Album Reviews

The greatest selection of albums, reviewed and rated

Agnostic Front – Get Loud!

Having caught the documentary “The Godfathers of Hardcore” on some TV channel not so long back my interest in this New York band was reinforced yet again. This is a band that clearly has a lot to say regarding current social/political situations. And they say it against a backdrop of …

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The Midnight Dogs – Hotel Mango.

Hotel Mango, the second studio album from The Midnight Dogs can be described by a Rolling Stones song title, ‘It’s Only Rock And Roll (But I Like It)’. Their self titled 2016 debut showed promise but this release is a real humdinger! Twelve songs will kick your ears one minute, …

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King Creature – Desolation (Single)

I first heard Desolation, brand new single from King Creature when they played it live in Manchester last Friday, the day it was released It was one of my highlights of their set and they have captured that intensity in the studio. Earworm buzzing riffing backed by a vocal delivery …

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Ashen Crown – Obsolescence

When an album starts with an eerie intro such as this you know it’s going to be one hell of a ride. Pouring rain and a single church bell chime, Sabbath-esque, which eventually falls in time with the opening riff. So haunting, so perfect. Ashen Crown have produced a blinding …

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StoneWire – Life As We Know It

Sometimes you just need a good old dose of rock and roll, and when you get to hear the new release from StoneWire that’s what you get. It’s been a long time since they last scratched out some vinyl (5 years in fact) but like a good wine they seem …

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Edenbridge – Dynamind

After Nightwish started to become well known in the late 90s a number of other bands sprung up producing symphonic metal with clean female vocals. Edenbridge were one of the early bands to come along and are still going strong, with this being their tenth album. These days there are …

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Motorhead 1979 – Double Vinyl Box Set.

Forty years? Has it really been that long since the titanic trio of Lemmy Kilmister, ‘Fast’ Eddie Clarke and Philthy ‘Animal’ Taylor bashed out not one, but two ground breaking albums in 1979? From 1976-1982, Motorhead ,with this line up shook the Earth to its very core! Overkill on March …

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Officium Triste – The Death Of Gaia

      Masters of all things Doom, Officium Triste return with their latest album ‘The Death Of Gaia’ 2019 marks a momentous landmark in the history of Officium Triste, as the guys from Rotterdam celebrate their 25th anniversary. And what better way to fly the flag and remind us …

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Twisted Tales – Bringer Of Woe

Twisted Tales are a Serbian Thrash / Metal band releasing this their 2nd studio album. It’s actually very good, if a little naive in places, but it’s hindered by timing issues which we’ll come to shortly. You can tell straight away who influences these guys. The guitaring is heavily influenced …

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Michael Monroe – One Man Gang

Michael Monroe, the stage name of Matti Antero Kristian Fagerholm founder and frontman of the iconic glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, (formed when he was a teenager back in 1979) has just released his ninth studio album One Man Gang via Silver Lining Music. The talented Mr Monroe not only sings but …

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Articulus – I

Newcomers Articulus are bringing their own take within the progressive metal framework. Being a debut it has just taken that bit longer to fully digest and shake off any pre-conceived notions. Chris Willumsen and Erling Malm are the mainstays behind this project and have brought in Dirk Verbeuren the current …

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Her Despair – Exorcisms Of Eroticism

London based Her Despair are back with their third release Exorcisms of Eroticism.  They combine pagan and symphonic metal with guitar based Goth to create nuggets of melodramatic adventure.  I found it easy to be immersed in the atmospheric sound of the six varied tracks, often with the music taking …

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Joe Bonamassa – Live at the Sydney opera house

Joe Bonamassa’s new album is out on 25th October. Like many of his previous live releases it’s been recorded at an iconic venue – in this case, the Sydney opera house. In fact I think Joe Bonamassa must have sat down with producer Kevin Shirley at some point and made …

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Keywest – Ordinary superhero

Keywest started as buskers in Ireland around a decade ago and gradually honed their skills and started to draw crowds to watch them perform. These days they’ve outgrown busking having sold 150,000 copies of their debut album in Ireland. They’ve toured Ireland, the UK and Europe and played festivals including …

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Burnt Out Wreck – This Is Hell

I first came across Burnt Out Wreck at a RACPA festival in Nottingham a few years ago and to say I was blown away by their full on delivery is an understatement. Thankfully that vibe has been caught in the studio for their latest album This Is Hell, currently on …

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Down ‘n’ Outz – This Is How We Roll

Down ‘n’ Outz, the side project of Def Leppard‘s frontman Joe Elliott was founded back in 2009. Heavily influenced by Mott The Hoople the band also features a somewhat stellar cast with members of The Quireboys, Wayward Sons & Vixen. You can find out the history behind the project from …

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District 13 – Soma.

Caught this groovy three piece at a festival in the Waterloo Music Bar in Blackpool last April. First band on at 1pm since being on the road from 5am in London, District 13 tore the place apart so here they are now doing the same thing in the studio with …

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Wednesday 13 – Necrophaze

Wednesday 13 has just released his latest album – Necrophaze. As always it’s got a horror theme which works well for him and other artists such as Alice Cooper, and inevitably there are going to be comparisons between the two. To be honest I’ve never understood why Wednesday 13 isnt …

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