Grand Magus ‘Hammer of the North’ Roadrunner Records 2010 Heavy Metal Following the success of their previous album ‘Iron Will’ in 2008, Grand Magus found themselves on a roll. This well received album paved the way for a high profile move for the band to Roadrunner Records and the subsequent release of ‘Hammer of the
CD REVIEWS
Bloodbound – Tabula Rasa albumreview
Bloodbound ‘Tabula Rasa’ Blistering Records 2009 Power Metal When Bloodbound released their third album ‘Tabula Rasa’, it was their announcement to the heavy metal community that the band were now on the world stage and even though the band have been plagued by numerous line-up changes; a fact that would not be solved with this
Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way to Blue albumreview
Alice In Chains ‘Black Gives Way to Blue’ Parlophone Records 2009 Alternative/Grunge To come back as a band and reform is one thing, but to come back as a band and replace a late iconic frontman such as Layne Staley is another matter entirely. When Alice in Chains announced that they would be reforming with
Album review Queensrÿche – The Warning
Queensrÿche ‘The Warning’ EMI/Capitol Records 1984 Progressive Metal Back in 1984, a young, small and hungry band from Seattle was infusing heavy metal with progressive rock influences. Within the year, this band would be joining the ranks of Fate’s Warning and Savatage in this budding genre. That band would be Queensrÿche, a band that
Grave Digger – Heavy Metal Breakdown albumreview
Grave Digger ‘Heavy Metal Breakdown’ Noise Records 1984 Heavy Metal Following on from the example laid down by Motörhead, Saxon and above all, Accept, Germany’s Grave Digger helped to carry the torch of fast and loud heavy metal with their 1984 debut ‘Heavy Metal Breakdown’. As an album and indeed a band, Grave Digger have been
Lords of Black – Icons of the New Days albumreview
Lords of Black ‘Icons of the New Days’ Frontiers Records 2018 Power Metal As a band, Lords of Black had been generally overlooked until their virtuosic vocalist Ronnie Romero was plucked from relative obscurity to front Ritchie Blackmore’s latest incarnation of Rainbow. This would ultimately become a large boon to the popularity of the Spanish
Praying Mantis – GRAVITY
Praying Mantis ‘G.R.A.V.I.T.Y.’ Frontiers Records 2018 Hard Rock/AOR/Melodic Hard Rock Praying Mantis have always managed to deftly tread the line between melodic hard rock and hard rock, achieving fame by attaching themselves to the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement in the late 1970’s and early 80’s. Due to this, the band soon found
Kobra and the Lotus – Prevail II albumreview
Kobra and the Lotus ‘Prevail II’ Napalm Records 2018 Heavy Metal Back in 2016, Kobra and the Lotus (KATL) announced that their next release would not just be a single album, but two separate albums; ‘Prevail I’ being released in 2017 with its counterpart being released a year later in 2018. With this knowledge in
Album review of Dream Theater – Black Clouds and Silver Linings
Dream Theater ‘Black Clouds and Silver Linings’ Roadrunner Records 2009 Progressive Metal Following the lacklustre run ‘Systematic Chaos’ and ‘Octavarium’, Dream Theater hit back and once more found their stride with 2009’s ‘Black Clouds and Silver Linings’, debatably their best album since ‘Train of Thought’ was released in 2003. With ‘Black Clouds…’ Dream
Album review of At The Gates – To Drink From The Night Itself
Album review New Model Army – No Rest For The Wicked
New Model Army ‘No Rest For The Wicked’ EMI Records 1985 Post-Punk The advent of punk had been a real shake up to the musical system. It’s evolution into new wave and eventually post-punk meant that bands could fully experiment with different musical genres without falling completely out of the umbrella that made
Album review Trespass ‘Footprints In The Rock’ Mighty Music Records 2018 NWOBHM
Trespass ‘Footprints In The Rock’ Mighty Music Records 2018 NWOBHM The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) era was one of the best times in heavy metal to be in a band, every band suddenly had the dawning that they could very realistically get their record released. But as bands like Diamond Head, Saxon
Southern Empire – Civilisation Review
Southern Empire – Civilisation Review by David Kerber And again an Australian band. Last time I reviewed Dead City Ruins, now it’s Southern Empire's turn. A progressive rock band that includes former Unitopia members, and is pretty much the only Australian prog rock band I know of. Because next to Southern Empire
Crystal Viper – At The Edge Of Time Review
Crystal Viper - At The Edge Of Time Review by Rainer Kerber After a lengthy illness-related break, Crystal Viper released their long-awaited sixth album "Queen Of The Witches" in February of last year. After surviving illness frontwoman Marta Gabriel seems to have a veritable boost in creativity. In June, the band around
Nereis Review
Nereis Soundtracks and Emotional Dynamics Review By Michael Aronovitz Nereis is a band recently signed by Eclipse Records (this past January), and their album Turning Point had its worldwide release June 8th, 2018. A celebration this must have been! It is a thing of wonder to be a part of something right at
Dead Kennedys Review
Gary Moore – Corridors Of Power Album Review
Gary Moore - Corridors Of Power Album Review By Adam McCann Virgin Records/1982/Hard Rock Following a few ventures with Thin Lizzy, Greg Lake and G-Force, Gary Moore returned to his solo band releasing ‘Corridors of Power’ in 1982. Unlike his first solo album which was more blues orientated, ‘Corridors…’ was more in-line with
W.E.T. – Earth Rage Album Review
W.E.T. - Earth Rage Album Review By Adam McCann Frontiers Records/2018/AOR/Melodic Hard Rock Formed by leading names in the melodic hard rock sphere, W.E.T. take their name from their respective founding members bands, Robert Säll from Work of Art, Erik Mårtensson of Eclipse and Jeff Scott Soto from Talisman. The band released their
Blitzkrieg – Judge Not Album Review
Blitzkrieg - Judge Not Album Review By Adam McCann Mighty Music/2018/Heavy Metal/NWBOHM Brian Ross has been one busy man over the last few years, tours with both Blitzkrieg and Satan, alongside albums and EP’s has kept one of heavy metal’s most influential men exceptionally busy. With rumours abound of a new Satan album
Art of deception-Path Of Trees albumreview by Geir Olaisen
This time im reviewing Alpha Omega management`s and MHF memberband Art OF Deception newest album, Path of Trees. Art Of Deception comes from Sandnes in the Rogaland region on the west coast of Norway. Path of trees is their second release, they released an album called Shattered Deliusions in 2016. In a metalscene in Norway