Album Reviews

Renegade Priest is a talented multi-instrumentalist who has been writing and recording songs for 30 years, but is only now releasing his debut album.  He’s not just a priest in the sense of his artist name – in his day job he’s a Church of England vicar. On the album …

      Ethos return to the limelight with their second full length album ‘Shade And Soil’ tucked firmly under their wing. Following on from 2012’s well received debut ‘Vessels’, writing actually began back in 2014, showing how much of a labour of love this album has become. The attention …

New York’s Suffocation is one of a select few bands who sounds like itself. …Of The Dark Light, the act’s latest release, upholds the band’s mission of sonic destruction. This is a band who figured out it’s deadly sonic recipe early in it’s career, stuck with that formula, and is …

A rightly deserved place in the big four bands of German thrash metal, Kreator have come a long way from their beginnings as Tyrant in 1982, then Tormentor, then Creator, the word chosen from ‘Mountains’, a Manowar song before finally settling with Kreator. On June 9th 2017, BMG will be …

  Of Fate And Sanity is the debut album from progressive death metal band Apallic.  A follow up to their Somnium EP released in December 2015.  Hailing from the north west German town of Emden, the five piece, who formed in 2014, according to their website have produced an album the concept of which deals …

Last year, Ritchie Blackmore made a long awaited return to rock after years of only playing folky medieval music with his band Blackmore’s night.  He played a tiny handful of gigs in Europe and none elsewhere, with a  new Rainbow lineup that featured an unknown singer, Ronnie Romero on vocals.  …

It has been 12 years since Life of Agony‘s last record and many question marks as to whether or not we would ever see another one. The re-energised band hit the festival circuit a few years back and proved without a doubt they were still a force that could cut …

If you thought that Temples Of Artifice, the debut album from Twisted Illusion was as mad as the film One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, then the follow up double album Insight To The Mind Of A Million Faces sees the cuckoo laying a clutch of eggs in it and …

Well this certainly cleared a few insomnia fuelled cobwebs at 7am on a Sunday morning! The Infinite Growth Paradigm Vs Finite Resources (Mk II) from Exeter based Codex Alimentarius, formed in 2009 will be releasing this six track E.P on June 1st. Looking at the band line up saw me …

99% of Joe Bonamassa Live At Carnegie Hall – An Acoustic Evening is, without any shadow of doubt, the perfect recorded live experience, with the missing 1% coming down to the sheer jealousy reserved for those lucky enough to have actually been there. Ah well, at least the rest of us …

Up for review today is the outstanding new album ‘Under Your Spell‘ from the incredibly talented ‘The Birthday Massacre‘. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the band here is a little background on their development and their exciting journey to date: in 1999 the band formed, independently produced …

They might have been darlings of the nu-metal explosion in the early 00’s, but Papa Roach are a band who understand that times and trends move on and, have endeavoured to follow this over what is now a 24-year career. Evolving their sound from the huge riffs and rapped vocals …

Since 1990, Ice- T has vehemently made a stand against authority with his band Body Count. Inspired by Black Sabbath, Suicidal Tendencies and Slayer, his lyrics deliver a much more powerful message than the watered down commercial rap that the radio force feeds us. The subject matter of his lyrics …

Scottish Pirate Metal band Alestorm are back with their new album – their fifth studio album.  If you’ve listened to Alestorm before you’ll probably be expecting songs about Rum, Mead, Wenches, Pirates, Quests and Treasure.  If that’s what you’re expecting then congratulations, you successfully predicted the lyrical content of the …

  Biters a Punk/Rock ‘n’ Roll band formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 2009 release their second album ‘The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be‘ via Earache Records today (19th May 2017). This follows their critically acclaimed 2015 début album ‘Electric Blood’ and several EPs. Energetic live performances with tales of …

        Anathema return with ‘The Optimist’ but how does it stand up to its most recent and perhaps most comparable predecessors , 2012’s highly influential ‘Weather Systems’ and 2014’s incredible ‘Distant Satellites’ I believe it was a certain Winston Churchill that once said “To improve is to …

If there is one thing you are guaranteed with any SikTh release it is that it will not be an easy listen.  No relaxing, sitting back and quietly enjoying it.  No sticking the tunes on in the car to while away those kilometres.  No headphones on to relax you off to sleep …

Laying angelic female vocals beside venomous male screams, She Must Burn are taking black metal on a new adventure. There’s a courageous spirit at the heart of She Must Burn, a determination to see their risks through to the bitter end. Female fronted black metal in itself so rarely hits …

The year is 2014. The new £1 coins were announced in the March budget, England crashed out of the World Cup in the opening round and the Church of England allowed women to be ordained as bishops. It also marked the first time that power metal titans Dragonforce recorded an …