RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://viadoloris.bandcamp.com/album/guerre-et-paix Conceived, meticulously crafted, and perfectly nursed in solitude, this majestic and heartfelt opus by Via Doloris, which is the brainchild of former Satyricon live guitarist Gildas Le Pape, is a most welcome surprise. Across seven inspired compositions and forty-eight thrilling minutes, Le Pape and renowned drummer Frost (1349, Satyricon) guide us…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://edgedcircleproductions.bandcamp.com/album/psychodelic-darkness What we have here is a most interesting musical proposition. Hailing from Chile and nursed in oppressive gloom by mastermind (and multi-instrumentalist) Witchfucker and drummer Thoth, this short and concise slab of hellish black metal infused with speed metal influences titled Psychodelic Darkness is nothing short of a perverted musical feast…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.blackstonecherry.com/ Kentucky rockers Black Stone Cherry have released some impressive albums and EPs in the past, and on top of that of all that, they are also a killer live act and know perfectly well how to work the stage and the audience. Their upcoming offering titled Celebrate is nothing short of…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/JoelHoekstra13 Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Revolution Saints, Cher) is not only one of the hardest working musicians out there but also one of the most talented and productive that I can think of, and a brief glance at his impressive resume should tell you all you need to know about this…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://pymlicomusic.bandcamp.com/ The classy Norwegian outfit Pymlico never fail to stir the senses and tick all the right jazz prog boxes whenever they gift us with new music, and the upcoming album titled No More, No Less is a perfect example of how to bring inspired and forward-thinking sounds to life in a…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://gjenferdbergen.bandcamp.com/album/black-smoke-rising Just when I thought that it would be impossible for this quartet to improve on their flawless self-titled debut offering from 2024, they go ahead and do something like this, i.e. bringing a lovely crafted piece of magical hard rock with vintage vibes to life and doing it in such a…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://originalasia.com/ Legendary prog rockers Asia returned to the stage last year with a reconfigured line-up featuring original keyboardist Geoff Downes, world-class guitarist John Mitchell, bass player extraordinaire Harry Whitley, and the fabulous drummer that is Virgil Donati. At the renowned venue known as Trading Boundaries in April 2025, the quartet performed the…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://primalucerock.bandcamp.com/album/way-of-perfection The French prog metal act known as Primaluce released the impressive Dark Mirrors LP last year, which generated quite a lot of well-deserved praise, and it is therefore a thrill to see and hear that they have maintained their momentum and crafted an equally worthwhile offering in the shape of the…
Photo: Ross Sewage The long-running and legendary death metal hounds known as Exhumed are about to unleash their brand-new onslaught titled Red Asphalt via Relapse Records on February 20, and it is an inspired and utterly stimulating piece of work that sees the veteran act on fine form and as musically potent, vile, and entertaining…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://ihxhi.bandcamp.com/album/unheeding-sun The talented multi-instrumentalist L.R. Måløy (If Nothing Is, Dødheimsgard) teamed up with drummer Jens Noteng and vocalist Kjersti Marie Seiersten a while back, which resulted in the intriguing and musically adventurous prospect known as IHXHI. They released a self-titled EP last year, and just a few days ago the mysterious entity…
VENUE: GrieghallenDATE: 03.02.2026ORGANIZER: FKP Scorpio NorgePHOTOGRAPHER: C. Nepper Legendary British hard rockers Uriah Heep surely need no introduction as their classic song material is the stuff that prog-esque dreams are made of. Timeless outputs such as Demons and Wizards and The Magician’s Birthday from 1972 still resonate with fans of old while simultaneously finding new…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://exhumed.bandcamp.com/album/red-asphalt The purveyors of all things gory and unpleasant, namely US death/grind metal freaks Exhumed, are back with a punishing new record titled Red Asphalt, which essentially refers to all manner of horrors and terrors associated with the “American roadway” to borrow a phrase from vocalist/guitarist Matt Harvey. The ten bone-crushing…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://koldbrann.bandcamp.com/album/den-klandestine-kjerne-eons-in-oblivion I hardly ever review singles as life is just too short for that kind of thing, but once in a while one has to make an exception to the rule – a case in point being this split 7-inch vinyl featuring two brand-new and deeply unnverving tracks by two of my…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/RobinTrower/ The legendary Robin Trower (ex-Procol Harum) has been impressively productive not to mention highly creative these past many years as evidenced by a string of robust and enjoyable solo offerings. As solid as many of those outputs are, the stage is where Trower truly shines and also where his songs pack…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://lnk.to/sidious The intriguing black metal horde from the UK sporting the moniker Sidious is an interesting proposition. Malefic Necropolis is inspired and relentlessly vicious music from the vilest pits of misanthropy known to man, and these chaps have got a firm grip on how to write engaging and propulsive songs of darkness…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/liturgy-of-death-24-bit-hd-audio Legendary Norwegian black metal pioneers Mayhem surely need no introduction as these charismatic and chimeric entities have been at the vanguard of forward-thinking music for decades now. Renowned, infamous, musically exceptional, and nothing less than wholly captivating are words and phrases that seem relatively apt here with respect to their back…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://toyweather.bandcamp.com/album/feathers-in-a-strange-wind What a treat it is to see this musically adventurous and superbly arranged piece of work being released on CD and vinyl; it deserved a proper physical release as opposed to merely existing in the digital sphere. Main man Svein Hovland’s knack for crafting uniquely atmospheric compositions that seamlessly move back…
RELEASE YEAR: 2026BAND URL: https://www.megadeth.com/ How to sum up the vital importance and pioneering spirit of thrash metal titans Megadeth? To many of us, Dave Mustaine and his supremely talented cohorts delivered a string of flawless soundtracks to our youths that still resonate with us to this day, and which will undoubtedly continue to inspire and…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://lnk.to/vampyricwarinblood The Flemish entity known as Bloedmaan impressed this scribe greatly two years ago when mastermind Ronarg (Antzaat, Ars Veneficium) unleashed the epic-sounding and surprisingly catchy Castle Inside the Eclipse via the rock-solid Immortal Frost Productions, which has proven to be one of those uniquely crafted black metal releases that I find myself…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.electrichighband.com/ The debut album by these hard rocking Norwegians impressed this writer greatly and was a vigorous, vibrant, and riveting tour de force of groove, hooks, crunchy riffs, and 70s vibes. All of that is very much present throughout this sophomore effort of theirs too, but what sets the latter slightly apart…
