Album Reviews

Abbath, the supergroup founded by Norway’s iconic black metal front-man Abbath Doom Occulta after his split with Immortal, hit the web last week and it is killer! The aptly named “Abbath” was streaming in full online and is set for release January 22nd worldwide. I’ve had a chance to have …

Before the luxury of the internet, the only way I could listen to new hard rock/metal music in my mid teens would be from Chris Tetley on Piccadilly Radio and Tommy Vance on the Friday Rock Show on Radio 1, so from the latter in 1980 I heard a single …

California’s power shred act Exmortus would have fit right in on Mike Varney‘s Shrapnel Records in the late 1980s, if not for the band’s double bass drum and extreme metal vocal styling. On 2016’s Ride Forth, the band proves there is beauty in all sorts of precision: the hyper-realist creates …

                    What with all the turmoil and heartache billowing around the music world over the last few weeks, I was hoping to stumble upon a suitable gem to kick 2016 off with, and with this 24 carat offering I feel as …

We all know the feeling.  Your favourite band announces a new album and you really look forward to hearing it.  Sometimes it’s just quiet anticipation, sometimes we can’t wait and count the minutes.  With this one, I’ve been watching the clock for the last year.  A year past in December I …

                  Mike Peters and his Welsh alternative rock band, played their first gig in 1981 as The Alarm. After changing their name from Seventeen to Alarm Alarm, the former having toured extensively, the latter only doing one gig before they became The …

2016 has got off to a noisy start thanks to the 5 noise merchants who make up Kent based bruisers Spreading The Disease. Formed in late 2014 by bass guitarist Steve Saunders with the line up complete within 6 months, a lot of promise is shown on this refreshingly genre …

Mojo Stone is a three piece rock and roll band from Buffalo, NY who recently released their self-titled debut album.  They cite influences as wide ranging as legendary bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple through to more modern artists like Jeff Buckley and Rival Sons.  Drawing on these influences Mojo Stone …

In 2013, Runrig celebrated their 40th anniversary, but now they’re bringing things to an end.  “The Story” will be the band’s 14th and final studio album, and there will also be a UK tour. Runrig have always had a distinctive sound with their music really having a strong Celtic folk …

British Blues guitarist Danny Bryant is back with a new album, less than 18 months after the release of “Temperature rising”, his last album.  In between these releases he’s been busy touring – he certainly works hard.  On this album he’s got two special guests – Bernie Marsden, and Walter …

If you’ve been looking out for a new Hard Rock band to start your year off right, adequately named ‘1968’ may be just the band for you. Set to release their self-titled EP on Friday 15th January, I’ve been granted an early glimpse at all three tracks the band have …

My first album up for review this year is ‘The Broken Toys’ Bad Pollyanna’s newest release; which was successfully fan funded by a pledge music campaign.  It really is a killer way to start the year off!  They describe themselves as ‘the perfect amount of both beauty and darkness.’  This …

When I reviewed the Scars EP by Forever Still, I hailed it as one of the most exciting new releases in the last 12 months. I’ve been waiting patiently to see the fruition of their debut full length album Tied Down, a collection that holds so much expectation. Tied Down …

Dutch Melodic metal band La Ventura released their second album (White Crow) 2 years ago, and if you haven’t heard it then it’s definitely worth a listen if you like melodic metal with great female vocals.  For the last few months they’ve been fairly quiet as they’ve been working on …

With a new album in the can for Feb. 2016 entitled Not Guilty following the 2013 release of Forgotten Dreams, Salem fans can now listen to how they crafted their songwriting with In The Beginning, a superb 17 track compilation album of demo songs recorded between 1981-1983. Released via High …

Stone Broken Stone Broken are a four piece from the Midlands.  They are Rich Moss (lead vocals/guitar), Chris Davis (lead guitar/vocals), Keiron Conroy (bass/vocals) and Robyn Haycock (drums/vocals).  The band was formed in 2013 and released their debut EP, The Crow Flies, the following year.  In October this year they …

Being a mainly rock/metal fan I’m not really sure how a folk metal band like Steel Threads got under my radar. I saw them live before I heard any recorded output at a local gig here in Crewe when some friends who rated them highly took me along and I …

Last In Line, is a band formed by three original members of Dio; namely Guitarist Vivian Campbell, Drummer Vinny Appice  and Bassist Jimmy Bain. They are joined by former Lynch Mob vocalist Andrew Freeman and keyboard player Claude Schnell. Opening track ‘Devil In Me’ kicks off with a hard, heavy hitting …

Leslie West is back with a new album, Soundcheck.  It’s his sixteenth solo album and for this one as well as his own songs he’s chosen to do some cover versions – “Eleanor Rigby” (The Beatles), “People get ready” (Curtis Mayfield), “You are my sunshine”, “Stand by me” (Ben E …

It’s safe to say that when it comes to heavy metal guitarists some of the biggest names have come out of European countries, from Yngwie Malmsteen (from Sweden) to Jari Mäenpää (Wintersun and from Finland.) Yet there is one name who for over a quarter of a century has stood …