Album Reviews

German heavy metal legend Doro Pesch really knows how to celebrate an anniversary.  For her 20th and 25th anniveraries she put on special shows with a load of special guests.  They weren’t your typical 90 minute show either – the 25th anniversary show was well over 3 hours, and both …

This six track EP from Shildon/ Bishop Auckland based Alt rock band Black Nevada impresses from the off, a glorious chunky riif kicks the first track, “Not Your Enemy” off in great style, a distinctive vox from Jordan Bailey delivers a controlled performance, powerful yet clear, the riff is ever …

Cool is probably the best way to describe Dave Hanson’s Almost Horizontal. With its multi-genre musical idioms appealing to lovers of a great many genres – funk, rock, soul and even an occasional nod towards electro-pop – at its heart lies the blues and there is no getting away from …

Life is inevitable in its conclusion. No matter how we battle against it, it has only one end result.  It is how we meet that end that matters.  Do we go gently into the night?  Or do we face up to the light and ultimately face our fate with dignity …

                                        A lot has been going on in the Elmsfire camp since their 2010 offering ‘Thieves Of The Sun’, wholesale line up changes can often signal the end of many a …

After listening to thrash/death metal for over 30 years it takes a lot to surprise me anymore but Chesterfield based band Forgotten Remains are a welcome breath of fresh (or even fetid) air into the genres with their 3rd E.P Morbid Reality. Produced and recorded by Russ Russell they are …

Holy PHUQ! My album of 2016 has just blown me away. Never Outdrunk, Never Outsung – PHUQ live’ is the perfect example of how a live album should sound like, which is the feeling that you are at the show. In September 2015 The Wildhearts played 8 UK dates to …

Exo opens with the fourteen minute epic Uncharted. It’s a bold move by Monomyth, but one that defiantly pays off. It’s a sprawling, unfolding drama of music that adds layers upon layers of texture, to create a world of its own possibilities. The track builds until around the ten-and-a-half-minute mark, …

Sweden seems to churning out new, young melodic rock bands quicker that IKEA can produce new ranges of insanely practical items of furniture – and Wickman Road are the latest example of this production line of acts who also possess one infuriatingly common characteristic:  they’re bloody good at what they …

Swedish melodic rockers Featherstone trace their roots back to 2012. when  songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Rikard Quist decided that he had had enough of writing and playing for bands such as  Gypsy Rose, Don Patrol, Last Autumn’s Dream, White Wolf and Bangalore Choir and wanted to plough his own furrow.  Four years later, …

The original Stripped was a 1995 retrospective album where the Rolling Stones went back into the studio at the end of their world record breaking Voodoo Lounge tour. The Stripped project saw The Stones stripping back tracks from their back catalogue, complete with a couple of carefully chosen covers and …

Danish and American hard rock band Volbeat has returned with Seal The Deal & Let’s Boogie, its sixth full length studio album, produced by Jacob Hansen. The disc is thirteen songs of tight, clear, hard rock glory, built on and expanded from the successes gleaned from 2013’s Outlaw Gentlemen and …

Having been trying to patiently wait until August for the release of Tarja‘s upcoming album ‘The Shadow Self‘, I was very pleasantly surprised to hear she was also treating us to an extra Prequel album whilst we wait ‘The Brightest Void‘. Kicking off with No Bitter End leading in with …

Hailing from Austin, Texas, Scorpion Child are bringing together psych and stoner Rock with a modernised twist. Since their self-titled debut album back in 2013, the band haven’t gone unnoticed, and have been involved in extensive worldwide tours alongside the likes of Monster Magnet, Clutch and Crobot, before announcing their …

Probably my favourite genre of rock/metal would be thrash for the sheer intensity it creates and Destruction are a fine example of this. Considered (and rightly so) to be in the top 4 of German thrash metal bands along with Kreator, Sodom and Tankard, their latest studio album Under Attack, …

The first sip of a perfectly poured pint of Guinness. The choreography of Riverdance. Sheamus’ Brogue Kick. The clash of the ash. Whatever way you look at it, Ireland packs a serious punch. Theories Divide can safely add themselves to the list. Formed in Dublin in 2008, the quartet have been …

The Few Step Digital Music Marketing Plan Releasing new music is always a special and exciting moment. You worked hard to create something that’s personal to you and now it’s time to share it with the world. But how do you get your tracks in front of as many people …

The Answer have certainly had a notable career to-date, and what better way to celebrate how it all started than with the re-release of their debut album, Rise, almost 10 years since it first hit the shelves. To this day, Rise remains the bands most successful album, selling over 100,000 …

American guitarist Paul Gilbert‘s latest studio effort, I Can Destroy, is a fun, uptempo rock album. The record’s 12 core songs (and one bonus track) are a treat to listen to. Jam-packed with good notes, for the legion guitarists anticipating the disc in hopes of busting their chops, it delivers …

On the 20th May, Flotsam and Jetsam released their album entitled Flotsam and Jetsam. This album marks the band’s 12th album release since their formation in 1981. As a band, Flotsam and Jetsam are intermittent in the way they hold my interest, my two favourite albums by them being No Place …