Tag Archives: heavy metal

Album review: BLACK SABBATH – Technical Ecstasy (Super Deluxe 5LP Vinyl Box Set)

Posted on September 21, 2021 by alanjones

BMG / Sanctuary Records [Release date: 01.10.21] Following the superb ‘Super-Deluxe’ releases of ‘Paranoid’, ‘Volume 4’ and ‘Sabotage’ in the last couple of years, it is now the turn of ‘Technical Ecstasy’ to receive the sumptuous multi-disc box-set treatment. … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged 5LP Box Set, Bill Ward, Black Sabbath, Geezer Butler, heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne, review, Steven Wilson, Technical Ecstasy, Tony Iommi | Leave a comment

Album review: SAVATAGE – Sirens and Dungeons Are Calling (remasters)

Posted on September 16, 2021 by brianmc

ear-MUSIC [release date 3.09.21] We’re cranking the machine way back to 1982, and Savatage’s twin debuts, Sirens and Dungeons Are Calling, both independently released. The band, Jon and Criss Oliva, Keith Collins and Steve Wacholz recorded and mixed all the … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, Criss Oliva, Ear Music, EP. remasters, heavy metal, Jon Oliva, LP, review, Savatage | Leave a comment

Album review: IRON MAIDEN – Senjutsu

Posted on September 12, 2021 by david.wilson

Parlophone [Release date 03.09.21] It’s been almost 6 years since Iron Maiden released Book Of Souls to an eagerly waiting world. For me it was one of the most disappointing releases of the band’s career, over long, plodding and ultimately boring, not a … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged Adrian Smith, album, Book Of Souls, Bruce Dickinson, CD, Dave Murray, heavy metal, Iron Maiden, Janick Gers, Kevin Shirley, Nicko McBrain, Parlophone, review, rock, Senjutsu, Steve Harris, Writing On The Wall | Leave a comment

Album review: ORANGE GOBLIN – Healing Through Fire (2CDs w/bonus tracks)

Posted on August 19, 2021 by brianmc

Cherry Red Records [Release date 20.08.21] This expanded Orange Goblin compilation centres on their 2007 Disaster Album, Healing Through Fire. Only a Heavy Metal band could take The Great Fire Of London and the Great Plague as the theme for its … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged 2 CDs, album, bonus tracks, demos, heavy metal, Live Mean Fiddler, Orange Goblin, review, stoner rock | Leave a comment

Album review: BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER – S/T

Posted on June 6, 2021 by brianmc

Frontiers Records [Release date 11.06.21] Frontiers clearly think highly of Brother Against Brother. The label compares this recording by two vocalists, Renan (Electric Mob) Zonta and Nando (Sinistra) Fernandes, relatively unknown outside of their native Brazil, to the Allen/Lande project. … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, Alessandro Del Vecchio, Brother Against Brother, Electric Mob, Frontiers, heavy metal, Nando Fernandes, power metal, Renan Zonta, review, Sinistra | Leave a comment

Album review: SONIC HAVEN – Vagabond

Posted on May 20, 2021 by brianmc

Frontiers Music [Release date 07.05.21] Sonic Haven is Herbie Langhan’s band. He of Firewind, Avantasia and others fame. He’s produced it, Sacha Paeth has mixed it and old Radiant chum, Carsen Stepanowicz plays guitar. So, with three vastly experienced artists … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album review, AVANTASIA, Firewind, Frontiers, heavy metal, Herbie Langhan, power metal, Sacha Paeth, Sonic Haven, Teutonic Metal, Vagabond | Leave a comment

Album review: SWEET OBLIVION (feat Geoff Tate) – Relentless

Posted on April 13, 2021 by brianmc

Frontiers Music [Release date 09.03.21] Another Italian job. The Sweet Oblivion (feat Geoff Tate) debut was co-written by Tate and DGM guitarist/producer, Simone Mularoni. Relentless is the follow up, and it’s been been co-written and produced by another multi-talented Italian … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Aldo Lonobile, Frontiers Music, GEOFF TATE, hard rock, heavy metal, Queensryche, review, Sweet Oblivion | Leave a comment

Album review: VOODOO CIRCLE – Locked & Loaded

Posted on January 6, 2021 by jason

AFM Records [Release date 15.01.21] Locked & Loaded is Voodoo Circle’s love letter to Led Zeppelin and Whitesnake. We should all be delighted that Alex Beyrodt got the band back together again. The classic line up, we mean. The team … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged AFM Records, album, Alex Beydrot, David Readman, hard rock, heavy metal, Locked & Loaded, review, rock, VOODOO CIRCLE | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot…JAMES LABRIE – Elements Of Persuasion

Posted on October 10, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

InsideOut (2005) For many band members, the band becomes all consuming. It means, as a result of the constant cycle of touring, writing and recording, they can’t deliver their own solo album. There are 15 years between John Petrucci’s first … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES | Tagged album, Dream Theater, Elements Of Persuasion, feature, heavy metal, James LaBrie, Marco Sfogli, Matt Guillory, Mike Mangini, nu-metal, progressive metal, review | Leave a comment

Album review: BLACK SABBATH – Paranoid (50th Anniversary Super Deluxe)

Posted on October 3, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Black Sabbath - Paranoid - 50th Anniversary Edition

BMG [Release date 09.10.20] Another year. Another anniversary. At the dawn of heavy metal as we know it, 1970, Black Sabbath released their second album which went on to achieve multi-million selling status. A fan favourite it yielded a handful … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues | Tagged 50th anniversary, album, Bill Ward, Black Sabbath, box set, Doom, Geezer Butler, heavy metal, interview, Ozzy Osbourne, Paranoid, review, super deluxe, Tony Iommi | Leave a comment

News: WIN a copy of BLACK SABBATH Paranoid – 50th anniversary super deluxe box set

Posted on September 27, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Celebrating the 50th anniverary of the multi-million selling album ‘Paranoid’ BMG release a 5-LP/4CD edition on October 9th, featuring the vinyl debut of two 1970 concerts. We have a copy of the CD version and the vinyl super deluxe edition … Continue reading →

Posted in Competitions, NEWS | Tagged 50th anniversary, Bill Ward, Black Sabbath, box set, competition, Geezer Butler, heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne, Paranoid, super deluxe, Tony Iommi, win | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot … BLACKTHORNE – Afterlife

Posted on August 12, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Music For Nations (1993) Graham Bonnet’s career started in the late 1960s with a conventional pop approach and early solo albums. It was only in 1979 when he came to Ritchie Blackmore’s attention as a potential frontman of Rainbow (replacing … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview | Tagged Afterlife, album, Alcatrazz, Blackthorne, feature, Graham Bonnet, heavy metal, heavy rock, Jimmy Waldo, review | Leave a comment

Album review: BLUE OYSTER CULT – Iheart Radio Theater NYC 2012

Posted on June 27, 2020 by jason

Frontiers [Release date 08.05.20] An invited audience of 200 lucky fans saw Blue Oyster Cult live on stage at the IHeart Radio Theater in New York in 2012. The event noisily celebrated the band’s 40th year together, expertly recorded by … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, Blue Oyster Cult, Buck Dharma, classic rock, Eric Bloom, Frontiers, hard rock, heavy metal, Iheart Radio Theater NYC 2012, live, review, rock | Leave a comment

Feature: What SAXON mean to me…

Posted on April 23, 2020 by GRTR! HQ

Saxon have been a life-long passion for Joe Geesin who has followed the band since the mid-1980s. More recently he has contributed sleeve notes and curation to several re-issues. And now he’s ready to write the band’s biography… Barnsley born … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, What a Band/Artist means to me... | Tagged albums, Biff Byford, heavy metal, heavy rock, history, Paul Quinn, review, Saxon | Leave a comment

Feature: Albums that time forgot – GRAND PRIX – Samurai

Posted on April 14, 2020 by david.wilson

Chrysalis [1983] Back in 1983 I ventured along to my first gig on my own at the tender age of 14 to see Iron Maiden at the Playhouse in Edinburgh (Friday 13th May to be exact) and what a show … Continue reading →

Posted in Albums that time forgot, ALL POSTS, FEATURES | Tagged 1983, album, Andy Bernie, Bernie Shaw, CD, Edinburgh Playhouse, Grand Prix, heavy metal, Iron Maiden, Mick O'Donoghue, Phil Lanzon, Ralph Hood, review, Robin McAuley, rock, Samurai, There For None To See | Leave a comment

Album review: CIRITH UNGOL – Forever Black

Posted on April 12, 2020 by david.wilson

Metal Blade Records [Release date 24.04.20] Cirith Ungol are a band I have been aware of for many years (with a name like that, they are hard to ignore!) however until now I have been oblivious to their history or … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS | Tagged album, CD, Cirith Ungol, Forever Black, Greg Lindstrom, grunge, heavy metal, Jim Barraza, review, Robert Garven, rock, Tim Barker, Twisted Sister | Leave a comment

Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to DEMON

Posted on April 9, 2020 by jason

Jason Ritchie highlights the recording history of NWOBHM band Demon Formed in Stoke back in the NWOBHM the band initially lived up to their name with singer Dave Hill rising up from coffins on stage, along with lots of devil references … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, Call Collect, FEATURES | Tagged classic rock, Dave Hill, DEMON, feature, hard rock, heavy metal, introduction, melodic rock, NWOBHM, prog rock, review | Leave a comment

Feature: Call Collect – An introduction to BLUE OYSTER CULT

Posted on March 31, 2020 by jason

Jason Ritchie picks out some of the key albums from the heavy metal masters Formed from the late 60’s band Soft White Underbelly, Blue Oyster Cult (BOC) are often dubbed ‘the thinking man’s heavy metal band’. But for me they … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, Call Collect, FEATURES | Tagged Albert Bouchard, An Introduction, Blue Oyster Cult, Buck Dharma, Call Collect, Classic Albums, classic rock, Eric Bloom, feature, hard rock, heavy metal, melodic rock | Leave a comment

Album review: RAGE – Wings Of Rage

Posted on February 22, 2020 by jason

SPV/Steamhammer [Release date 10.01.20] Every family has a black sheep. That one relative who never gets invited to Christmas lunch. Rage are that family member, the unhinged uncle who is usually locked in an attic or roaming around the woods. … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews | Tagged album, heavy metal, metal, NWOBHM, Peter "Peavy" Wagner, power metal, Rage, review, thrash metal, Wings Of Rage | Leave a comment

Gig review: BLACK SABBATH 50TH ANNIVERSARY PLAYBACK – Number 10, Hackney, 11 February 2020

Posted on February 13, 2020 by jason

Most of us listen to music while distracted by other things. Commute to work, at home or live venue. But what if there were no other distractions around you? Just you and the music, in the dark – would you … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS, Special Events | Tagged Bill Ward, Black Sabbath, blues, classic rock, event, Geezer Butler, heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne, playback, review, rock, Tony Iommi | Leave a comment

Gig review: POWERWOLF – Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, 28 October 2018

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Yiannis

It is immensely gratifying to have a band, whose career you have been closely following since day one, reach such great levels of success – case in point here being the German Heavy/Power Metallers Powerwolf. Not many people were supportive … Continue reading →

Posted in GIG REVIEWS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Gig reviews | Tagged 8 October 2018, Amaranthe, Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, gig, heavy metal, Kissin’ Dynamite, melodic metal, power metal, powerwolf, review | Leave a comment

Gig review: PRIMAL FEAR – Biebob, Vosselaar, 12 October 2018

Posted on October 25, 2018 by Yiannis

Ask me to compose a list with the best Metal albums for 2018 and you are almost certainly guaranteed to find Primal Fear’s latest studio effort “Apocalypse” somewhere near the very top. It may be a good two decades since … Continue reading →

Posted in GIG REVIEWS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Gig reviews | Tagged 12 October 2018, Belgium, Biebob, gig, heavy metal, metal, Primal Fear, Ralph Scheepers, review, Riot V, Vosselaar | Leave a comment

Gig review: SAXON – Barrowlands, Glasgow,18 October 2018

Posted on October 22, 2018 by david.wilson

Saxon, as Biff reminded us during tonight’s show, are rapidly approaching their 40th anniversary. With this in mind the band would be forgiven if they decided to slow down a bit and started taking things a bit easier. However, on tonight’s … Continue reading →

Posted in ALL POSTS, GIG REVIEWS | Tagged 18th October 2018, Barrowlands, Biff Byford, Denim And Leather, FM, gig, Glasgow, heavy metal, Iron Maiden, Jim Kirkpatrick, live, Nigal Glockler, review, rock, Saxon, Steve Overland, Toby Jepson, Wayward Sons, Wheels Of Steel | Leave a comment

Album review: SAXON – The Eagle Has Landed

Posted on October 21, 2018 by jason

BMG [Release date 19.10.18] To coincide nicely with their latest opus Thunderbolt, we get this reissue of Saxon’s classic 1982 live album. This rounds off the BMG reissues of the Carrere and Phonogram catalogue. Originally a single LP, this comes … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews, Reissues | Tagged album, Biff Byford, classic metal, heavy metal, live, metal, MWOBHM, re-issue, review, Saxon, The Eagle Has Landed | Leave a comment

Gig review: IRON MAIDEN – 02 Arena, London, 10 August 2018

Posted on August 17, 2018 by andynathan

Photo: Andy Nathan It would not be an exaggeration to describe Iron Maiden as the people’s band. They inspire remarkable loyalty among their vast army of fans – I don’t think I have never seen a higher percentage of gig … Continue reading →