ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • JOHANSSON & SPECKMANN – Mask of the Treacherous

    The second full-length from Master vocalist Paul Speckmann and Paganizer’s Rogga Johansson (who plays guitar/bass on this) is a union for the old school death metal freaks. "Mask of the Treacherous" has Paul’s deep drawl brutality that John Tardy used as one of his influences for Obituary, while Rogga and drummer Brynjar Helgetun shifts between…

  • CRYPT SERMON – Out of the Garden

    Doom metal as a whole has been one of those cult appeal genres – patience being a requirement as tempos often fall below a resting heart beat and longer arrangements tend to be the norm. Black Sabbath pioneered the sound, spawning younger musicians for decades to try and deliver those evil, plodding chord progressions and…

  • NIGHTWISH – Endless Forms Most Beautiful

    Anticipation is at a fever pitch for the new album from the symphonic metal leaders Nightwish. Especially considering the addition of ReVamp / ex-After Forever vocalist Floor Jansen and permanent pipes/flutes & whistles musician Troy Donockley to their ranks. "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" comes at a point in time where the sextet has firmly established…

  • COLIN HART with DICK ALLIX – A Hart Life

    To tell you the truth, I was very excited when a review copy of this excellent piece of literature arrived in my mailbox a couple of weeks ago. "A Hart Life" is neither an ordinary book nor an ordinary run-of-the mill hard rock autobiography. Pretty far from it, actually. Colin Hart worked for the mighty…

  • THUNDER – Wonder Days

    Absence makes a reunion that much sweeter – especially in the case of UK hard rock act Thunder. Those who’ve followed their career know the splash they made during the early 1990’s with their debut album "Backstreet Symphony" and the follow up "Laughing on Judgement Day", as songs such as "Dirty Love" and "Love Walked…

  • STARGAZER – A Merging to the Boundless

    Another Aussie treat, especially for those who like outer world blackened heavy metal- StarGazer have been in existence since the mid 1990’s, yet their third album "A Merging to the Boundless" is my first exposure to the trio. Corralling atmospheric, avant-garde clean moments around galloping riffs, speedy buzz saw trills, and extreme vocal screams gives…

  • LYKAION – Heavy Lullabies

    These Italians perform a brand of metal that can be described in numerous ways: dark metal, melodic gothic metal, even hinting at a bit of the sleaze/hard rock scene of the 1980’s. "Heavy Lullabies" is their second full-length, an 11 song platter that has a lot of those melancholic refrains and hooks that made Sentenced…

  • INFERNAL MANES – Infernal Manes

    This Norwegian act Infernal Manes on their debut self-titled album perform a classic brand of doom-tinged NWOBHM. Expect 5 original songs full of solid heavy metal beats, epic/anthem style riffing and the larger than warrior melodies in terms of vocals. Judas Priest, Manowar, and Mercyful Fate come up the most when taking in "Infernal Manes",…

  • NOCTURNUS – The Science of Horror

    In the mid to late ’80s Mike Browning played a not unimportant part in the emergence of the early U.S. death metal movement as a co-founder of seminal act Morbid Angel. However, he is probably even better known for his short-lived but hugely influential act Nocturnus which revolutionised extreme metal by incorporating keyboards into the…

  • SOUL RAPE – Endless Reign

    When it comes to progressive music of any type, a key element needs to be continuity. Too many acts these days try to throw multiple nuances into their veritable style, and as a result sound too confused and unsure of what they want to accomplish. Italy’s Soul Rape hope to synthesize aspects of death, thrash,…

  • URIAH HEEP – Live at Koko

    Welcome to another double CD/ Blu-Ray DVD set from the veteran U.K. progressive oriented hard rock act Uriah Heep- this time recorded in front of a hometown London crowd at Koko’s. Supporting their 24th studio album "Outsider", the current incarnation may only contain guitarist Mick Box as the sole original member left standing, but keyboardist…

  • URIAH HEEP – Live at Koko

    Surely the legendary Uriah Heep need no introduction. They were without a doubt one of the earliest progressive hard rock bands in existence and their influence on the bands that followed them, Iron Maiden being just one of them, is both considerable and immense. These guys started out way back in 1969 for crying out…

  • ACERO LETAL – Veloz Invencible / Duro Metal 7’

    "Veloz Invencible / Duro Metal" is the second release in seven years from lazy Chileans Acero Letal (and the other one was a two track single too). Perhaps these guys are fans of the ‘slow build’, but I can’t see them gaining much momentum at the present rate. Oh well.Track one ‘Veloz Invencible’ is classic…

  • DYSANGELIUM – Thánatos Áskesis’

    I really enjoyed 2014’s 3 track tape demo from German black metal quartet Dysangelium (not to be confused with a band of the same name from the Czech Rebublic), so was looking forward to seeing how quality fared on a longer outing. In terms of sound, things are still the same; modern black metal focussing…

  • VARIOUS ARTIST – Immortal Randy Rhoads – The Ultimate Tribute

    This 11-track tribute album to the brilliant and sadly-missed Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet Riot) recently came out and features the talents of such classy musicians as Rudy Sarzo, Vinny Appice, Tim "Ripper" Owens, Doug Aldrich, Brad Gillis, Bernie Tormé, Gus G, Bruce Kulick, and a whole bunch of other well-known names. First of all,…

  • CROWN COURT – Trouble From London + Ruck And Roll 7′ EP’s

    CROWN COURT are the new all-the-rage Oi!Punk outfit, straight outta London.With members from UK Hardcore sensation Violent Reaction, their demotape "Trouble From London" came out of nowhere and was sold ut soon, getting alot of hype, and deservingly so. CROWN COURT takes Oi! Punk back to it’s earliest roots, and sounds like the Cockney Rejects…

  • NECROMUTILATOR – Eucharistic Mutilations

    Necromutilator is an Italian trio who performs bestial black/death metal spawned in the deepest pit of Hell. The album is entitled "Eucharistic Mutilations" and contains 9 songs, one of which is a pretty decent cover version of Bathory’s immortal classic "13 Candles". Generally speaking, the music is downright ugly and nasty to listen to, and…

  • RANGER – Where Evil Dwells

    This is it!  Ranger from Finland has craced the code. This is real metal (aka speed/thrash) done the 80´s way. The sound and production is just fabolous and sounds oranic and real. Ranger started out back in 2009 (under currnet moniker) and "Where Evil Dwells" is the debut full-length. They released an EP last year…

  • FALLOCH – This Island, Our Funeral

    Scottish post-rock with folk/epic textures, the second album "This Island, Our Funeral" from Falloch contains 7 tracks – 4 of which are over 9 minutes so expect a lot of instrumental building and atmospheric, brooding as things move along. Songs such as "For Uir" and "I Shall Build Mountains" differ in terms of spaciousness, layering,…

  • LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM – Level Eleven

    The 11th album from Sweden’s Last Autumn’s Dream, "Level 11" is a tightrope walk between their classic melodic hard rock style and the occasional injection of modern hooks/ grooves to keep the quartet’s sound a little fresher. Scandinavian vocal harmonies carry "Follow Your Heart", while "Go Go Go- Get Ready for the Show" is a…

  • MOTOR SISTER – Ride

    Noted players in the metal scene like Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, Armored Saint/ Fates Warning bassist Joey Vera, and drummer Joey Tempesta along with Scott’s wife Pearl Aday on vocals join vocalist/ guitarist Jim Wilson for this new rock group Motor Sister. This is very 70’s oriented, three-four chord hard rock that recalls classic UFO,…

  • BIO-CANCER – Tormenting the Innocent

    Thanks to the success of Suicidal Angels, Greece is now back on the thrash map. Bio-Cancer are a quintet from Athens, and their second album "Tormenting the Innocent" is another whirlwind ripper. Expect 9 tracks of relentless speed picking, up tempo drum madness and the vicious high pitched rasp of vocalist Lefteris. Slayer, Exodus, and…

  • PRONG – Songs from the Black Hole

    It appears that the ‘covers’ record can be just as prevalent in today’s heavy music scene as the double live record was decades before. Whether it’s a stop gap measure for bands to gain more time for writing follow up records or truly a tribute to their influences I think needs to be looked at…

  • SUBVERSION – Animi

    At this point it’s so tough to put a specific label on certain artists who incorporate at least 3 distinct aspects to their style. Taking in "Animi" from the UK’s Subversion, there is clearly a djent outlook in the guitar and tempo play, but also a technical/ brutality component when it comes to the musicianship…

  • THE CLAN DESTINED – In the Big Ending

    Originally hitting the streets in demo form during 2004 following vocalist Martin Walkyier’s departure from Skyclad and bassist/ rhythm guitarist Iscariah’s exit from Immortal, "In the Big Ending" would be The Clan Destined’s sole release. Hammerheart Records saw fit to issue it in its entirety, a 6 song EP that has a heavier slant than…

  • WINDS OF GENOCIDE – Usurping the Throne of Desease

    Winds of Genocide is debuting with full-length "Usurping the Throne of Desease" on Pulverised Records and to be honest I am somewhat a little dissapointed in this release. The hopes where high after their promising EP from 2010 but sadly they´re not able to follow up on that in a facinonable manner. Their formula of…

  • DEADLY MOSH – United in Pain

    Her er den 38. utgivelsen i «Thrash is Back» serien til EBM Records. Serbiske Deadly Mosh og deres «United in Pain». De spiller etter sigende thrash metal. Jeg mener dette er mer heavy metal enn thrash. Noe thrash finnes det på denne skiva, men hovedmengden musikk burde kommet inn under kategorien heavy metal. Ja da,…

  • CALLISTO – Secret Youth

    This Finnish six-piece group intertwine a number of post-hardcore and atmospheric sludge metal elements on their fourth studio album "Secret Youth", my first experience with the band. Callisto possess a lot of those brooding riffs and ringing continuous themes that may start off slow and build to a swirling crescendo. Vocalist Jani Ala-Hukkala has a…

  • EMBRIONAL – The Devil Inside

    Så var den her da. Andreskiva til det polske death metal bandet Embrional, et band jeg etter hvert liker veldig så godt. Her får du smakfulle riff i forskjellig tempo som driver låtene framover. Noen av det mer ekstreme slaget mens andre er tunge og andre igjen litt mer komplekse. Du får en teknisk god…

  • THE STORYTELLER – Sacred Fire

    Hitting their collective creative second wind, "Sacred Fire" is the sixth studio album from Swedish power metal band The Storyteller, and second since their eight year hiatus during the late 2000’s and early 2010’s. The template hasn’t been modified much from 2013’s "Dark Legacy" – you’ll get a 12 song album that intertwines speedier/ gallop…