Album Reviews

Witch Mountain return from a three year break with their spellbinding new album ‘Witch Mountain’ The band not only return with new material but also with fresh blood amongst the ranks in the form of vocalist Kayla Dixon and bass player Justin Brown, a decision that has certainly given an …

As live albums go this is as damn near as good as being at the gig itself as Anthrax thrash their hearts out to a vociferous crowd at the Glasgow Barrowlands Ballroom on this double CD Kings Among Scotland, due for release by Nuclear Blast Records on April 27th 2018. …

DeWolff are a Dutch band, from the town of Geleen, right in the South of the country near Maastricht. They’re a three-piece psychedelic rock band that formed in 2007. Since then they’ve released six studio albums and a live album with them all reaching the Dutch music charts and have …

Eye of the storm is the debut album from British band Scream Serenity. Based in East Anglia, they’ve released a debut album that’s both heavy and commercial – not an easy thing to do. On the one hand it’s loud, fast and heavy, but at the same time it’s got …

The exploding boy are a Dark Indie band from Stockholm, Sweden. Alarms is their 5th studio album, but in the UK they’re still fairly unknown. Dark Indie – a strange genre description, and Indie is a fairly vague genre anyway which seems to be overrun with more oasis clones than …

German rock band Bonfire have been around since 1986 (a decade or so longer if you count the band Cacumen which evolved into Bonfire), and over that time have released a steady stream of albums – by my count, this is their 15th studio album, but they’ve also released half …

For his new album, Fearless, Gus G has gone with a power-trio setup, working with Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69/Unisonic), not only as producer, but also playing bass and doing vocals, while Will Hunt (Evanescence, Black Label Society) plays drums. It’s the first time that Gus G has played in …

Black Stone Cherry are releasing their new album – Family Tree on 20th April. It’s their sixth studio album – their first was released 12 years ago. Like me, some of you are probably thinking “Surely that can’t be right, it wasn’t that long ago”, but it really was. Their …

Soom push the boundaries of Stoner Doom with the excellent ‘Djebars’ Hailing from the Ukraine, Soom are a band that many of you may be completely unfamiliar with, especially if you don’t delve into the Stoner scene that often. The band formed in 2013, and ‘Djebars’ represents their second full …

Few bands are as revered in extreme music today as Behemoth. The black metal titans had been at the forefront of the genre for years anyway, but 2014’s titanic The Satanist pushed them head and shoulders above the rest of the pack and when they toured the record in full recently …

Sexorcism is the 9th Studio release from Finnish Hard Rock Monsters Lordi and is said to be ‘their most controversial album to date’. I was eager to give it a listen having been under their spell since I first saw them 13 years ago at their debut UK show. Lordi …

The NWOBHM movement throws up so many influencing bands, one of whom is Blitzkrieg, formed in 1980 with original vocalist Brian Ross still remaining. His haunting croon can be heard on their latest studio album Judge Not, released on Mighty Music on April 27th 2018 and will be celebrated by …

Bulletboys a Rock n Roll band from Hollywood, California were founded in 1988 by former members of King Kobra and Ratt. Thirty years later with more former members (see here) than years service, including some famous names such as DJ Ashba, Steven Adler, Jason Hook and Chris Holmes, the band released their …

Interestingly coming over with the angst of early Pitchshifter with pummeling grunge grooves, Godstone sound like a band destined for big things with their five track debut Monument Of One. Thrilling opener ‘Over The Line’ cruises in as the guitars from Alex Goodrich and John Kenward writhe and churn over …

Find a light is the sixth studio album from Blackberry smoke. I had to double check that when I first read it – it doesnt seem long since The Whippoorwill was released and that was their third album, but incredibly it’s been six years. Blackberry smoke haven’t just been busy …

In 2016, legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore made a long awaited return to rock after years of only playing folky medieval music with his band Blackmore’s night. He played a tiny handful of gigs in Europe and none elsewhere, with a new Rainbow lineup that featured an unknown singer, Ronnie Romero …

In March last year, Beth Hart performed a special intimate show at the Iridium jazz club in New York – a venue that only holds less than 200 people, so far smaller than Beth’s usual shows. The show wasfilmed and featured on the Season 8 premiere episode of Public Television’s …

69 Chambers return after a six year absence with their new album ‘Machine’ Can you believe that it’s six long years since ‘Torque’ burst through your speakers, what an album that was, storming Rock/Metal at its best, and an album that I still listen to regularly. Frustratingly however, time dragged …

Due for release via AFM Records on April 20th 2018, once again Ross The Boss takes no prisoners with the no punches pulled album By Blood Sworn. Best known for being one of the founder members of Manowar, a comparison I was trying not to use on this album but …

Crash! Bang! Wallop! What was that sound?  Have Kid Klumsy dropped their balls and become conscientious men of punk rock?  No, is the simple answer, because these jelly babies with their vivacious love of in ya face punk rock noise will, never, ever, really grow up!   The infectious and soon …