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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
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Gig review: PAUL McCARTNEY- 02 Arena, London, 18 December 2024
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Gig review: BLACK EYED SONS- The Lexington, London, 16 December 2024
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Gig review: BRAVE RIVAL – Thames Side Brewery, Staines, 8 December 2024
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Gig review: STRAY – The Cavern, Raynes Park, London, 7 December 2024
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Gig review: THE SHEEPDOGS, THE COMMONERS – Islington Assembly Hall, London, 5 December 2024
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Gig review: GUN – Barrowlands, Glasgow, 14 December 2024
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Category Archives: Pure Metal/Album reviews
EP review: MEMORY OF A MELODY – Burn Alive
Website [Release date 13.03.20] Memory of a Melody hail from San Antonio, Texas and prior to this EP have released three albums – 2011’s ‘Things That Make You Scream’, 2012’s ‘Mouthful of Razors’, and 2013’s ‘Phantom’s and Shadows’. After that … Continue reading
Album review: TURBULENCE – Frontal
Frontiers Records [Release date 12.03.21] Lebanese Progressive Rock/Metal band, Turbulence, are crossing a few boundaries with their provocatively titled Frontiers debut, Frontal. It is a defiantly bold attempt to incorporate the music of the wider world into their work. Something … Continue reading
Album review: HEART HEALER – The Metal Opera by Magnus Karlsson
Frontiers Records [release date 12.03.21] Magnus Karlsson needs no introduction. Neither do the (all female) vocalists who grace Heart Healer. Apparently a “Metal Opera” has been something of an ambition of Karlsson’s for some time. The idea is not new … Continue reading
Album review: ORDEN OGAN – Final Days
AFM Records [Release date 12.03.21] Orden Ogan might not be the band on everyone’s lips when Progressive or Power Metal is the subject of conversation. But they should be. And if their last album, Gunmen, didn’t put them there, Final … Continue reading
Album review: EVERGREY – Escape Of The Phoenix
AFM Records [Release date 26.02.21] Evergrey, led by the formidably talented writer/producer/guitarist/vocalist, Tom Englund, are now on their 12th album. Escape Of The Phoenix once again revisits the band’s idea of adult contemporary metal. It’s a dark, sinewy sound, braced … Continue reading
Album review: BLACK SABBATH – Vol.4 Super Deluxe Edition
WIN A COPY!! Competition closes 14.02.21 Sanctuary (5LP) [Release date 12.02.21] Now here really is a special edition of a genuinely classic album, by one of the original developers of the whole heavy metal genre, Black Sabbath. Originally a blues … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews, Reissues
Tagged Bill Ward, Black Sabbath, box set, Geezer Butler, heavy metal classic album, Ozzy Osbourne, review, Steve Wilson, Tony Iommi, Vinyl, Vol.4 Super Deluxe Edition
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Album review: ACCEPT – Too Mean To Die
Nuclear Blast [Release date 29.01.21] Accept, the German masters of heavy metal for more than 40 years and key influencers on bands such as Metallica and Iron Maiden, return with their 16th studio album – ‘Too Mean To Die’. Accept … Continue reading
Album review: IRON SAVIOR – Skycrest
AFM Records [Release date 04.12.20] Installed like a figurehead at the prow of European heavy metal, Piet Sielck’s Iron Savior proudly trail the story of this classic musical movement behind them. You could argue that along with Kai Hansen, Sielck … Continue reading
Album review: IRON MASK – Master Of Masters
AFM Records [Release date 05.12.20] For those who live and work outside Power Metal territory, bands like Iron Mask sound much like every other Power Metal band. When you’re on the inside though, perspective comes easy. Different musical styles readily … Continue reading
Album review: SORCERESS OF SIN – Mirrored Revenge
Bandcamp [Release date 27.11.20] Sorceress Of Sin formed in 2020 in Cambridge, based around vocalist/lyricist Lisa Skinner and her husband, drummer Paul Skinner. By day they run a post office but after hours they go all power metal! Joining them … Continue reading
EP review: OBSESA – Let In The Light
OBSESA [Release date 26.12.20] Obsesa formed in 2017 in Bury St Edmunds (Vocals/Guitar: Jason Smith, Guitar: Adam Ingram, Bass: Matt Cooper, Drums: Pete Hutchins) have come out swinging and bludgeoning on their debut ep ‘Let In The Light’. Three tracks … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews, Single and EP reviews
Tagged Doom Metal, EP, Let In The Light, metal, Metallica, Obsesa, review, speed metal, Thrash
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Album review: VANDEN PLAS – The Ghost Experiment, Illumination
Frontiers [Release date 04.12.20] Vanden Plas are something of an institution in their native Germany, and indeed increasingly in the wider world. The Ghost Experiment, Illumination is their 12th studio album. So many Progressive Rock bands succumb to Must Have … Continue reading
Album review: MAJESTICA – A Christmas Carol
Nuclear Blast [Release date 04.12.20] ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens is one of my all-time favourite books and has been adapted for TV and film many times. Now we have Swedish symphonic metal band Majestica giving their take on … Continue reading
Album review: ELLEFSON – No Cover
Combat Records/earMUSIC [Release date 20.11.20] Ellefson, the solo band of Megadeth bassist and co-founder David Ellefson, have a double album of covers for your enjoyment. Even the cover artwork is a homage to Def Leppard’s ‘On Through The Night’ album … Continue reading
Album review: PYRAMAZE – Epitaph
AFM Records [Release date 13.11.20] “Epitaph” is the sixth album in sixteen years from Danish metallers, Pyramaze. This is a band who rebuilt their line up in 2015, after significant loss of key members in 2011. That shakeup reflected an … Continue reading
Album review: LEAVES’ EYES – The Last Viking
AFM Records [Release date 23.10.20] Leaves’ Eyes are nothing if prolific, with eight albums, eight EPs and a live album since they formed back in 2003. ‘The Last Viking’ marks the final part of the band’s Viking trilogy, telling the … Continue reading
Album review: RISING STEEL – Fight Them All
Frontiers [Release date 04.09.20] Second album from Grenoble’s finest metal band, Rising Steel. And you can see the tongue in their cheek from space. Allegedly. The band’s amusingly phallic name is the first Freudian nod and wink. And then, endearingly, … Continue reading
Album review: FORNDOM – Fapir
Nordvis Produktion [Release date 03.04.20] A new genre has been created: Viking Chill-out and Forndom is the King. Skillfully mixing the best of Icelandic bands like Sigur Ros along with traditional Scandinavian folk, this Swedish artist brings a stunning world … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews
Tagged album, chill, Fapir, folk, Forndom, melodic, review, rock, Viking
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Album review: VICIOUS RUMORS – Celebration Decay
SPV Records [Release date 21.08.20] Vicious Rumors found a home at Germany’s SPV Records four albums ago. In fact, Europe’s always offered a warm welcome to the band, right from the start, back in 1985. Now, everything has changed. But … Continue reading
Album review: ONSLAUGHT – Generation Antichrist
AFM Records [Release date 07.08.20] When, on the 29th of April this year, the British Thrash metallers Onslaught announced that singer Sy Keeler had decided to once more part ways with the band, I felt pretty sad indeed. The band … Continue reading
Album review: HAKEN – Virus
Inside Out [Release date 24.07.20] Following the release of their fifth studio album “Vektor” back in October 2018, the members of the British Progressive Metal sextet Haken have rightfully been in the receiving end of various rewards and accolades. For … Continue reading
Album review: PARADISE LOST – Obsidian
Nuclear Blast Records [Release date 15.05.20] Creating an album whose compositions are fresh-sounding, well-balanced, expertly-performed and capable of causing high levels of excitement with every new spin is a pretty hard task for any band to achieve in the year … Continue reading
Album review: KATATONIA – City Burials
Peaceville Records [Release date 24.04.20] When, on the 28th of February 2020, I visited the “Gagarin 205” club for the purpose of attending what can only be described as an outstanding performance by the Prog Metal quintet Katatonia, never in … Continue reading
Album review: DYNAZTY – The Dark Delight
AFM Records [Release date 03.04.20] Dynazty’s first three albums culminated in the stirring melodic rock of “Sultans Of Sin” in 2012. By 2014, they had radically recalibrated their sound, trudging through the bland power metal of “Renatus” (2014) and “Titanic … Continue reading
Album review: INTENSE – Songs Of A Broken Future
Pure Steel Records [Release date 27.03.20] It has been nearly nine years since we last saw an album from Intense, during which time they have been busy inside and outside of the music scene (see interview below). The album was … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Interviews/10 Questions, Interviews/Rock Stars, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews, Pure Metal/Gig reviews, Pure Metal/Interviews
Tagged album, Intense, Karl Groom, melodic metal, metal, power metal, prog metal, review, Songs Of A Broken Future, Threshold
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