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://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…
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://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://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…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/ozzy-osbourne/last-rites/9781408724057/ Last Rites by the sadly missed and inimitable Ozzy Osbourne is nothing short of a triumph in every sense of the word. Published just a few months after his unforgettable performance at the historic Back to the Beginning event in Birmingham – the place where he and his mates in Black…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://zebulondoom.bandcamp.com/album/come-day-of-reckoning-2 The splendid Norwegian doom metal outfit known as Zebulon unleashed this musically dynamic force of nature just a couple of weeks ago, and there is an exciting and emotive edge as well as heaps of gloom to the 6-track effort, which sports the evocative title Come Day of Reckoning, reflecting its…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.stevemorseofficial.com/ The supremely skilled Steve Morse, who has delighted us for decades with his vibrant and vigorous work with Deep Purple, Dixie Dregs, Flying Colors, Kansas, and not least his solo offerings, is back with a new album that sees him team up with such renowned musicians as bass player Dave LaRue…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://aflyingfish.bandcamp.com/album/el-pez-que-vol-act-ii The previous full-length extravaganza by A Flying Fish appropriately titled El Pez Que Voló – ACT I was one of the prog rock highlights of 2023, so naturally, this recently released successor sporting a most fabulous artwork was highly welcome, and given the content and lyrical narrative of the album, I…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/LunaMarble Manchester’s very own Luna Marble are set to release this self-titled opus of theirs in early November, and I might as well start out by saying that it is a proper gem that weaves the best parts of Led Zeppelin, the Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix, early Fleetwood Mac, Rival Sons, and Pink…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/grahambonnetofficial/ The legendary Graham Bonnet (whose highly productive career in music has lasted for more years than he probably cares to remember himself) is set to release this cool-looking live album just in time for Christmas, and it is a robust-sounding affair all around. Bonnet is arguably best known for his work…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.tobyjepsonofficial.com/ The second installment in the talented Toby Jepson’s (Wayward Sons, Little Angels) “Look Out” chronicle will be out in late October and trumps its predecessor in every conceivable way. As simple as that, really. Now, do please read on, okay? Weaving traits and influences from classic rock, early seventies glam rock,…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/ronnieromeroofficial/ The immensely talented vocalist Ronnie Romero has become a household name in hard rock and heavy metal circles, which is hardly surprising given that he has lent his incredible voice to recordings by Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, Michael Schenker, Vandenberg, Sunstorm, and Lords of Black just to list a few examples. His…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.slashonline.com/ This is something quite different yet very refreshing; a collection of classic blues tracks recorded by a wicked band comprised of Teddy “ZigZag” Andreadis (keyboards, harmonica, and vocals), Tash Neal (rhythm guitar and vocals), Johnny Griparic (bass and backing vocals), Michael Jerome (drums), and then obviously the maestro himself on the six-string, the legendary Slash. Not exactly…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://goatmilker.bandcamp.com/album/goatmilker From the wonderful albeit rain-soaked city of Bergen comes a strangely invigorating and energetic outfit named Goatmilker, and if for some reason their charming moniker is not enough to convince you that these chaps are fucking cool then their songs undoubtedly will. Somewhere between raw and catchy stoner rock and progressive…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://glutton.bandcamp.com/album/skiva-heter-vishnu The musically eclectic and consistently playful Norwegian trio known as Glutton are experts at churning out highly dynamic and oftentimes explosive songs that shift seamlessly between hard-hitting jazz rock, old-school prog, and a wee bit of psychedelia for good measure, and the results are not merely satisfying but also thoroughly intoxicating.…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.waltertrout.com/home Legendary blues rocker Walter Trout is the ultimate survivor and a divinely gifted songwriter whose compositions overflow with raw nerve, fiery passion, words that speak to the soul, and gritty riffs with enough power to shake loose your fillings and prompt you to call that much-dreaded dentist of yours. There is…
RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://deeppurple.com/ A much-overlooked entry in Purple’s impressive catalog is the classy and well-written Rapture of the Deep, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary this year. What better way to mark that occasion than remixing and remastering the entire thing and including a handful of bonus track?”! I have always felt that their…
