This brand new documentary entitled "Lo Sound Desert" by Jörg Steineck is quite the interesting thing. It focuses on and chronicles the birth and rise of what is termed the desert rock scene and how that particular scene was influenced by the vast, open, and somewhat desolate spaces of the Californian desert as well as…
I recently reviewed the sophomore album by this ugly French death/doom/drone/industrial metal combo, the one entitled "The Obedience to Authority", but then following that, the debut album of theirs showed up in my pile of albums for review. Unlike the sophomore album, which I like, the debut album of theirs is slightly more monotonous and…
For all the spit and polish metal bands that exist in the world (clean productions, everything assembled in the right place), it’s nice every once in a while to just hear some raw, spitfire material that goes for the jugular and takes no prisoners. Italian blackened thrash band Nerodia live for the speed on their…
Formed in 2006 out of the remnants of Mörk Gryning, this is a Swedish unit intent on being as equally intriguing as it is modern when it comes to their progressive death metal style. C.B. Murdoc on their second album "Here Be Dragons" delivers an 11 track caustic, frantic body blow in musical form –…
Musikken til japanske Defiled har jeg fulgt med på siden jeg fikk oppleve dem live på Inferno i 2004. Kanskje ikke så mye a skryte av, ettersom de kun har gitt ut et album siden den gang og det kom i 2011. Men det var til gjengjeld et album det luktet svidd av. «In Crisis»…
I have some memories of Wolverine being a death metal band back in the days, but today these swedes are all about the more progressive and atmospheric kind of music. Nothing wrong with that, we all know the fabulous journey of Katatonia, and Wolverine appears just as comfortable and confident as their fellow countrymen. No surprise…
A young Swedish band breaking into the melodic rock/ AOR field, Wickman Road came together in its current state in 2014, piecing together the right members and songs to deliver their debut album "After the Rain". A quintet where Carl Ahlqvist’s keyboards set a lot of the key hook aspects to the band’s commercial sound,…
Eschewing the multiple singer profile of the last album "Inside of the Machine", German progressive metal band Assignment slides in Helker vocalist Diego Valdez and Poverty’s No Crime bassist Heiko Spaarmann for this fourth studio album "Closing the Circle". The band originally began in 1995 under a melodic death style, only to transform themselves into…
Six minutes, six tracks, played in the vein of good ol’ fashioned flat out, no-flab hardcore, served the way it should be. Looking forward to the 58 track double gatefold. https://correctivemeasure.bandcamp.com/album/s-t-7
Diamond Head eh? The oldest of us remember these as the best of the NWOBHM bands to not actually crack the big time. No idea why – was it a question of image, management or never being in the right place at the right time? Our younger readers will most likely be familiar with them…
‘Burial Ground Trance’ is the debut EP from Finnish BM duo Celestial Grave and what an awesome opening statement it is. On the one hand, we have a very primitive deathened approach to BM, laced with plenty of thrashing savagery and necrotic riffing. So it will satisfy fans of the bestial school. On the other…
«The Obedience to Authority» is my first encounter with the sickening and vile French band named Autokrator, and I must say this 8-track effort of theirs is pleasantly intense, morbid, and dark to listen to. While the music is raging and aggressive most of the time, quite a few atmospheric passages and ambient-like elements have…
The Polish entity Occultum vomits forth ugly, grim, and bitter black metal on «Towards Eternal Chaos», and I must say that they do so rather convincingly. While the music is firmly rooted in traditional black metal, which is to say raw and intense black metal in a sense, the band has managed to create an…
Washington act Q5 contained guitarist Floyd Rose, most famous for inventing his namesake tremolo that prevents guitars from going out of tune during its use- releasing two albums in the 1980’s, of which "Steel the Light" resonates with a lot of classic metal fans today. The reformation today includes three original members (guitarist Rick Pierce,…
Rarely do you find a band of twenty-something musicians begin a band in 2011 with the intent of producing music that has psychedelic, soulful rock at heart – that’s what we have here through this American-French-Swedish outfit Blues Pills. "Lady in Gold" is the group’s second album, featuring 10 more tracks that have pulse, vision,…
Six years removed from the self-titled debut, First Signal is a project that allows singer/ songwriter Harry Hess to stretch more of his melodic rock/AOR wings. Teaming up this time with Michael Palace and Daniel Flores on the instrument front, and a host of other vocalists for background supplementation, "One Step Over the Line" is…
Containing members of Astral Doors and Twilight Force among others, Sunstrike is a Swedish band living for that melodic/AOR styled hard rock that filled arenas globally during the 1980’s and early 90’s. All the key elements are in place throughout the 11 songs – bright harmonies on the vocal front, keyboards pumping out the hooks…
When it comes to Irish hard rock, two bands come to mind to these ears: Thin Lizzy and Mama’s Boys. Maverick would be the latest band from Belfast aiming to make their mark on the scene. Together since 2012, their released an EP and debut album each successive year, setting the stage for this second…
Det er få utgivelser i år det har vært så store forventninger til som det har vært til den nye skiva til Gojira. «Magma» heter albumet og er bandets sjette. Ventetiden siden «L’Enfant Sauvage» har vært lang og nå var fansen klare for ny musikk fra de franske guttene. Men da skiva endelig kom, var…
13 years after their last album, the German hard rock act Zar returns with "Don’t Wait for Heroes". Pared down to a two-piece as guitarist Tommy Clauss takes on vocals and bass for this effort along with long-time drummer Lars Nippa in tow, you’ll get 13 tracks of 80’s style hard rock – primal, in…
