntary) music journalist… Like everyone else who writes for PlanetMosh, this reviewer has a day job.  Writing is a hobby, and we all do what we do for the love of the music we love – namely …

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Rusted – ‘Rock Patrol’

Rusted - Rock Patrol Artwork

Rusted are a five piece hailing from Canada and have released their first album titled ‘Rock Patrol’. Mixed and mastered by Jonathan Lefrancois-Leduc at Silver Wings Studios. Arranged and produced by the band themselves and Silver Wings Studios.  They have been together for approximately four years.  OK now down to …

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Portrait “Crossroads” Album Review

  Portrait are a Swedish metal outfit who formed in 2006 (slight confusion here as some sites state 2004 however 2006 is sited on their official Metal Blade page) and are made up of Per Lengstedt on Vocals, Christian Lindell and David Olofsson on Guitars, Mikael Castervall on Bass and …

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Skinlepsy – Condemning the Empty Souls

Downtuned, digital, distorted, and defiant. That’s the first impression of Brazil’s Skinlepsy, who released their debut, Condemning the Empty Souls, on Shinigami Records. Nicely balanced, the recording is listenable even at low volume, but packs more punch “cranked up” a bit. This nine-song (with one intro) full-length album is nothing …

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Winger – Better Days Comin’

Winger - Better Days Comin' artwork

Winger are one of the few bands from the ‘big hair’ era of the late 1980s/early 1990s to have survived not only with their reputation still intact but also their integrity in terms of their viability as a relevant and vibrant rock act in the second decade of the 21st …

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KXM – ‘KXM’

KXM - Album Artwork

Supergroups?  Don’t you just love them?  Or hate them?  Ever since the dawn of the modern music business, the very mention of the the word ‘supergroup’ has sent many fans and critics – including yours truly – scurrying for cover.  A rock group is either a rock group or its …

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Neal Schon – So U

Most fans of rock and roll have heard of arena-rock sensation Journey, and this is where they’ll realize they’re familiar with guitarist Neal Schon already. What they may not be aware of is that Schon has a vibrant career as a solo artist as well. So U is Schon’s latest …

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NASA Assassin – ‘Area 69’

NASA Assassin - Area 69 Artwork

NASA Assassin are a five piece from Northern Ireland, but where I can not say as they describe themselves as being from outer space. They have been together for approximately 9 – 10 years and have just release their debut album titled Area 69.  The album has been produced by …

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Three Lions – Three Lions

Ahhhhhhh the eighties! Way back when I was a teenager at school, a lot of my friends and I would share and swap music coming from the great classic rock bands at that time such as Van Halen, Whitesnake, Journey etc. I have very fond memories from back then, and …

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