Music wise, 2019 was my favourite Bloodstock Open Air Festival I’ve attended in the last eleven years, weather wise it was the worst as mother nature tested the mettle of the metalheads but came out in second place to a packed out Catton Hall in Alrewas, Walton-On-Trent. First band of …

Fourteen tracks is a brave move for an album, let alone a debut as the listeners attention may start to waver but this is not the case for this absolute stunner from South Wales based Scarlet Rebels with Show Your Colours.  Early promise was shown when I caught their set …

When I was asked to review The Eagle Has Landed 40 (Live) by NWOBHM legends Saxon, I thought it was a re-issue of their 1982 live album but this is not the case as it’s a triple CD release of forty live songs chosen by their lead singer Biff Byford. …

Graham Bonnet, still kicking out the jams at the ripe old age of 71, point proven on this very impressive Live In Tokyo 2017 album, released on Frontiers Music S.R.L. Out of its sixteen tracks, it weighs heavily on Down To Earth, the album Graham made with Rainbow. It divided …

Currently available from the band and major streaming sites, this tasty four track EP titled Figured It Out should have you not taking too much time to figure out why it is well worth £5 by Nuneaton based trio Dig Lazarus! Opening track immediately sets a high standard with the …

My first impression of Liverpool based metallers Reaper was definitely not a grim one as they tear into current single ‘Death Games’ available now from their bandcamp page. To be honest, my thought when I heard this game, it would be a video slots, a kind of money game and …

“The Gods made heavy metal and they saw that it was good. They said to play it louder than Hell, we promised that we would”. Those Manowar lyrics perfectly sum up the attitude that Stormrider have conjured up once again with their brand new EP, What Lies Within and what …

How has a band this good slipped passed my radar? The New Roses, formed 2007 in Wiesbaden, Germany, will release their fourth studio album Nothing But Wild on August 2nd 2019 via Napalm Records. Vocally they come across like prime time era Cinderella and musically they impress with early Guns …

Excite The Light : Part 2, is the second album of the trilogy by Twisted Illusion. Now that the sensible intro is out of the way, the best analogy I can describe this band with and the way they evolve is similar to the creature in The Thing by John …

To say that Fahran have come on in massive leaps and bounds with latest album V-a-p-o-u-r-s  since their self titled debut and follow up Chasing Hours would be it likened to a kangaroo on steroids! Produced and mixed by guitarist Jake Graham, it sounds huge and features stunning artwork from …

I’ve been to many Massive Wagons gigs over the years but this one with my eyes and ears saw them reach their full potential. Whether it comes from opening up recent stadium shows with Status Quo and Lynyrd Skynyrd above them, I’m not sure but this performance at the Live …

Recently released EP A New Dawn from NWOBHM band Troyen is aptly titled due to the addition of new bass guitarist Mark Nortley and by the superhuman recovery from a triple heart bypass operation undertaken by lead guitarist/vocalist Steve McGuire, one of two original members since their formation in 1980, …

What a gig to kick off the album release for Vapours by Fahran at Percy’s Cafe Bar, a little gem of a venue tucked away in Whitchurch, Shropshire. The venue was pretty much packed as they took to the stage following impressive opening sets from Hollow Illusion and Kamino. I’ve …

I normally avoid arena and stadium gigs like the plague but if one band was going to change my mind, then it has to be Rammstein, especially as they are only doing one UK gig here in 2019. Tickets were bought last November and the last eight months have seemed …

There are two points to consider on this fine EP The Fate Of Elision, the brand new release from Stoke based Quiet The Thief. One is what the title means and most importantly, who has spiked their oatcakes to get them to write heavier songs? This fierce five track opus …

Choo choo! Here come the mad Scots  The Swamp Born Assassins with their latest studio album Dead Man’s Train. Ten first class travel tracks kick off full steam ahead with the title track as it literally burns up the track as ear rasping harmonica from frontman Charlie Moffat add nuances …

At Bloodstock Open Air Festival, Saturday, August 12th 2018 on the Jagermeister Stage, Norwich based trio Alpha Omega played one of the most intense and loud sets I’ve heard in the ten years I’ve been going there. The Orange amps must have been made of sterner stuff than my hearing …

As Queen once said, “You know it’s time for the hammer to fall” and it will on August 19th as Swedish power metallers Hammerfall unleash their eleventh studio album Dominion via Napalm Records. They hit hard and heavy from the off as ‘Never Forgive, Never Forget’ bludgeons with big powerchords …

I had not planned to review this gig but being the last date on the tour and also no support bands meant that over two hours of music was promised by Twisted Illusion so it would be a shame to not document it. Notes were kept to a minimum so …