It is sometimes amazing just how many sub genres rock has spawned; perhaps it is part of the human psyche that everything needs to be labelled and assigned to a category. So, we now have horror punk which is a curious branch off the main rock highway which encompasses punk rock and heavy metal with..
SPELL – Opulent Decay (Bad Omen Records)
"Music, like dreams, exists in feeling rather than explanation. In sleep, the strangest things can elicit joy or terror — this is why dreams are so difficult to articulate. Creating music, for me, is similar; often, I'll wake in the dead of night with a powerful feeling or melody in my mind, not connected to..
ISILDUR’S BANE & PETER HAMMILL – In Amazonia (Ataraxia)
One that (almost) got away... You know how sometimes a particular album can somehow pass you by when it really should have registered strongly on your radar? This is one of those cases, and the reason for this is the fact that, when this appeared last year, things were rather heavy on the plate-spinning front..
BPMD – American Made (Napalm Records)
Let's face it - 2020 has pretty much sucked so far. And for the music we love, we have gigs on ice for who knows for however long and even some choice releases are being held back. So when a pearl of an album comes around and it adds a big juicy cherry of fun..
COMBOS – Steelo (Loyal Blood)
Loyal Blood Records, an independent record label based in Bergen, Norway, has signed up Trondheim-based punk / thrash-rock quintet Combos, to add to their 'abrasive' little stable containing the likes of Jabba, Bosakka, Timeworn, Blood Command! Combos sort of emerged from nowhere at the end 2018, as the result of a long line of coincidences..
BLUE OYSTER CULT – CURSE OF THE HIDDEN MIRROR Reissue (Frontiers)
So we now come to the Curse Of The Hidden Mirror, part of the latest batch of live and studio albums being put out by Frontiers Music, a record that has been out of print for quite a while and, apparently, this is the first time it has ever been released on vinyl. This was..
SPIRIT – TENT OF MIRACLES (Esoteric)
Once again we see Spirit appearing under the roaming eye of Esoteric, with another in their rather wonderful series of deluxe reissues. This time it’s a slightly unexpected album getting the treatment, in the shape of Tent Of Miracles from 1990 – the band’s penultimate studio record. They were at what can only be described..
Kyros – Celexa Dreams (White Star Records)
Kyros are a London-based prog rock outfit dating back to 2009 through a number of phases, not least being previously known as Synaesthesia. The name change was for a variety of reasons but it marks the point at which they perhaps became a fully fledged "ensemble" of a band rather than a solo project of..
Servant Leader – Raised By Wolves EP, Part.1 (Leighviathan Records?)
Servant Leader is the solo project of Leigh Oates, of Xilla, Soldierfield, Rise To Addiction and Ninedenine fame. With Raised by Wolves - Part 1, Servant Leader presents the first of two EPs where you'll find very powerful tracks with lots of melody underpinned by real heavy-weight rock. If you're a fan of bands such..
STEPHEN DALE PETIT – 2020 VISIONS (333 Records)
[The Fall Of America] kicks in immediately with a heavy, churning circular guitar riff driving the whole thing along like a juggernaut relentlessly crushing a picnic area. Okay, confession time here: I had no plans to review this album initially. Not out of sloth, but merely because I didn't think it would be for me...