Tag Archives: album review

Aussie Wrecking Crew stalwarts Black Aces released their debut album Shot In The Dark at the end of September 2016 via French record label Bad Reputation. The album was produced by Craig Harnath and mixed by Jim Giddings at Hothouse Studios, St Kilda’s and mastered by Tony Mantz at Deluxe …

The Splintered Minds Asylum is the debut album from Glasgow based Splintered Halo.  If this album guarantees you one thing it is that you will likely not have heard anything like this before.  I caught up with front woman Evilyn Van Der Hyden, who is the driving force for the band, to discuss her influences …

Albatross is the second album from UK based rockers Thirsty featuring one of the founding members of The Quireboys, Guy Bailey, and Russian poet Irina D, who collaborated to write lyrics covering diverse subjects such as a botched lobotomy and the trials of space travel. Guy takes lead vocals on nearly …

Happy 10th anniversary to SikTh‘s Death Of A Dead Day which was originally released back in the distanct past of June 2006.  To mark this significant milestone,  Peaceville Records chose to re-release the album in September 2016.  So how do you review a 10 year old selection of songs that have already had an …

OK, cards on the table, I really like Amaranthe.  There I’ve said it.  Ever since coming across Within Temptation a decade or so ago I have had a soft spot for the the female fronted melodic death metal genre and with Maximalism. Amaranthe have managed to keep me hooked in it. With this …

You would think with a name like Elder Druid this band had been sacrificing goats to some other worldly God these past few years.  Not so, once you find out that it is a group of former school friends and sometime students from Ballymena in Northern Ireland who have embraced …

Rising from the ashes of punk’s sad downturn in recent years, The Decline reissue their second venture ‘Are You Gonna Eat That?’ to a scene in desperate need of such a rapturous shake-up. Under a title freshly plucked from a Mean Girls-esque sophomore comedy and showcasing artwork more controversial than …

Whiskey Myers fourth outing “Mud” follows up their acclaimed 2013 release ‘Early Morning Shakes’ however don’t expect more of the same. Dave Cobb is back in the production seat and as a result has pulled out some of their best work yet. Having entered the studio, and in addition gained two …

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 …