Remembering the Emerald Cowboy – An Interview with Author Alan Byrne

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.sonicbondpublishing.co.uk/other-books/phil-lynott-renegade A few years ago, I had the great pleasure of reviewing a thoroughly engaging and superbly researched book on the mighty Thin Lizzy titled Are You Ready? Thin Lizzy: Album by Album by author Alan Byrne. Shortly after, I purchased Byrne’s biography on the vagabond of the Western world, i.e.…

SHRIKE – The Divine and the Serpentine

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/officialshrike Shrike, who hail from the city of Preston in the UK, turned out to be a bit of a musical curve ball in the positive sense of the word. An intense listen in so many ways, this richly textured long-player of theirs defies any attempt at pigeonholing and can perhaps…

THE BREATHING METHOD – After Everything Else

RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://thebreathingmethod.band/ From the windswept shores of glorious Scotland comes this grunge-flavored slice of hard and heavy rock courtesy of The Breathing Method. Entitled After Everything Else and containing eleven tracks that recall some of the darker and more sludgy material coming out of Seattle and New York City in the late…

EXHORDER – Defectum Omnium

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://www.exhorder.com/ And you will hear wars nearby and reports of wars far away. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must come to pass, but it is not yet the end. For group will rise against group, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes…

ALAN BYRNE – Philip Lynott: Renegade

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.sonicbondpublishing.co.uk/other-books/phil-lynott-renegade It was with great joy that I received and opened a parcel in late December containing one of Sonicbond Publishing’s latest titles, namely this updated version of Alan Byrne’s Renegade, which is a study of (and a reflection on) the sadly missed Philip Lynott of Thin Lizzy fame. From his…

DEAMONOLITH – The Monolithic Cult of Death

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-monolithic-cult-of-death Leave it to Godz ov War to unearth some of the most captivating underground acts and releases and bring them to light – a case in point being this incredibly dynamic and consistently interesting 35-minute output by Deamonolith, which is as unearthly and disquieting as they come.  Blackened death metal…

PERSECUTORY – The Glorious Persecution

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/the-glorious-persecution The Turkish casket removers known as Persecutory are back with a stellar new output, namely this 3-track EP titled The Glorious Persecution, and it marks their finest hour yet in terms of songwriting and atmosphere. Raw and slime-soaked black metal coupled with pulverizing death metal is the name of the…

DELLA NOVA – Della Nova

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.dellanovaband.com/ This is a rather interesting British outfit that came about during the pandemic, and which falls somewhere between alt. rock and grunge with an original twist. Crafted and composed by main man Alex Bowmer, these eleven melodically strong compositions possess an experimental quality that sets them apart from much else…

GRAHAM OLIVER’S ARMY – 29.11.2024 – Troon

VENUE: Troon Concert HallDATE: 29.11.2024 ORGANIZER: Plan BPHOTOGRAPHER: C. NepperPhotos copyrights belong to the photographer. No unauthorized usage allowed. Please contact photographer if you wish to reuse images in any context.   An annual Christmas tradition of ours always includes a few days in the lovely little Scottish town known as Troon, and it just…

KAASIN – new single out!

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/kaasinmusic/ Bluesy hardrock and an epic story of a true hero of the West Single & video out November 22nd, 2024! Former Come Taste the Band guitarist, JO HENNING KAASIN, known for his collaboration with, among others, GLENN HUGHES (Deep Purple) and JOE LYNN TURNER (Rainbow) founded KAASIN together with bassist…

ELECTRIC HIGH – Colorful White Lies

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://electrichigh.bandcamp.com/album/colorful-white-lies Apollon Records were kind enough to hand me a copy of this raw and raunchy debut offering by the Bergen-based hard rockers known as Electric High, and I am eternally grateful to them for that as this groove-laden, catchy, and energetic record ticks a lot of the boxes for me…

ARS VENEFICIUM – The Lurking Shadow of Death

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: http://lnk.to/thelurkingshadowofdeath Ars Veneficium is about as trustworthy as a dark roast coffee on an early Sunday morning, which means fucking excellent, solid, and massively potent in every sense of the word. While I have enjoyed their previous albums and outputs immensely, their latest offering is undoubtedly their most remarkable and accomplished…

GERSEY DEOFUL – Reign ov Hoof and Wing

RELEASE YEAR: 2024  BAND URL: https://gerseydeoful.bandcamp.com/album/reign-ov-hoof-and-wing I could not have been happier (nor more excited for that matter) when I saw that the New Jersey-based black metal outfit known as Gersey Deoful had unleashed a fresh new torrent of tunes collectively titled Reign ov Hoof and Wing. Their previous offerings have been a most welcome addition…

THE FLYING NORSEMEN – The Flying Norsemen

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://theflyingnorsemen.bandcamp.com/album/the-flying-norsemen With a few original members of renowned prog rockers Arabs in Aspic in tow and a brilliantly designed album artwork, this is exactly the kind of thing that immediately caught my attention and let me tell you straight off the bat that I was not disappointed in the slightest by…

RITUAL – The Story of Mr. Bogd – Part 1

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/ritual.se/ Swedish prog rockers Ritual are back on the musical radar following a painfully long hiatus, but judging by the quality of the sprawling epics that constitute this grand-sounding opus of theirs, they have spent their time between albums wisely as The Story of Mr. Bogd – Part 1 displays great…

HIGH ON FIRE – Cometh The Storm

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://highonfire.bandcamp.com/ Admittedly, I have never been the greatest fan of the Californian sludge and stoner heavy metallers High On Fire (HoF), preferring their peers they influenced, Mastodon. To be perfectly honest (and I gave it plenty of time and patience) The Art of Self Defense²⁰⁰⁰, Surrounded By Thieves²⁰⁰², Blessed Black…

UPON THE ALTAR – Descendants of Evil

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/descendants-of-evil You can never really go wrong with an inhumanely brutal barrage of blackened death metal from Poland when it is released by the long-running Godz ov War Productions, and this eight-track juggernaut by Upon the Altar is a perfect example of a solid and perversely enjoyable listening experience. The pure,…

VESTINDIEN AND MADDER MORTEM – 30.07.2024 – BERGEN

VENUE: StereoDATE: 30.07.2024 ORGANIZER: Dark Essence Records / Beyond the GatesPHOTOGRAPHER: J. NepperPhotos copyrights belong to the photographer. No unauthorized usage allowed. Please contact photographer if you wish to reuse images in any context. The ever-reliable purveyors of quality music known as Dark Essence Records, one of the world’s premier metal-related labels, are not merely…

STEAL THE CITY – Road to Nowhere

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/stealthecityuk/ Hailing from Sheffield and packing plenty of sonic punch, the quartet known as Steal the City delivers hook-laden songs that fall somewhere between arena-sized hard rock and modern metal with strong melodies to it. Full of energy and as immediately accessible and catchy as they come, the compositions generally deliver…

STORMBORN – Zenith

RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://stormbornmetal.com/ Far too many power metal albums just flash the, admittedly fantastic if not virtuosic, guitar leads atop big choruses without paying much attention to writing quality songs, most just sounding like copies of Helloween or Gamma Ray. There are exceptions, for instance, the Italians Temperance whose third album The…

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