Complex arrangements and heavy beats make it prog-metal indeed, but front man Danny Estrin’s one-sided hairy mane and bright white jacket give it a decidedly 1980s glam-pop edge... Shattered Skies A three-band evening in Great Portland Street was kicked off by Shattered Skies, a hard-hitting Anglo-Irish combo whose power rock is difficult to pigeonhole –..
4TH LABYRINTH – BETTER
It’s been four years now since Cambridge-based band 4th Labyrinth released their debut album Quattro Stagioni, and the release of this long-awaited follow-up is very much what it says on the tin, or in this case, in the title. This is Better. Even main man Marcel Kunkel - a larger than life personality who has..
The Ballad Of Jethro Tull (Author: Mark Blake, Rocket 88 Books)
Mick got puffed up and aggressive and said, 'you realise I could take you down with one punch.' To which I said, 'OK, Mick, if you have to do this...' So begins the tale of what happened the day in 1968 when Ian Anderson told Mick Abrahams he was out of Jethro Tull. One of..
LITTLE FEAT – AIN’T HAD ENOUGH FUN (Floating World)
Now this is a very interesting reissue, and one which is in some ways a contradiction in terms. Little Feat, as everyone surely knows, originally split at the end of the 1970s when their leader, founder and general talisman Lowell George died unexpectedly. They reconvened a few days later with reasonable if not spectacular success,..
QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT ON TOUR NEXT YEAR. TICKET SALES START TODAY
Queen + Adam Lambert jusy announced that they are bringing their new tour “Rhapsody” to UK and Europe audiences in 2020, with 16 dates on sale so far. The all-new “Rhapsody” show, already hailed as “a marvel of technical advances,” will kick off the new year of 2020 with 17 giant arena and stadium shows..
Urn – Iron Will Of Power (Season Of Mist)
Is “unholy black worship” a style? In the case of Finland’s Urn – yes, it is. I remember these guys from as far back as 2001, when their debut album 666 Megatons (recorded in two days only!) stated quite clearly what their ethos was. With 5 full-lengths in their 25-year career, Urn cannot be called..
JOHN LODGE
Photo: Brian Aris At the end of the day, it’s just nice to get out there with the old bass and take a few of the old songs with me and sort of say to them “See, I haven’t forgotten you”. Throughout the long career of the Moody Blues, although all of the members have..
Opeth – In Cauda Venenum (Nuclear Blast)
There is a kind of divinity in the darkness that has pervaded Opeth's music in the quarter century since their debut album Orchid floated into an unsuspecting world; an unassailable character that somehow prevents it from ever crossing over into the dreaded 'cheesy' territory. It's like an old, chipped stone angel in some forgotten graveyard:..
Block Buster – Losing Gravity (Frontiers Music)
Block Buster is a new hard rock band formed in Kuopio, Finland by brothers Aarni and Jaakko Metsäpelto and their biggest claim to fame so far is that they were chosen to open for Bon Jovi despite still being under the legal age to play clubs in Finland and have since gone on to support Anthrax..
The Defiants – Zokusho (Frontiers Music)
Zokusho is the second album from melodic rockers The Defiants, a relatively new band put together by vocalist Paul Laine, bassist Bruno Ravel and guitarist Rob Marcello. You may know them from their work with the American hard rock band Danger Danger with Ravel and Marcello still being members of the band and Laine having..