Album Reviews

Blues-Rock guitarist Joe Bonamassa is surely one of the hardest working musicians around – with ten solo studio albums in 12 years plus another five solo live albums, four Black Country Communion albums, an album with Beth Hart and appearances on numerous other albums, it’s amazing he has time to …

Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach is releasing his first solo live album as a CD and DVD package.  Entitled “ABachalypse Now” it includes previously unseen footage from 2012’s GrasPop Festival in Belgium, the full Hellfest set from France and a remixed and remastered Club Nokia show from Los Angeles …

Motherland is the new album of the Danish melodic metal band ‘Pretty maids’. The band was formed in 1982. At first I have to say what I really like is the variety in the album. Some songs are more melodically, other songs a little bit harder almost like power metal. …

End of an era marked by “New Horizons”. Formed back in 2002, Texan quintet Flyleaf recently released their third opus. Following on from 2009’s Memento Mori,   New Horizons features 10 songs of emotionally driven radio friendly metal. The launch of this album has been overshadowed by the announcement that lead …

    Clutch move effortlessly through the gears before parking a big Rock N Roll truck , slap bang on your front lawn. Ten albums into a mighty fine career and Clutch sure as Hell show no signs of waning. In fact this is an album that will surely end …

A sumptuous banquet of Gothic, Female Fronted Metal to satisfy the most ravenous of appetites. I had the pleasure of catching this band live some two or three years ago and was immediately taken by the epic Gothic tinged Metal on show, infused with an irresistible catchy element that was …

The first thing I want to say this album is not my favourite album. Some songs are good but the most songs are not the best. The album starts with a quiet intro which gets louder. The next song ‘ Ouroboros Chains is one of the songs I don’t really like. The …

In Mortis Veritas is a one-man French black metal project, with the man in question being the extremely mysterious Non Serviam, or The Dark Nazareen. Recorded over a two year period, this debut album is a dark and dense affair, and as mysterious as its creator.  Arising from an ethereal …

UK metallers Vanadium are most definitely NOT to be confused with the old school Italian metallers of the same name and certainly haven’t been around anywhere near as long! They are, however, a very busy band indeed having released almost an album a year since 2009 with last year breaking …

Formed in 1982, Sodom have rightfully earned their place in the top 3 German thrash metal bands along with Destruction and Kreator. Destruction released Spiritual Genocide in Nov.2012 and Kreator preceded that with Phantom Antichrist in June. Both albums showed they were still on top form so it is left …

Formed in London, England late 2009, Collapse had the sole intention of no compromise, no prisoners, with core values of dedication, honesty, and worship of the almighty riff. So goes the bio on their site and they’ve got a very impressive pedigree so far with support slots alongside Anthrax among …

The Von Hertzen Brothers are a Finnish prog-rock band made up of the three Von Hertzen brothers, Kie von Hertzen , Mikko von Hertzen and Jonne von Hertzen. Mikko Kaakkuriniemi and Juha Kuoppala complete the five piece group. The brothers have played individually in many popular Finnish rock bands, Kie played in …

Immensely powerful debut album from an exceptionally talented band.   At last! A U.K. based Symphonic Power Metal band to rival the European hierarchy. The band gave us an indication of what potential lay within with the release of  ‘Shadow Symphony’, an E.P. which saw release in 2009. This album …

There must be something in the water in Glasgow judging by the recording of the Survival Of The Twisted ep by Lets Play God. 4 short, sharp pieces of feral metal are delivered with utter conviction. It will be released on March 14th 2013 and can be pre-ordered from LetsPlayGod.NET/Store. …

Arkham Witch are a British band formed in 2008 and features members of The Lamp Of Thoth. They describe themselves as “Old School Heavy Metal/Doom infused with Lovecraftian horror, tales of mighty Barbarians and festering evil superstitions!” an intriguing introduction. This is their second album and kicks off with “David …

An album of dark, bleak ambient Metal tones, coupled with Celtic imagery and storytelling make this one not to be missed.   Although this is the second full length release from F.T.B.O.A., I readily admit to it being the first occasion that our paths have crossed. The band name intrigued …

A nice review of Alphakill's debut album, Unmitigated Disaster, by Iris North

Texan guitarist Eric Johnson may not be as widely known in Europe as guitarists such as Eric Clapton, Steve Vai or Carlos Santana for example, but he is one of the world’s top guitar players, having been voted one of the 100 greatest guitarists of the 20th century by Musician …

Centurian seem fury incarnate. The band was founded in 1997 by Rob Oorthuis (guitar) and Wim van der Valk (drums). The intent was to create death metal “based on memorable riffs, one-foot blast beats and lyrics that celebrate Choronzon333”. Seth van de Loo (vocals) then joined the band. In 1998, …

It was irresistible to review this former Cleveland (Ohio) band’s latest release, as part of my PlanetMosh debut. Beginning in 1988, Integrity purveyed a kind of raw hardcore punk to local audiences. First signed to Victory Records, Dwid and his band began to release their music to the masses, prior …