Album Reviews

It has been 5 years since the last record for this group of supreme players that includes Steve Di Giorgio (Bass) (Testament, Sadus, Death) and Ripper Owens (ex Judas Priest, Iced Earth) (vocals). The voice however is what makes this band instantly recognisable. It is a shame Ripper hasn’t been …

  I find it fitting that I write this the day before Mercy Isle‘s first full length album ‘Undying Fire’ is released.  As well Metal Female Voices Festival kicking off in Belgium tomorrow where Mercy Isle will be opening the Sunday; this will also be the first performance with the …

If you are checking this review out I am sure you are familiar with Extreme and their double platinum selling album ‘Pornograffitti’, you are also probably all too well aware that 2015 was the 25th Anniversary of its release. (Now doesn’t that make you feel old?) To commemorate the occasion, …

Happy 10th anniversary to SikTh‘s Death Of A Dead Day which was originally released back in the distanct past of June 2006.  To mark this significant milestone,  Peaceville Records chose to re-release the album in September 2016.  So how do you review a 10 year old selection of songs that have already had an …

There’s nothing that excites a reviewer more than when a new band appears on the music scene with some fresh material. That can be said about Indominus, a death metal band hailing from Northern Ireland, forming at the beginning of 2016 and features members of the late ForChristSake. With such …

It’s been a long day at the office, you get home, put your feet up and breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the day is over. While you are nice and relaxed you decide to put on some music, only instead of the soothing sounds of Mozart you are …

          Firstly, I have to say that this is an album I very nearly couldn’t bring myself to review, such is the raw emotion and sorrow that still courses through my veins following the tragic, untimely and unforeseen passing of Aleah back in April. I remember …

On 31st December 2015, Motley Crue brought their existence as a touring band to an end, having signed a legally binding declaration that they would stop touring as Motley Crue.  The final show took place at the Staples centre in their hometown of Los Angeles and saw fans travelling from …

The debut album from Los Angeles based Big Jesus, Oneiric – pronounced O-ni-rik and which apparently means ‘relating to dreams or dreaming’ – is certainly different and in an extremely good way. A fusion of elctro-punk with more than hint of rock, it is a work of contradictory ideas that …

It’s a bit of a brave decision by Danny Bryant to re-record what has become widely regarded as being a classic, the 2013 cut from the truly magical Hurricane album Prisoner of the Blues. Even braver is it to rerecord that song with a 9 piece band, retitle it Prisoner, …

Jinjer are a Ukrainian metal band with a difference, they infuse groove with progressive metal to create a truly unique outcome which is something truly captivating for the ears of yours truly. They somehow manage to captivate a variety of different genres and show their influences throughout their previous releases …

At the ripe old age of fifty three I must admit to hearing only a handful of tracks by Kansas over the years but this has been rectified by being given the opportunity to review their comeback album The Prelude Implicit since the departure of front man Steve Walsh in …

Following the band’s widely successful 2015 album, five-piece Southern Rock band, Blackberry Smoke, are set to release their fifth studio album, ‘Like An Arrow’ on Friday 14th October 2016 via Earache Records. The latest album features twelve new tracks, which includes a feature from the one and only Gregg Allman, …

Kai Hansen is a German heavy metal legend as a member of Helloween and then Gamma Ray, and more recently his work with Unisonic.  This album celebrates his 30 year career in metal.  Rather than just doing a Gamma Ray album he’s done a solo album, and alongside him on …

Austrian band Cornerstone are back with a new album, Reflections. It’s been five years since their last album, “Somewhere in America” and in that time the and have changed singer.  Sadly I’ve missed them whenver they’ve come to the UK, but definitely want to try and see them live at …

OK, cards on the table, I really like Amaranthe.  There I’ve said it.  Ever since coming across Within Temptation a decade or so ago I have had a soft spot for the the female fronted melodic death metal genre and with Maximalism. Amaranthe have managed to keep me hooked in it. With this …

Glenn Hughes’ latest offering, Resonate, should come with some kind of health warning. Loud, proud and indisputably ballsy, this is an album that demands to be played with the volume switch cranked so far over to the right the woofers in your amps will complain. From the very instant the …

Rock Wolves are an all-star trio springing forth from a dynamic heritage of German thoroughbreds. Showcasing the unmistakable talents of ‘Herman Rarebell’ (Scorpions) on drums, ‘Michael Voss’ (Mad Max) guitar and vocals, and ‘Stephen “Gudze” Hinz’ (H-Blockx) on bass. This astounding, diverse and fresh sounding debut will be unleashed to …

Soothsayer hail from Ireland and have been described as doom merchants, however there is a lot more on offer here than doom. They present two hefty tracks with a mixture of influences which have been moulded together to give a unique and dense sound.  The First track “Umpire”, begins with a …

In 2014 Status Quo released an acoustic album – “Aquostic: Stripped bare”.  It was a bit of a shock to suddenly hear the classic songs we know and love being done acoustically, but like many fans, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Clearly plenty of other fans enjoyed it too as Quo …