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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
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Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: SQUEEZE – Roundhouse, London, 22 November 2024
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Gig review: CARDINAL BLACK – Sub 89, Reading, 15 November 2024
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Gig review: SUZI QUATRO – London Palladium, 13 November 2024
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Gig review: HRH XVII, Great Yarmouth, 7-9 November 2024
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Gig review: WHEN RIVERS MEET, CHANTEL MCGREGOR, XANDER AND THE PEACE PIRATES – Dingwalls, London, 7 November 2024
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Gig review: DEEP PURPLE – 02 Arena, London, 6 November 2024
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Author Archives: Yiannis
Album review: RUNNING WILD – Rapid Foray
SPV Records [Release date 26.08.16] On paper, 2012 looked like a great year for Herr Rolf Kasparek. Thirty six months after having disbanded Running Wild, a band whose influence in Heavy Metal is both well recorded and fairly undeniable, the singer/guitarist … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews
Tagged album, Rapid Foray, review, rock, Running Wild
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Album review: SODOM – Decision Day
SPV [Release date 26.08.16] In their thirty five years of active existence, the Gelsenkirchen-based noisemakers Sodom have helped lay the foundations of the German Thrash Metal scene through sheer hard work and stubborn determination. An integral member of the “Big … Continue reading
Album review: FATES WARNING – Theories Of Flight
Century Media [Release date 1.07.16] Those of you who have been following Fates Warning’s career as closely as I do remember damn well the almost decade-long period we had to suffer until 2013’s “Darkness In A Different Light” finally saw … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews
Tagged album, Fates Warning, metal, review, rock, Theories Of Flight
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Gig review: VARDIS & DIAMOND HEAD – Bush Hall, Shepherds Bush, London, 18 July 2015
It’s been thirteen years since I started working for Get Ready to ROCK! and, during that time, I have had the pleasure of reviewing many London shows – yet, I have to admit that I didn’t know that the Bush … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Gig reviews
Tagged 18 July 2015, Bush Hall, Diamond Head, gig, heavy rock, London, NWOBHM, review, Vardis
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Album review: TIM BOWNESS – Stupid Things That Mean The World
Inside Out – Out Now. Musicians are truly unpredictable creatures! Take, for instance, British-born singer/songwriter Tim Bowness. Though a fairly active entity in the Progressive Rock scene, his valuable services provided to top-quality artists such as Robert Fripp, OSI and … Continue reading
Interview: HENRIK DANHAGE (Evergrey) – June 2015
Five years ago Progressive Power metallers Evergrey looked as if they were heading nowhere, their towering front man actually contemplating calling it quits. Today, however, things could not have been any different as the Gothenburg-based quintet is a well-oiled machine, … Continue reading
Interview: DENIS “SNAKE” BELANGER (Voivod) – June 2015
Few bands have created music that has had such a profound effect of me like that of the Canadian Progressive Thrashers Voivod, so arranging an interview with the band’s front man Denis “Snake” Belanger on the early evening of the … Continue reading
Interview: ERIC A.K (Flotsam And Jetsam) – June 2015
Few bands who have been musically active for a good three decades can claim to have been as daring, innovative and talented as the Arizona Thrash Metalers Flotsam And Jetsam, and a lot of that has to do with the … Continue reading
Gig review: EVERGREY – The Underworld, Camden, London, 20 June 2015
My love affair with Progressive Power Metalers Evergrey began, as most love affairs tend to do, completely by accident. The year was 1999 and US legends Crimson Glory visited my native country Greece in order to promote their latest album … Continue reading
Album review: SAVATAGE – Return To Wacken
EarMusic – Out Now For a band whose career never quite reached the commercial heights of giants like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath, US Progressive Power Metalers Savatage have managed to achieve many great things since their inception … Continue reading
Rock stars: ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN (The Gentle Storm) – interview, April 2015
Polite, talkative, pleasant, full of positive energy…Anneke van Giersbergen is what most music journalists would describe as the perfect interviewee. Her passion for the music she’s involved in is such that getting her to talk about “The Diary”, her latest … Continue reading
Gig review: VOIVOD – The Underworld, Camden, London, 20 May 2015
Support Acts: Krokodil, Desert Storm There are two types of bands in this world; those that you can do without and those that you cannot have enough of. Canadian Prog Thrashers Voivod do not simply fall onto the latter category … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Gig reviews
Tagged 20 May 2015, Camden, gig, London, metal, review, Underworld, Voivod
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Gig review: FLOTSAM & JETSAM – The Underworld, Camden, London, 18 May 2015
Support Acts: Bliksem, Desolator Monday evening gigs are events that I normally like the plague but, then again, it is not very often that you have a band like Flotsam and Jetsam visiting London for a show – especially one … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Gig reviews
Tagged 18 May 2016, Camden, Flotsam & Jetsam, gig, London, metal, review, Underworld
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Album review: AGNOSTIC FRONT – The American Dream Died
Nuclear Blast – Out Now. Passion, power, honesty, integrity…these are all words which have characterised the attitude and ethos of the New York based Hardcore quintet Agnostic Front since that fateful day in early 1980, when guitarist Vinnie Stigma decided … Continue reading
Interview with THOMAS YOUNGBLOOD (Kamelot) – March 2015
US Progressive Power Metallers Kamelot are a band close to my heart, my first contact with the band’s music having been back in 1999, via the mesmerising tunes of their fourth studio album “The Fourth Legacy”. Needless to say, conducting … Continue reading
Interview with ANDY TILLISON (The Tangent) – April 2015
It’s been fourteen years since Andy Tillison first put together The Tangent and his Progressive Rock sextet has been going from strength to strength with every new release. Having been massively impressed by his latest offering “A Spark In The … Continue reading
Album review: THE GENTLE STORM – The Diary
Inside Out – Out Now. Composer/multi-instrumentalist Arjen Lucassen and singer extraordinaire Anneke van Giersbergen share much more than their nationality. Both are artists with a unique understanding of how Rock/Metal music should be performed, and their first ever collaboration took … Continue reading
Gig review: THE GENTLE STORM – The Relentless Garage, London, 23 April 2015
Support Acts: Stream Of Passion Review by Yiannis (John) Stefanis Photos by Yiannis (John) Stefanis It was twenty years ago that the Rutten brothers decided to entrust the young and up-and-coming Anneke van Giersbergen with the position behind then mike … Continue reading
Album review: THE TANGENT – A Spark In The Aether
Inside Out [Release date 20.04.15] Progressive Rock experimentalists The Tangent were a totally unknown entity to me prior to 2011, when I reviewed their sensational five track opus “Comm”. My impression of Andy Tillison’s compositional skills and that album’s overall … Continue reading
Gig review: STEVE HACKETT – Wolflight album launch, 30 March 2015
The last five years have been a very productive period for Steve Hackett. Following the release of the outstanding “Beyond The Shrouded Horizon” back in 2011, the six string maestro has spent the following three years re-discovering, re-recording and performing … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, GIG REVIEWS, Special Events
Tagged 30 March 2015, Album Launch, Cecil Sharp House, gig, London, presentation, review, Steve Hackett, Wolflight
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Gig review: KAMELOT – O2 Islington Academy, London, 14 March 2015
Support Acts: Gus G, Skarlett Riot. Four years ago, Progressive/Symphonic Power Metallers Kamelot witnessed the departure from their ranks of Roy Khan – their charismatic and imposing frontman who, during his fourteen year tenure with the band, helped bring to … Continue reading
Posted in GIG REVIEWS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Gig reviews
Tagged 14 March 2015, gig, Gus G, Islington Academy, Kamelot, London, metal, O2, power metal, review
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Album review: THE CROWN – Death Is Not Dead
Century Media – Out Now. First formed in the picturesque city of Trollhattan (under the moniker Crown Of Thorns) back in 1990, Swedish Thrash/Metal quintet The Crown has experienced a steady influx of new and fairly talented personnel to and … Continue reading
Album review: BLIND GUARDIAN – Beyond The Red Mirror
Nuclear Blast – Out Now. With thirty one years of active service and numerous successful studio releases to show for it, German symphonic Power Metallers Blind Guardian are in the privileged position of having a major say in how the … Continue reading
Album review: MARDUK – Frontschwein
Century Media – Out Now. The last ten years have been truly successful for the Swedish Black Metallers Marduk. Since Daniel “Mortuus” Rosten joined its ranks, the legendary band has released some of its most awe-inspiring/critically-acclaimed material through colossal albums … Continue reading
Album review: BEARDFISH – +4626-Comfortzone
Inside Out [Released 12.01.15] It was back in August 2012 that I first came in contact with “The Void”, the 7th studio album by the Swedish Prog Rock quartet Beardfish, and it’s safe to say that my love and appreciation … Continue reading
