Album Reviews

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 …

They might be headlining the O2 Arena in November, but Alter Bridge are one of those bands that often slip under the radar when we think about bands who could top the bill at Download, for example. Maybe it’s the band members’ other commitments – Myles Kennedy’s touring with Slash and …

Raw passion is the underlying spirit that bursts through on the second of Simon Townshend’s former USA Only releases, Denial.  An album that in its entirety examines addictions – personal and witnessed – this is a musical statement with balls and introspection that is never burdened by laconic remorse or …

Okay. Where to start? Simon Townshend – younger brother of a certain Pete and son of jazz saxophonist, Cliff – certainly knows what it takes to make an album stand out and that’s very definitely what the remastered version of the 2012 release Looking Out, Looking in does. An invigorating …

Formed in 2008, Shotgun Rodeo are a four piece heavy metal band hailing from the city of Trondheim, Norway. Following on from their previous EP releases ‘Dead End Massacre’ (2012) and ‘Guilty as Charged’ (2013), the band released their debut full-length album, ‘World Wide Genocide’. Seamlessly cruising across a sea …

You would think with a name like Elder Druid this band had been sacrificing goats to some other worldly God these past few years.  Not so, once you find out that it is a group of former school friends and sometime students from Ballymena in Northern Ireland who have embraced …

Rising from the ashes of punk’s sad downturn in recent years, The Decline reissue their second venture ‘Are You Gonna Eat That?’ to a scene in desperate need of such a rapturous shake-up. Under a title freshly plucked from a Mean Girls-esque sophomore comedy and showcasing artwork more controversial than …

Whiskey Myers fourth outing “Mud” follows up their acclaimed 2013 release ‘Early Morning Shakes’ however don’t expect more of the same. Dave Cobb is back in the production seat and as a result has pulled out some of their best work yet. Having entered the studio, and in addition gained two …

SubRosa have been described as an experimental sludge-doom metal band from Salt Lake City, Utah. Coming from a well known religious hub makes this band that little bit more intriguing. This album is inspired by the Sci-fi novel “We” written in 1921, the book describes a familiar future wherein human …

2016 sees the release of (hed)P.E.’s 10th and outstanding studio album Forever! which is the much anticipated follow up to the highly acclaimed 2014 album ‘Evolution’, which was ultimately hailed by Metal Hammer Magazine as “(hed)P.E.’s finest album since their heyday.”  Jahred had this to say about his record, “In …