Album Reviews

Emerging from a bout with depression, Josh Homme and his Queens Of The Stone Age released their latest, …Like Clockwork, in the summer of 2013. A hungry, eager audience snapped the ten-song disc up, for good reason: it’s catchy, it’s moving, it’s impulsive, it’s sensual, and it’s production is flawless. …

@PlanetMosh gives 5 star rating for .@Battleaxe2010 – Heavy Metal Sanctuary With a band called Battleaxe and an album titled Heavy Metal Sanctuary I was not expecting Nickelback type rock but was not expecting just how over the top it is. If it was any more metal it would take …

Behemoth: Any creature or thing of monstrous size or power. In other words, Dublin Band Killface’s album, Feeding the Dead. I wonder if I should contact The Oxford Dictionary to try and get the old definition of Behemoth changed. Does she do that? Is that her, yeah? TO THE POINT: With this …

Animus are a new Scottish “progressive metal band who draw influences from Djent, Tech, and Death metal bands.” On the cusp of their maiden tour, Animus, widely characterized as “Djent”, have released their nicely produced, four-song EP debut, Fall Of The Elite. They stick nicely to an extreme theme throughout …

Slough Feg have been in business since the early 90s and are now presenting their ninth studio album on a major independent label. This band have released album after album of quality heavy metal channeling Maiden, Lizzy and the NWOBHM. While the influences are obvious the overall sound is unique …

Alongside their normal studio albums, Halestorm released a covers EP (Reanimate) in 2011, and then in October 2013 released a second one, (Reanimate 2.0) .  At the time it was only released in the US, but happily Atlantic are giving it a long overdue release in the UK to coincide …

.@planetmosh reviews the highly anticipated .@lambofgod documentary. It might seem strange to some people, but heavy metal has as much tendency as power ballads to pull on an individual’s heartstrings and bring strong emotions to the foreground. If a song has specific memories attached to it, it won’t take long before …

German guitarist Raimund Burke‘s latest full-length effort, Get It 2.0, mixes a keyboard-rich AOR type feel with progressive instrumental rock. The lead guitar parts do seem lyrical in spots, but the album doesn’t seem to jump magically from ‘instrumental rock’ to ‘rock and roll that just happens to be without …

An elusive Texas progressive metal band, Mahogany Hand Grenade, released (in May, 2013) a five-song EP, titled Return To The Point Of Departure, through bandcamp. Mastered to digital perfection by Maor Appelbaum (Adrenaline Mob, Cynic, Yngwie Malmsteen, Angra, etc.), four out of five of the tunes are six-minute-plus length. The …

In August last year Canadian thrashers Annihilator released their fourteenth studio album – Feast.  Now it’s being re-issued with a bonus DVD. As with the original release last year there are two CDs, with the discs being very different. The first disc is the new album – nine new Annihilator …

  The world of Ambient and Atmospheric Metal has, for a long time now, had a certain appeal to my ears. The fascination with all things dark and gloomy, the sinister, the morose, all have wielded a gravitational pull on my auditory senses. I had liked what I had previously …

@planetmosh reviews The Fateful Dark by .@savagemessiah out on .@earacherecords London metallers Savage Messiah return to the fold with their hugely anticipated fourth album, The Fateful Dark. It’s an archetypical metal album. It’s everything you would expect from a metal album. It is indeed the definition of heavy metal. Like …

American band Butcher Babies have been making a name for themselves with superb live shows on their UK tour with The Defiled, as well as on US tours with acts such as Marilyn manson and on the Rockstar energy mayhem tour.  Their early shows saw them performing topless with just …

@planetmosh reviews Baptized by @CHRIS_Daughtry out February 17th on @sonymusicuk Daughtry is the self titled band formed by singer Chris Daughtry.  It features Daughtry on vocals, Josh Paul on bass, Brian Craddock and Josh Steely on guitars, Robin Diaz on drums and Elvio Fernandez on keyboards. Since finishing fourth on American …

@planetmosh reviews W.E.T. One Live In Stockholm @FrontiersRec @jeffscottsoto This new album ‘One Live In Stockholm‘ is a first for W.E.T. It’s a combined live double CD with a DVD being released via Frontiers Records, and is available to purchase on the 21st of February 2014. The gig was filmed back in …

Their ground breaking 1986 debut Doomsday For The Deceiver was always going to be a tough act to follow especially when bassist and chief songwriter Jason Newsted left Flotsam And Jetsam to join Metallica but 3 years later they certainly came up with the goods with No Place For Disgrace, …

@PlanetMosh reviews The Whippoorwill by .@BlackberrySmoke out Feb 17th on @EaracheRecords Ambling in from Atlanta Georgia, comes ‘The Whippoorwill’ from southern country-rockers, Blackberry Smoke. Released in the US back in 2012 to much acclaim, their third album is finally receiving an official European release from the powerhouse that is Earache …

@PlanetMosh reviews Ring of Fire – Battle of Leningrad out now on .@FrontiersRec In 2000, having completed a successful mini-tour with Yngwie Malmsteen in late 1999, Mark Boals began creating his second solo album. Released on 24th January 2014 via Frontier Records, ‘Battle Of Leningrad’ is the fourth album by …

Spewing forth from Vancouver, Canada with an addictive blend  of Motorhead playing Venom.  Every tune on this is a winner with barely any song going over the 3 minute mark. The band emblazon their influences clearly on their studded leather jackets which even look like they stink of sweat and …

Complementing their recent limited-edition vinyl-only 12” split with Winterfylleth, mysterious Ukrainian death metallers Drudkh have again delved into their archive of rarities for this short compilation, which features tracks from their 2007 EP ‘Anti-Urban’ and a brace of covers from the ‘Slavonic Chronicles’ offering of three years later.  It also …