This is the debut album from Michael Grant & The Assassins, a band seemingly consisting of Michael grant alone, so one may reasonably ask: Who are the Assassins? The answer to that question will have to go unanswered, but when you are as skilled a musician as Michael Grant then do you really need anyone..
FORTUNE – The Gun’s Still Smokin’ – Live (Frontiers)
Fortune is an American melodic rock band that formed back in the late '70s, and has had a career that is more off than on with several changes in musical direction and even more in line-up. Formed by the Fortune brothers, Mick on drums and Richard on guitar, they released their first self-titled album in..
BLACK ROSE MAZE – Black Rose Maze (Frontiers)
Black Rose Maze is a band project put together by the Canadian singer Rosa Laricchiuta, a woman with a stunning voice that is every bit as powerful and effective as a nuclear bomb, and is her staggering debut rock album release. Hailing from Montreal, Laricchiuta is a singer, songwriter and performer and has gradually been..
ARCTIC RAIN – The One (Frontiers)
I am starting to believe that the new rule of thumb on determining a band’s origin is that if they are melodic rock, refined, modern and supremely skilled with an instant and mid-Atlantic delivery then they must be Swedish. Such is the case with Arctic Rain, a new and ambitious rock band that has released..
BLUE ÖYSTER CULT – Live In London (Frontiers)
Let’s face it, if your band officially formed in 1971, had significant roots going back to 1967 and is still a fully functioning unit, then every year will be a significant anniversary of something or other. This definitely seems to be the case with the Blue Öyster Cult, and the celebratory releases are coming thick and..
BLIZZEN – World In Chains (Pure Steel Records)
So, you learn something new every day. I was and still am a big fan of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal (or NWOBHM, as it was of course known), and often refer to this in reviews as it influenced so many bands and not just British too. In fact, I always found it..
SHINING BLACK (ft. Boals And Thorsen) – Shining Black (Frontiers)
The latest project from Frontiers is a sure fire winner, with the well known American vocalist Mark Boals combining with Italian guitarist Ölaf Thörsen (aka Carlo Andrea Magnani) to form a hard hitting and most accessible heavy melodic rock band. The immediate impression you get on hearing it for the first time is just how..
MADHOUSE – Braindead (Pure Steel)
Madhouse is a German heavy rock band that was formed in Hamburg in 1987 by vocalist and guitarist Karsten Krekow and fellow guitarist Thomas Gamlien. They recruited bassist Lars Rothbarth and drummer Paul Slabiak and released a couple of demos, Goin’ Crazy and Madhouse in 1988 and 1989 respectively. These garnered several positive reviews in..
OPERUS – Score Of Nightmares (Pride & Joy Music)
Some reviews are relatively easy to do whilst others less so, and this Canadian symphonic/power metal band definitely falls into the latter category. Hailing from Toronto in Canada and formed in 2005, Operus is a power metal band with a difference, being something of an amalgamation of symphonic metal and extravagant musical theatre a la..
JET JAGUAR – Endless Nights (Pride & Joy Music)
And now for something a little different - Jet Jaguar is a relatively new band having formed in 2014 in Cancún, a city in the Mayan region of Mexico. The band’s name was chosen in homage to the Jaguar, a sacred animal for the Mayan people, and it is so obvious that the band is..