Album Reviews

  When it comes to riff master opinion polls, they are usually dominated by stalwarts like Tony Iommi, Angus/Malcolm Young, James Hetfield etc.  but worthy of inclusion is founder member/guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike from High On Fire, formed in Oakland,U.S.A in 1998.  The Art Of Self Defense is their debut album, …

Storming out of Brisbane Australia come Down Royale, a heavy metal quintet looking to burst out of the colonies with their explosive sound.  Formed in 2008 by vocalist Scott Michael and guitarist Corey James, they were joined in 2009 by second guitarist Jackson Cheng and then in 2011 by drummer …

When you think of Latino thrash, your thoughts inevitably stray in the direction of underground forces such as Brujeira and Suicidal Tendencies as well as giants of the scene such as Sepultura and Soulfly. And, certainly, there are parts of this third album from the Virginian combo which are more …

When Belfast’s Red Six – there’s only five of them and, no, it’s not just you, we’ve never been able to figure it out either – released their debut EP, ‘Devour’, a little over a year ago, it immediately not only garnered them heaps of critical acclaim but also, coupled …

I love a good Celtic tune and so when I was asked if I wanted to review the new album by Eluveitie I said….well…go on then!  Due to be released on 17 August, the new album is called ‘The Early Years’ and looking at the track listing it is easy …

In olden days of yore – before even most of the Planet Mosh crew was born (and that’s saying something) – grog was (often cheap) watered-down rum served to sailors to keep them reasonably intoxicated enough to fool them into thinking they were happy with their lot and therefore less …

Without wanting to give my exact age away, I remember 1986 very well, admittedly a large section of it was viewed through a drunken haze but I remember it nevertheless. A time when mobile phones came with a free wheelbarrow to carry the battery pack in, Ford Capri’s ruled the …

When this black metal crew issued their sophomore EP, ‘To Whatever End’, in 2009, it was hailed as one of the best examples of the genre to emerge from the island of Ireland at the time. It was praise which was well-deserved, as it was an excellent slab of Celtic-tinged …

Having spent the guts of year slogging their way around the Irish club scene (on both sides of the border), as any self-respecting young band should do, Belfast four piece Bäkken’s reputation for good, solid live shows and their typical Norn Iron work ethic has meant that expectations typically have …

Since being formed in early 2006 Final Silence have been carving out a solid fan base in their native Scotland supporting bands such as Bleed From Within.  In 2009 they recorded their debut EP “Past Remains” quickly following that up in 2010 with a second EP “Dawn of a New …

Italy’s Daniele Liverani delivers an absolute belter of a solo record, with guitar work of the highest order. Although to be fair this isn’t strictly a solo album as it features some fine musicians brought together by Daniele’s vision of creating a record that stimulates the listeners senses to the …

The opening track to Northern Ireland quartet Triggerman’s last album (2010’s ‘Brand New Day’) was appropriately entitled ‘The Riff Holds Sway’: it’s a description which more than adequately describes Triggerman to their particular brand of in-yer-face butt-kickin’ Doc Marten-clad brand of… well… riff-laden rock ‘n’f’n’ roll (as we say around …

Third albums are notoriously difficult for bands, but Swedish death metallers Zonaria have spent a good 13 years perfecting their craft – even if wholesale line-up changes made preparations for the recording process somewhat more difficult than they ideally should have been. In this case, any worries are quickly cast …

  On their webpage, Finnish based Blind Stare describe themselves as  ” Melodic/Symphonic/Death Metal “, which is a fair description but after playing their second  full length studio album, The Dividing Line, there are a lot more strings to their bow. Repeated plays bring forth some awesome power, speed and …

Empire are your traditional four piece classic rock metal band, the hair, jeans or leathers and the boots together with a package of soaring vocals and catchy riffs. We have Rolf Munkes on guitars, Tony Martin vocalist, Neil Murray on bass, Don Airey on keyboards and Gerald Kloos on drums. There …

Coral spin are a brand new female fronted Progressive Melodic rock band with an unusual singer, in the form off Ellie Blythe who is a fully trained Classical and Opera singer, she fancied a change in musical direction, so joined up with keyboard player Blake Mcqueen, and Guitarist Jake Simmons …

  It has been a world tour for the last few albums i have reviewed. Italian thrash metal, Slovenian folk metal and the latest is melodic death metal from Turkish band Soul Sacrifice. Their 2nd full length studio album, Carpe Mortem ( seize death ), was released via Massacre Records …

Releasing a debut album in this day and age isn’t hard for a band to do.  Anyone with their hands on a PC or Mac can create one in the blink of an eye.  Releasing a debut album that is of a high quality and professional standard though IS hard, …

It has transpired through the years that a band’s breakthrough album is often their third. Number of the Beast, Reign in Blood, Master of Puppets – I could go on. And now, American rockers Baroness have released THEIR third album, ‘Yellow & Green’, an album that can, and in my …

Sub genres of metal are getting weirder and weirder and now with the rise of what is known as “Cinematic Extreme Metal”, fronted by pioneers Chaosweaver, we have finally got a type of metal that combines both the hell razing brutalness of black metal and the melodic beauties of symphonic …