Photo: Deaf Music Unfortunately, with a heavy heart we have to postpone the release of the new ACCEPT album Too Mean To Die from January 15th to January 29th 2021. Due to a COVID-19 related pressing plant closure the finished product has been massively delayed so that the planned release on Jan 15th 2021 cannot be kept. We are..
THE DUST CODA – New single ahead of forthcoming album
The Dust Coda is thrilled to begin the new year with their second single Breakdown, taken from their forthcoming full length album Mojo Skyline set for release on 26th March 2021.Breakdown sees the band developing a more mature song-writing direction; the track is a classic hard rock anthem, but there is nothing obvious about it...
Grande Royale – Carry On (The Sign Records)
I reviewed Grande Royale's last release a year ago, almost to the day. That album Take It Easy had a distinctly southern rock flavour to it, being packed with great tuneful chunks of classic but contemporary southern rock, juicy riffs, great lead licks, melodic vocals and thundering bass lines, with plenty of variety along the..
HUMBLE PIE – The Atlanta Years (SFM)
This rather interesting two-disc set has, in fact been released before, albeit with slightly different tracklisting and completely different packaging, some fifteen years ago. It wasn't exactly a high profile release, however, and in all likelihood escaped the notice of all but a few die-hards, so it's well worth having it available again. What we..
Transatlantic – The Absolute Universe: Forevermore (InsideOut)
They make Tales From Topographic Oceans look like a 45 rpm single... It's fair to say that Transatlantic are not exactly renowned for subtlety or brevity. The much-lauded supergroup doesn't do anything small, consistently crafting immense prog epics that seem loftier with each new release. Now, twenty-something years into their existence, they are taking 'epic'..
Rhinoceros – The Elektra Albums 1968-1970 (Esoteric)
This release is a great insight into one of those bands in the late 60s that genuinely underachieved despite producing music that was as good as most of the bigger bands around them at the time. Let’s start with a quick question: how many bands can you list with an animal as part of their..
MARIUSZ DUDA – The Soul Of The Shaded Woods
Mariusz Duda began his extraordinary musical journey back in the late nineteen nineties, as a member of bands such as Xanadu before, in 2001, joining the band with which he’s become better known for fronting, atmospheric progmeisters Riverside. The band were started by Piotr Grudzinski (guitar), Piotr Kozieradzki (Drums) and Jacek Melnicki (keyboard), and the..
Curved Air – The Albums 1970-1973 (Esoteric)
Meticulous attention to detail... what a beauty. Without wishing to sound like a broken record (or even acknowledging that pun), I have to again recognize Esoteric's admirable dedication and meticulous attention to detail with their tireless reissue campaign over the years. Dusting off ancient back catalogues of countless bands and artists and propelling them back..
Project Alacazar – Lost in Centralia (Guitar One Records)
I remember reviewing the Project Alcazar album Reason For A Decade which came out around 2006 but I seem to think the album didn't make it to my former publication, The Classic Rock Society until around 2008 and I recall it being a rather splendid classics inspired guitar driven instrumental work with some pretty impressive..
Voodoo Circle – Locked And Loaded (AFM Records)
Whenever you see the name Voodoo Circle then you know that you are going to get a really hard rocking album of the finest quality heavy metal available. They are yet another wonderful German rock band and was put together by the guitarist Alex Beyrodt (Silent Force/Primal Fear) in 2008 to allow him to indulge..