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Upcoming Gigs & Albums
Latest Album Reviews
Latest Gig Reviews
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Gig review: CARDINAL BLACK – Sub 89, Reading, 15 November 2024
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Gig review: SUZI QUATRO – London Palladium, 13 November 2024
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Gig review: HRH XVII, Great Yarmouth, 7-9 November 2024
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Gig review: WHEN RIVERS MEET, CHANTEL MCGREGOR, XANDER AND THE PEACE PIRATES – Dingwalls, London, 7 November 2024
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Gig review: DEEP PURPLE – 02 Arena, London, 6 November 2024
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Gig review: ELLES BAILEY- Islington Assembly Hall, London, 2 November 2024
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Featured Album Reviews
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Album Review: UNIFIED PAST – Spots
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Album review: SHAPE OF THE RAIN – Rily Riley Wood & Waggett (Deluxe Edition)
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Album review: JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR – The Dirty Truth
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Book review: MOTORHEAD (Duncan Harris), BLACK SABBATH (Chris Sutton)
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Album review: MIDNITE CITY – In At The Deep End
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Album review: OPETH – Pale Communion
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Features
Single & EP Reviews
DVD Reviews
Book Reviews
News
Features
Tag Archives: metal
Single reviews: CONSTANT FOLLOWER, ARCADIAN TEMPLE
CONSTANT FOLLOWER – Set Aside Some Time Sometimes, if you’re really lucky, you’ll stumble across a band that will truly make your heart swell and your life better. Constant Follower are one such band. Changing greys to multi coloured pastel … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged Arcadian Temple, Constant Follower, folk, melodic, metal, NWOBHM, review, rock, singles
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Album review: SOUTH OF SALEM – The Sinner Takes It All
Indie [Release date 25.09.20] South Of Salem hail from Bournemouth, consisting of vocalist Joey, guitarist Fish and Kodi, bassist Dee and drummer Pip. You can get some idea of the band’s music with the choice of producer Scott Atkins, who … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, debut, gothic, hard rock, horror metal, melodic, metal, review, South Of Salem, The Sinner Takes It All
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Feature: Albums that time forgot … CODE OF SILENCE – Dark Skies Over Babylon
Mausoleum Records (Europe) Rubicon (Japan) (2013) Described by GRTR! reviewer Alan Jones as ‘a truly genre-bending tour de force, which, whilst having melodic metal at its heart, makes frequent forays into the diverse worlds of progressive rock, heavy metal, shred … Continue reading
News – KING CRIMSON, NEIL YOUNG, ULTRAVOX (September 2020)
King Crimson release a 26-disc set, ‘The Complete 1969 Recordings’, through Panegyric on October 23. It features a brand new Dolby Atmos mix by Steven Wilson of the band’s 1969 debut album ‘In The Court of the Crimson King’, and includes … 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/News, Re-issues/special editions, RIP
Tagged albums, Broken Teeth, classic rock, country, folk, King Crimson, metal, Neil Young, New releases, news, Nightwish, pop, prog, re-issues, rock
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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: DEE SNIDER – For The Love Of Metal Live!
Napalm Records [Release date 31.07.20] To front a rock band takes a few special ingredients. The candidate should be larger than life, outspoken, overblown, like the sound of their own voice, have massive self-confidence and not give a flying f**k for … Continue reading
Album review: RAVEN – Metal City
SPV/Steamhammer [Release date 18.09.20] Athletic Rock legends Raven, long associated with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, issue their new album (their fourteenth) and what a blistering revelation it is too. While 2015’s Extermination was universally well received, a … Continue reading
Upcoming: New releases (CD/DVD) October 2020 – December 2020
Compiled by Jason Ritchie January – March 2020 April – June 2020 July – September 2020 October 2nd AMARANTHE ‘Manifest’ Nuclear Blast BLACKFIELD ‘For The Music’ Parlophone Records BON JOVI ‘Bon Jovi 2020′ Island (postponed from May) BRUFORD ‘Rock Goes … Continue reading
Posted in Album News, ALL POSTS, NEWS, Upcoming (Tours & Releases)
Tagged 20/20, album, AOR, Bluray, CD, December, DVD, heavy rock, melodic rock, metal, New releases, November, October, progressive, rock
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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: VARIOUS – NWOBHM Thunder 1978-86
Cherry Red Records [Release date 31.07.20] (3 CD set) 1978 to 1986. Those 9 years were the Golden Age of NWOBHM. They were the years that spanned the birth, working life and eventual demise of a significant sub genre in … Continue reading
Upcoming: New releases (CD/DVD) July 2020 – September 2020
Compiled by Jason Ritchie January – March 2020 April – June 2020 October – December 2020 July 1st DOMINATION BLACK ‘Judgement IV’ Pride & Joy Music THE QUIREBOYS ‘A Bit Of What You Fancy’ (re-recorded debut album) 3rd WEATHER REPORT … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, NEWS, Upcoming (Tours & Releases)
Tagged 20/20, album, AOR, August, Bluray, CD, DVD, heavy rock, July, melodic rock, metal, New releases, progressive, rock, September
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Single reviews: LIONHEART, UDO
LIONHEART Thine Is The Kingdom Metalville Records A reformed Lionheart (after 30 years) recorded and released a rather fine album of American influenced Melodic Rock in 2017, “Second Nature”, reviewed here. They weren’t all original band members, but old hands, … Continue reading
News: JEFFERSON STARSHIP, THE CULT, SKERRYVORE, Y&T (July 2020)
Jefferson Starship are planning to put out an EP, ‘Mother Of The Sun’, on 21 August via Golden Robot Records. Guitarist David Freiberg is the only original member remaining in the group, although former bassist Pete Sears plays on three … Continue reading
Posted in Album News, ALL POSTS, Band Entrees & Exits, Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Gigs and Tour News, NEWS, Re-issues/special editions, RIP
Tagged albums, classic rock, country, folk, Jefferson Starship, Katie Melua, melodic rock, metal, New releases, news, pop, prog, re-issues, rock, Skerryvore, The Cult, Y&T
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Album review: SMACKBOUND – 20/20
Frontiers [Release date 12.06.20] Finland’s Smackbound paid their dues playing clubs as a covers’ band. Their debut album, “20/20” is a distillation of all the styles and stuff they performed on stage…with added songwriting. And the songwriting shines brightly. It … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged 20/20, album, debut, Frontiers, melodic metal, metal, review, Smackbound, symphonic metal
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Album review: SOLITUDE WITHIN – Disappear
The European metal scene has never been healthier, as each week reveals more and more bands to fall in love with. Belgium Symphonic rockers Solitude Within can rightly stake their claim as part of the leading pack with their 2017 … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile)
Tagged album, Disappear, epic metal, melodic, melodic metal, metal, review, Solitude Within, symphonic metal
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Album review: RONAN FURLONG – Minerva’s Meddling
Pete Feenstra chatted to Ronan Furlong for his Feature show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, first broadcast 7 June 2020, and including tracks from the album ‘Minerva’s Meddling’. Thoroughbred Music [Release date 29.06.20] To say that Ronan Furlong’s ‘Minerva’s … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, INTERVIEWS, Radio interview
Tagged album, Celtic, David Surkamp, folk, interview, Irish, metal, Minerva's Meddling, Neil Young, Pavlov's Dog, review, rock, Ronan Furlong, roots, vocal
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Single reviews: STORMZONE, BRANTLEY GILBERT, GIRL SKIN, LUCA BASELE
STORMZONE Tolling Of The Bell Metalapolis Records [Release date 05.06.20] Blimey, album number seven ‘Ignite The Machine’ from StormZone is released by Metalapolis Records on July 31. Before that we have this new single, a six minute trad metal feast … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged Brantley Gilbert, cinematic, country, Girl Skin, indie, jazz, Luca Basele, metal, NYChillharmonic, pop, progressive, review, rock, singles, Stormzone
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News: THE QUIREBOYS, AYREON, JOE BONAMASSA, ASH, KORN (June 2020)
Valentine (the melodic rockers featuring Hugo on vocals), have teased on Facebook that new material is due soon. Joe Bonamassa has released a new song ‘When One Door Opens’. Feature: Gigs of the Millennium Arjen Lucassen has announced the release … 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, Re-issues/special editions, RIP
Tagged albums, Ayreon, folk, gigs, Joe Bonamassa, metal, news, prog, rock, The Quireboys, tours
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Album review: ALESTORM – Curse Of The Crystal Coconut
Napalm Records [Release date 29.05.20] The Perthshire pirates are back with more tales of the high seas told in their own special way, forget sea shanties we want metal! As per usual the album won’t be to all tastes, its … Continue reading
Feature: What FREEDOM CALL mean to me
Joe Geesin recounts an enduring 20 year passion, cultivated after a few drinks and an introduction to the German metallers Freedom Call… After a decade of writing features and sleevenotes, (I first starting writing reviews for Record Collector magazine in … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, FEATURES, What a Band/Artist means to me...
Tagged feature, Freedom Call, German, metal, power metal, review
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Album review: THUNDERSTICK – Something Wicked This Way Came, Live In France
Indie [Release date 20.03.20] Thunderstick the man is a drummer who, having already played with Iron Maiden in their early daze, made his name replacing Clive Burr in Samson. As the masked and caged mad man, and a bloody good … Continue reading
Single reviews: LITTLE CAESAR, UDO
LITTLE CAESAR – Straight Shooter Golden Robot Records [Release date 15.05.20] The much underrated, often overlooked Little Caesar, champions of biker rock, returned to the recording studio in 2018, after an 6 year absence. They had been a much feted … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged Accept, AFM Records, classic rock, Little Caesar, metal, Musikkorps Der Bundeswehr, review, rock, singles, UDO, Udo Dirkschneider
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Single reviews: THE RISING, NATHAN JAMES, DANNY VAUGHN, THE SENTON BOMBS, DION
THE RISING Shadows On The Wall I have been following the Rising since they started out. In their early days they were more in a country rock vibe, before settling on the main duo of guitarist Chris Logan and vocalist … Continue reading
Posted in ALL POSTS, Single and EP reviews
Tagged album, alt rock, country, Danny Vaughn, folk, melodic, metal, Paul Rodgers, review, singles, the Rising, the Senton Bombs, world music
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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
