Album Reviews

I like it when new bands are formed and they do old school thrash/speed metal.   Intöxicated are a speed/thrash metal band from Osnabrück, Germany.  They were formed in 2009 and this is their first full lenght album. Their lyric themes are Alcohol, Partying, Sex and Motorcycles. Their music style …

Symphonic metal band Suncrown are one of the new breed of bands who’s members have never met.  They got to know each other over the internet, and with the benefits of modern technology recorded their parts separately before they were all mixed together.  It’s an approach that is getting more …

Finnish band White Flame formed in 2002, and ‘Cougar’ is their third album.  Musically they are rock – some hard rock elements, and some more melodic.  Def Leppard, Aerosmith, Reckless love, Gotthard and The Electric boys are all bands whose names spring to mind while listening to this album – …

‘Backstabber’ is the third album from Finnish band Masquerage.  The band’s singer, Kimmo Peramaki was formerly with Celesty.  The band was founded in 2000 but it was only in 2004 with the addition of bass player Mikael Kontolampi that the lineup was completed.  The band describe themselves as Melodic Metal/Hard …

Arrow-Haze are a Belgian band who count Pink Floyd, Dream theatre and Queensyche among their inspirations.  Given that then you might expect their music to be firmly in the Prog-rock camp, but in reality it’s not quite that simple.  Yes there is a strong Prog element, but there’s also a …

‘The wake of man’ is the self titled debut EP from Melodic rock band ‘The wake of man’.  Having said that, listening to the EP I wouldnt describe them as “melodic rock” – that conjures up images of a much softer music, more like Foreigner, whereas The wake of man …

The Oxford Coma come from Phoenix, Arizona and describe themselves as “Progressive psychedelic grunge”.  The band formed in 2011, and in 2012 raised the funds to record their debut album via a Kickstarter campaign. Progressive Psychedelic Grunge is an interesting description and one that could mean almost anything really.  Listening …

,OakwindDark Radio was formed in 2010 by Diogo Ferreira and Flavio Silva but only finalised the lineup in 2012.  They’ve now recorded their debut album, Oakwind, and are planning to tour during the year. The vocals are great.  They’re very varied, at times reminding me of The Cult’s Ian Astbury, …

The Crunch may be a new name, but the members certainly aren't new to the music scene. Singer Soren 'Sulo' Karlsson was the singer with Blues-rockers Diamond Dogs, Bassist Dave Tregunna was in Sham 69 and Lords of the new church, Terry Chimes was drummer for The Clash, and Guitarist Mick Geggus was part of the Cockney Rejects.

Post Hardcore bliss, a musical experience not to be missed.   If you are a fan of the post hardcore, post rock, post metal scene and let’s face it, many of us are, myself included, then the choice of bands and different variations of the sub genres is pretty much …

In 2011 Blues-rock singer Beth Hart and Blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa teamed up to record and release 'Don't explain', an album of Soul cover versions. They covered songs from artists including Ray Charles, Tom Waits, Etta James and Aretha Franklin. Now two years on they've teamed up again to release a second album of soul covers - Seesaw.

Three years is a fairly standard gap between album releases, but given the fanbase that H.I.M have following them, it must have seemed a lifetime. Still, that’s the span between 2010 release Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice and Tears on Tape, their eighth album that was released yesterday in the …

Black Metal with a melodic twist ticks all the right boxes.   The Polish Metal scene has always been a strong one generally speaking, even more so since Maiden played groundbreaking shows there way back in the 80’s. The country can now proudly boast a healthy crop of quality bands …

San Francisco Doom merchants deliver another slab of Retro magic.   One thing you can say about Doom is that it never has and never will go out of fashion, unlike certain other sub-genres of Metal I could mention, Grunge being the obvious. Of course, all things evolve and develope …

Death Tyrant emerged from the ashes of Swedish underground supremos Lord Belial when the latter broke up in 2010 – although, in one of those typically murky storylines which epitomizes the Scandinavian scene, they’ve apparently been re-activated on at least two occasions – and this debut album has been the …

At first listen, German electro-industrialists Stahlmann evoke immediate comparisons with fellow countrymen Rammstein – huge chugging, crunching riffs, backed by punchy rhythms… and vocals delivered in their native language!  Add in a penchant for covering themselves in silver paint on stage, and its a parellel which they make stupidly simplistic …

Planet Mosh reviews the debut album from The Resistance, featuring former members of In Flames, The Haunted and Grave.

I love underground music, if it brings out some obvious talent, and especially if it’s from outside my home country – the USA. Turin, Italy’s Ultra-Violence (yeah, like Death Angel, or A Clockwork Orange, your choice) seems to fit that bill. Their newest, Privilege To Overcome, is a long-playing album …

Once in a while an album will come along and completely blow me away with its sheer intensity. An album that strays away  from a collection of  songs  with the usual verse/chorus/verse/chorus/guitar solo etc.  Pelagial, the 5th studio album from Swiss based band The Ocean is definitely one of those …

Unsurprisingly, this seventh album from Rome’s Kaledon is forged in the fires of pure epic metal:  after all, this is a band who, over the course of the past decade, have released a six-part concept work set in medieval England – or the Kingdom of Kaledon as they refer to …