Category Archives: ALBUM REVIEWS

Album review: SOTO – Divak

Posted on February 16, 2016 by GRTR! HQ
SOTO - Divak

earMUSIC [Release date 01.04.16] Soto’s debut album ‘Inside The Vertigo’  came and went early last year, and judging by the critical reaction perhaps splitting some of the core JSS fanbase as it marked a return to the more hard-hitting metal … Continue reading →

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Album review: TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA – Letters From The Labyrinth

Posted on February 13, 2016 by jason
TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA - Letters From The Labyrinth

Decca [Release date 29.01.16 - UK] Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) are back with a new album and unlike previous ones this is not a one themed rock opera, instead a collection of songs with varying themes.  Plus there are some classical … Continue reading →

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Album review: SIMO – Let Love Show The Way

Posted on February 11, 2016 by petefeenstra
Simo - Let Love Show The Way

Provogue [Release date 26.01.16] Sometimes a new band needs a relevant context to make a splash. Happily for Simo, they seems to be in the right place at the right time to explode on to the contemporary blues-rock scene with … Continue reading →

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Quick plays: TREETOP FLYERS, SERENITY

Posted on February 10, 2016 by jason
TREETOP FLYERS - Palomino

TREETOP FLYERS – Palomino [Release date 11.03.16] This is the second album from this London five piece and listening to the album you would think you were back in the 1970′s and the West Coast sound of artists like Crosby, … Continue reading →

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Album review: AVANTASIA – Ghostlights

Posted on February 10, 2016 by jason
AVANTASIA - Ghostlights

Nuclear Blast [Release date 29.01.16] Tobias Sammet is back with another instalment of his Avantasia project. This one follows on thematically from ‘The Mystery Of Time’ album, with the lead character, a young scientist, unwittingly drawing the attention of a … Continue reading →

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Album review: TYGERS OF PAN TANG – Noises From The Cathouse

Posted on February 10, 2016 by jason
TYGERS OF PAN TANG - Noises From The Cathouse

Angel Air Records [Release date 05.02.16] Remember the days when any self-respecting rock band had to have a “Y” replacing the “I” in its name, at least one umlaut over a vowel and the kind of curly-locked barnets which would … Continue reading →

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Album review: RESURRECTION KINGS

Posted on February 9, 2016 by andynathan
Resurrection Kings

Frontiers Records [Release date 29.01.16] Frontiers new project sees former Dio guitarist Craig Goldy continue his return to the spotlight following Giuffria’s poorly received and presumably short lived reunion at Rockingham. This time he has teamed up with a line … Continue reading →

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Album review: NORDIC UNION

Posted on February 9, 2016 by andynathan
Nordic Union

Frontiers Records [Release date 29.01.16] Lead singer of Eclipse, whose ‘Armageddonize’ album was GRTR!’s second best melodic rock album of 2015, Erik Martensson is one of the most prolific, not to say talented, figures in his field. The latest in … Continue reading →

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Album review: RHINE – An Outsider

Posted on February 8, 2016 by jason

[Released 05.02.16] To mix Thrash with Death Metal is asking for elitists to come crawling from the walls. However different the two genres may be, it is hard to pick the differences out in Rhine’s music. This is a good … Continue reading →

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Album review: CASUALTIES OF COOL

Posted on February 8, 2016 by jason
Casualties Of Cool

Inside Out www.insideout.de [Release date 16.01.16] Casualties of Cool is the latest release by, well, Casualties of Cool! The ambient country rock album is the first album from Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, Devin Townsend Project etc…) and Che Aimee … Continue reading →

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Album review: JENNIFER WARNES – The Well

Posted on February 4, 2016 by GRTR! HQ
JENNIFER WARNES - The Well

BMG [Release date 04.03.16] It comes to something when it takes a fifteen year old album – getting its first UK release – to highlight just how sterile and bland the singer songwriter scene has become. Warnes’ eighth studio album, … Continue reading →

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Quick plays: DAVID LOCKE, DERIAN CROSS, TESS OF THE CIRCLE

Posted on February 4, 2016 by GRTR! HQ
DAVID LOCKE Transitions

DAVID LOCKE Transitions [Release date 05.15] www.davidlocke.co.uk David Locke is another guitar journeymen but the difference between his production values and the Derian Cross album (see below) are palpable. A lot of time and effort has evidently gone into making … Continue reading →

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Quick plays: BEN ABRAHAM, DEATH BY UNGA BUNGA, TALISCO

Posted on February 3, 2016 by jason

BEN ABRAHAM – Sirens Secretly Canadian [Release date 04.03.16] Despite the record label name, Ben Abraham hails from Australia where this, his debut album, was released last year. It is now getting a full UK release and I can see … Continue reading →

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Album review: DREAM THEATER – The Astonishing

Posted on February 1, 2016 by jason
DREAM THEATER - The Astonishing

Roadrunner Records [Release date 29.01.16] Epic. Sprawling. Career defining? Perhaps. Dream Theater have unleashed upon its adoring fans an album of such substantial girth that it makes the job of reviewing it reasonably tough. DT are known for super long … Continue reading →

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Album review: ESCAPE THE FATE – Hate Me

Posted on January 31, 2016 by jason
ESCAPE THE FATE - Hate Me

[Release date 30.10.15] “Hate Me” is the 5th studio album from the Las Vegas formed band. Escape the Fate (ETF) are most notable for being the first band of outspoken Falling in Reverse frontman, Ronnie Radke. They also have worked … Continue reading →

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Album review: LAST AUTUMN’S DREAM – Paintings

Posted on January 29, 2016 by jason

AOR Heaven [Released 26.02.16] Album number twelve from Last Autumn’s Dream who, with a couple of exceptions, release a new album at the start of each year. The line-up is the same as 2015′s ‘Level Eleven’, making this the second … Continue reading →

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Album review: BROTHERS OF MARS – Welcome To My Breakdown

Posted on January 29, 2016 by GRTR! HQ
BROTHERS OF MARS - Welcome To My Breakdown

[Release date 22.09.15] www.brothersofmars.com A quick glance at the track listing on this solo project from Mauro Zarattini – ‘Mental Breakdown’, ‘Welcome To Hell’, ‘Tarot Reader’, and ‘Acid Rain’ – suggests that the listener is in for some, to use … Continue reading →

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Album review: SHAKRA – High Noon

Posted on January 29, 2016 by Phil Berisford
SHAKRA – High Noon

AFM Records [Release date 29.01.16] Swiss hard rock band Shakra return with their tenth studio album “High Noon” and, after the departure of vocalist John Prakesh in late 2013, surprisingly also return with previous vocalist Mark Fox who quit the … Continue reading →

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Album Review: RHAPSODY OF FIRE – Into The Legend

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Phil Berisford
RHAPSODY OF FIRE – Into The Legend

AFM Records [Release date 15.01.16] Rhapsody of Fire return with their 11th studio album “Into The Legend”…this is of course classing Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody as a totally separate band which I suppose it is anyway… The press release points out … Continue reading →

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Album review: MAGNUM – Sacred Blood “Divine” Lies

Posted on January 25, 2016 by GRTR! HQ
MAGNUM - Sacred Blood, Divine Lies

SPV [Release date 26.02.16] Tony Clarkin must surely receive a public award for services to consistent songwriting.  Since the mid-1970s he has been the main architect of Magnum’s wider and enduring success.  And on this – the band’s 19th studio … Continue reading →

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Album review: THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT – White Bear

Posted on January 24, 2016 by jason
THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT - White Bear

Earache Records [Release date 15.01.16] The Temperance Movement’s debut album released back in 2013 proved a big hit, making the upper echelons of the UK album charts. Since then they have opened for the Rolling Stones and toured extensively, including … Continue reading →

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Album review: LAST IN LINE – Heavy Crown

Posted on January 24, 2016 by jason
LAST IN LINE - Heavy Crown

Frontiers www.frontiers.it [Release date 19.02.16] How poignant that, as I write this review, it is just hours since the news broke that bass player Jimmy Bain has died. A member of Rainbow, Thin Lizzy and a pivotal part of Dio, … Continue reading →

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Quick plays: JULIA FORDHAM (1988 reissue), UNDERHILL ROSE

Posted on January 23, 2016 by GRTR! HQ
JULIA FORDHAM

Cherry Pop [Release date 29.01.16] Julia Fordham is one of those artists who could only really flourish in the 1980s when there were expansive label budgets, solid production values, and exposure on national radio.  Her exquisite blend of self-penned pop … Continue reading →

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Album review: JAN AKKERMAN – Jan Akkerman (1977 reissue)

Posted on January 23, 2016 by GRTR! HQ
JAN AKKERMAN - Jan Akkerman

Esoteric Recordings [Release date 29.01.16] “Jan Akkerman”, the 1977 album with the distinctive “guitar in bed” cover, was Akkerman’s answer to Jeff Beck’s ‘Blow By Blow’ two years earlier.  This was the Dutch guitarist’s first solo album since splitting from … Continue reading →

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Quick plays: DIRTBAG REPUBLIC, SNAKEWINE, TRAGIK

Posted on January 23, 2016 by jason

DIRTBAG REPUBLIC S/T www.dirtbagreoublic.bandcamp.com Now this is my kind of album- sleazy rock n roll neatly served up in 3 minute segments. This Canadian band have a sound that blends the likes of KISS, The New York Dolls, Cheap Trick … Continue reading →

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