Album Reviews

Blues singer/guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor is having great success at the moment.  Despite only being in her 20s she’s released three albums; has played in front of a large crowd (and a massive television audience) with Annie Lennox at the Diamond Jubilee concert in London; has won a number of …

When my promo copy of Back On The Streets arrived it was like a visit from an old friend! I had the vinyl format many years ago but mislaid it and never replaced it. It is hard to believe it was released almost 35yrs ago,produced by Chris Tsangarides and Gary …

Volture is the brainchild of bassist Ryan Waste (known for his work with Municipal Waste) and guitarist Nick Poulus (an ex-member of Cannabis Corpse). The band was formed in Richmond VA in November 2008. The band sound like a mixture of classic US metal with more of a leaning towards …

Why Motörhead aren’t in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame is beyond my imagination. Lemmy, Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee are the epitome of the genre. Aftershock, their first record since 2010’s astounding The World Is Yours, is Motörhead at their predictably unapologetic best. No bullshit, just a heady …

Revived British Occult Metal Legends HELL bring single/EP release The Age of Nefarious to grace our ears prior to the release of their forthcoming album, Curse and Chapter

There aren’t many bands who hang around for 30 years before releasing their first album, but German progressive power metallers Javelin most certainly fall into that category:  despite having previously released two EPs (with a 12 year gap between them, it must be said), the quintet have certainly taken their …

Emperor Chung‘s eponymous debut, released in 2013, establishes the young British band as a promising, multi-talented act to follow. Musically, the 11-track album spans a variety of influences, from classic rock and elements of jazz fusion, to pop-punk and nu-metal. For a debut, it’s heavy on flash, but none of …

Music journalists are not supposed to get personal about things – but, then, a review is a personal opinion on the subject thereof, so we can’t really help but do what we’re not supposed to do, can we?  So, to speak personally at the outset, I find compilation albums both …

Having only completed the mammoth touring cycle in support of their ‘Murder The Mountains’ album at the beginning of the summer, Oregon quartet Red Fang have wasted very little time indeed in recording and releasing this follow up, their third full lengther. The one thing that comes across with this …

Italian quintet Holy Cross claim to be “breaking new ground” by attempting to cross traditional power metal and classic thrash: unfortunately for them it’s a cross-pollination which has been attempted many times before – with varying degrees of success. Equally unfortunately for Holy Cross, their attempt is by far one …

Impressive Symphonic Metal debut. Hailing from Hungary, Sorronia have been quietly honing and evolving their sound and style since their formation in late 2011. Now that everything is in place the band have released their debut offering ‘Words Of Silence’. Falling neatly into the Symphonic Metal bracket, Sorronia have come …

Over the past half a decade, Los Angeles’ Warbringer have produced three of the best new age thrash albums of recent years – a triptych of work which has taken its inspiration from the sound of genre pioneers such as Exodus, Exciter and Testament and brought it up to date …

David Reece really shouldn’t need any introduction, but for those of you who haven’t heard that name before, he is one very talented singer. He has sang with Accept on their 80’s album, “Eat the Heat” and then with Bangalore Choir featuring on their album “On Target”. You can also …

American Fangs from Houston, Texas released their UK début EP Pomona on the 15 October 2013 on In De Goot Recordings. The best track on this five track EP has to be the opener and title track Pomona. Although when I say début, it’s their début release in the UK …

2013’s Volition is layered, melodic, and jam-packed with more riffs, ideas, and flourish then most bands will produce within five albums. Protest The Hero, another glorious Canadian import, released this exhaustive, 11-tune behemoth, sure to please fans of modern, technically-oriented metal. For rock and jazz, there’s fusion: an eclectic genre …

Following the release of the Murder by Pride album in 2009, the pioneers of Christian Metal, Stryper, have been teasing their soldiers about releasing an album packed full of original material.  A cover album (The Covering) and an album featuring old songs re-recorded (Second Coming) filled the 5 year gap; …

Almost a quarter of a century after their formation, stoner rock legends Monster Magnet show no sign of letting up. They’ve been releasing a new studio album every three years consistently since 1995 and Last Patrol, their ninth effort which was released on Tuesday, continues the trend. And whilst four …

'Stranger Than Love', is a true power rock ballad of epic proportions. Big sounds! big riff's! big beats! big hair? (optional) these days.

Hailing from my native Belfast, Nomadic Rituals play sludgy doom so dark and dense it sounds like it has been buried deep in a peat bog a hundred or so miles south of the city and then dragged, slowly and inexorably, to the surface by a team of unsuspecting musical …

A band who first came together when the two guitarists – Jansen Press and Vincent Martinez – jammed at a music industry event back in 2009, Carousel Vertigo will be well-known to the Status Quo fans among our readers, as they were the support band of choice on the latter’s …