Tag Archives: album review

Death Resonance from Soilwork is a collection of tracks that probably should not work but does in a kind of strange way.  Two new offerings, Helsinki and Death Resonance, along with 13 rare, previously unreleased and remixed tracks gives us an opportunity to hear how the Soilwork sound has progressed over the years. Normally you may wonder as …

Tesla debuted Mechanical Resonance to critical acclaim in 1986 and it quickly gained platinum status. Now, fast forward to 2016 and the band are celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of their stunning debut. This new offering means Mechanical Resonance is captured live in its entirety from Salt Lake City. First of …

While we all wait for Vader to release their next album “The Empire,” which has been put back to 4th November 2016 we are provided with a little teaser which is the Iron Times EP.  Four songs to keep us ticking over until the November onslaught.  This release can be bought in varying vinyl versions …

I am a huge fan of this one, I have a few issues with it but overall I like it. It is filled with dread and atmosphere perfect for what the band were aiming for. With its Lovecraftian and cultic overtones this is some stellar blackgaze. The first issue I …

The Quireboys release their 10th Studio album Twisted Love on 2nd September 2016 via Off Yer Rocka. Their fourth album in as many years, again they chose to record this in the Swedish town of Klippan, where they recorded 2015 album St Cecilia and the Gypsy Soul and again it has been …

                Dancing Crap arose from the ashes of vocalist Ronnie Abeille’s former band The Main Attraction. In 2012 he started new venture Dancing Crap, who spent three months in London playing venues including Nambucca, The Intrepid Fox and Proud Camden.  They describe themselves …

We’ve always been told to eat, drink and do everything in moderation and to never, ever overindulge. It’s been ingrained in us that any addiction is unhealthy and dangerous. However, what we’ve been told is wrong; there are many addictions that are not only acceptable, but healthy using supplements like …

To be brutally honest, as I sit down to write this review, I am struggling to know where to begin…after all, Blackfoot is one of the bands who, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, turned me on to the energy of loud rock ‘n’ roll.  They also were the …

The name Van Zant is synonymous with the development of American southern rock.  The oldest of three brothers who make up what has been described as the south’s “first family” was, of course, the late Ronnie Van Zant, frontman of the legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd – the band who singularly put …

The self-titled debut album by psyched-out retro blues rockers Blues Pills understandably made a huge impact on its release two years ago.  Not only was it one of the few albums of its kind to genuinely coalesce all its constituent elements into a strong, powerful and cohesive manner which did …

Dare, a melodic rock band hailing from Manchester and formed in 1988, have just today (Friday 15 July) released their seventh studio album – a highly anticapted release for all their fans.  I had the privilege of seeing them live when they last played Belfast, and they put on a fantastic …

It could be argued that, for a while, Raging Speedhorn could have been regarded as one of the “also rans” of the heavy metal scene.  Breaking ground with their use of two vocalists – a combination extremely hard to work effectively effectively, especially in the hardcore subgenre – the band …

If nothing else, Italian keyboard player Mistheria – real name Giuseppe Iampieri, who has included collaborations with the likes of Bruce Dickinson and Rob Rock in an 18-year career that has also seen him release a series of movie soundtrack-based albums – possesses a sense of the ambitious and the …

It’s hard, if not downright impossible, to fault the musical pedigree of the group of musicians who, over the past couple of years, have come together to create the entity that is known as Four By Fate.  Between them, they have played with a list of bands that you’d probably …

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 …

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, …

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 …

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 …

Anti-Nowhere League (ANL) are a British punk rock band well into their fourth decade. Despite numerous line-up changes and periods of inactivity, founding member and frontman, Animal is still keeping punk rock alive, With Shady on bass, Tommy H on guitar and newest member, Sammy Carnage on drums, making up the …