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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 (All posts)
MARDUK Gig Review
MARDUK Gig Review Support Acts: Immolation /De Profundis/ Heaving Earth/Forsaken World & Sinate London Underworld, Saturday the 29th of September 2012 Review by Yiannis (John) Stefanis Photos by Fabiola Santini These past few weeks have been relentless for me … Continue reading
WINTERFYLLETH – The Threnody Of Triumph
CANDLELIGHT – Out Now I am not quite sure why loving one’s country and history has become synonymous with being politically right-wing. Fears of such associations which could potentially damage record sales have deprived many artists from presenting aspects of … Continue reading
A FOREST OF STARS – A Shadowplay For Yesterdays
LUPUS LOUNGE – Release Date: Out Now An element of mystery has always been a helpful ingredient in any Rock band’s arsenal and no band has mastered the art of identity concealment better than Kiss, of course, but that has … Continue reading
BEARDFISH – The Void
BEARDFISH – The Void Inside Out [Release Date: 27/08/2012] What on earth are they feeding musicians in Sweden? Maybe an odd question, but one can’t ignore the number of prominent Prog Rock/Metal bands that hail from the ancient lands of … Continue reading
MICK UNDERWOOD’S GLORY ROAD
MICK UNDERWOOD’S GLORY ROAD Cabbage Patch, Twickenham Thursday August 30th 2012 A new rock night is being launched at the Cabbage Patch pub in Twickenham, already home to blues and folk clubs and they had former Gillan drummer Mick Underwood’s … Continue reading
Posted in Pure Metal/Gig reviews
Tagged Cabbage Patch, Gillan, Glory Road, Jeff Summers, Mick Underwood, Twickenham
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KAIPA (Hans Lundin) INTERVIEW
KAIPA (Hans Lundin) INTERVIEW Hans Lundin is a very talented multi-instrumentalist who has been providing the world of Prog Rock with albums of outstanding quality through Kaipa – a group of similarly-minded musicians who have been active since the early … Continue reading
Posted in INTERVIEWS, Interviews/Rock Stars, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Interviews
Tagged Hans Lundin, Inside Out, Kaipa
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KATATONIA – Dead End Kings
(Peaceville) Following on from their superb ‘Night Is The New Day’ album – the point at which former doom-metal merchants Katatonia saw the light and crossed over from the dark side – comes ‘Dead End Kings’, an album so magnificent … Continue reading
KORPIKLAANI -“MANALA”
KORPIKLAANI -“MANALA” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) Folk Metal has evolved enormously since the early 90s, a period when bands like Skyclad gradually began convincing people that folk tunes and organs, such as the violin, in Metal can be an inspiring rather … Continue reading
DEW-SCENTED – “ICARUS”
DEW-SCENTED – “ICARUS” METAL BLADE (2012) Dew-Scented is a band that will forever stay in my memory as one of the first ever reviews I wrote back in 2003 was for the band’s then release “Impact”. Since then there have … Continue reading
TANKARD – “A GIRL CALLED CERVEZA”
TANKARD – “A GIRL CALLED CERVEZA” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) How does a band manage to play the same style of music for thirty years, restricted to a specialised and somewhat controversial topic, and still manage to make a decent career … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/Album reviews
Tagged A GIRL CALLED CERVEZA, TANKARD
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DORO – Raise Your Fist In The Air
DORO – “RAISE YOUR FIST IN THE AIR EP” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) Metal music has employed the services of many female vocalists over the years, none being more influential, respected and humble than Dorothee Pesch – the petite Dusseldorf-born blond … Continue reading
BURY TOMORROW – “THE UNION OF CROWNS”
BURY TOMORROW – “THE UNION OF CROWNS” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) Portsmouth and Southampton have spawned numerous Metalcore outfits over the years, one of which, the melodic quintet Bury Tomorrow, is clearly doing enough to attract the attention of a major … Continue reading
KAIPA – “VITTJAR”
KAIPA – “VITTJAR” INSIDE OUT (2012) It feels very strange to be reviewing a band which released its debut effort around the same year you were born but this is indeed the link between me and the Swedish Prog Rockers … Continue reading
NILE – “AT THE GATE OF SETHU”
NILE – “AT THE GATE OF SETHU” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) As a young man growing up in 70s/80s Athens, there were two things in life that I felt really passionate about: Egyptology and Heavy Metal. Happily, I have fulfilled my … Continue reading
BEFORE THE DAWN – “RISE OF THE PHOENIX”
BEFORE THE DAWN – “RISE OF THE PHOENIX” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) Before The Dawn is a thirteen year old band which has always ended up falling beneath my radar somehow, even though a close friend of mine has prompted me … Continue reading
MNEMIC – “MNEMESIS”
MNEMIC – “MNEMESIS” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) It was back in 2003 that I was first introduced to the Danish Industrial/Progressive/Extreme metallers Mnemic but I still remember how impressed I was by the band’s debut release “Mechanical Spin Phenomena”. Following the … Continue reading
KREATOR – “PHANTOM ANTICHRIST”
KREATOR – “PHANTOM ANTICHRIST” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) It was twenty seven years ago that the Essen-based Thrash Metal legends Kreator released their ground-breaking debut “Endless Pain”. Since then, they have managed to etsablish themselves in the consciousness of every extreme … Continue reading
FATAL SMILE – 21st Century Freaks
GMR 2012 “21st Century Freaks” is the 4th album from Fatal Smile and is good old European metal- heavy yet melodic and with big choruses thrown in. Produced by the band’s guitarist Mr Y and engineered by drummer Philthy, Fatal … Continue reading
CRUCIFIED BARBARA – The Midnight Chase
GMR 2012 Crucified Barbara is Sweden’s, if not music in generals, premier female metal band. The four-piece has been together since 1998 and have just released 3rd album “The Midnight Chase”. Pretty much picking up where its predecessor, 2009’s “Til … Continue reading
GOTTHARD – “FIREBIRTH”
GOTTHARD – “FIREBIRTH” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) Losing a fellow band member and a dear friend is an unbelieveably difficult situation for any musician to deal with, especially when this person happens to be as inspiring as Gotthard’s frontman Steve Lee. … Continue reading
SONATA ARCTICA – “STONES GROW HER NAME”
SONATA ARCTICA – “STONES GROW HER NAME” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) It is not unheard of for me to be unaware of the works of high-profile popular bands…in fact, the more popular a band becomes with the mainstream music press, the … Continue reading
MUNICIPAL WASTE – “THE FATAL FEAST”
MUNICIPAL WASTE – “THE FATAL FEAST” NUCLEAR BLAST (2012) Pick up any extreme music related magazine, check out any Metal blog or Internet site and chances are that you will come across a piece of information that’s related to the … Continue reading
NACHTMYSTIUM – “SILENCING MACHINE”
NACHTMYSTIUM – “SILENCING MACHINE” CENTURY MEDIA (2012) Nachtmystium is a US based Black Metal quintet whose name has been popping up quite often in the music media, unfortunatelly not always for all the right reasons. Their decision to release their … Continue reading
JON OLIVA’S PAIN (Jon Oliva) INTERVIEW
JON OLIVA’S PAIN (Jon Oliva) INTERVIEW Jon Oliva is one really difficult guy to get a hold of for an interview. Though I did manage to meet him for a signing session when touring the UK for the promotion of … Continue reading
NEKROFEIST – Without Reserve Or Regret
Self Release 2012 I recently reviewed Nekrofeist’s debut EP which had been kicking around for a couple of years in their native Australia and awarded it 4/5 as it contained some rather good classic thrash. The band got in touch … Continue reading
