ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • DRUDENSANG – Tuiflsrijtt

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://folterrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tuiflsrijtt-2 This great-looking CD showed up on my doorstep a few weeks ago and turned out to be a rather cool surprise in many ways. The German outfit Drudensang dabbles in harsh and intense yet melodically rich black metal that employs many of the usual tropes and motifs found within the…

  • PINK FLOYD – Animals 2018 Remix

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.pinkfloyd.com/ It has been a long time coming for this much discussed and eagerly anticipated remix of Pink Floyd’s hauntingly bleak Animals opus, and four years since the actual remixing took place, it is finally out and reaching the ears of fans, critics, and casual listeners. The visual presentation of this…

  • ANACHORET – Syndrom

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://anachoret.bandcamp.com/ The German one-man entity named Anachoret released this solid and deftly executed opus all the way back in February this year, but yesterday it showed up in my mailbox, so I reckon a few short sentences about Syndrom are in order. Drawing heavily on second-wave black metal, DSBM, and to a…

  • GERSEY DEOFUL – Autumnal Emanation

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://gerseydeoful.bandcamp.com/album/autumnal-emanation What we have here is well-played and memorable 4-track rehearsal recording by the US black metal outfit named Gersey Deoful. In case you are wondering, the name is a wordplay on “Jersey Devil” as in the creepy and enigmatic creature from New Jersey folklore. How fucking cool is that?! As…

  • ARDOURS – Anatomy of a Moment

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/ardoursband/ Anatomy of a Moment by the Italian outfit Ardours, which includes Mariangela Demurtas (Tristania) on vocals, is a weirdly anticlimactic experience. With its gothic rock overtones and prominent nods to alternative rock and experimental metal, there is a modern flair to this pristine-sounding output, and a number of good ideas…

  • WIZRD – Seasons

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/WIZRDTHEBAND/ Fancy something different? The musically enticing new act named Wizrd is about to release this spirited and energetic slab of utterly cool and catchy rock music via Karisma Records, and let me start out by saying that you should add it to your list of albums to check out if…

  • H.E.A.T – Force Majeure

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.heatsweden.com/ The incredible Swedish hard rockers H.E.A.T parted ways with the amazing singer Erik Grönwall a while ago and then welcomed the return of original vocalist Kenny Leckremo, and what I can tell you about this stadium-sized juggernaut of delicious hooks titled Force Majeure is that it is the band’s finest…

  • HYDRA – Point Break

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/henrikhydra/ This one nearly got away from my pile of stuff to review, so before that warped brain of mine forgets completely, I should probably write a few short and concise lines about this eleven-track effort, right? Melodic rockers Hydra from Sweden are a relatively new band and also a new…

  • HEMESATH – So Schön

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/hemesathband/ The German act named Hemesath is something quite different and hard to pigeonhole in terms of style and genre. Using such diffuse terms as alternative rock and alternative metal often blows ass simply because they tell you very little about the actual music, but in this case, I have no…

  • JORDAN RED – Hands That Built the World

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.jordan-red.com/ Thanks to the good people over at Stampede Press, I got my hands on a copy of the upcoming debut offering by British hard rock/alternative metal outfit Jordan Red, and this is one album that packs a lot of punch. Loud and crunchy guitars, interesting layers and textures, superb lyrics…

  • NORDIC UNION – Animalistic

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/NordicUnionMusic/ I fell head over heels in love with the near-flawless Second Coming (2018) by the wicked constellation that is Nordic Union as that was a fabulous slab of melodically strong and muscular hard rock that ticked all the right boxes for me. Needless to say, I was truly excited about…

  • SUNSTORM – Brothers in Arms

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/SunstormMusic/ The previous effort by the talented hard rockers Sunstorm, more specifically Afterlife (2021), impressed me greatly and was a musically accomplished opus in every sense of the word. Enlisting Rainbow vocalist Ronnie Romero and including him in their ranks was a stroke of genius, and it fills me with joy…

  • ROTVELT – Human Slakt

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://www.apollonrecords.no/product-page/rotvelt-human-slakt Human Slakt by the Norwegian outfit named Rotvelt is a real treat, and this analogue-sounding fireball contains energy and spark in spades. The output is primarily punk-influenced but there is something akin to harsh and unpolished indie rock that sneaks into the musical framework too, which basically means that this vigorous…

  • RESTLESS SPIRITS – Second to None

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/RestlessSpiritsMusic/ What an enjoyable and cool surprise this 11-track slab of melodic hard rock is. Lords of Black multi-instrumentalist Tony Hernando is the brain and mastermind behind Restless Spirits, and the musically gifted friends of his that he has called upon to add vocals to these hook-laden and energetic compositions all…

  • GENERATION RADIO – Generation Radio

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/GenerationRadioBand/ With past and present members from such notable acts as Journey, Chicago, and Rascal Flatts in its ranks, this constellation of musicians looked quite interesting on paper. As is usually the case with these projects where skilled and prominent individuals have joined forces in order to churn out either AOR,…

  • BJØRN RIIS – A Fleeting Glimpse

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.bjornriis.com/ What a lovely surprise this beautifully crafted 4-track EP by the ridiculously talented Bjørn Riis (Airbag) is. It seems like only yesterday that he released the near-flawless Everything to Everyone opus, so I did not see A Fleeting Glimpse coming. Musically and stylistically speaking, these four new and sparkling compositions…

  • ADVENTURE – Tales of Belle Part 2: Unveiled by Fire

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://adventure1.bandcamp.com/ The follow-up to the first part of the dark Tales of Belle musical narrative has arrived, and as with its predecessor (Part 1 is also from 2022), Part 2 is a riveting journey through brooding prog rock landscapes where the terrible deeds of the loathsome Norwegian serial killer are emphasized…

  • DANG!!! – The Will of God

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.apollonrecords.no/ The hard-hitting musical collective known as Dang!!! have returned and what a joy it is to have these ugly fuckers tell us that the world blows ass and that absolutely everything is going to hell in a handbasket. Yes, this is some wicked stuff that is anything but pretty, and…

  • OMEGASHIFT – Doctrine of Dust

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://omegashift.bandcamp.com/releases Now what we have here is something exciting and potent from the Norwegian underground. Omegashift were kind enough to mail me a digital copy of this 5-track opus of theirs entitled Doctrine of Dust about a week ago, and I have been thoroughly enjoying listening to it ever since. With…

  • OLE DEVIL & THE SPIRIT CHASERS – Apocalypse Blues

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/oledevilandthespiritchasers The title of this sophomore offering by the talented Ole Teigen and his band known as the Spirit Chasers is a most fitting one in that the musical content is gritty as fuck. It crackles with restless energy, agony, heartache, loathing, despair, evil, and generally just all the different things…

  • JEFF BECK & JOHNNY DEPP – 18

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: http://www.jeffbeck.com/ Following their engaging and memorable performance at the old fortress in Bergen back in early July this year, I quickly became wildly enthusiastic about this collaboration by the two gentlemen, Jeff Beck (lead guitars and bass) and Johnny Depp (vocals, bass, and rhythm guitars). While the former is unarguably one…

  • PYRA – Pyra

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://lnk.to/pyrapyra I was ridiculously excited about receiving and reviewing this suffocatingly dark and utterly bleak debut EP by the recently conceived black/death metal outfit from Italy named Pyra. The early press releases sounded most promising and enticing, but did the actual musical entity live up to my expectations and where exactly…

  • SKILLS – Different Worlds

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.frontiers.it The name of this group is a fitting and appropriate one in that the Frontiers Records project contains such musical heavyweights as Brad Gillis (Night Ranger, ex-Ozzy Osbourne) and Billy Sheehan (Mr. Big, Sons of Apollo) in its ranks. With the talented Renan Zonta (Electric Mob) on vocals and superb…

  • JOURNEY – Freedom

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://journeymusic.com/ It goes without saying that yours truly ought to have reviewed such a high-profile release by a legendary outfit sooner than this, but better late than never, right? AOR rockers Journey are back with a potent and well-written record that recalls past musical triumphs while also looking to the future,…

  • SOIL – Play It Forward

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/SOiLmusic/ I was quite curious as to how a covers album by the American outfit SOiL would sound, and as it turns out, it sounds pretty damn good and solid. SOiL’s brand of punchy, hard-hitting rock is totally intact here in the sense that they have left their own mark on…

  • WINTER – Looking Back

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://winter5.bandcamp.com/album/looking-back Looking Back by Winter is not merely a retrospective anthology or a compilation but rather a collection of re-recorded and reworked tunes from the outfit’s back catalogue. Musically speaking, this is an eclectic and interesting mixture of many different things, and dark rock seems like an apt description here. Hard…

  • FOR THE SIN – The Human Beast

    RELEASE YEAR: 2021 BAND URL: https://forthesinofficial.bandcamp.com/ I’m always surprised by bands who consistently want to make as minimalistic music as possible, especially heavy metal and hardcore artists. What is the value of slightly the same riff repeated in every song to the extent that it just becomes an excuse for the “tough guy” streetwise lyrics…

  • ALAN PARSONS – From the New World

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://alanparsons.com/ No one and nothing sound quite like Alan Parsons and his talented band members. You want proof? Take the latest album sporting the title From the New World for instance; the sophisticated mixture of what can perhaps best be described as symphonic rock and progressive pop is unlike anything else…

  • PALACE – One 4 the Road

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/palacesweden/ Michael Palace is back with another solo album that very much feels like the natural successor to the two previous records, Binary Music and Rock and Roll Radio, which is a good thing, mind you. Crisp, slick, and polished AOR/melodic rock with a hard and sharp edge and some rather…

  • CROSSING RUBICON – Perfect Storm

    RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/CrossingRubiconOfficial As evidenced by the quality and musical diversity of Perfect Storm, the talented duo of John Bisaha and Cenk Eroglu have a great chemistry together and an abundance of good ideas. AOR, melodic rock, and hard rock are the ingredients in the mix, and I was taken a back at…