Album Reviews

  This album actually saw the light of day a few months ago now but having only heard it for the first time recently I thought I would put a few words down anyway   Firstly, and this is purely an observation but there does seem to be a lot …

@planetmosh reviews Indestructible by .@_HouseOfLords_ on .@FrontiersMusic1 House of Lords was formed in 1987, which makes Indestructible only their tenth studio album in a twenty eight year career.  Not exactly prolific but when you take into account the many and varied line-up changes and the time spent on hiatus it’s …

Three years ago, the fate of Lamb of God very much hung in the balance. The much-publicized arrest and imprisonment of singer Randy Blythe on manslaughter charges caused shockwaves across the metal world, with his subsequent acquittal bringing relief, celebrations and a stunning documentary in the form of As the Palaces Burn. …

Hailing from the city of Lviv in revolution-ridden Ukraine, Paganland certainly wear their nationalism on their sleeves, dedicating this, their second album, to “all Patriots fighting against Russian aggression.  The band, who trace their roots back almost two decades, describe themselves as “a group of people holding the same views, who …

Inception of Inhumanity is the debut offering from melodic death metal group Shrouded. Based in Lisburn and Antrim in Northern Ireland, their cd has a lot that I like. There is the bones and most of the flesh of some outstanding tracks but it has more elements that took me a little while to …

It’s been a little over two years since Northern Ireland metal champions Stormzone released what was regarded by many critics and fans alike as arguably their best album to date, the titanic ‘Three Kings‘ – an opus which cemented their position as the region’s premier exponents of their art.  Now, with …

July 18th 2015 will be an important day for Vardis as it will see them playing live in London for the first time in 30 years at a double headlining show with Diamond Head at Bush Hall and 200 individually numbered 12″ vinyl copies of their new 200 M.P.H EP …

Three years after their last offering, ‘De Vermis Mysteriis’, California power trio High On Fire have returned to the fray with their truly gargantuan seventh album, the appropriately titled ‘Luminiferous’. Everything about this album exudes the word “heavy”, from the huge ball-tingling bass lines to the humungous riffs which drive with …

Perseverance is a word not used lightly by The Deep which is why Premonition has finally seen the light of day as all of the songs apart from ‘Cold Hearted’ (which was written in the early 90’s) were written in the early 80’s. The band were known then as Deep …

Freedom Call , The German Power Metal band have re-released their 2002 album ‘Eternity’ with a bonus disk including one new song, some live tracks taken from previous live album releases and interestingly, other bands covering Freedom Call’s songs. These track first appeared on the bonus disk from the 2012 …

Screaming Eagles, sometimes abbreviated to Screagles, a Rock ‘n’ Roll band from Northern Ireland release their second album Stand Up and be Counted via Off Yer Rocka Recordings on 13th July 2015. A phoenix arising from the ashes of Soundstone the Screaming Eagles formed in 2010. (Read more about their history …

From the quite green meadows of the Derwent and Trent valleys come one of the East Midlands hottest hard biting rock quartets, Eva Plays Dead and they have produced another crowd pleasing five track E.P. entitled “Sounds Of The Written Word“. The track “1950’s Woman” is a hard, fast rhythm …

So, there I was:  standing minding my own business, propping up the bar in my local when I get a tap on my leather-jacket clad shoulder.  “Shaun said to make sure you get this,” a voice says as a package is thrust into the hand which is not holding a …

  Crematory is a gothic metal/death metal band formed in Mannheim, Germany in 1991. By the mid-1990s they were touring with My Dying Bride, Tiamat and Atrocity and they eventually played Germany’s Wacken Open Air in the  1996,  by popular demand they played again in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2008. …

After catching Cradle Of Filth‘s fantastic set at Graspop Festival, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this album, we were lucky enough to be treated to ‘ Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych‘ live and get a taste of what was to come. Hammer of the Witches is …

If band positions on festivals were awarded based on soldiering on in the face of adversity, Dragonforce would have headlined Download moons ago. Loved and hated in equal measures across the UK, they’ve battled through lineup changes, the wrath of Machine Head and Trivium fans on 2007’s ‘Black Crusade’ tour and …

A few months ago I went to see Wilson open for Halestorm in Glasgow’s legendary Barrowland Ballroom. I also got to meet and interview singer Chad Nicefield before the show and although he was feeling a bit under the weather he could not have been nicer or more giving of …

Popes of Chillitown a Ska/Dub/Punk band from London founded in 2006 have gone through several line-up changes before the six piece line-up we see today. To date they have self released two EPs and pledge funded début album ‘A Word To The Wise‘ in 2013. Their second album ‘To The …

Baltimore, Maryland’s Hatebeak has released a new 14 track album, titled The Number of the Beak. The band’s music is highly experimental grindcore, noise, or even post-grind, with Waldo the African Grey parrot’s various noises used as ‘vocal samples’. Released through Reptilian Records, this is apparently a compilation of all …

When I was asked to review ‘Vibration of Sound’ by The Hicks I was intrigued by the description of an alternative/hard rock with a hint of reggae from Wigan, a town famous for it’s Pier and for being home of the annual World Pie Eating Championship.  These Hicks are not to …