Album Reviews

Hailing from Londonderry in Northern Ireland, MOTH have built a decent following on the local live scene. Unfortunately they have not been able to transfer this energy and theatricality to tape. There are very obvious My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost and Cradle of Filth influences from the image down to …

Daughtry are hoping to finally crack the UK market by reissuing their Top 10 US album, ‘Break The Spell’ as a special tour edition to coincide with their support slot on the upcoming Nickelback tour. Fronted by former American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry, the US stars scored back-to-back US Billboard …

Hailing from Norway the mighty Enslaved will release their twelfth studio album RIITIIR is set to be released in Europe on the 28th of September via Nuclear Blast Records. I saw Enslaved annihilate at Bloodstock 2009 so I am quite excited to hear this. Track one is called Thoughts Like …

Bullet return with all guns blazing for their fourth album. The Swedish Hard Rockers are most definitely back, and back on top form as well, following what many consider the ‘treading water’ release in 2011 of ‘Highway Pirates’ , which although very good, failed to kick on from the brilliant …

  In the late 1970’s a new breed of British metal bands were coming to the fore and the term nwobhm was born. That is New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. The best place for information was in a weekly music magazine called Sounds. The editor Geoff Barton was a …

Peacemaker is the third album from Texas Hippie Coalition.  Formed in 2008 in Texas (where else with a name like that), they have released two albums – “The pride of Texas” and “Rollin”.  The band describe their music as “Red dirt metal” and to quote the press release “Take Outlaw …

Formed in France in 2009 by brothers Anthony and Julien Agnello, this represents the bands full length debut. Stylistically I guess we can put the band under the pretty wide umbrella of Symphonic Power Metal, and indeed the band seems most adept at covering all base points within that particular …

“Doom with a difference” was my first impression after playing the 2nd full length studio album, White Hoarhound  by Birmingham based Pagan doom metal band Alunah. The reason for this is the haunting vocals of  female Soph Day. I have not come across a female fronted doom metal band before …

FACTICITY is the debut album from OVER YOUR THRESHOLD, a progressive death metal quintet hailing from Munich in Germany. Formed in 2006 and having released a EP, ‘Progress in Disbelief’ in 2008, the band entered the studio in 2011 to record the album. They suffered a setback at the beginning …

“21st century freaks” is the fourth album from Fatal Smile.  The band come from Stockholm in Sweden, and over the last ten years have built up a good reputation with their albums and their live shows.  Fatal Smile have toured with bands like Dio, W.A.S.P., Queensryche, Lordi, Doro, Winger, and …

Ive always had a soft spot for Robert Cray, often overlooked in favor of BBKING, and overshadowed quite recently by Joe Bonamassa, Ive often felt he had more to offer, and with this, his 16th full length record he has struck gold. The five time Grammy winner is back with …

SNEW are a new band to me, hailing from Hollywood, you can just see these guys hanging out at the Rainbow Bar and Grill, drinking Jack Daniels and loving every second of it. Snew’s debut album, released was June 2008, entitled “Snew You” was named one of the Top Ten hard …

Triaxis are finally back with the long awaited follow up to their 2008 debut album (Key to the kingdom).  Whereas the debut album was self released, for this new album, Triaxis have signed to Rocksector records.  Since releasing their debut album Triaxis have been busy touring at regular intervals as …

Originally founded back in 2001 when guitarist Leon del Muerte left Impaled – and subsequently put on hold when he went on to join Exhumed – MC have been kicking around in one form or another ever since, first making their mark with their self-titled debut EP two years ago, …

If there are two words in the musical lexicon that fill most reviewers – and especially this one, if must be admitted – with fear, then they are ‘progressive’ and ‘technical’. Especially when they are conjoined. I mean, I’m of a generation when both terms were applied to bands like …

For those you who have been sitting under a rock, Dublin Death Patrol is a collaborative side project led by Testament vocalist Chuck Billy and his predecessor Steve ‘Zetro’ Souza (he was the singer in Legacy, the original version of aforesaid thrash legends, before going on to make his name …

Formed in Sweden in 2009 The Graviators are on a mission to bring back the sound of 70’s heavy metal.  With heavy yet melodic riffs, they immediately caught the ear of local record label Transubstans who helped them release their self titled debut in the same year.  The band began …

Yesterday saw the release of ‘REVELRY & RESILIENCE’, the second album from American rockers GYPSYHAWK on Metal Blade Records. Formed in October 2008, the band released their first album, ‘Patience and Peserverance’ in July 2010, an album recorded – as proudly stated on their blog – in the space of …

Dead Cowboy’s Sluts are a metal band from Paris, formed in 2010. They recorded their first album at the Studio St. Marthe in august 2011 called The Hand Of Death and were promptly signed to French label M&O MUSIC for the release of said album in 2012. Their style brings …

    Hamburg based hard rockers Lofft should really have a record deal by now judging by the quality of the 9 songs on their latest album, The Bitterness Of Life.It is currently available on cd directly from Lofft’s website  and digitally via major outlets  Amazon, iTunes,Spotify etc. Fans of …