Fifteen years after their formation, Swedish black/death extremists Netherbird are ready to release their fifth album. Only two original members are left, namely guitar player Pontus Andersson (a.k.a. Bizmark) and frontman Johan Fridell (a.k.a. Nephente), but the present line-up has been forming for the last 10 years. One of the latest additions to the band..
Entombed A.D. – Bowels of Earth (Century Media Records)
It was exactly five years ago when legendary L.G. Petrov decided to launch this incarnation of Entombed, adding “A.D.” at the end to not stir further confusion with the (seemingly) ongoing band with Andersson, Cederlund and Hellid in the line-up (court disputes and everything aside). Bowels of Earth comes after two solid enough albums (2014’s..
ACHIEVERS – The Lost Arc
The Achievers are an electric pub blues band with more than a hint of the gospel about their good-time, upbeat rock’n’roll. Every song on this, their second album, is an original, mostly backed with multi-part harmony vocals. Traditional and quirky at the same time, upbeat and joyful yet lackadaisically laid-back, there’s no doubt this is..
Rick Wakeman – 13/7/19, Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall, London (13/7/2019) Photos: Graeme Stroud In truth I have genuinely never seen or heard a standing ovation as long... Having missed Wakeman’s previous full performance of Journey To The Centre Of The Earth at the Albert Hall in 2014, I was highly pleased to be given the opportunity to attend this, his..
Steve Howe
Amongst Steve Howe’s projects, The Steve Howe Trio is his vehicle to experiment in a more intimate musical environment with a focus on jazz influences. The new album from The Steve Howe Trio, New Frontier, will be released on September 27th so we decided this was a good time for Velvet Thunder to touch base..
HUIS – Abandoned (Unicorn Digital)
Michel St-Père is on a roll. His main band Mystery released one of the best albums of their career last year (the tremendous Lies And Butterflies). The band he plays guitar with, Huis, released their third and best album Abandoned this past spring. From Quebec, Huis are a highly melodic band in the neo-prog style,..
DISTRICT 97 – Screens (MindScan Records)
One gets the impression that D97 are not one of those bands who will sound corny in ten or fifteen years' time. Chicago-based heavy prog band District 97 have revealed their fourth studio album Screens, serving up another slab of their uniquely powerful music to the hungry fans that waited four years since their previous..
AARON ENGLISH – Songs From Somewhere Else (Eronisongs)
American singer/songwriter Aaron English has been a very busy man, taking his music to all over America, Europe, and Africa – where he founded a charity (International Youth Project). His latest release, Songs From Somewhere Else, reflects this diversity of influences. The songs largely reflect a sense of hope in a troubled world, and pay..
PATRICK MORAZ – Reissues (Esoteric)
Esoteric Recordings have turned their attention this year to the works of legendary keyboardist Patrick Moraz, steadily reissuing out of print titles from his back catalogue in chronological order and ensuring that they remain available to the many fans who might otherwise be shelling out for old, used copies online. The ongoing series begins with..
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE – Sweeping Up The Spotlight: Fillmore East 1969 (Floating World)
It’s always with a little trepidation that one picks up one of these old vintage recordings: very often, despite a nice cover and tempting tracklist it can turn out to be a bootleg-quality audience recording which does the artist more of a disservice. Happily, that is far from the case here, as this fairly bursts..