Los Criptozoos - 'La danza del cadáver' (self released) 5/5

This is another lucky random surf find, Los Criptozoos hail from Castellón in Spain, they have been together since 2009, play a highly infectious brand of rock and roll fueled pop punk and this is their second album.

Now what first attracted me to this one was the fact that these lads sing in their native tongue. I will freely admit that my Spanish abilities none existent, so I can't tell you what they are going on about, but there are times when listening to songs in a language you can't understands adds to the listening experience. You find that vocal rhythms and melody take on a greater importance and gives the songs a whole new twist and vibe (I love French rap for that exact reason), and listening to this album is really pleasurable experience.

Blending influences that range from old school Clash / Stiff Little Fingers type old school punk, Mighty Mighty Bosstones style bop-able sub-ska sensibilities with buckets of traditional rock and roll feel good attack and big helpings of uplifting Latino get down and party rhythms, they have forged one of the most accessible and likeable pop punk releases I've heard in a long long time.

There are 11 tracks on offer, each one a real get down and boogie gem of high energy punk rocking excellence. Tracks like Xic Dolent, (whose lyrics seam to be about nuclear power), La Danza del Cadaver (The Dance of The Corpse - that one I can translate) and Quein se queja all dance into your ears and get your feet tapping your fists pumping and a smile on your face as wide as the straight of Gibraltar.

On top of that there is some first rate musicianship on show,  just check out the groovy bass line on the wonderful Ska driven Tormenta de feugo (Torment of Fire?) and the sweet rock and roll style guitar solo on Nada nuevo for starters. The vocals are melodic, direct, infectious and demand that you join in even if your Spanish is as bad as mine the drums are tight and driving and the whole thing is played and produced to perfection.

Basically, as you can guess I'm loving this to bits, and I'm sure you will as well, especially as its a free album (see below for download details), I've now got a huge urge to see this lot live, so if your a punk promotor reading this, please try to bring these guys to England on tour sometime, you will have a real hit on your hands I'm sure.

Just Amazing!!

For fans of... The Clash, The Subways, Stiff Little Fingers, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Blunders....

(Download this great album free from here -  http://loscriptozoos.bandcamp.com/ )

Violet - 'The Brightside EP' (small town records) 4.5/5

Derby outfit Violet first got together a few years back they have issued their debut full length album back in 2010 and now have followed it up with this their current ep.

Now I like a band who likes to mix their genres and influences, and mixing it up is something that Violet do to the extreme. Take a track like Seven For A Secret, it kicks off with a guitar riff thats all Journey style stadium AOR, transmutes it into a nice commercial and melodic You and Me At Six type mainstream radio rocker and then... WHAM, from out of left field comes a wall of snarling and aggressive hardcore style vocals and razor blade riffing, then it spends the rest of the four minute play time bouncing the styles off each other like some huge game of musical bumper cars.

There are eight tracks on offer here, five on the main ep and three bonus cuts, and they all show the same glorious intermix and reciprocity of styles. You really do get a bit of everything, commercial mainstream rock vocal lines, old school hardcore growls and snarls, indie boy jangly guitars, massive stadium rock progressions, touches of metal riffage, dollops of post punk attitude... this ep is really one nice big bowl of musical chuckit served up as hot as it comes. Highlights? Well I'm loving all but the closing bonus track Away From Everything is to me this ones true stand out cut.

Now I know the mix of styles my alienate some of the less broadminded out there, but but believe me anyone who like s to experiment with their listening will find much here to reward them

Highly recommended.

for fans of... Converge, AFI, You And Me At Six, Dear Superstar, Funeral For A Friend....

Bi-Polar Sluts - "Out-4-Dinner" (New Model Label) 5/5

There has been a lot of good stuff coming out of Italy of late and now we have the latest offering in the form of Parma based hard rockers Bi-Polar Sluts, with this rather impressive debut offering.

Drawing its starting point from the likes of AC/DC, Guns And Roses, Moltey Crue this album of 14 tracks (well 12 plus a short intro and outro) has to be perhaps the best platter of hard and heavy balls out rock and roll Italy has produced since their label mates Speedjackers gave us the impressive 'Favourite Sons' opus a year or so back.  There are no pretentions here, just great rock and roll, cuts like Aperiti've, Keep Screaming and Never Trust A Woman just steam roller from the speakers and set your motor neurones slam dancing around your cranium.

Vocalist Mike Molinari has a remarkable voice, sounding like Bon Scott, Axle Rose and Brett Michaels rolled into one, he can carry a tune perfectly and yell and growl with the best of em. Then we have the twin guitar attack of Guix Morini and Federico Arcuri; here are two guys who are masters of their craft, swapping riffs like the good 'uns they are and covering all bases from the Sweet Child Of Mine style chiming riffs on Something To Kill The Pain and the pseudo classical acoustic approach to Sammy's Backyard, to the balls to the wall drive and crunch of Treat You Bad, all taken in their pretty musical stride. Add in the ducks buttocks tight rythym section of Joe Forlini and Paulo Casali (the latter formerly with Italian hardcore legends Raw Power) and you have a band who can be described as truly great performing an album to match.

Highlights? well this album is really one long highlight, but if I had to pick a fave moment or two it would be the impressive single Keep Screaming, the low down and sleazy Vodka and Lime and the high octaine rock out of Listen To Me.

In short this is one damn fine album and one that will go a long way to putting both Bi-Polar Sluts and Italian rock in general firmly on the world music map.

For fans of... Speedjackers, Guns and Roses, Poison, AC/DC, Black Veil Brides.....

Carbon - 'Stand Up' (self released) 4/5

OK people it 'Annoyingly talented young Welsh band time again'. Nearly every week I get sent an album or demo from over bridge that I can't help but finding myself developing a big liking for. I'm sure there's something in the water over there. (Actually I think its because there is a strong local scene going on in Wales where bands hang out together, go to each others gigs and drag their friends along and the local communities generally cherish and promote their local talent far more than other parts of the UK). Whatever the reason the latest bunch to trouble my inbox are Ammanford outfit Carbon, with this their debut four track ep.

Now this lot are young, very young, all of them are only in their mid to late teens, but they have already built up enough of a reputation to get themselves management, equipment sponsorship and a following that assures them a healthy gigging schedule all around South Wales. So what are they doing right (besides being part of a very rich and thriving music scene)? Well a quick play this ep will answer a lot of questions.

Now the production here is best described as competent rather than great, the vocals especially could do with a bit of treatment to give them a bit more life; but that doesn't distract at all from the quality of whats on offer. We kick off with the title track which starts off with a nifty like riff that is almost Tom Petty style rock and roll with groovy lead line from guitarist Dan Phillips, then we get some almost Suede style vocals from singer Joe Llewellyn, all moody post Brit-pop attitude and an inverted James style chorus 'Stand up, stand up, stand up so I can tell you that you make me smile'. The result is a very groovy, very catchy earworm of a track that once it gets in your head is very hard to get out.

Then comes the big surprise, as you play the rest of the ep you realise that Stand Up is perhaps the weakest track on offer. Things I Do starts off sounding a little like very early Rush and develops into a song that is dripping classic indie rock sensibilities and is even catchier than the previous one, features a superb break down passage then an inspired key change that sends shivers down the spine. Then we get Don't Turn Away with a sort of stripped down Tiger Please vibe to it with some cool bass playing and some great drumming that steps away from your standard four four patterns and throws in some tasty John Bonham style fills and syncopation. Then we get the closer Here With You a beautiful simple teen love song, that has a distinctive James Taylor feel to it, or maybe something Leonard Cohen would write if he O.D'ed on uppers. All really really good stuff.

Not only do these guys know how to pen a good tune, but they know how arrange one as well. These songs are wonderfully sparse, every instrument on show is given space to breathe, there is none of that modern indie / commercial rock wall of guitar fuzz here at all and the band sound all the better for it. Even at their tender ages these guys have learned one of musics most vital lessons, that the space between the notes are as vital as the notes themselves, and its a lesson that will stand them in very good stead in the future.

Now not only are Carbon a promising studio outfit, but I've seen these guys perform and they can deliver on stage as well and I've got a feeling that given a few breaks they have a bright future ahead of them.

Well worth checking out

For fans of... Tiger Please, Hefner, British Sea Power, Suede.....

Wheres Billy - 'The Truth Hurts' (controlled volcano) 4/5

London quartet Wheres Billy have been together for a few years now and have been building a fair rep for themselves with a fairly hefty gigging schedule that so far has taken them all over the UK, into Europe and even a few experimental trips stateside, and now they are hitting us with their debut ep.

Now on first listen I can see why they are getting quite popular on the uk scene, cos this ep is a nice little package of five choice cuts of fairly commercial and mainstream but hellishly infectious pop rock that bats from the same wicket as the likes of Kids In Glass Houses, Funeral For A Friend, Mind Machine etc; it's not the most original of sounds, but I will say they are good at it.

They lay out their stool with a niffy little track that goes by the name of Anxiety, that has some nice angsty and angry lyrics 'You are my reason to fail... BUT I WONT', and wraps them up in some nice driven riffage and a sweet short but slick lead solo. With the goods laid out they carry on in a similar vein  for the rest of the release, but each track does have something to offer. The solo on the title track has shades of Dave Gilmore about it, Escape Form The Darkest Mind (my fave cut of the five) has a cool interplay between some sweet jangly almost indie rock moments and some good old school hard rock crunch and chug riffing. Thoughts And Fears has another killer riff, this time sounding like a toned down Megadeth and closer is a real rocker that has shades of The Crave about it.

The vocals are good and powerful if a little derivative of many other singers fronting this kind of outfit, and the band are more than competent at their jobs as well. Over all this is pretty good stuff and an enjoyable if not very original.

Basically Wheres Billy show a fair bit of promise here, but whether they have the legs or the creativity to last the course in a scene already full of very talented bands in the same style remains to be seen.

Pretty good and well worth a listen.


For fans of.... The Crave, Kids In Glass houses, Mind Machine, I Divide, etc....

Mind Museum - 'The Power Of Three' (self released) 4/5

Bristol act Mind Museum haven't been around that long but they have already shared stages with the likes of Royal Republic and are beginning to build a solid home town reputation as an act to take note of. now they have just issued this six track mini album.

In their release blurb they describe themselves as post rock, a term I've never really got, after all when did rock die? and its a term that will normally put me off a band from the start, but as these guys are local and I was spurred on by their growing local reputation I decided to give them a go and I'm glad I did.

There are six tracks on offer here and the over all vibe is one that brings to mind the likes of Kids In Glass Houses, Lost Prophets with touches of Biffy Clyro and Funeral For A Friend. Lots of nice commercial melodic vocals, chiming guitars and slick danceable rhythms. But the more you listen the more you hear going on.

The opener The Watcher starts off with a Led Zep style drum intro and cuts into a riff that wouldn't sound out of place on a Grifter track before firing head first into a as fine a slice of pop-rock sensibilities your likely to hear anywhere. Next track Rat Race has a snifter of AFI in their quieter moments about it and then we get the real surprise, Everything Eventually opens with a riff that is pure Hogarth era Marillion and resolves into another cool and listenable slice of commercial rock that has a Tiger Please vibe about it.

Add in the jagged glass riffage of Gambling Man with its sub hardcore growled chorus punchline, the sneering frustrated angst of The Secret Of Happiness and mini epic closer Seal The Cracks which its semi hardcore sensibilities, Amity Affliction style riffs and KIGH over all vibe; and you have in this album something to make most rockers, both pre and post sit up and take notice.

Basically this is a very worthy offering from a good young band who show a lot of promise, and one you should check out

for fans of.... Kids In Glass Houses, Tiger Please, The Effect, AFI....

Black Veil Brides - 'Set The World On Fire' (lava - universal) 4.5/5

Ok, I've been putting reviewing this on off long enough, time to bite the bullet. Now I know hollywood glam revaivalists BlackVeil Brides are a bit of a marmite act. Everyone I know either praises them as the future of rock and roll, or dismisses them out of hand as 'teenie bopping Kiss clones'  and very rarely I do meet anyone with a take it leave it stand point. As for me I've been living with BVB for a while now (the girlfriend is a HUGE fan, to the point of having Andy Biersack posters up around the flat)  and I  have been trying to keep an open mind and judge the band and their music for what it really is, rather be be swayed by the opinions and preconceptions of others.

Now, as you can guess I've got to know this record pretty well over recent days and weeks, and surprisingly I'm still not sick of it. My first impression was that it was a musically very good record, and I still feel that way. The band are tight, more than competent on the playing side of things, they have a fine line in writing very catchy but reasonably intelligent hard rock tracks, and to me far importantly they are not afraid to wear a few influences on their nylon net shirt sleeves. Opener New Religion has a waft of Dokken about it with Jake Pitts even provides some George Lynch style little widdles to punctuate the song. On God Bless You we get some classic Ratt style hair metal riffage coupled with a nice commercial hooky chorus that manages to keep itself firmly on the right side of pop rock cheese.  Rebel Love Song is a fantastic glam metal rock out that reminds me bit of Welsh glam kings Tigertailz; even the unavoidable power ballad Saviour, manages to keep itself listenable with a Scorpions style build up and some primal scream vocals at the climax.Other noticeable influences include AFI, Kiss (natch) and even some old school Saxon style metal.

OK before you say, "so what they have ripped all their fave elements and made a sound out of it" I will tell you that all bands do this, show me a musician who will not honestly state who and what has influenced him and point where he has used that influence and I'll show you a man who speaketh with forked tongue. The bottom line is that although you can see clearly where BVB are coming from the final whole is still packed in one all encompassing sound and style that is unquestionably  the Black Veil Brides.

As for the band image, which I think provides a stumbling block for just as many people it attracts, all I can say is so what? Whether the idea to follow the glam goth road came from the band, their record company, or a combination of both I care not. It's nothing new. Every musical generation has those who decide to experiment with make up, face paint and / or teen baiting androgyny... from Screaming Lord Sutch, Bowie, Kiss and Alex Harvey, via Twisted Sister, Poison and Mercyful Fate to Marylin Mansun, Slipknot and beyond. Evey generation needs musical heroes to act as a mummy shocker, and for the modern teenies BVB are it. It only should become an issue when it becomes a case of style over substance, and that is definately not the case here. So they are all good looking lads who girls scream and throw themselves at? whats the problem? jealousy? cos isn't it a position we all have dreamed about being in at somepoint?

In short, this is a great record, look beyond the image and get into the music on offer, cos this is an album to take note of.

for fans of... Kids In Glass Houses, Avenged Sevenfold, 30 Seconds To Mars, Ratt, Dokken, Motley Crue etc...

Mastodon - 'The Hunter' (roadrunner) 4/5

Now this is the fifth full length opus from Atlanta psyche metal outfit Mastodon, and I will be honest and say that until now they have slipped under my radar. I was aware of the band, had never really got around to checking them out, (so much music, so little time) but when this little album slipped into the old BCFM inbox the other day I though I would give them ago.

Now things start off promisingly, the first two cuts Black Tongue and Curl of the Burl are both nice and doom laden metallic floor fillers full of some great Sabbath influenced riffs and a great bash and grind feel. Other high spots include the epic space opera of Stargasm, the relentless headbanger of All The Heavy Lifting, the well trippy title track, the headlong thrash out of Spectrelight, the almost folky sounding Creature Lives and the albums epic prog metal concluding track The Sparrow.

In fact with the exception one track, the disappointing metalcore by numbers workout of Blasteroid, this is a pretty good record with much to recommend it. There are epic metal bits, killer riffs, good vocals intelligent lyrics, some well chilled out almost folky prog moments.. all stuff that should win Mastodon fans and admirers well beyond the metal scene.

Over all I'm fairly impressed with my first real encounter with Mastodon, and will get round to checking some of their earlier albums out at some point. Highly Recommended

Wornaway - 'Wornaway' (self released) 4/5

Aussie groove metal outfit Wornaway, are one of those lucky finds. I was killing a bit of time doing a bit of random net surfing when I stumbled on this little gem of an ep. They are from the city of Brisbane and as far as I can make out this is their debut release.

And what a little cracker this six tracker is. Six songs - well five plus a two minute intro track, each one a neat and nifty exercise in all that's good about the underground metal scene worldwide. We get Failure - a corking thrash and grinder that reminds me of Brum metal up and comers and Sunday Rockshow faves Zombie Xtras; The Wasted - a dark and aggressive mid tempo headbanger that has shades of Imicus about it and an excellent chill out mid section. Then there's Living Is A Dying Art - my fave track on this release which is classic Aussie rock and manages to stay dark and brutal whilst retaining a snifter of that trademark boogie sound that under pins most Australian rock. Kissed By Flames features a sweet little introduction before heading off into Sacred Mother Tongue territory; whilst closer Deliverance is a three and a half minute micro-epic that smacks of the band Metallica could have been if they hadn't fallen in love with the money and their own hype.

There is top rate musician ship on show here, the vocals are gruff and brutal, but never become unintelligible. The guitars bludgeon like baseball bats and slice like razors with equal measure, whilst the drums are as tight as Ian Thorpes swim suit after a particularly heavy lunch. All good stuff.

Over all this is a great ep by a band that shows great promise. Wornaway are definitely a name to watch out for.

For Fans of... Trivium, Zombie Xtras, Sacred Mother Tongue, The More I See...

This ep can be downloaded for FREE from - http://wornaway.bandcamp.com/album/wornaway

Cypher 16 - 'The Metaphorical Apocalypse' (self released) 4/5

London outfit Cypher 16 are an outfit that has been making a bit of name for themselves of late having toured places as diverse as the states and India as well as playing shows opening for the likes of Lacuna Coil and Mudvayne. To date they have put out a string of eps of which this is the latest.

 Now imagine if you can a mad mix of Tangerine Dream and Megadeth, and you'll get where these guys are coming from. You get walls of brain smashing metal of the first degree - all razor riffs, blast beats and relentless bludgeon, all over laid with a glorious almost ambient keyboard wash. Tracks like The Metaphorical Apocalypse, I Am Scientist and Lonely Road and all killers that stand up to repeated listening and I'm impressed with the quality of Jack Doolan's vocals. He's got the power, the control and the melody without having to resort to the cliched pig grunt or screaming.

If I have a compliant about this ep, then its a small one, a lot of the songs are very vocal heavy, and whilst Mr Doolan is a great singer with something to say, I get the feeling that on most of the tracks the rest of the band seam to be crowded out and don't get chance to shine. It's only on the track Stone that they really come into their own, and its a shame for all of them really do have something to show, especially guitarist Stuart Deards. A guy I would have loved to have heard more lead work from.

That gripe aside I really do like this five tracker and I would recommend it to everyone who likes their metal intense and intelligent.

For fans of... Awake, Spires, Fates Warning, Megadeth etc...

Get this ep FREE from here - http://www.mediafire.com/?txkmgol8jd89ilt

Captain Horizon - 'El Nibre - ep' (self released) 4/5

Birmingham alt-proggers Captain Horizon are completely new to me. I stumbled on a link to this free download ep on Facebook and decided to give them a go, sight unseen so to speak.

Now I'm glad I bothered cos this four tracker is a bit of a find, Kicking off with Turn Away, a track that reminds me of Bristol's Jebo, this is a tight and well delivered package. Vocalist Steven “Whitty” Whittington has an honest no nonsense voice that has a touch of the Toby Jebsons (Little Angles / Gun) about it and g-man Josh Watson is a real talent whose style ranges from the epic Dave Gilmour type solos to Johnny Marr-u-like sweet chiming rhythm lines.

El Nibre is a bit of a rocker that the ducks buttocks tight rhythm section of James “Mez” Merrix and Alex Thomson drives along in fine style, while Climbing The Waterfall is a fine slab of intelligent commercial rock that wouldn't sound out of place on an album by Young The Giant. However the real gem is the closer Strong Enough a chilled out mini epic that has the ghost of Hawkwind on the intro before floating dreamily away into Porcupine Tree / Darwins Radio territory.

Over all this is a damn good listen from a band who with a bit of luck could go places far beyond their native West Midlands.

for fans of... Porcupine Tree, Jebo, Young The Giant, Sleeping With Giants... etc

'El Nibre' can be down loaded from http://www.captainhorizon.co.uk

Dream Theater - 'A Dramatic Turn Of Events' (roadrunner) 3.5/5

More prog metal now, and this times it's Massachusetts outfit Dream Theater who enter the spotlight with A Dramatic Turn of Events, their eleventh studio opus and the first since the departure of their long term sticksman Mike Portnoy.

Now Dream Theater fans, and there are a lot of them, will find nothing out of the ordinary on offer here. There are nine tracks, all but two weigh in at 7 minutes plus, four are ten minute plus epics and all are typical DT fayre. Slick, complex, perfectly penned, performed and produced. All the hallmark sounds are here as well, opener On The Backs of Angels is your standard Maiden meets Fish era Marillion type of thing, Build Me Up Break Me Down has  touch of the Queensryches about it (old Queensryche, not the sad ghost of a band they are now), Lost Not Forgotten features a tasteful piano intro from Jordon Rudess before launching to some fairly self indulgent widdling interposed around a Megadeth influenced riff; This Is the Life has a bit of Hogarth era Marillion simpers about it with a solo from John Petrucci that is pure Steve Rothery... and so it continues.

Now I can't help feeling that I've heard it all before. As good as this album is, it's still the same sort of stuff Dream Theater have been serving us up for the past few albums, and whilst I have no problems in bands sticking to their tried and trusted formulas, when your dealing with musicians of this caliber I can't help but feel there is a wee bit of laurel resting going on here. Don't get me wrong, there are parts of this album that are just brilliant. Take the first couple of minutes of Bridges in the Sky with its huge choral sound, or the instrumental section in the middle of Outcry, with its complex interplay of rhythms, or Nektaresque conclusion to Breaking All Illusions as just three examples.

But we are talking sections of tracks here rather than full songs. I just can't put my finger on what it is, but I just don't get a wow factor here, not one that lasts anyway. Maybe it's cos Dream Theater have been at the top of the prog metal tree for years, they have always been a band I've admired greatly and their albums have never failed to blow me away before; but recent releases from the likes of Opeth, Spires and especially Arch / Matheos have hit me with a bigger punch and left me with a bigger buzz than this album does.

Apparently Mr Portnoy left because he felt the band should take a bit of time out and refresh themselves before they started going stale, the rest of the band disagreed and so he left, and after living with album for a while I can't help but feel that Mr Portnoy is being proved right.

For hardcore DT fans only

for fans of...Queensyrche, Fates Warning, Awake, Opeth etc...

Opeth - 'Heritage' (roadrunner records) 4.5/5

Swedish outfit Opeth have been around for over 20 years now, and time can change a band, but time has changed few bands as much as it has changed Opeth. With only vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt surviving since the bands formation, they have evolved from a full on death metal outfit via various forms of metal and progressive metal until at last they have arrived with Heritage, an album that can only be described as full blown prog rock, with the metalisms reduced to almost non-existence.


Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing, for although my inner metalhead feels a little let down, my inner hippy is chuffed to bit's with whats on offer on this Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) produced opus.Opening with the title track, (in effect a short 2 minute piano piece) it soon cuts into The Devils Orchard a cracking little track that manages to blend a riff that sounds a little like 'Pictures At An Exhibition' era Emerson Lake and Palmer. Then we have I Feel The Dark that starts off sounding a bit Jethro Tull before moving into King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator territory. In fact the whole album is dripping classic progressive rockisms. Tracks like Slither and Haxprocess explore the same territory Pallas and Pendragon have been probing on recent albums, whilst other, such as Famine and The Lines in My Hand are in the Focus, Nektar and Eloy vein. There are snatches of Yes, Genesis, Porcupine Tree, Twelfth Night, PFM, and the rest in the mix, but yet at the same time it manages never to sound generic or dated. What's more there isn't a death grunt vocal or blast beat drum pattern to be seen.


The performances are first rate, especially the guitar work of Fredrik Åkesson, who manages to do pull off the expected Andy Latimer-U-Like soaring solos and the Steve Howesque twiddly bits with a perfection few can muster. And on the closing instrumental Marrow Of The Earth, his playing can only be described as sublime.


Now I can see this album not impressing many of their older fans who preferred their death and progressive metal stuff, but equally I can see many hardcore progressive rock fans embracing this new sound. Especially in light of the wave of hippy-trippy-away-with-the-fairies female fronted neo-folk stuff that so often gets passed off as prog these day.


This is a good album, a brave album and one that Opeth should be proud of producing. Buy it Now!!

For fans of... Pallas, Pendragon, Porcupine Tree, Camel etc...

The Devil Wears Prada - 'Dead Throne' (roadrunner) 4.5/5

It's metalcore time again, but this time its Ohio Christcore outfit The Devil Wears Prada who are in the spotlight with 'Dead throne'. their fourth full length album.

Gotta say from the off, that this is a good record, and is better than most of the Brit metalcore that's around at them moment. It could be that TDWP are four albums into their career and so have had chance to polish their sound and delivery, it could be that with major label backing they have bigger recording budgets, it could be that keyboardist James Baney gives them a dimension most other hard and metalcore acts lack. Whatever the reason Dead Throne is a very impressive and accessible record.

Kicking off with the title track, we get some great pound and bludgeon with those delicious keyboards giving the whole thing a real epic feel, and so it continues for the next couple of tracks. The clean and dirty vocal interplay between Jeremy DePoyster and Mike Hranica is some of the best I've ever come across and even in the shouty grunty bits, you can still hear the lyrics, which no doubt will make their fellow christians very happy indeed. OK they do get a wee bit preachy in places 'I saw the light of God, walk in the light of God' etc. But I'm a great believer in free speech and freedom of faith, and TDWP have got just as much right to sing about God as Behemoth have to sing about the Devil, it don't stop me or any one else digging the music big time, and after all I suppose even angels like to form a circle pit from time to time.

Highlights include My Question with its huge stacked vocal chorus, the drifty and almost trippy Kansas with some delightful clean guitar work, Chicago with its epic build up from almost nothing to a huge wall of brutal sound, the relentless thrash out of Constance and darkly epic of Pretenders. Hell, white-metal, has come a long long way since the days of Stryper, and music in general is all the better for it.

Basically this is a great album and all wanna be metalcore outfits world wide should pay close attention, this is how it should be done. Very Highly Recommended.

For Fans of.... The Bled, Dillinger Escape Plan, Malefice, Screaming Eyes and God.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - 'How I Go' (roadrunner) 4.5/5

Now I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to the blues. Being raised by a blues and jazz loving father I developed a taste for the pure blues from a young age, then as I grew up and my tasted broadened I also took to some of the classic white boy bluesers like George Thorogood and Pat Travers. So I like to think I can tell good blues when I hear it. to me good blues should speak from the soul and be played with real emotion. Which is why I took a dislike to the likes of Gary Moores blues period (too many notes, no real feeling) and Steve Miller (too safe and souless). Now I have been aware of Kenny Wayne Shepherd for sometime, but also heard too many people making Steve Miller comparisons, so have avoided his work until this album dropped into my in tray the other day. So I thought its time to bite the bullets and see what he actually sounded like.

Now I must say from the off, this is NOT a straight blues album. Sure there is a very very strong blues influence here; songs like Oh, Pretty Woman, Backwater Blues, Yer Blues (yup the old Beatles classic) and Heat of the Sun are all old school blues numbers and boy can Mr Shepherd play the Blues!! These tracks drip angst and emotion and on the aforementioned Heat of The Sun he lays down a solo that can only be described as a real tear jerker (this song is already a walkman fave of mine and I've only had this album a few days). However there are more strings to this guys bow than playing classic blues licks on a beat up old strat.. There are also good dollops of country rock on songs like Show Me The Way Back Home; whilst in other places such as on Come On Over, Strut and The Wire we are heading into Doc Holiday / Grinderswitch southern boogie territory and  the real suprise comes on Dark Side of Love which is a funk blues fusion of exceptional quality.

Apparently, like all good bluesers Mr Shepherd is completely self taught, with his only instruction coming from tricks and licks taught to him local blues men like Bryan Lee, and a stack of Albert King records and boy does it show. His playing is fresh, original and full of fire and emotion, this guy doesn't play blues he feels them and that's the way it should be.

In short - this album is great and a must have for all fans of the Blues and Americana.

For fans of... George Thorogood, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ry Cooder, Peter Green etc...

Crash Street Kids - 'Sweet Creatures' (code 7) 5/5

I gotta confess I was really nervous about receiving and reviewing this album. You see Arizona sleaze fueled retro rockers Crash Street Kids have a very special place in my heart. Our paths crossed just when the BCFM was first launching, they sent me a copy of their second album, Chemical Dogs, and I fell in love with their good old fashioned down and dirty tarnished glam rock approach.I played it almost non stop both on air and for my own entertainment. The more I played the more I liked it, and the more the shows listeners asked for more. It won our Album of the year award for 2007, and still ranks in my top five albums of all time. then came the 2009 follow up Transatlantic Suicide, and last years classic double live set Live From The Waist Down. Both amazing releases that were highly placed in the shows album of the year charts. Then back in the summer I got wind of a fourth album was on its way.

Now you gotta understand the first three studio albums CSK released form a kind of triple concept work. They tell the story of 'The Kid', a mysterious guy, maybe from the future, maybe from within our own id's, who arrives in the 1970's and becomes a rock and roll superstar and lives out all our rock and roll dreams before ending his tale in a set of strange circumstances 'one night in Berlin'. So having seen The Kid killed off at the end of Transatlantic Suicide, I was feeling baffled as to what will happen next. A sequel? the start of a new story? a bog stand album of assorted songs? And whatever it was, could the band follow on such an epic cycle and keep themselves sounding fresh and vital? Well we now have our answer, and I'm glad to say all my trepidation has been for nothing.

Sweet Creatures is another loose concept work, that manages to follow on from the previous albums without being either a clone or a sequel. Here we have a story of a group of young women who are living the seedier side of the rock and roll life style; the booze, the money, the drugs, the sex parties... It's a story that has been told a million times, but has become so intertwined with the whole rock and roll mythos that it never grows stale; and when the story is being told by a band of the caliber of CSK you know it's gonna be told well.

Musically this album is another winner. all the traditional worn-proudly-on-the-sleeves CSK influences are here. Mott The Hoople, Sweet, Slade, Roxy Music, Alice Cooper, ELO, Bowie... all the classic 70's stuff, mixed in with huge dollops of balls out rock and roll and played to immaculate perfection. Hell this band make this kind of classic rock timeless. This is a brand new album, but it could have been recorded at any point from 1970 onwards and it would still sound great. From the 'Sweet' sounding opener Sweet Creatures; via tracks like Alice Cooperesque Asylum, the Iggy influenced Bad, Yeah, Bad, the plaintiff Third Avenue Vampires with it's Ziggy era Bowie hat tips and the glam rock fest of Mary Queen of Rock to the Steve Harley toned Angel and beyond, every track here is a gem of the highest quality. However the albums real killer and biggest suprise comes on the final track Harlot of The Flies. A track with a signature riff that wouldn't sound out of place on a Black Sabbath or Uriah Heep record, a dark and menacing scratched rhythm guitar line, a shiver inducingly evil sounding wah wah solo and despite a fairly uplifting chorus a dark and sudden ending that just leaves you screaming out loud for the next CSK album and the continuation of this dark and twisted tale.

Basically CSK have done it again. they have produced another all time classic opus that should, if there is any justice in the world, turn them from being regional US heroes into worldwide superstars.

BUY OR DIE!!!

for fans of... Mott The Hoople, David Bowie, Slade, Sweet, Roxy Music and classic rock in general

Arch / Matheos - 'Sympathetic Resonance' (metalblade) 4.5/5

This is a rather interesting one. Arch/Matheos are a brand new prog metal outfit formed around the core of former Fates Warning duo John Arch and Jim Matheos along with ex Armored Saint bassist Joey Vera, former Halford drummer and current Sebastian Bach sidekick Bobby Jarzombek and another former Fates Warning guy, Frank Aresti on the six string.

Now with that kind of talent lined up you would be expecting Sympathetic Resonance to be something worth checking out,  and you would be right. Opening with the eleven minute epic Neurotically Wired, this album is as fine a slice of prog-metal as you'll hear anywhere. When its prog it drips all the power and variety you'd expect to find on any Pallas or Pendragon album, when its metal it has all the balls of classic Armored Saint and when they combine the two you have a sound that Dream Theater would be proud of.

There are six songs on offer here three of which weigh in at way over the 10 minute mark and shortest one is still well over five. Yet at no point do they fail to hold the interest. Midnight Serenade is a fabulous slice of moody broody musical darkness that comes over a bit like Mercyful Fate without the faux operatic vocals. The thirteen minute epic Stained Glass Sky is a real classic in the making, with an expertly performed four minute intro before the vocals cut in and comes over like a beefed up Canterbury era Diamond Head. Any Given Day (Strangers Like Me) sounds not unlike Helloween on an Emerson Lake and Palmer trip, whilst closer Incense and Myrrh ( a light weight at a mere five and a half minutes) features a beautiful acoustic opening section that resolves to a wonderfully slick anthem for our time.

 Over all this is a damn fine record, one of the best prog metal releases of the past few years and is a must buy for proggers and metal heads alike.

 for fans of... Fates Warning, Dream Theater, Pendragon, Demon, Evergrey etc

Sebastian Bach - 'Kicking And Screaming' (frontiers records) 4/5

Those of you with long musical memories will recall that around the time Guns And Roses were breaking through with their remarkable Appetite For Destruction album there was another outfit also setting the world on fire. They were called Skid Row (not to be confused with the old Irish Blues rockers from the early 70's!!). Now to be honest I always preferred Skid Row to G'n'R, and when Axel and his crew were vanishing into clouds of drug abuse, internal disputes and  over blown self indulgence, Skid Row did bang out a series of really quite excellent hard rock albums. But they never got the deserved breaks and soon vanished off the radar. But now, lord knows how many years on we have this solo effort from Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach to remind us that the spirit of Skid Row is still very much alive and kicking.

Ok as albums go Kicking and Screaming isn't perfect, but it aint bad either. There are plenty of good old balls out rockers on offer here, Dance On Your Grave, Caught In A Dream, Dirty Power and the like are all classic slices of headbangablity that do have echos of classic Slave to The Grind era Skid Row about them and even the inevitable hair metal power ballad Dream Forever comes over like sleaze fueled nostalgia trip rather than an cliched lighter waver. Then we have the albums stand out track As Long As I Got The Music, a number that shows the likes of Nickleback exactly how modern commercial rock tracks should be penned and performed.

It isn't all good news though, in a couple of places, most noticeably on the song I'm Alive Mr Bach is heading into Theory of A Wifebeater, sorry Deadman, territory (although thankfully without the thuggish sexist lyrics), but these moments are few, and more than compensated for by cuts like Live The Life and Lost In The Light.

Mr Bachs vocals are as fresh and infectious as they were on 18 And Life all those years ago and praise must also be heaped on his side kicks, guitarist Nick Sterling, and former Iced Earth drummist Bobby Jarzombek for helping to make Kicking And Screaming a very listenable and enjoyable album indeed.


Well worth a good listen

For fans of - Skid Row, Guns And Roses, Poison, Ratt, Faster Pussycat etc...

Uriah Heep - 'Live In Armenia' (frontiers records) 4/5

Of all the great founding fathers of UK hard rock and Heavy Metal I've always felt Uriah Heep, have had a rough deal over the years. Despite being just as successful commercially as the likes of Led Zep, Purple and Sabbath, and filling just as many stadiums with just as many rabidly loyal fans, they have always had a rough ride from the critics and are never shown as much credit as their aforementioned peers as being one of the true greats.

Still I get the impression that the band themselves are well past caring (if they ever cared at all), they have blazed trails for UK rock all over the world, First UK rock act to play in the Soviet Union, First into China and now we have a double live set recorded in Armenia of all places.

Now there is nothing too surprising on show here, Live In Armenia is a guided tour of the bands 40 year career, from the early classics like Gypsy and July Morning (a song that has inspired a folk tradition in parts of Eastern Europe, what other band can claim that?) and a whole host of tracks taken from their more recent releases like the Wake The Sleeper album from a few years ago. All good stuff, although as a bit of a Heep fan myself  would like to see some of the stuff from the late 70's albums like High And Mighty and Fallen Angel recorded, or at least performed, live at some point.

The performance is top notch as is to be expected from a group of guys who have been fine tuning their craft for over 40 years. Mick Box is on blistering form, especially on the solo for Look At Yourself, and his interplay with Phil Lanzon on the keys is sublime.

There is one small downside, Vocalist Bernie Shaws haranguing the crowd to stop videoing the show gets annoying in places; 'This night is a special one just for you', (right, so when's the official 'Live In Armenia' DVD out then guys?) - To be fair I can understand where he is coming from, but they surely they could have lost those bits at the editing and mastering stage.

That gripe aside, this album is a very worth addition to the cannon of Uriah Heep albums, a must buy for all Heep fans and a great starting place for anyone new to the band who wants to check out some of the true masters at work.

For fans of... Deep Purple, Budgie, Led Zeppelin and the masters of classic rock

Byron Nemeth Group - 'The Force Within' (digital nations) 4/5

Ok I'll have to be up front and say I've always had a bit of an issue with solo guitar instrumental albums... all that technical mindless widdle the likes of Yngwie Malmstein and co used to serve up left me cold and wondering what the hype was about. It was 99% style over substance, technically superb, but to the average listener who wasn't a guitar wank freak, it was soulless and lacking in any form of imagination. However over the past few months I've had a couple of releases arrive through my door that have made me take another look at the whole guitar instrumental album thingy. first up we've had 'War march' from Sacred mother Tongue axpert Andy James, and now this little tasty offering from Ohio g-meister Byron Nemeth.

On first listening I began to realise that this album is less Malmsteinesque mindless masturbation and more Ronnie Montrose / Steve Hackett style guitar lead prog; in fact the title track from this album wouldn't seam out of place on one Mr Hacketts more recent offerings with its slick melodic lead lines and synth wash backing. I will go as far as to say that melody is the key word here, Yes Mr Nemeth does go in for the odd bit of technical flashiness, such as the conclusion to Frankenstein's Lullaby, nowhere does he make the mistake and let his playing descend into the mindless blur so many so called guitar heroes consider playing. The whole album does come over as a band work rather than a solo guitar album, the keyboards share just as much of the lead work as the guitar does, and each track is a complete piece of music rather than being an excuse for yet another 5 minute guitar solo. And for that I, and everyone else who hates six string onanism must be thankful for.

Just to select a few choice moments; Dream Catcher is a great track that wouldn't sound out of place on a Yes album, I Don't Mind is a beautiful chill out moment and the closer I am The Walrus (yes the Beatles number) comes over like a classic cover by The Shadows.

All in all a worthy album and a must hear for lovers of all good guitar music

for fans of... Steve Hackett, Ronnie Montrose, The Shadows et al...