RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS
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OSSICLES – Music for Wastelands
Ossicles is a Norwegian duo consisting of two cousins, Bastian Veland and Sondre Veland, who handle all the instruments on this sophomore album of theirs entitled "Music for Wastelands" themselves. Before I start raving about how much this album does not appeal to me, let it be known that I do applaud Karisma Records for…
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MIRROR – Mirror
The brainchild of ex-Electric Wizard bassist Tas Danazoglou, filled out with guitarist Stamos K (Satan’s Wrath), guitarist Matt Olivo, drummer Jaime Gomez Arellano and vocalist Jimmy Mavromatis – Mirror on their self-titled debut pushes forth a traditional sound that champions the transition from glorious 70’s hard rock into the 80’s New Wave of British Heavy…
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ALAN BYRNE – Are you Ready? Thin Lizzy: Album by Album
"Are You Ready? Thin Lizzy: Album by Album" by author Alan Byrne is the third and final book of a trilogy on Thin Lizzy. The trilogy also comprises "Thin Lizzy" and "Philip Lynott: Renegade of Thin Lizzy". Unfortunately, I have not read the two books on Lizzy that preceeded this new one, which I kind…
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RONNI LE TEKRØ – Mein Ampf II
As promised, "Mein Ampf II" is the sequel to last year’s release, and the second of a trilogy of solo albums planned from infamous TNT guitarist Ronni Le Tekrø. Those who are expecting melodic hard rock from his songs will steer clear, as this delves more into his childhood influences and explores psychedelic rock, blues,…
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CATTLE DECAPITATION – The Anthropocene Extinction
Dette albumet har alt du kan ønske deg av et metal album. Harde partier, tyngre partier, enda kjappere partier, blast beats, tempovekslinger fra helvete, mange gode vokalvarianter, mange gode låter, bare gode låter egentlig, groove, ondskap, råskap, overraskelser, melodiøse partier og refreng, gitarsoloer, plenty tøffe riff, en diger feit rød tråd, knall produksjon osv. osv.…
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SATAN – Atom By Atom
Once revered then ridiculed, the times are indeed flipping again for UK traditional metal act Satan. 30 years beyond their 1983 classic studio platter Court in the Act, that lineup reunited and released one of the best albums in the genre in quite a while with Life Sentence. Requests for festival appearances and a number…
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DANZIG – Skeletons
Spending the past four years working on "Skeletons", this is a peak into some of Glenn Danzig’s favorite songs and putting his own twist on the ten tracks. Taking on material from The Everly Brothers, The Troggs, and Elvis Presley to Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, and ZZ Top, do not expect to the note replicas of…
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DANZIG – Skeletons
The members of Danzig, which, as you all know, is fronted by the infamous and legendary Glenn Danzig (ex-Misfits, ex-Samhain), recently unleashed this 10-track plague upon their fellow men, and it is quite the peculiar and strangely captivating album to listen to. At first I had no idea how to summarize or put into words…
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METAL ALLEGIANCE – Metal Allegiance
To list all the vital musicians contributing to this Metal Allegiance album would take up a solid two-thirds of my review. Singers from Lamb of God, Testament, Death Angel, Lacuna Coil, Trivium, King’s X, and Phil Anselmo appear on the 9 songs. The standard musicians contributing include guitarist Alex Skolnick, bassist David Ellefson, and drummer…
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DEF LEPPARD – Def Leppard
Given all the twists and turns this English band have taken from their hard rock roots to embracing modern and pop aspects, Def Leppard at this point in their career can chart their own course creatively. This self-titled studio album illustrates all facets of their abilities – the sparkling vocal harmonies, the undeniable guitar hooks,…
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SCYTHIAN – Hubris in Excelsis
‘Hubris in Excelsis’ is the second full-length from UK death-thrashers Scythian. Up til now, you may have had an excuse to be ignorant of this band but now that you have read this review that has thankfully been dispelled! Scythian have the energy, power and atmosphere of the best black or death metal, but the…
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ANTAGONIST ZERO – No Tears
Debatable to consider "No Tears" an EP, considering you have 36 minutes of music to consume even if it’s only 5 songs. But let’s take Finland’s Antagonist Zero at their word and consider this their third product and follow up to their 2012 album "Doomed" which blew me away for its doom/post-alternative/ death/black textures that…
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NEIL DANIELS – Live to Win – A Casual Guide to the Music of KISS Frontman Paul Stanley
"Live to Win", one of the latest books by author Neil Daniels, focuses primarily on the two solo albums released by legendary KISS frontman Paul Stanley, namely his 1978 self-titled output and that rather nasty 2006 turd entitled "Live to Win". While it may seem somewhat ambitious on paper to write a book on merely…
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GRAVEYARD – Innocence & Decadence
Combining classic hard rock, blues and psychedelia, Sweden’s Graveyard on their fourth studio album "Innocence & Decadence" pump out another 11 song document for the ages. Transporting minds and bodies a good four decades into the past, the swinging rhythms from bassist Truls Mörck and drummer Axel Sjöberg allow Joakim Nilsson and Jonathan Ramm to…
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HEART ATTACK – Heart Revolution
A Greek quintet that perform in a classic melodic rock/AOR mold for their first full-length "Heart Revolution", Heart Attack live for a sound renowned in the 1980’s by American acts like Bon Jovi and Tyketto, along with some Def Leppard and H.E.A.T. / Houston as their contemporaries. Surrounding themselves with heavyweight professionals such as Bob…
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GRAVE – Out of Respect for the Dead
Ola Lindgren og hans Grave var med og startet den svenske death metal bølgen på slutten av 80-tallet og bandet må nesten regnes som en institusjon. 27 år etter bandets fødsel er de nå klare med sin ellevte fullengder. Tittelen på skiva er «Out of Respect for the Dead» og dette er en old school…
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MALRUN – Oblivion Awaits
Together since 2005 and releasing three studio albums, Danish metal band Malrun issues a new 6 song mini-LP to tide the hordes over in anticipation of the next full-length. "Oblivion Awaits" straddles the lines of aggressive groove oriented metal with splashes of melodic elements especially in the guitar hook and vocal departments. Keeping the songs…
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JERRY BLOOM – The Road of Golden Dust: The Deep Purple Story 1968-1976
I thoroughly enjoyed author Jerry Bloom’s previous book on the mighty Deep Purple, the one entitled "Deep Purple: A Matter of Fact", which was published earlier on this year. While the aforementioned book was filled with funny anecdotes, strange tales, and obscure facts relating to Deep Purple, "The Road of Golden Dust: The Deep Purple…
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DE PROFUNDIS – Kingdom of the Blind
‘Kingdom of the Blind’ has been turning quite a few heads for British melodic prog deathsters De Profundis. It isn’t hard to see why really. For a start, the song writing is tight as hell, the lads can play up a storm and the production is first rate. They have obviously worked on each and…
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HORNA – Hengen Tulet
‘Hengen Tulet’ is the 9th full length album from Horna. Now, I don’t speak a lot of Finnish, but as far as I know the title translates into English as ‘Blocked Toilet’. You are free to take that one up with Google translate if you wish. Although I have been at times a great fan…
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DARK MOOR – Project X
Spain’s Dark Moor continue to throw key fresh nuances to their established symphonic oriented power metal template, as their tenth studio record "Project X" contains more of a theatrical Broadway production sheen in terms of the vocals, choirs, and keyboard elements. A concept record set in the year 3023, tracks like "I Want to Believe"…
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THE CARBURETORS – Laughing in the Face of Death
Norwegian hard rock ‘n’ roll here – an equal love for AC/DC as Motörhead, plus some early roots of 50’s rock thrown in for good measure. "Laughing in the Face of Death" is as pure to the original intent of rock music as one can expect – the angst, the rebellion, the energy, the catchiness,…