LONDON’S POP-INFUSED PROG ROCK QUARTET KYROS SIGN TO WHITE STAR RECORDS Pushing the boundaries of songwriting and musical experimentation, London-based pop-infused prog rock outfit KYROS have recently announced their signing to White Star Records! Home to a broad spectrum of prog rock acts such as Quantum Pig, Voices From The Fuselage and The Paradox Twin,..
True Moon – II (Lovely Records)
True Moon are a foursome from Sweden who are genuinely and interestingly different. They have created a quite enchanting blend of darkwave, post-punk, and alternative rock that eclipses musical trends - a sort of cross between an 80's mix of Siouxsie and the Banshees, early Cure, Joy Division, Sisters of Mercy, The Mission; and more..
CB3 – Aeons
"Stars above, evil below and fire in between, a trinity in peace". The original meaning of the word aeon was "life force", so this new album called "Aeons" is legitimately painting a picture of a spatial trinity! CB3 (Charlottas Burning Trio) are a wacky trio from Malmo in Sweden who have been together for five..
Photo by Mick Morton
Brian Downey
It was Eric Bell who came up with the idea of Tin Lizzie, like the comic spelling. It was on a kind of a shortlist, and I remember sitting there going ‘Nah, that doesn’t sound too good…’ In my mind, I am whizzing back in time to the early 1980s. The New Wave of British..
The Best (and the Rest) of the Traditional Heavy Metal coming out soon (Part 2)
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..
IO EARTH – AURA Preview: An Afternoon In The Studio
PHOTOS: Wendy Hagenbeek It’s big, hearty, confident progressive rock music which, despite its left-field origins, still has ‘IO Earth’ written right through it, like a stick of Birmingham rock. Saturday March 8 2020, and it is one of those grey, overcast days which only England can provide, as if to remind us that Spring isn’t..
THE RAGGED SAINTS – Sonic Playground Revisited (AOR Heaven)
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..
Testament/Exodus/Death Angel – The Bay Strikes Back, Manchester Academy, 7 March 2020
The Bay Area of San Francisco. Not only home to the Golden Gate Bridge, the infamous Alcatraz island and taking in cities Oakland and San Jose but also the beacon of the US thrash movement that included Metallica. With its roots stemming as far back as 1979 - and it is not forgotten as to..
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..