Album Reviews

In battle, in life, in the music business, there is nothing like having a plan of attack to help you achieve what you want to get out of any or all of them… and you certainly cannot fault Newcastle noiseniks Metal Moth for not planning ahead, with this debut EP …

I first came across Bloodshot Dawn around about 18 months ago, when they played in front of a pretty small crowd in a tiny club here in Belfast, opening for the extremely disappointing Scar Symmetry in a gig which proved that some bands really should be more careful as to …

Undoubtedly Punk Rock King of the sneer. Billy Idol, born William Michael Albert Broad, released his new album Kings & Queens Of The Underground, on his own BFI Records, via Kobalt Label Services on 20th October 2014. Kings & Queens Of The Underground is Billy’s first new album in almost …

To say that the release of the 10th studio album Blood In, Blood Out by legendary Bay Area, California based U.S thrash metal innovators Exodus was welcomed by me and no doubt other long standing fans was a relief is an understatement following the 2010 album Exhibit B:The Human Condition. …

  This is without a doubt the biggest review I have undertaken in my few years of writing for Planetmosh. From a personal perspective, as with many other fans of this legendary Swedish band, the news of a new release has kept us all holding our breath.  After albums which have been …

Sex First is the debut album from Italian sleaze rockers Midnight Sin. Formed in 2010 the band promote themselves playing a sexy combination of Sleaze Rock, Hard Rock and AOR. The intro starts off with jovial carnival feel to it which quickly fades to a more industrial sound with hints …

Two years since their last album, called “Vanitas”, British extreme metal duo Anaal Nathrakh are releasing yet another brand new full-length album. “Desideratum” is already the 8th studio album during the 16 years of Anaal Nathrakh’s existence. There are many ways one can describe Anaal Nathrakh’s music and none of …

Califiornia’ s Cold Blue Mountain, to me, are somewhat of an anomoly. When a band has numerous influences and straddle many sub genres often the result is somewhat confused and directionless. The second full length offering “Old Blood” combines doom/sludge with post-rock with harsh vocals similar to that of  Parkway …

Heavy metal, in general, in it’s most simple terms deals mainly with strong view points or emotions be it hate, war, death, religion etc. Feelings of vunerability, sorrow or fear are only usually dealt with in passing, this tends to be because writing about such topics without sounding trite or …

This job has a lot of pros and cons; and sometimes it is hard to continue after you hear bland act after bland act, or worse something by Avenged Sevenfold. So, it is rare to have an album that has nothing that you feel the artist could improve on. The …

The words ‘comeback album’ are very often banded around the music industry for a number of quite trivial reasons. Hindsight generally plays a big role in this, particularly if it’s a case of the artist or band merely needing to sell more copies of the album than the previous release …

Following on from 2011’s ‘This is Gonna Hurt’, Sixx:A.M. have returned with their third full length album; Modern Vintage which is out now. From the very first track ‘Stars’ the listener is under no illusion that this is a record full of big sounding choruses and catchy hooks. James Michael’s …

    This is one of those three track E.P.’s that certainly leaves you clambering for more. As fast as a speeding bullet from the off, ballads sure are not the order of the day, with brutal riffs a plenty, over spilling with dynamic quality and precision, to get you …

    From the first pluck of the strings, I just knew this was going to be a good album. With raunchy, lascivious little Bad Habits bringing to mind all manner of naughtiness, this is one earthy showcase of what real retro rock sounds like! I’ve said this before, and forgive …

When I first came across young Armagh metallians Sentinel, opening a charity gig in Belfast, I must admit that I wasn’t overly impressed:  but then, as I said, they are young (drummer Jordie Kelly is still only 15!) and it was only their third ever live performance… Move the clock …

Sometimes, no matter how well you think you know your local music scene, you suddenly find you don’t know it quite so well as you did, as something comes completely out of left field and makes you ask “where the fuck did that come from?”. In this case, I had …

Black metal is a genre which, in many ways, is split straight down the middle – between those who seek to live merely on its past glories and those who desire to drive it forward and re-establish its relevancy in the modern era:  those content to don the antiquated corpse …

Definitely – and defiantly – one of the most impressive acts to have taken to the New Blood Stage at this past summer’s Bloodstock, East Anglia’s SynaptiK have subsequently produced a debut album that is fervent, fresh and vibrant in equal measure. Straddling, with consummate ease, the death, groove, progressive …

X-Drive released their début album Get Your Rock On via Frontiers Records on 25th August 2014. Based in Los Angeles X-Drive is the brain child of Jeremy Brunner, who although relatively unknown is joined by some big names. James LoMenzo from White Lion on bass, Fred Fischer from Midline on …

In the music business making it to 30 years is to be admired and obviously something should be done to mark such a momentous occasion. TNT have put together a spectacular with an orchestra, some ex members and a cast of special guests to give the fans a one off …