Ronnie James Dio,born as Ronald James Padavona sadly left us almost 2yrs ago on May 16th 2010.  A sad day for many of us but we will always raise the devil horns listening to  the music he left behind!  So on that note, Universal Music …

The word genius surely applies to Marc Bolan ( Mark Feld ),best known as founder/lead singer/lead guitarist for T.Rex but also a successful solo artist. He also had his own television show,a feat that many so called glam rock artists of today cannot aspire to! He had the diversity to …

  On playing this album i recalled a quote from Geoff Barton when he reviewed Hell Awaits by Slayer for Kerrang (when it was worth reading) back in the 80’s. He said, “albums that make you throw back your head and shout woooooargh are few and far between”. Well,the debut …

  After about 12 months, the Nottingham based noisemongers Evil Scarecrow returned to The Sanctuary rock club in Burnley to show that the heavier side of metal has not got to be played with a frown but  to bring a hilarious sense of showmanship to their music but which  does …

  This is the sort of album which affirms my love of rock/metal for over 30yrs! Almost 50 minutes of metal overdose from RAM’s 3rd  full album release. The album starts and finishes with 2 atmospheric instrumentals. The 1st,Death is synth driven,accompanied by a chiming guitar over a monotone drum …

Kent based 5 piece band The Self Titled have certainly had a tumultuous 18 months since their formation. Line up changes and putting their debut album on hold for almost a year to concentrate on their live act have given them an edge judging by the quality of the 3 …

    Over the last few years,a few “supergroups”  have come to the fore. So along with Black Country Communion,Chickenfoot and Them Crooked Vultures,we can now add the very worthy Kill Devil Hill,the brain child of drummer Vinnie Appice (Black Sabbath,Heaven And Hell and Dio). The seeds of the band …

Even though its only February,Goatwhore’s 5th full studio release Blood For The Master is well on the way to being my album of 2012. Ten  songs covering 38 minutes of  sheer intensity. Everything is thrown into the melting pot here,black metal/thrash/doom and heavy. Guitars churn and slash throughout backed up …

Following my review of the remastered Lightning To The Nations album i put a few questions to Diamond Head’s guitarist Brian Tatler which he graciously answered. My 1st Diamond Head gig was at Donington 1983,they opened the show followed by Dio,Twisted Sister,ZZ Top,Meatloaf and Whitesnake.Does Brian have any memories from …

A quote in the press release by the band states “This is not just a compilation of songs for us,this is our life” and the variety of material on the 12 original songs + one cover version here hammers home that statement. Cadaverous Condition will not get on the Billboard …

  Dutch band Vengeance,formed over 30 years ago by vocalist Leon Gowie  has assembled an impressive band line up to record their 9th studio album Crystal Eye due to be released on Feb 27th 2012  by Steamhammer/SPV records. Vengeance probably will not be mentioned in  the same breath as current …

For many people, Anvil were not known until  their  dvd, Anvil-The Story Of Anvil, was released  in 2009. Also a lot of rock/metal fans may only be familiar with their 3 classic album  releases, Hard And Heavy, Metal On Metal and Forged In Fire from 1981,1982,1983 and their 2 most …

  It is a strange coincidence that two  of the band,Rich and Paul, share the same surname as John Garcia,vocalist of Kyuss who unfortunately disbanded many years ago. The first  two  tracks on Dogstate’s debut e.p War Baby come rumbling out with the classic groove of Wretch era Kyuss. First …

  Clocking in at just under 50mins,the debut cd from Bolton/Wigan based thrashers Derision pulls no punches from the mauling riffs of opener Pain Of Conviction to the lightspeed buzzsaw riffs of closing track Final Solution.Quite simply,as debut albums go, the quality of material here is on a par with …

  Where to start with this one eh?31 tracks on 2cds and a bonus live dvd as well.Metal Blade Records,due to demand,have re-released Servants Of Chaos from the vastly underrated and sadly disbanded Cirith Ungol.Originally released as a dbl cd in 2001,Servants Of Chaos contains rare,demo,live and unreleased tracks from …

Midlands based band Agincourt had their work cut out on the nwobhm stage,having to follow 2 awesome sets from Stampede and Bronz but they rose to the challenge by giving us 8 tracks from their excellent debut album ‘Angels Of Mons‘. Even a few technical difficulties arising from Paul Anderson’s …

Well,here we are again,Hard Rock Hell V,the annual  festival that goes from strength to strength and part of the weekend’s festivities was a stage devoted to nwobhm on Saturday afternoon from 12pm-17.30pm.The proceedings were opened in style by a 40min classic hard rock set from Stampede who have just finished …

Hailing, and hailing very loudly from Liverpool, Lazarus Syndrome have composed  4 tracks of melodic brutality. The Flatline e.p is not available yet but is mixed and ready for release. Apparently a lazarus syndrome is an awakening from the dead. Well,judging by the quality of Flatline, the band are certainly …

  Deluxe edition is certainly an understatement of this dbl cd digipack which also includes a 16 page booklet charting Diamond Head’s history to the present day written by Dave Everly with comments by guitarist Brian Tatler,one of the founder members and the only one remaining in the current line …

“The sound of metal so loud it cracks the beams”.A line taken from Manowar’s song Gloves Of Metal and judging by volume levels reached at Leeds Carling Academy last Friday night,i would not be surprised if this were true.Their new p.a system certainly delivered but it had a few glitches …