Category Archives: ALBUM REVIEWS

THE LAYABOUTS – ‘Strange Behaviour’

 Homeless Records 2012 Madrid based four piece The Layabouts new album “Strange Behaviour” delivers 10 tracks in just 29 minutes- energetic burst of sleaze, punk and garage rock infused music that sounds more American or English than Spanish. Whether it … Continue reading →

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CHEERLEADER – ‘Vegas Or Bust’

 Angry Shark Records 2012 Cheerleader are not to be typecast as just Scandinavian rock as these boys don’t quite fit into that mould, and that is a good thing. Hailing from Sweden the band has a bigger sound than most … Continue reading →

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DONNIE VIE – Wrapped Around My Middle Finger

Livewire/Cargo Records 2012 Written by, partly produced by and featuring the multi-instrumental skills of Enuff z Nuff frontman Donnie Vie, his new solo album “Wrapped Around My Middle Finger” has just been released and will be hard to prise away … Continue reading →

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SEETHER – Holding On To The Strings Better Left To Fray

10 Q’s with the band Wind-Up Records 2012 South African post grunge rockers Seether are back with their 6th album, the snappily titled ‘Holding On To The Strings Better Left To Fray’. It has been four years since the band’s … Continue reading →

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HOME RUN – Black World

 Tarzan Music 2012 Italian band Home Run have released their second album ”Black World”, which finds the band with not only a new rhythm section but a new guitarist – however on listening you could easily believe they have been … Continue reading →

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X-UFO – Vol.1: The Live Files!

 (www.x-ufo.co.uk) More than a mere tribute band to UFO, each member of X-UFO has played with the band (bassist Rocky Newton actually played in MSG but that’s good enough for me!!)  and has a strong musical pedigree to match. Recorded … Continue reading →

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STEVE THORNE – Crimes & Reasons

GEP/SPV 2012 www.steve-thorne.co.uk Steve Thorne returns with his fourth album, playing the majority of the instruments bar Nick D’Virgilio (Cirque Du Soleil/ex-Spock’s Beard) and Bob White on drums with Tony Levin and Gary Chandler (Jadis) also guesting. Also former IQ … Continue reading →

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INFERNAL OVERDRIVE – Last Rays Of The Dying Sun

(Small Stone Records 2012) www.smallstone.com Infernal Overdrive are a four piece fronted by Marc Schleicher (lead guitar/vocals) and they meld classic 70′s rock from the likes of Cactus, Grand Funk Railroad, Blue Oyster Cult and more modern bands like QOTSA … Continue reading →

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DEAD CELLS – Tear Down The Heavens

Dead Cells play rock music. This may sound like a simplistic statement, but that is exactly what you get, straight ahead, no frills rock which is refreshing to hear. The band formed a couple of years ago and have released … Continue reading →

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MAD MAX – Another Night Of Passion

SPV www.spv.de Mad Max have always had a cult status in the melodic rock world after their 1987 album ‘Night Of Passion’ received rave reviews but never sold like it should have. There have been various Mad Max line-ups in … Continue reading →

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SONIC STATION – S/T

Frontiers Sonic Station is the brainchild of Swedish guitarist/composer Alexander Kronbrink who describes his project as West Coast AOR, and while this may not be the greatest album I have heard so far this year, it is far from the … Continue reading →

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KEYSTONE – Flight To Paradise

Park Records www.myspace.com/keystonerocks Now this self-produced and independently released CD tweaked the old interest as Robert Berry was involved (Three/Alliance), although on closer inspection of the credits he only adds backing vocals (along with bass/drums/Hammond/keys) and doesn’t get a lead … Continue reading →

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PRAYING MANTIS – Time Tells – No Lies

Time Tells – No Lies  4.5/5 (Rock Candy) Metalmorphosis – 30th Anniversary Album (Japan Edition) 4.5/5 http://www.praying-mantis.com/ NWoBHM legends Praying Mantis, led by brothers guitarist Tino and bassist Chris Troy, have always played at the melodic end of hard rock, … Continue reading →

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GRAND PRIX – Samurai

Rock Candy In the early 80s Grand Prix were one of Britain’s premier pomp rock outfits, mixing the Britishness of Magnum with US influences from the likes of Kansas, Styx and Journey. 1983 and Samurai was the band’s third album, … Continue reading →

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CANDY – Whatever Happened To Fun

Rock Candy This four piece LA band released just one album in the mid 80s that sadly dropped straight off the radar. Strange, given that the band’s sound mixed two of the scene’s two largest exports: melodic sleaze/glam and power … Continue reading →

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SHERIFF – Sheriff

Rock Candy Canadian AOR / hard rock from 1982, that somehow didn’t take off at the time. The music is incredible in that the songs are strong, the guitar work outstanding, and Freddy Curci’s vocals with a range to match … Continue reading →

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SUNSTORM ‘Emotional Fire’

Frontiers Records’  Sunstorm project reaches a third album, again uniting ex Rainbow, Yngwie and Purple singer Joe Lynn Turner with some of their in house favourites including producer and Pink Cream 69 member Dennis Ward  to produce some upbeat, old-fashioned … Continue reading →

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LACUNA COIL – Dark Adrenaline

Metal Church - The Present Wasteland

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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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