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Upcoming: UK & Ireland Tour Dates and Gig Listing (2026)
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Upcoming: Festivals UK & Europe (2026)
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Upcoming: European, USA & World Tour Dates and Gig Listing (2026)
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Category Archives: ALBUM REVIEWS
LOUDNESS – Eve To Dawn
FROSTBYTE – Out Now There are certain songs that will forever stay in my memory as they have been instrumental in helping shape my personality and musical tastes as a young teenager. One such song was “Heavy Chains” – a … Continue reading
CASTLE – Blacklands
VAN RECORDS – Out Now No one can deny that the 70s has been probably the most important decade in the history of Rock as the sound and style that was developed during this period continues to influence Rock and … Continue reading
ELUVEITIE – The Early Years
NUCLEAR BLAST – Out Now It was only eight months ago that Folk Deathsters Eluveitie presented the world with their 5th studio album “Helvetios” and there is yet another with their name on the sleeve being released. As the title … Continue reading
Quick Plays: THEN JERICO, WALKING WITH KINGS, STORMZONE
Audio Porn – Jezebel’s Kiss (JK Records) Audio Porn is the Hard-Rock project formed by singer / songwriter Azriel St. Michael and drummer Byron Black, both former Jezebels Kiss members, and Hydrogyn guitarist/producer Jeff Westlake. The songs are melodic, but … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Quick Plays
Tagged Stormzone, Then Jerico, WALKING WITH KINGS
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JOE STUMP – Revenge of the Shredlord
Lion Music www.lionmusic.com Joe Stump burst onto the guitar instrumental scene in 1993, producing ripping guitar work in the vein of Yngwie Malmsteen. He has continued to be uncompromising in his work over the years and has been classified as … Continue reading
TESTAMENT – Dark Roots Of Earth
Testament is a band that requires no introduction, being engraved in Bay Area thrash folklore in the 80’s. The band returned from oblivion to blow everyone away with “Formation of damnation” a few years back. “Dark roots of earth” continues … Continue reading
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Tagged Dark Roots Of Earth, Nuclear Blast, Testament, thrash metal
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STRING DRIVEN THING – The Machine That Cried
(Esoteric) Signing to act-breakers Charisma should have assured better fortune for this electric violin-driven four-piece but in the notes of Esoteric’s reissue guitarist Chris Adams, band co-founder with wife Pauline, grumbles over the label’s preoccupation with Genesis as neglectful of … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged album, music, prog, progressive, reissue, review, rock, String Driven Thing, The Machine That Cried
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GENTLE GIANT – I Lost My Head
(EMI) Writer Daryl Easlea muses over the meaning of the word ‘contrapuntal’ in his excellent notes with fresh band interviews accompanying a great value 4CD box of albums recorded for the Chrysalis label (plus rarities and unreleased) by this epitome … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged 1975-1980, box set, Chrysalis, compilation, Gentle Giant, I Lost My Head
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PAUL SABU – In Dreams
www.z-records.com Z Records continue their fine re-issue series of Paul Sabu’s back catalogue and this album first saw the light of day as a Japanese import back in 1994, before Now & Then picked it up. … Continue reading
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Tagged Angel, AOR, In Dreams, Lee Aaron, melodic rock, Paul Sabu, Z Records
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DEMON DUDE’S REVENGE – An Adolescent Fantasy Volume 1
www.demondudesrevenge.com Steve Watts was the keyboards player in Demon between 1985 and 1991 and co-wrote much of the band’s output in those years along with vocalist Dave Hill. After leaving Demon he all but disappeared from the … Continue reading
BLEAK ANGEL – Reborn
http://www.bleakangel.com/ Second album by this UK folk rock band, who are currently down to a duo of Tim Balmford (songwriter/vocals) and Daisy O’Halloran (vocals) although former member Steve Morse (not the Deep Purple one!) plays 12 string … Continue reading
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Tagged Bleak Angel, Daisy O'Halloran, folk rock, Reborn, Tim Blamford
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GEOFF TATE – Kings & Thieves
Inside Out www.insideout.de (Released 05.11.12) It has certainly been an eventful year for Geoff Tate after being dismissed by his former band Queensryche (be interesting to see how they progress as regards new material) and now he has a new … Continue reading
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Tagged GEOFF TATE, Inside Out, Kings & Thieves, Queensryche
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Quick Play: BLUE ORIGIN, BROWNSVILLE STATION
KATTAH Eyes Of Sand www.kattah.net Formed in Brazil in 2006, this album tells a story based around Arabian culture mixing Brazilian rhythms and heavy metal. So the PR goes. From the outset it’s solid if rough’n’ready trad metal. A touch … Continue reading
FOCUS – X
Eastworld Recordings (2012) One of the great rejuvenations of recent years has been the Thijs van Leer version of Focus, things seemed to click with the arrival – in 2006 – of original drummer Pierre van der Linden and they’ve … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Dutch, Focus, Holland, music, Netherlands, Pierre van der Linden, prog, progressive, review, rock, Thijs van Leer, X
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TRAIL OF MURDER – Shades Of Art
Metal Heaven www.aorheaven.com (Release date 29th October) A new name but the band’s members have some real musical pedigree as you have vocalist Urban Breed (what a great name for a metal singer!) formerly of Tad … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Evergrey, melodic metal, Morgana Lefay, power metal, Tad Morose, Trail Of Muder
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DISTRICT 97 – Trouble With Machines
Laser’s Edge This album shouldn’t work. In the blue corner we have a bunch of post-prog instrumental experimenters from Chicago. In the red corner is an American Idol Top 10 Female Finalist with a slightly nasal twang. However, the resulting … Continue reading
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Tagged American Idol, DISTRICT 97, Leslie Hunt, prog rock, Trouble With Machines
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REDLINE – Vice
Escape Music www.escape-music.com UK five piece whose debut album ‘Vice’ has a classic metal sound with an 80′s leaning and is not your normal fare of Escape Music. This is a strange album as the first … Continue reading
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CIRCLE II CIRCLE – Full Circle – Best Of
AFM RECORDS – Out Now Zachary Stevens is a man who should really need no introductions! Following a very sucessful stint as the frontman of the mighty Savatage between 1993 and 2000, he went on to create similarly impressive music … Continue reading
CATUVOLCUS – Gergovia
Deathbound Records (Release Date – Out Now) History tends to be littered with battles and brutality, especially where the Roman Legions are concerned, so the retelling of the Gauls’ battle against the Romans was never going to be … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Pure Metal/Album reviews
Tagged Catuvolcus, Gergovia
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VORPAL NOMAD – Hyperborea
Metalodic Records (Out Now ) The accompanying biog provided with this disc contains the lofty claim ‘ the best power metal CD you will ever hear’, so does it meet these high standards ? No is the simple … Continue reading
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Tagged Hyperborea, Vorpal Nomad
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QUICK PLAYS – Police Dog Hogan, Nicole Maguire
POLICE DOG HOGAN – From The Land Of Miracles As the name might perhaps suggest Police Dog Hogan are a rabid high-energy bunch – an eclectic seven-piece, combining fiddle, finger picking banj and mandolin, drums and guitars with four-part harmonies … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), Quick Plays
Tagged acoustic, album, folk, Nicole Maguire, Police Dog Hogan, review, rock, singer, songwriter
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THE GATHERING – Disclosure
I have to confess I’ve never tripped over The Gathering – a Dutch band who started out in 1989 pedalling death/doom metal, but who like the rest of us have mellowed with the passing years and evolved into something quite … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Disclosure, Dutch, electronica, Holland, prog, progressive, review, rock, The Gathering
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HEART – Fanatic
What the hell are Heart sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson on? The Lance Armstrong performance enhancement programme? It must be something with one hell of a kick, because they just aren’t sticking to the script. Artists who’ve been treading boards … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Ann Wilson, Fanatic, Heart, music, Nancy Wilson, review, rock
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ROSCO LEVEE & THE SOUTHERN SLIDE – Final Approach To Home
Rosco Levee is only twenty eight but listen to this album with his band Southern Slide and you’d think he has been around much longer. What’s more amazing is that he is British yet the album sounds like a real … Continue reading
MOSTLY AUTUMN – The Ghost Moon Orchestra
Mostly Autumn are one of those bands who seem to consistently top the Championship, but never quite make promotion to the Premier League. Constant squad changes, and player rotation has perhaps not helped their cause, and there’s also that Pink … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Bryan Josh, Iain Jennings, Mostly Autumn, music, Olivia Sparnen, prog, progressive, review, rock, The Ghost Moon Orchestra
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