Tag Archives: album review

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 …

In Spanish, ‘El Dorado’ means ‘The Golden One’. Originally attributed to an ancient Colombian chieftain who covered himself in gold dust and then committed suicide, it has become much better known as the mythological city sought by the Spanish Conquistadores in the 15th and 16th centuries, which resulted in genocide …

Hotel Diablo should know a thing or two about sleaziness… after all, guitarist Alex Grossi has been involved with Bang Tango and Quiet Riot, as well as being an on-off-on touring (and sometime recording) member of Adler’s Appetite, the latter alongside vocalist and fellow HD founder Rick Stitch. Throw in …

As noted in our recent review of their debut hometown gig last month, Rex Shachath, as an entity, may be a new name to many but, individually, the various members are highly experienced and veterans of several stalwarts of the Belfast scene, such as Overoth and Condemned. And, just as …

The undisputed kings of Latin metal are back.  Ill Niño are set to release their 6th full length album Epidemia through AFM Records on October 22nd  and I’m here to tell you it is a stormer!! Founded in the late 90’s by drummer Dave Chavarri, Ill Niño have carved out a …

I have to admit it – I’m a child of the Eighties. I mean that in that is when I got into metal: it was the formative years of that historic decade in rock history that, as a lanky-haired rebellious private school-attending teenager that I first discovered bands such as …

Looking like a cross between Mushroomhead and Mutter era Rammstein, Ost+Front (Eastern Front) are a Germen industrial metal band formed in Berlin in 2009.  Having released their first single Fleisch (Meat) in 2011, their debut album Ave Maria is being released on Sept 10th this year (2012) through Out Of …

The latest gothic rock band to emerge from the depths of Scandinavia, Finland to be precise, are The 69 Eyes, a band that adds another name to a long legacy of rock and metal bands from the snowy country. Their latest release, a full length studio album imaginatively entitled X …

Following their dalliance in the unplugged arena, with the highly imaginatively named ‘The Acoustic’ project earlier this year, Hungarian neo-thrashers Ektomorf have plugged their funny shaped geetars back into their Marshall stacks and turned the volume back up to 11 for this, their ninth studio album. Having built a reputation …

“21st century freaks” is the fourth album from Fatal Smile.  The band come from Stockholm in Sweden, and over the last ten years have built up a good reputation with their albums and their live shows.  Fatal Smile have toured with bands like Dio, W.A.S.P., Queensryche, Lordi, Doro, Winger, and …