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Monthly Archives: February 2012
LACUNA COIL – Dark Adrenaline
LACUNA COIL – “DARK ADRENALINE” CENTURY MEDIA (2012) Milan-based Atmospheric/Gothic Metalers Lacuna Coil have managed to capture the attention of fans and music media through a string of highly successful commercial-sounding releases and through a really clever marketing strategy – … Continue reading
PAIN OF SALVATION (Daniel Gildenlow) INTERVIEW
When I was guided by Pain Of Salvation’s label rep to the band’s tour bus to do an already scheduled interview with mainman Daniel Gildenlow, I expected to find the tall Swede his normal energetic self, not downing a hot … Continue reading
Posted in PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Interviews
Tagged Daniel Gildenlow, Pain of Salvation
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Patsy Matheson & Becky Mills Maltings, Farnham Monday 20th February 2012
Quite appropriate that I should be at Farnham tonight as it was ten years ago whilst working for a previous employer in Farnham that I helped start off Get Ready To Rock! The Maltings is a very impressive set of … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS
Tagged Becky Mills, folk, Maltings Farnham, Patsy Matheson, singer songwriter, Waking the Witch
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K-Lacura – Portraits Of The Faceless (S-a-N PR)
Yet another contender to enter the UK hardcore/ nu metal ring, K-Lacura are straight from the mean streets of Didcot, Oxon. The band were formed by school friends back in 2006 and this is their debut album. Citing the likes … Continue reading
VARIAH – Betrayfull Sins
Variah hail from wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen, formed in 2009 by Enrique Justiniano and Martin Winslow from the ashes of several experimental projects featuring the pair. They took a heavier direction at this point and were joined by three other like-minded … Continue reading
RAGE – 21
NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) Germany has for many years been the “breeding ground” for some of the most impressive Metal bands around and even though naming the most important Teutonic Extreme Metal band of all time may well be a matter … Continue reading
RE-ARMED – Worldwide Hypnotize
MASSACRE (2012) Ever since Amorphis first graced us with their presence back in 1990, Finland witnessed a slow but steady growth in its number of Heavy Metal bands, to the point that our beloved music is now in terms of … Continue reading
STONE AXE – Stone Axe II
Do you remember the 70’s, a time of flared trousers, big sideburns, three day weeks and huge bands of the classic rock variety ? Stone Axe most certainly do and although the band were formed in Washington in 2007, their … Continue reading
SEVEN – Under Eye
This is the second album release from this London based quartet and it is a bit of a gem. The band play a heavy melodic prog, think Tool mixed with a bit of Slipknot and Korn’s bass sound and you … Continue reading
SILVERDOLLAR – Morte
$ilverdollar formed in Sweden back in 1996 as a covers/ tribute band to all things metal, releasing a CD of covers in 2002. In 2006 the band took the plunge for their 10th anniversary and wrote their debut album entitled … Continue reading
OLIVER DAWSON SAXON – Motorbiker
(Angel Air Records) Summary : Not as good as Oliver & Dawson’s stint in the original Saxon Anyone expecting Graham Oliver and Steve Dawson’s version of Saxon to come out with an album harking back to the days of the … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Angel Air, Oliver Dawson Saxon
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TOMMY JAMES & THE SHONDELLS – Live! At The Bitter End, New York
(Angel Air Records) Summary : Nice performance but a live recording lacking atmosphere? A polished live performance from the turn of the century released as part of Angel Air’s reissuing of a number of Tommy James album. Subtitled (at least … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Angel Air, Shondells, Tommy James
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JEFF SCOTT SOTO – Damage Control (Frontiers 2012)
Jeff Scott Soto is back with a straight ahead melodic hard rock album after his last solo album, ‘Beautiful Mess’ with its more funky/soul vibe, alienated much of his fan base (a damn shame in my book as it is … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Damage Control, Jeff Scott Soto
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NOLOVELOST- NOLOVE LOST (Independent 2011)
Every so often , from the multitude of self- produced and promoted releases, comes a gem and the debut album from this North Carolina melodic rock band is one such. The members are all veterans of previous regional bands, and … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged AOR, Head East, Nolovelost, Styx
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KATRINA – So Eden (Red Red Records)
Katrina is a US singer has already found fame in the US through TV’s ‘Star Search’ aged just 11 years old. Now she releases this single from her forthcoming debut album ‘In The Blink Of An Eye’ helped by producer … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
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NANCI GRIFFITH – Intersection
Now I confess I am not much of a lover of country music in its more traditional form but I have long been a fan of Nanci Griffith’s work, mainly due to her voice and the excellent songs she produces, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged alt country, Intersection, Nanci Griffith
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The Complete History of Guitar World (Backbeat Books 2010)
A very concise history of the highlights of the respected ‘Guitar World’ magazine. Even non-musos like myself can enjoy this book. For only 300 pages they cram the information in from every song transcripted in the magazine between July 1980 … Continue reading
GARY JOHN BARDEN – Eleventh Hour
Escape Music This English vocalist has been around for a long time. Currently doing voices for MSG, Barden has also contributed in writing songs with Gary Moore which ended up on “Corridors of Power” (which is probably why we hear … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Escape Music, Gary John Barden, MSG
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THUNDERSTICK – Echoes from the Analogue Asylum
Thunderstick is claimed to have paved the way for NWOBHM in the late 70’s and early 80’s. The masked drummer, who slammed skins for Iron Maiden in the early days, formed his own outfit utilising female vocalists. While the journey … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Iron Maiden, Rocky Horror Show, Samson, Thunderstick
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Golden Resurrection – Man with a missio (Lilegren Records)
Christian Liljegren is still hard at work in the studio, this time with the sophomore release of his Golden Ressurrection project, entitled “Man with a … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Golden Resurrection
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Theocracy – As the World Bleeds
This is the U.S. outfit’s third album, following “Mirror of souls” in 2008. While this is power metal, there is often an element of Bay Area thrash, which messes with the flow of the songs and detracts from melodies from … Continue reading
Rising Stars Revisited – Richie Rivera
This is the first of a series of interviews with the Rising Stars bands and artists we have featured in the first ten years of GRTR! Here we catch-up with drummer Richie Rivera who was in Madison Paige back in … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Interviews/Rising Stars Revisited
Tagged Avery Watts, Madison Paige, Richie Rivera
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VENDETTA – Feed The Extermination
VENDETTA – “FEED THE EXTERMINATION” MASSACRE (2011) 1987 was a very important year for me. Having been introduced to the likes of Metallica and Slayer through older acquaintances friends and the invaluable guidance of the Greek Metal Hammer, it did … Continue reading
Enochian Theory – Life…And All It Entails
Formed in 2004 this is the band’s second album and for a three piece they make a wide soundscape. The band’s line-up is Benedict Harris-Hayes (throat/guitars/piano), Sam Street (drums/percussion) and Shaun Rayment (bass) plus the Lost Orchestra who add synths/sound … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
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Pain Of Salvation Gig Review
PAIN OF SALVATION Gig Review Support Acts: Cryptex London Relentless Garage, 13th February 2012 Review by Yiannis (John) Stefanis To say that changes on a grand scale have taken place in the Pain Of Salvation camp since they last visited … Continue reading
