Album Reviews

The greatest selection of albums, reviewed and rated

The Terraces – The Terraces

Hailing from England and the working class suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, The Terraces are a no-nonsense punk rock act fronted by one of the legends of the punk era itself. I had the pleasure of reviewing their first single, “Union”, a few weeks back on the site and having now …

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Winter’s Verge – ‘Beyond Vengeance’ cd.

  Cyprus may not have a massive Metal scene but Winter’s Verge are as good as it gets in the Melodic Power Metal genre. ‘Beyond Vengeance’ marks the bands third and without doubt most impressive release to date . Not far short of an hours worth of thundering, technically complex …

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Catamenia, ‘The Rewritten Chapters’ cd.

  This is actually the bands 11th full length release believe it or not, in a career that spans some 16 years and having had more than their fair share of line up changes. This latest release however is more than just a run of the mill, treading water, label …

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Insain – Spiritual Rebirth CD

Spiritual Rebirth was mixed and mastered at Hertz Studio by Wojtek and Slawek Wieslawski and the artwork is by Xaay on Deviant Art. This album was re-released on March the 26th by Kaotoxin Records. I’m quite interested in this album as the name suggests a deep meaning. Really impressed so …

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Sonata Arctica – ‘Stones Grow Her Name’ cd.

  Ladies and Gentlemen, please be upstanding for the 7th album from Finnish Symphonic Power Metal heroes Sonata Artica, two years in the making and the result is an excellent , if not somewhat eclectic mix of foot stomping tracks with more riffs than a raff and with buckets of …

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Zodiac N Black – The Aftermyth

“The Aftermyth” is the debut album from London hard rockers Zodiac N Black.  The band cite influences including Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Soundgarden, and Black Sabbath. Comments on a couple of the tracks… The album opens with a heavy track, Bastinado (Useless trivia – apparently Bastinado is …

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Winter In Eden – ‘Echoes Of Betrayal’

  Britain’s female fronted symphonic metallers deliver an absolute belter of an album. A collection of a neat round dozen of orchestral laden Gothic tinged songs led by the hauntingly beautiful vocals of Vicky Johnson which captivate from start to finish. The album combines both ‘radio friendly’ catchy tracks such …

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Villa Rise/Wastelands E.P

Hailing from Australia, Hardcore punks Villa Rise upped sticks and relocated to England, to make their mark on the uk scene, and with the release of Wastelands, coupled with some high profile shows, the gamble seems to have paid off. This 6 track ep is rather different from a standard …

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Deathtale – Apocalyptic Deadline.

The opening track of Apocalyptic Deadline begins with a beating heart which is the slowest beat on the album by Austrian metal band Deathtale. Guitars build up  and as the heartbeat flatlines   all hell literally breaks loose with next track  Suffering Rain. I was expecting  a death metal album to …

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69 Chambers – Torque

The genre of Female Fronted Metal has grown and grown over recent years, some bands achieving International acclaim, others sinking without trace. Not many however can genuinely lay claim to the tag of ’unique’, 69 Chambers sure can though, being the embodiment of uniqueness is something that sits very well …

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Violet – ‘The Brightside’ EP

Violet. Is a 7-piece band, made up of a Drummer-Robbie george, Keyboad player-Tommy Cotton, bass playing Liam Westnidge, guitar players Charlie Bass and Joe Middleton, and then we come to the singers, yup that’s right, for Violet have two singers, Jonny Nelson and Charlie Bass. This 8 track cd is …

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SAVAGE ‘Sons Of Malice’ cd

With the ubiquitous resurfacing of N.W.O.B.H.M bands during the past few years, helped largely I feel by the HardRockHell festival who have been bringing these bands to the stage for the past four years, we’re they find them from I’ll never know, but find them they do. So here’s another …

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Lonewolf – Army of the damned

Lonewolf are a French power metal band that formed in 1993.  They released a demo and single before splitting in 1996.  In 2000 the band reformed and released their debut album.  Now in 2012 they have just released their fifth studio album – Army of the damned.  France isnt a …

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Oddland – The Treachery of the Senses

Oddland have taken a long route to get to their debut release, “The Treachery of the Senses” under Century Media. Launched in 2002 as a rock-oriented band with leanings towards grunge, releasing three demos over the past ten years in 2004 (Against All Odds), 2007 (Connection Critical Behind) and 2010 (Away …

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Moonspell, ‘Alpha Noir’ cd review.

  Although the band have been around for many years now, this is their first release since signing to Napalm Records last year, and as much as I’ve liked much of the previous output it seems apparent that a label switch has benefited all parties concerned. The level of enthusiasm …

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Angelus Apatrida – The Call

‘The Call’ is released on 30th April 2012 via Century Media. Do they live up to their reputation?  as previously promoted with the introductory slogan “the most promising and threatening Metal band from Spain!” when Century Media first launched the band internationally in the turn of 2009/2010, it indeed became …

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Marvlec e.p – What Are You Waiting For

  After the 1st play  of this  3 track e.p by Coral Springs, Florida based band Marvlec, the 1st 2 words that sprung to mind were melody and muscle. The songs have the hooks for radio play but they still rock hard enough to keep metal fans happy. Also, considering …

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Europe – Bag of Bones cd

Legendary Swedish rock band Europe are due to release their latest album, “Bag of Bones” at the end of April. The album was recorded with producer Kevin Shirley who has produced albums for Iron Maiden, Joe Bonamassa, Black Country Communion, Black Stone Cherry and Journey, a pretty impressive CV. They …

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Atoma – Skylight

According to the press release, AtomA play “Apocalpytic Post Rock/Metal” – whatever that actually means.  Usually when you get a pretentious load of garbage like that used to describe a band you know you’re not going to like it, but actually AtomA are very good.  Describing their music isnt easy …

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Tribune – Elder Lore / The Dark Arts.

There must be something in the water in Burnaby, Vancouver judging by the creation of this album by  “progressive death metallers”  Tribune. It has more time changes than an Axl Rose tour itinerary! For example, 1st track It Came From The Swamps starts with a croaking frog sample which leads …

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