WOLFEN RELOADED – The Ghost from Within

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/wolfenreloaded/ This is my first encounter with the German rockers known as Wolfen Reloaded and I must say that I find this sophomore effort of theirs titled The Ghost From Within an engaging and delightful listen. Containing bucketloads of muscular riffs, magnificent vocal hooks, and interesting arrangements, the LP immediately stands…

JIM PETERIK & WORLD STAGE – Roots and Shoots Volume One

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://jimpeterik.com/ There are few songwriters out there who can top the legendary Jim Peterik (Pride of Lions) when it comes to crafting a delicious AOR tune filled with irresistible hooks. This instalment in the “World Stage” project sees him teaming up with renowned singers and musicians such as Kevin Cronin (REO…

CEDRIC BURNSIDE – Hill Country Love

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.cedricburnside.net/ Renowned blues maestro Cedric Burnside is one of the greats of the genre and his upcoming album titled Hill Country Love is nothing short of a triumph. The vibrant aura and heartfelt passion of the material make for a frighteningly convincing, outright authentic, and emotionally gratifying listening experience that speaks…

JACK RUSSELL/TRACII GUNS – Medusa

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4HBC3DZwjOaVS5TQEt7fwB Medusa turned out to be a rather uplifting and enjoyable listening experience to these ears – more so than many of the other Frontiers projects conceived by the label – due to the style and tone of the record having a cool, groovy, and seventies-ish hard rock vibe to it.…

GRAND – Second to None

RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/grandthebandsweden/ Swedish melodic rockers Grand are back with a new, pristine-sounding album that leans heavily towards AOR, which is no bad thing in my book, and I could easily see this outfit appealing to fans of Def Leppard, the Joe Lynn Turner-fronted version of Rainbow, and late eighties/early nineties Foreigner just…

VULTURE INDUSTRIES – 09.03.2024 – BERGEN

VENUE: Det Akademiske KvarterDATE: 09.03.2024 ORGANIZER: Propulsion MusicPHOTOGRAPHER: C. NepperPhotos copyrights belong to the photographer. No unauthorized usage allowed. Please contact photographer if you wish to reuse images in any context.   A concert like no other? You bet! The musically rewarding yet deviant purveyors of dramatic and carnivalesque avantgarde metal (or dark and dynamic…

DURBIN – Screaming Steel

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/DurbinRock/ I quite enjoyed the pounding heavy metal exercise by the talented singer James Durbin that was The Beast Awakens, which came out in 2021. Rooted as it was in classic eighties-flavored metal inspired by the likes of Accept, Judas Priest, DIO, Jag Panzer, and NWOBHM in general, it provided lots…

BALANCE OF POWER – Fresh from the Abyss

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.music-merchant.shop/en/balance-of-power/ The long-running British outfit named Balance of Power will unleash their next batch of songs via Massacre Records in April, and if aggressive and melodic metal with countless cool and interesting layers to it is your particular brand of vodka then you need to make sure that you check this…

SOULCARRION – Enthrone Death

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/enthrone-death The latest death metal bombardment by the Polish tormentors Soulcarrion picks up where last year’s self-titled EP left off. What we have here is savage and vile death metal that is surprisingly catchy given the raw, chaotic, and oftentimes dissonant nature of the material, and “morbid metal” seems like a…

THE GRANDMASTER – Black Sun

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://orcd.co/thegrandmasterblacksun The debut offering by The Grandmaster titled Skywards (2021) was a very entertaining and solid slab of epic heavy metal, and I recall thinking that this was one of those Frontiers Records projects that I would like to see continue and record a follow-up, which is exactly what has come…

JORDSJUK – Råtner på Rot

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/jordsjuk I bought the very first tune that Jordsjuk released digitally a while back, namely the fierce and vicious ‘Stein til Byrden’, and I have eagerly followed their online activity ever since and also ended up purchasing the ‘Siste Skanse’ track, which was yet another frighteningly convincing slab of groove-laden black…

SACROFUCK – Świ​ę​ta Krew

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/wi-ta-krew A brutal and relentlessly aggressive barrage of pulverizing death metal awaits all who dare enter the twisted sphere of this unholy act. The ugly beauty of this ten-track is that Sacrofuck deliver enough jackhammer riffs and spiteful vocals to turn your face into oatmeal, and there is no let up…

THUNDER – Live at Islington Academy

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.thunderonline.com/ The fabulous British rockers Thunder have unearthed a cracking good and highly energetic live recording dating back to late December of 2006 when they played a surprise gig at the Planet Rock Christmas party, which took place at the Islington Academy in London as the title of the release aptly…

DRUNK THRASHER – Raining Vomit

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/raining-vomit This blistering and maniacal output by the Polish one-man outfit known as Drunk Thrasher is exactly what the mood called for today. Intense, fast-paced, and utterly evil-sounding, this is raw thrash/speed metal from the underground designed to break your neck and strangle you to death. The vocals are caustic and…

RITUALS OF THE DEAD HAND – The Wretched and the Vile

RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://lnk.to/thewretchedandthevile The crushing metal outfit sporting the wicked moniker Rituals of the Dead Hand recently unleashed a six-track torrent of harsh and cynical soundscapes that fall somewhere between doom metal, sludge, black metal, and even death metal at times. Does it work? You can bet your saggy ass that it works!…

PRAGATA – Rise of the New Empire (Demo 2024)

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://pragata.bandcamp.com/album/rise-of-the-new-empire-demo-2024 Released in early February via Bandcamp and sporting a brilliant and perfectly evocative album artwork, this 4-track slice of harsh and hypnotic black metal by the US horde known as Pragata is catchy as hell and rather well-arranged. Its gloriously lo-fi sound and the unpolished nature of the song material…

THE CHRONICLES OF FATHER ROBIN – The Songs & Tales of Airoea – Book II – Ocean Traveller

RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://fatherrobin.bandcamp.com/album/the-songs-tales-of-airoea-book-ii The first installment of the trilogy by the splendid Norwegian prog rock ensemble known as Chronicles of Father Robin was a mind-blowing musical experience in that it captured a richly layered atmosphere with an earthy and folk-ish feel to it that was unlike anything that I had come across before.…

DARRYL W. BULLOCK – Queer Blues: The Hidden Figures of Early Blues Music

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/queer-blues-the-hidden-figures-of-early-blues-music-published-6th-july-2023?_pos=1&_sid=c7511005c&_ss=r The immensely talented author Darryl W. Bullock composed one of the best books of 2021 in the shape of Velvet Mafia, and its follow-up titled Pride, Pop and Politics (2022) was yet another thought-provoking and illuminating study of the LGBQT community in relation to British music history, culture, and society…

KOLDBRANN – Den 6. Massedød (Manna fra en Annen Himmel)

RELEASE YEAR: 2023  BAND URL: https://koldbrann.bandcamp.com/album/den-6-massed-d-manna-fra-en-annen-himmel I rarely bother covering singles but this vicious 2-track slab of harsh and unnerving black metal by the fearsome Koldbrann simply needs to be featured on this hallowed webpage of ours and so here we are. Containing two exclusive non-album tracks that that will melt your face and turn your…

DARYL EASLEA – Whatever Happened to Slade? When the Whole World Went Crazee

RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://omnibuspress.com/products/whatever-happened-to-slade-when-the-whole-world-went-crazee Whatever Happened to Slade? by Daryl Easlea is undoubtedly one of the most enthusiastic, warm-hearted, and passionate books on any band out there that I have come across for quite some time. This one basically reads like a love letter to not only one of the greatest yet most underrated…

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