The Ragged Saints is a hard, driving rock band from Finland and was formed in 2011 by guitarists Tomi Julkunen and Toni Bite and, very quickly, they brought onboard vocalist Markku Kuikka, bass player Jukka Hoffrén and drummer Miikki Kunttu. Together, they released their debut, The Sound Of Breaking Free, in 2013 which established them..
EASY ACTION – That Makes One (AOR Heaven)
Easy Action is a Swedish rock band that formed in 1981 and it released just two albums only, Easy Action in 1983 and That Makes One in 1986. They had a very chequered start to their career which resulted in major personnel changes in the band and something of a alteration in style too as..
Body Count – Carnivore (Napalm Records)
Body Count - the crossover metal side venture of west coast hip-hop giant Tracy Marrow - better known as Ice-T - has been around for nigh on 30 years. As Ice-T himself explains on the 2017 album Bloodlust, 'moshing' occurred at hip-hop shows and Ice wanted to give his friend Ernie C an outlet to..
Jerkstore – The Great Time Robbery (Art Gates Records)
Jerkstore is a three-piece blues infused heavy rock band from Aalborg in Denmark with several quality albums already in the bag and a few personnel changes too but it appears that Keld Rudd (vocals and guitar) and Stefan Korsgaard (drums) have been ever present with bassist Lars Jørgensen completing team. The come across as a..
VARIOUS- A Slight Disturbance In My Mind: The British Proto-Psychedelic Sounds Of 1966 (Cherry Red / Grapefruit)
Things get even more interesting on the second disc, with the lost tracks by the big guns jostling with ever more eye-opening lesser lights The 1960s are rightly remembered as being perhaps the most pivotal decade in the development of what we now know as rock music, and that largely comes from specific events. The..
The Best (and the Rest) of the Traditional Heavy Metal coming out soon (Part 1)
In these strange and disturbing times, the music we love is not only still here to put a smile on our collective faces, but very much coming up with at least A DOZEN of new traditional heavy metal albums until the end of April. Yes, that’s right. I will try and say a few words..
Our City Fires – Foundations (EP), Incendia Music
Fostering influences from the likes of You Me at Six, Foo Fighters, Incubus and Paramore, five-piece alternative rock band Our City Fires may be a relatively fresh face on the UK’s music scene (having formed only in 2018), but the Leicester lads are keen to make their mark in 2020, following the recent release of..
ARS NOVA – Fields Of People: The Elektra And Atlantic Recordings 1968-69 (Esoteric)
The first thing to get straightened out before diving into this particular artefact is not the question ‘who are Ars Nova?’, but rather ‘which Ars Nova is this?’ as, strange though it may seem, there have been two bands both laying claim to this fairly unlikely title. The ‘other’ Ars Nova are a Japanese progressive..
Dictator Ship – Your Favourites (The Sign Records)
"Your Favorites" is the raw and primitive debut album from Dictator Ship, the latest band to have been signed up by Swedish record label The Sign Records. (It seems The Sign are on a mission to spread the word about 'Scando-Rock' in all its forms to a global audience!) The CD continues a recent trend..
The Fangs Of The Dodo – The Curtained Sleep
Heavily inspired by iconic super-villains from the Marvel and DC school of fame, The Fangs Of The Dodo are five otherworldly and downright wacky individuals hailing from Bath and collectively producing some fairly dark, gothic, art-rock that will delight fans of My Chemical Romance, Creeper and Evanescence. The principal characters in this stage-show are Count..