Album Reviews

The greatest selection of albums, reviewed and rated

Enslaved – RIITIIR (CD)

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 …

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BULLET – “Full Pull”.

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 …

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Gaskin – Edge Of Madness.

  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 …

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Texas Hippie Coalition – Peacemaker

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 …

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DARKTRIBE – “Mysticeti Victoria”.

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 …

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Alunah – White Hoarhound

“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 …

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Over Your Threshold – Facticity (CD)

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 …

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Fatal Smile – 21st Century Freaks

“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 …

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Robert Cray “Nothin But Love” album review

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 …

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SNEW ‘What’s It To Ya’ cd

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 …

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Triaxis – Rage & Retribution

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 …

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Murder Construct – ‘Results’

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, …

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The Faceless – ‘Autotheism’

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 …

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Dublin Death Patrol – ‘Death Sentence’

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 …

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The Graviators – Evil Deeds

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 …

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Gypsyhawk – Revelry & Resilience (CD)

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 …

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Lofft – The Bitterness Of Life.

    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 …

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Held by horses – In History

Essex rock band, Held by Horses, were formed in January 2011.  A few months later they released their self titled debut EP, and are now ready to release their second EP – “In History”.  In terms of live shows, they’ve played gigs with bands such as Missing Andy, Mallory Knox, …

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LIV KRISTINE “Libertine”

Best known these days as front woman for symphonic metal band Leaves Eyes , Liv occasionally veers off the Metal beaten path and does her own thing. “Libertine” represents her fourth solo effort, and sits quite happily in the Pop Rock camp. The album manages to encompass a fairly broad …

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