RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://www.black-hawk-music.de/2014/index.php Black Hawk hail from the northern part of Germany and deliver classic old-school heavy metal that recalls Saxon and Accept, and after having listened to it a number of times I must say that I find this output of theirs rather charming, catchy, and entertaining. The production is loud and…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.wigwamofficial.com/ I was rather enamored with Wig Wam’s Never Say Die opus from 2021 as it was an utterly confident, enjoyable, and energetic slab of memorable hard rock, and it is pretty frigging awesome to see and hear that their latest output, Out of the Dark, offers more of the same.…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: http://www.robinmcauley.com/ Outstanding singer Robin McAuley is without doubt one of the best and most unique vocalists there is, and it is wonderful to see just how prolific he has been these past few years with Black Swan, Michael Schenker, and his solo career. This follow-up to the excellent Standing on the…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://allmyshadows.de/ Eerie Monsters by the outfit named All My Shadows, which features members of Vanden Plas, is a lovely surprise and an impressively crafted piece of work that boasts a crunchy and powerful production, atmospheric and robust songs, excellent vocals, and plenty of killer riffs. The band sound as if they…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/infiniteanddivine/ This scribe was quite enamored with the debut album titled Silver Lining by the Swedish outfit Infinite & Divine that came out a couple of years ago, which ticked a lot of boxes for me. So naturally, I was hoping for more of the same and some classy, memorable symphonic-inspired…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://facebook.com/SonsofCult/ This review is the 5th and the final one in the 5 album expose on the work of Palma de Mallorca Spanish vocalist, guitarist and bassist Vicente Javier Payá Galindo, the creator of 5 metal bands: Golgotha, Unbounded Terror, Decrapted, Bis.nte and Sons Of Cult – all currently on…
RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://cleopatrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-waiting Blak29 sees the awesome Steve Zing (Danzig, Samhain) return with some new material, and him teaming up with Dan Tracey was obviously a great move as the two of them have a lot of musical chemistry together as evidenced by the quality of this 11-track offering. Another cool aspect of…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/screammaker With its old-school heavy metal album cover and artwork, it should come as no surprise that this Polish act named Scream Maker dabbles in blistering metal that owes a lot to Judas Priest, Manowar, Jag Panzer, and the Dio-fronted version of Black Sabbath but without sounding like a cheap clone.…
VENUE: OVO Arena WembleyDATE: 04.02.2023 ORGANIZER: AEG Presents and Live Nation in association with X-Ray Saturday night in old London town is always a treat but even more so when such stellar acts as Danko Jones, The Darkness, and Black Stone Cherry are set to take the stage at OVO Arena Wembley in front…
The Welsh outfit known as King Kraken blew this writer away by means of their inspired and incredibly well-written debut offering titled MCLXXX, which was released in late January this year, and few albums are as heavy and memorable as this one. There is passion in spades to be found in each song and every…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4ECxgPVegGSXTfZyVzJ786 Featuring the inimitable Johnny Gioeli (Hardline) on vocals, Enemy Eyes is truly a delight to these ears in that this skilled new outfit combines classic heavy metal with hard rock, and the result is deeply satisfying to immerse oneself in. First of all, it genuinely sounds like a true and…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://www.kingkraken.co.uk/ What a lovely and most welcome surprise this infinitely heavy and thunderous metal opus by the brilliant UK outfit King Kraken is. If Black Sabbath, Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, and early Soundgarden all had a jam together, it would sound somewhere along the lines of MLCXXX, which is obviously a seriously…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/mantricmomentum/ An epic and melodic heavy metal opus by an act featuring the talented Christer Harøy (Divided Multitude, Crossnail) and Terje Harøy (Pyramaze) sounds like just the thing to keep me entertained today, so let us spin this visually appealing release a handful of times and see what happens, shall we?…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/AboutUsNagaland/ It is not often that something as exotic as kick-ass and dynamic hard rock from India finds its way to my mailbox, but I am really grateful that this vigorous and passionate opus by About Us did as this is a fantastic debut album. Energetic and chock-full of good ideas, the talented ensemble merge the old with…
Back in October 2022, I received a promo copy of a most impressive and dynamic slab of kick-ass hard rock entitled Resurrection by the Swedish outfit named Wildness. Apart from crafting melodically strong and hook-laden tunes that are outright irresistible, what makes this particular band so great is the fact that they also weave different…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://taboo.band/ Taboo is a sparkling new hard rock/melodic heavy metal outfit from Denmark that includes one legendary guitarist named Ken Hammer (Pretty Maids) in its ranks, and this is a crunchy, modern-sounding opus that packs a serious punch and contains some stellar compositions. Sharp as a razor and as heavy as…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/RingOfFireMetal Mark Boals (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Shining Black) possesses one of the greatest voices in rock, and it is pretty much always a treat to listen to something that features his unique voice, which leads me to this brand-new album by neo-classical power/progressive metallers Ring of Fire. It has been eight years…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: https://www.rising-steel.fr/ The previous offering by these French metal freaks, more specifically the loud and crushing Fight Them All (2020), was an entertaining albeit slightly uneven ride through power metal, NWOBHM, and thrash metal. I am pleased to announce that nothing has changed in the outfit’s camp as the latest effort titled…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/GinevraRock/ What a wicked surprise this potent slab of melodic heavy metal/hard rock is. Featuring the talented singer Kristian Fyhr (Seventh Crystal), renowned guitar-slinger Magnus Karlsson (Primal Fear, The Ferrymen), kick-ass bassist Jimmy Jay (H.E.A.T.), and drummer Magnus Ulfstedt (Nordic Union), it is safe to say that these dudes know exactly…
RELEASE YEAR: 2022 BAND URL: http://www.martinpopoff.com/html/killing-the-dragon-dio-in-the-90-and-2000s.html Renowned author and music critic Martin Popoff never fails to impress and inspire me thanks to the quality and depth of his written works. Killing the Dragon: Dio in the ’90s and 2000s is no exception to that rule. This one is actually the kind of book that I had…
