Tag Archives: album review

To say that this, the follow-up to their (initially self-released) debut, ‘The Devil Rhythm’, has been one of the most eagerly anticipated releases in this particular part of the world – that’s Norn Iron, for those of you who don’t know – is one of the hugest understatements in the …

D-A-D first came to prominence outside their native Denmark when it was reported that the mighty Walt Disney corporation had threatened to sue their young asses unless they changed the band’s original name – Disneyland After Dark:  it was not that the quartet had deliberately set out to court controversy …

It may be 2013, and they may hail from the Gold Coast of Australia, but De La Cruz look and sound just like they’ve stepped out of a strip bar somewhere off LA’s Sunset Boulevard sometime back in the mid- to late-80s. ‘Street Level’ is very much from the Ratt …

Being a rock DJ can be an extremely hazardous job – nearly as dangerous as trying to survive as a music journalist.  Please believe when I say this:  on and off, I’ve been spinning heavy rock and metal discs and writing shit about said same nonsense for more than two …

Formed by guitarist Doug Aldrich and vocalist Keith St John back in 1998, Burning Rain recorded two well-received albums – their self-titled debut and ‘Pleasure To Burn’ – before the six-string slinger left to team up (albeit briefly) with the late, great Ronnie James Dio, while the vocalist pitched his …

Originally founded in 1999 as a means for the then 21-year old Tobias Sammet to produce what he regarded the ultimate rock opera project – something which he apparently eventually drew a line under when he announced the end of Avantasia from the Wacken stage back in August 2011.  But, …

Despite having been around, in one shape or form, for almost a quarter of a century, and being one of the most respected but under-rated acts on the Swedish black metal scene, it’s hard to believe that this is only Grief Of Emerald’s fifth full length album… With their more …

Having loaned an entire new meaning to the phrase ‘down under’, Australia’s most OTT black metallers have split up and re-united more times than PM’s esteemed editor-in-chief has brewed a mug of Horlicks – originally calling it a day back in 1996 and then again at the beginning of 2007, …

Howl are an extreme metal quartet from Providence, Rhode Island. The band formed in 2006, so they are fairly ‘new’ or ‘young’. Howl signed with Relapse Records in 2009, releasing their first full-length effort, Full of Hell, in 2010. Their second album, Bloodlines, is slated for release by Relapse Records …

Right from the outset, this fourth album from Finnish thrash metal five piece Gloria Morti is a bruising, punishing affair, treading a path between thrash and death metal, with elements of BM thrown in for good measure. It’s not that the band can’t make up their mind which sub-genre they …

This fifth album from the Brazilian duo of Mantus and Triumphsword is very much an homage to the traditional values of late ‘80s / early ‘90s black metal.  And it carries no pretensions about being otherwise. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-GRCarR-JE] Each of the 12 tracks (the titular opener is very much a cinematic-style …

Flotsam And Jetsam are stalwarts in the thrash metal sub-genre, having formed under the direction of drummer Kelly David-Smith in the very early 1980’s. These Phoenix ‘bangers hardly need introduction. This was, at one point in time, a crowd-financed album, and the quality of the output seems to be a …

If ever an album title was appropriate, it is this one from this young Dublin hardcore quartet.  Just like the band’s previous EP, ‘Dead Dead Fucking Dead’, the album is somewhat of a cathartic experience, dealing as it does with the band’s recovery after vocalist Aidan Coogan almost died in …

As the world’s economic axis turns in upon itself, switching its power base from the colonialist West to the formerly subjugated and colonialized east, could it be argued that the crux of the metal world is about to shift in the same direction? Over recent years, the encroachment of acts …

Peter Tägtgren‘s Hypocrisy have returned! The stalwart extreme metal band’s twelfth studio release, titled End Of Disclosure, has been released through Nuclear Blast. This album brings fiery new songs to listeners and fans across the globe. Similar to many top-tier rock releases, this melodic extreme metal record has a variety …

In Mortis Veritas is a one-man French black metal project, with the man in question being the extremely mysterious Non Serviam, or The Dark Nazareen. Recorded over a two year period, this debut album is a dark and dense affair, and as mysterious as its creator.  Arising from an ethereal …

A nice review of Alphakill's debut album, Unmitigated Disaster, by Iris North

This ninth album from the Swedish thrash/sleaze mutants sees them abandoning the former and very much planting their feet in the latter camp – a direction they have taken more and more since the recruitment of former Crazy Lixx guitarist Vic Zino six years ago. Following an intro that wouldn’t …

This self-released debut album from Manchester-based four piece The Goddamn Electric – or GDE as they like to be abbreviated to – bears all the hallmarks of a band brimming with confidence, not afraid to take a myriad of influences, from classic metal through southern blues to even sleaze rock …

I’m always fascinated by the etymology of band names, just as I am with that of words in general.  To me, the name ‘Chariots Of The Gods’ immediately takes me back to my teenage years and the works of the madcap Swiss author Erich von Daniken – the person more …