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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
Latest Gig Reviews
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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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Gig review: THE DAMN TRUTH – The Grace, London, 26 November 2024
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Featured Album Reviews
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Category Archives: PURE METAL (All posts)
Album review: SONIC HAVEN – Vagabond
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
Album review: SCREAMACHINE – Screamachine
Frontiers [Release date 09.03.21] Screamachine comprises five experienced metallers, all of whom deserve a mention, but most notably, vocalist Valerio Caricchio and guitarists, Alex Mele and Paulo Campitelli, all of whom are veterans of the Italian/European Heavy Metal scene. The … Continue reading
Album review: BLAZE BAYLEY – War Within Me
Blaze Bayley Recording [Release date 09.04.21] If you like your rock of the metal variety you are in for a treat – this is a blistering, classic metal album in the making. The guitar work is simply put superb – … Continue reading
Album review: ARION – Vultures Die Alone
AFM [release date: 9.04.21] Over the 10 years since their debut, Arion have swapped teenage Eurovision notoriety for cutting edge symphonic rock. Like other Power Metal bands, their music is emphatic, and heavy on the drama. They know how to … Continue reading
News: POWERWOLF, TONY IOMMI, OPETH, TRIFECTA (April 2021)
Lee Aaron (pictured) will release her latest album, ‘Radio On!’, on July 23. Bellowhead release a live album, ‘Reassembled’, on June 18. This was recorded at the band’s one-off online reunion show last December. The Black Keys release a blues … Continue reading
Posted in Album News, ALL POSTS, Band Entrees & Exits, Books, Festivals & Large Events, Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Gigs and Tour News, NEWS, PledgeMusic/Kickstarter Campaigns, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/News, Re-issues/special editions, RIP
Tagged classic rock, folk, fusion, gigs, jazz, metal, news, OPETH, pop, powerwolf, prog, rock, Staind, tour dates, Trifecta
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Album review: UNDERKING – At Hell’s Gate
Bandcamp [Release date 23.04.21] Underking is in fact a one-man band consisting of Maxwell Jeffries hailing from Nottingham and this is Underking’s third album. Maxwell has been working on this album for over a year, with the songs covering “topics … Continue reading
Album review: METALITE – A Virtual World
AFM Records [release date 26.03.21] Coming soon to a Melodic Metal dancefloor near you, Metalite and their third album, A Virtual World. Afficionados will already know the band incorporate elements of trance and electronica into their streamlined melodic metal variant. … Continue reading
Album review: SECRET SPHERE – Lifeblood
Frontiers Records [Release date 12.03.21] If Italy’s Secret Sphere aren’t the EU’s Power Metal poster boys, then they should be. They are a relatively unsung band who’ve battled through multiple line up changes, and come up smelling of roses every … Continue reading
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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News: CHEAP TRICK, FM, LEAGUE OF LIGHTS (February 2021)
Cheap Trick release their new album ‘In Another World’ on April 9 via BMG. Sweet Oblivion featuring Geoff Tate release their second album ‘Relentless’ on April 9 via Frontiers. FM release a double live album ‘Tough It Out Live’ on … Continue reading
Posted in Album News, ALL POSTS, Band Entrees & Exits, Books, Festivals & Large Events, Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Gigs and Tour News, NEWS, PledgeMusic/Kickstarter Campaigns, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/News, Re-issues/special editions, RIP
Tagged blues, Cheap Trick, classic rock, festivals, FM, folk, gigs, League Of Lights, metal, New releases, news, rock, tours
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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
News: FOO FIGHTERS, RAINBREAKERS, KISS, JOHN SYKES (January 2021)
Foo Fighters have released a new song ‘No Son Of Mine’ taken from their upcoming album ‘Medicine at Midnight’, out February 5 on Roswell Records/Columbia Records. John Sykes (ex-Blue Murder, Whitesnake) released a new song ‘Dawning Of A Brand New … Continue reading
Posted in Album News, ALL POSTS, Band Entrees & Exits, Books, Festivals & Large Events, Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Gigs and Tour News, NEWS, PledgeMusic/Kickstarter Campaigns, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/News, Re-issues/special editions
Tagged blues, EP, folk, Foo Fighters, gigs, John Sykes, Kiss, metal, New releases, news, Rainbreakers, rock, singles, tour dates
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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
News – NEAL SCHON, HEART, MAGNUM, THE DARKNESS (December 2020)
Journey’s Neal Schon (pictured) releases his new album ‘Universe’ this month. Dream Theater have started work on their new album. In the meantime they have released a seasonal medly ‘The Holiday Spirit Carries On’, available for download at dreamtheaterofficial.bandcamp.com Magnum … Continue reading
Posted in Album News, ALL POSTS, Band Entrees & Exits, Books, Festivals & Large Events, Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Gigs and Tour News, NEWS, PURE METAL (All posts), Pure Metal/News, Re-issues/special editions
Tagged albums, blues, festivals, folk, gigs, Heart, Journey, Magnum, metal, Neal Schon, New releases, news, rock, tours
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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
