Tag Archives: album review

Five years on from their last outing, 2007’s ‘Liberation=Termination’, Finnish-based melodic death metallers Mors Principium Est have returned with their new, international line up – featuring the twin guitar attack of the UK’s Andy Gillion and Andhe Chandler, all the way from New Zealand – and their eagerly anticipated fourth …

Generation.On.Dope, or G.o.D, trace their roots back a decade, to the Italian sleaze rock outfit Razzle Dazzle, who were starting to make a bit of a name for themselves outside their homeland until the untimely death of bassist Mario Gilardengo forced the band to re-evaluate themselves and start all over …

I’ve always been a big fan of instrumental music. Long before bowed my knee at the altar of metal, I used to sneak home from school early – mainly because it was quicker to walk the quarter of a mile in a straight line through the park than take the …

It would be very easy to dismiss Crashdïet as yet another Swedish sleaze metal outfit, and indeed they have been very much at the forefront of the revival in that regard. However, personally, I’ve always found them to be more appealing than, certainly, the awful Reckless Love or their poppier …

I suppose it could be argued that the timing of the release of Geoff Tate’s second solo album is somewhat fateful. What with him being publicly (and embarrassingly so) fired from Queensrӱche earlier this year and the subsequent high profile squabbling which has ensued between the singer and the former …

Sweden’s Aeon (one of eight bands with the same name list in that essential resource for any serious metal journalist, or fan for that matter, the Encyclopaedia Metallum) count no less than the mighty Alex ‘Corpsegrinder’ Webster among their legion fans. And it’s not hard to see why on ‘Aeons …

We’re going to play a little game here folks. 1. What does your Dad do for a living? 2. Now imagine that he’s one of the most highly respected people in his field. 3. OK, now think what it would be like if you got in to that business too. …

It was probably inevitable that, almost 30 years down the line, some members of the ‘Big Four’ would start collaborating at one level or another – but the teaming of Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine and original Anthrax guitarist Dan Spitz may not seem to be the most obvious couple to …

The UK doesn’t really have a reputation for producing great sleaze rock bands – well, certainly, not ones who could challenge the supremacy of the likes of the Crüe, LA Guns, GNR or Cinderella in their prime. The likes of The Quireboys, Wildhearts and Dogs D’Amour always have been more …

The name of Tasmanian devils (sic) Ruins may be unfamiliar to many people outside the southern hemisphere, but that should be about to change soon, thanks to the international release of this, their fourth full length studio album. And a bloody fine slice of blackened metal it is – melodic …

Female fronted, French melodic metal band Venturia haven’t exactly had an easy time of it over the last couple of years. An unfortunate series of line-up changes (sometimes due to circumstances plainly  beyond their control) have meant that putting music out there has been a difficult task for the band. …

From the sleepy rural splendour of Yeovil, Somerset come heavy rockin’ trio Hundred Days.  Formed in the summer of 2007 Stuart Curtin (lead guitar & vocals), Simon Evans (bass) and Ryan Leese (drums) got back together after taking a year out from former band X-Teller and decided to set out …

When Planet Mosh officially launched on the island of Ireland a few weeks ago, recruiting a team of writers on both sides of the border, we knew were delving into a territory steeped in musical heritage, a part of the world rich in its own identity, confident in its ability… …

For almost exactly two decades (counting from the release of their epoch-defining debut, ‘As The Flower Withers’) Bradford’s My Dying Bride have stood at the very pinnacle of the death-doom genre, not only as its progenitors but its constant innovators and re-inventors. ‘A Map Of All Our Failures’ – their …

I must admit that I get extremely wary any time anyone applies the term ‘Lovecraftian’ to anything.  Any artist, be they an author or a filmmaker, who has claimed to try and follow in the footsteps of the master of weird fiction has, by and large, failed to even pay …

Ashent were formed in 2001 by brothers Gianpaolo and Onofrio Falanga (bass and guitar respectively). They were joined over the coming months by keyboard player Paolo Torresani, singer Max Zhena, guitarist Thomas Giro and drummer J.C.  Since that time however, the band have gone through several lineup changes with the …

Formed by former band mates Steven Rice (lead guitar) and Wayne DeVecchi (drums) in late 2010 Kill Ritual reflect all of the bands influences from thrash and power metal to prog and just straight classic metal.  The line up is completed by Roberto Proietti (rhythm guitar), Danyael Williams (bass) and …

There is no doubt about it, Converge have been one of the most influential and imitated extreme bands of the last two and a half decades – their mix of hardcore and heavy metal having been credited as giving birth to what we now know as ‘metalcore’ (fuck, they’ve a …

Briefly, back in the late 1980s, Dare were the darlings of the UK’s FM-friendly scene:  their stunning 1988 debut album, ‘Out Of The Silence’, is quite deservedly remembered as a classic of both the genre and the era:  spawning two minor hit singles, both it and its follow up, ‘Blood …

Progressive rock masters Coheed and Cambria should add the word “consistency” into their name somewhere. Coheed, Cambria and Consistency. All right, fine, so it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but it does accurately describe the band’s illustrious career so far, as they’ve managed to constantly spew out …