It sounds maybe a little bit outlandish, but it’s just the octatonic scale... All serious beard-stroking musos have their favourite gripes about accomplished musicians selling out to crass commercialism. Some cite Rod Stewart, swapping his rock’n’roll roots for the Atlantic Crossing era of international superstardom; others point at Blackmore’s Rainbow or Def Leppard giving up..
Soilwork digitally release new song part of Feverish Trinity
Swedish metallers SOILWORK have released a brand new song called "Feverish". The track is being made available digitally along with a new version of their last album's single "Stålfågel", featuring ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz. Commented the band: "We have all been feverish. We have all sometimes given in to the temperature rising inside of us, being ridden by a ghost that..
Cloak – The Burning Dawn (Season Of Mist)
I have often wondered why we need categorization of the music we are listening to and reviewing. I can agree that, sometimes, all is needed is to know if the music is good or not, but, on the other hand, even if listening to music is a deeply personal experience (headbanging among thousands of maniacs..
ATOM WORKS – THE LIFE OF SPICE (Mauste Records)
This is 'concept' writ large, deep, wide and imposing. Straight away when looking at this album we had better get one word introduced into the mix : 'concept'. You'll be hearing that a lot over the course of this review. The album is not only a concept album in and of itself, but it also..
DOCTORS OF MADNESS – DARK TIMES (Cherry Bomb Records)
(The album) is quite magnificent in its cowl of self-enforced bleakness. Okay, first thing to start off with here is a little history lesson I think, as not everyone will be aware of the strange wonder which is/was the Doctors Of Madness. Formed in 1974 by vocalist/guitarist Richard 'Kid' Strange, and featuring the distinctive violin..
Helloween – United Alive In Madrid (Nuclear Blast)
Pumpkins Reunited: Michael Kiske, Andi Deris & Kai Hansen There should be a constant reminder as to what Germans Helloween have brought to metal. With their beginnings as a speed metal Iron Maiden gallop and complete with Kai Hansen’s raspy vocals, the band made an auspicious start but it was when Kai felt that he..
YES – BOX SET OF UNRELEASED RECORDINGS
Legendary Prog Rock band YES reveals four previously unreleased 2010 recordings, on the new ‘From A Page’ five piece mini-box set, personally overseen by ex-member Oliver Wakeman. YES has returned to the recordings made in late 2010 to mix the four completed tracks as new content for a miniature five piece box set of recordings..
Chris Rea – One Fine Day (Rhino)
One Fine Day provides an intriguing snapshot of an artist at a pivotal moment in his career. Chris Rea first emerged in 1978 thanks mostly to the US hit single Fool If You Think It’s Over from his debut album. Eventually he would go on to hit the big time in the mid-late 80s with..
Danny Bryant – Means of Escape (Jazzhaus Records)
I’ve recently reviewed Danny and his band playing live in Chesterfield (see Live Reviews section, 14 October). Danny has been around for over 15 years, constantly performing live and being feted by Planet Rock and Classic Rock as a rare talent. Danny’s studio albums have simply got better and better (from a strong base), last..
Mirrorplain – Lost In Paradise (Fastball Music)
"A German quintet on the path of salvation" was one description of this new alternative rock /metal band when they launched their debut album in the summer of 2017 – largely because the album was called Path of Salvation! This was a well-produced mixture of classic rock/hardrock/metal tracks with strong melodies and good vocals –..