Kiko Shred is a Brazilian guitarist and I'm not sure if Shred is his real name or adopted moniker as, either way, it is most appropriate given that he is prone to extended and extravagant neo-classic solos which are very much in Yngwie Malmsteen territory. It seems that Shred has been appearing in various rock..
Skyeye – Soldiers Of Light (Reaper Entertainment Europe)
Another new day brings a (relatively) new name to the fore in thrilling genre of hard rock/progressive metal with Slovenia's SkyEye releasing their most excellent second album Soldiers Of Light. They are yet another new name to me having formed in 2014 with guitarist Grega Stalowsky, bassist Primož Lovšin and singer Jan Leščanec with the..
Joanne Shaw-Taylor – The Blues Album (KTBA Records)
It seems that every new release in the wide world of blues rock these days has Joe Bonamassa’s fingerprints on it somewhere. Not that that’s a bad thing – on the contrary, as well as being the world’s foremost blues guitarist, his mentoring and production skills and marketing acumen seem to sprinkle a little stardust..
Starlite Campbell Band – The Language Of Curiosity (Supertone Records)
There is a flourishing underground scene right now, of musical acts – soloists, duos, trios and full bands – who take their cues from the sixties and seventies, insist on using vintage gear and techniques, and present themselves in retro fashion, but with original material and a modern take on the world. The scene has..
Brainstorm – Wall Of Skulls (AFM Records)
It is now three years since the ever impressive German power metal band Brainstorm released the magnificent Midnight Ghost which, by seeming popular appeal, was deemed to be the greatest album that the band had released. This is some praise indeed when we consider that the band was formed way back in 1989 and had..
CARAVAN – It’s None Of Your Business (Madfish)
Following hot on the heels of their recently released 37-disc box set, Caravan release their first studio album since 2013’s Paradise Filter, a collection of nine songs plus a short instrumental; an album the band claim is mainly influenced by ‘the restrictions imposed on society over the past eighteen months.’ None Of Your Business was,..
Midnite City – Itch You Can’t Scratch (Roulette Media Records)
Midnite City is a melodic rock band from the UK with Itch You Can't Scratch being the third album to date which is rather prolific given that the band was only founded in 2017. They have that classic hair metal sound that took the world by storm in the '80s with the band taking the..
Avalanche – Second Hand Band EP (Sliptrick Records)
Avalanche is a band from the Sydney area and is a typical Australian group in as much as it specialise in down and dirty, truly gritty rock and roll that kicks you in the balls and then drinks your beer! I guess that if you distilled every Aussie rock band then what you would have..
Himmellegeme – Variola Vera (Karisma Records)
So much for the difficult sophomore album, this is a classic! What a wonderful find this one is. This is a band from Bergen that has been rather casually labelled psychedelic but that would be a potentially misleading definition. Yes, there are echoes here of the psychedelic revival of recent years, but this is mixed..
Robin Red – Robin Red (Frontiers Music)
This is the debut album by Swedish rock vocalist Robin Red who you may know as the singer with the Swedish melodic rock band Degreed. He has now released his debut solo album which has a definite Degreed feel about it but this is only to be expected given his wonderful voice which is so..