Album Reviews

The greatest selection of albums, reviewed and rated

Ivory Tower – Stronger

    Ivory Tower return to the fore with their fifth offering titled ‘Stronger’, and boy does it pack a hefty punch   Fancy a riff fest?, then climb the stairs of this ivory tower to the very summit of what melodic hard hitting Metal has to offer. Powering in …

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Robert Randolph & The family band – Brighter days

Robert Randolph grew up playing Gospel music on the pedal steel guitar, an instrument with a distinctive (and beautiful) sound. He’s backed by the family band – and that’s not just a name, they are members of his family. Visit mysunrise to get more from the band. The album opens …

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Kris Barras Band – Light it up

Kris Barras released his last album, “The divine and dirty” in March 2018 with a small show at Thousand Island (formerly known as Upstairs at the Garage) in London. Just a few dozen people were there. Since then his career has exploded as he’s played several headline tours with the …

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Danny Bryant – Means of escape

It was only last year that Danny Bryant released his last album, Revelation, but he’s already back with another album. On “Revelation”, he was joined by the big band he did a tour with and that made the album something a bit different but now he’s back to working with …

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Blackrain – Dying breed

Newly signed to Steamhammer/SPV, French sleaze tock band Blackrain are set to release their new album (their sixth) in September. Formed in 2006 the band have toured playing their own headline shows as well as supporting bands including Europe, Papa roach, Alice Cooper, Ugly kid Joe and Steel panther. Earlier …

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Next Year – Waterfalls

Next Year are a 4 piece pop punk unit from Loughborough and were formed in late 2017. Similar in vein to the likes of Sum 41, Good Charlotte and Blink 182 etc, they have enough in their music to make their own identity stand out to the forefront. ‘Waterfalls ‘ …

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Cruickshank – Cruickshank

Canadian Sludgers Cruickshank hit us with their debut self-titled album, and it’s a strangely clever one. There’s a mixture here of Sludge and doom riffs, and expect the unexpected when it comes to drumming, demonstrated perfectly in album opener ‘Clouded ‘. Sporadic surges of speed litter this track but it …

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The Drippers – Action Rock

The Drippers formed in Sweden in 2016 a three piece action rock band. One guitar, one bass, one drummer, two vocalists. Two vocalists? Doesn’t that make five? Not in this case as Viktor and William share the lead vocal duties. The band have just released their debut album Action Rock. …

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3 Headed Snake – 3 Headed Snake E.P

When a new band on the scene features two members of Ministry, you know it’s going to be a bit special. 3 Headed Snake is the brainchild of guitarist Sin Quirin on guitar joined by fellow Ministry member Derek S Abrams on drums. Aided by Johnny Ray on vocals and …

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Eva Bartok – Self Titled

Post-punk merchants Eva Bartok release their self-titled debut EP this Friday 23rd August, and I have to say this feels like a very risky EP, in all the right ways of course.  Clocking in at just over ten minutes, this EP comes and goes within the blink of an eye. …

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Kim Jennett – Psycho (single).

Earlier this year I saw a performance by the tour de force ball of energy Kim Jennett at the Waterloo Music Bar in Blackpool. Her set flew by as she delivered with being on as well as offstage and ‘Psycho’, her opening song that day is her brand new single. …

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Detherous – Hacked To Death

Canada’s Calgary based thrash quartet Detherous embrace us with their debut full length album, ‘Hacked To Death ‘.  Formed in 2014, they released an initial demo in 2017, and followed this with a live album last year. This is actually a breathe of fresh air for me and it’s very …

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Mob Rules – Beast over Europe

Last year German melodic metal/Power metal band Mob Rules released their latest studio album, “Beast reborn”. Since then they’ve toured in suport of the album and several shows on the tour were recorded and have been used to create this new live album, the band’s fist live album for 14 …

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Ark ascent – Downfall

While covering Bloodstock festival we were given CDs by several bands who were either playing or just using the event as a promotional opportunity to reach a lot of press in one place. One of those CDs was from Ark Ascent, and while editing photos from the weekend I picked …

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Lordi – Recordead Live – Sextourcism In Z7

Finnish horror rockers Lordi have a new album/DVD – Recordead live – Sextourcism in Z7. As the title suggests, it was recorded on the Sextourcism tour at the Z7 venue in Pratteln, Switzerland. It’s a live CD/DVD package (also available as digital download) and contains the entire show (minus a …

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New Model Army – From here

Nearly 40 years after the band was formed, New Model Army are still going strong and have a very loyal fanbase. They tour regularly and their live shows are always great. Happily they’ve also consistently released new music over the years and are about to release their latest album – …

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Runrig – The last dance – farewell concert

Runrig celebrated their 45th anniversary in 2018. Their long career saw them release 14 studio albums and several live albums over a 40 year period. Now though it’s drawing to a close. The band played their final shows in August 2018 and the live album that was recorded at those …

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