Panic Office - 'Blue Hour' (self released) 5/5

A great pleasure of doing a radio show over an extended period of time is when you find a promising young band at the very start of their career and see them mature and develop into an act that can cut it with the very best of them. Case in point is Somerset band Panic Office. Back in early 2007, this lot were a bunch of sixth formers who had just issued 'Ghost Music' an album length demo that showed a musical maturity way beyond their tender years. That album was highly rated in our album of the year round up, and still picks up airplay on the show from time to time even now.

Now, five years on, we have the follow up record.. Now this record has been a long time in coming. I first heard demo versions of some of the songs on offer here four years ago, but with university and other such things getting in the way, recording continued at a snails pace, an odd session here, an odd session there, whenever a couple of the band could get together - with often many months between studio dates. Many lesser bands would have abandoned such a project, but Panic Office are from Somerset and like that counties better known products, fine cheese and farmhouse cider, they are made of strong stuff, and now at last Blue Hour has arrived.

Now you can tell from the off that this album is  real labour of love. The production here is spot on, there is not a note out of place and the mix is crystal clear; like a fine gem that has been cut and polished to perfection. The music is equally as impressive. Blue Hour still retains the Mars Volta influences that was the trade mark sound of Ghost Music, but we have other things added to the mix as well, there are hints of Muse and Radiohead, touches of Tangerine Dream, a dash of Pink Floyd or two even a touch of The Jesus and Mary Chain style post goth shoegaze floating around the sound.

I've been playing this album through over and over trying to select a track or two for praise and deeper analysis, and I've failed miserably. From the opening sweet riff of Through Blue To Black with its double picked guitar line to the chiming grandeur of the closing bars of Blue Hour itself this album is one long highlight. Although I will say my favorite moments on offer are the darkly paranoid Fusion, with its civil defense film voice over, the wonderful mob choir on the middle section of Song For July and Gloriously angst fueled Help, But Then Don't.

Bottom line is Panic Office have, over the past four years produced in Blue Hour a record that many a better known and better supported band would sell their grandmothers to have made. This record, should open doors and lead on to bigger and better things for them, and after putting so much time and effort into producing it, it is the very least they deserve.

In Short - Find it, buy it and love it.

For fans of... Mars Volta, Muse, Tangerine Dream, The Jesus and Mary Chain... etc

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...

Staind - 'Staind' (roadrunner) 3.5/5

Most bands do the eponymous album thing on their debut release, but always ones to do things different, Massachusetts alt rockers have waited until album number 7 to do it, still it takes all sorts so they say. But is this latest offering any good?

Well lets just say its typical Staind material that's on offer here. All the tried and tested Staind trade marks are on show, the ploddingly heavy grungy riffage, the angst ridden vocals, the big majestic choruses with faux commercial hooks. Tracks like Falling with its stadium rock sensibilities, Wannabe with its Queens of the Stone Age / Static X vibe and post core growled bridge; the Pearl Jam / Soundgarden influenced Take A Breath etc all go to show this is a band who know their sound, their influences and their audience and aint gonna change a thing. And there is nothing wrong with that, bands like AC/DC, Motorhead, Status Quo etc have been sticking to their tried and tested formulas for years with no real ill effects, so as long as Staind themselves are happy then long may they continue.

I will admit I've never been a huge fan of this band, but I will take nothing away from them in terms of musicianship and their ability to do what they do in style. And as mainstream rock goes they are miles better than Nickleback, Theory of A Wife Beater, 30 Seconds To Mars, My Chemical Toilet and the rest of the Kerrang fm fodder.There is a least a bit of real edge and talent on offer here, especially on the track Paper Wings (this albums real stand out track) and that should be praised and encouraged.

All in all a pretty good effort

For fans of... Alice in Chains, Kids in Glass Houses, Pearl Jam, Lost Prophets etc...

Glorior Belli - 'The Great Southern Darkness' (metal blade) 4.5/5

I don't often get much music of French origin troubling my inbox, but when it does it tends to be something worth taking note of. So in the wake of goth outfit Modern Funeral Art and proggers Delusioned Squared (both of whom were album of the year contenders in recent years) I give you this, the fourth full length studio release from Paris based death metal outfit Glorior Belli.

And what an album this is. Right from the opening bars of the first number, Dark Gnosis, it is clear that we are listening to something a wee bit special. the vocals growl and roar like a legion of demons, guitars thrash and churn like satanic dervishes whilst the rhythm section hammer home a Danse Macabre that would blast the very fallen angels out of the deepest pits of hell and into the moshpit. It's as heavy as the gates of Dis, as dark as Beelzebub's own ring piece and and as intense as tripping on mushrooms whilst base jumping off the Eiffel Tower in the mother of all thunderstorms.

Track like Negative Incarnate, Bring Down The Cosmic Scheme and Chaos Manifested, scream out of the speakers and batter you into submission with wave after wave of skull smashing fury. So it continues for the first five tracks, until we reach the mid point of the album and the title cut, a slow and menacing satanic worship tune that lets us gather breath for a few minutes, before the grinding heaviness returns to batter the listener into a bloody but happy pulp just in time for epic and glorious closing number Horns In My Path.

Over all I'm reminded somewhat of classic Filipino death grind outfit Kratornas, and as I'm a huge fan of Cebu's finest export I mean that only in terms of highest praise.

Basically this album is epic in scope, has lyrics like a Dennis Wheatley novel and is packed with dark brutality. What more do you want from a black / death metal album? It's just great.

for fans of... Kratornas, Fleshcrawl, Kronos, October Tide... etc

Rose Funeral - 'Gates Of Punishment' (metalblade) 3.5/5

Sadly, these days Ohio death core outfit Rose Funeral are better known for an unfortunate and bizarre series of events from early 2010 that involved an internet flame war, a popular card game and a violent altercation between the band and concert goers, than they are for being musicians. This is a shame for incidents like that can haunt a band for the rest of their career and detract from the music they produce. Anyway 18 months or so on from said incident they have just issued their latest full length album on metal blade records.

Rose Funeral play death metal in the Behemoth, Cradle of Filth vein and they do it fairly well. There are 11 cuts on offer here, and they range in quality from the passable to the fairly noteworthy. There is nothing too out of the ordinary on this album. On the opening track, Legions of Ruination, you have the standard Black Sabbath cloned intro, all doomy and rain soaked sound effects, so beloved of death bands since the beginning of time, that rips into a relentlessly paced Behemoth style work out with death grunt vocals and the obligatory melodic shred guitar solo, which leads into the very similar sounding Grotesque Indulgence. 0/10 for originality, but I'll still give it a good 8/10 for delivery. Beyond The Entombed features are rather short and seemingly pointless piano intro before ripping into more standard deathcoreisms including the obligatory doom plod middle bit.

However it does get better. False Divine (which features a guest appearance from Morbid Angels Steve Divine) couples blindly fast sections that has a touch of the Napalm Deaths about them, with some machine gun vocal delivery with a Corpse Grinder style sludge middle section and a nice dark synth driven conclusion. Arise Infernal Existence has a middle section that heads off into Pallas / Pendragon progressive rock territory; and Malignant Amour (which features another guest vox-box, this time opera diva Kate Alexander) is a tasty cut that sounds like Within Temptation resurrected for a staring role in a George Romero movie.

For me though the stand out track is the closer Gates Of Punishment, a true epic that has touch of the early Slayers and classic Amon Amarth about it and an orchestral section that tips the hat towards Imperial Vengeance.

Now this album is in no way a classic and doesn't stand up to recent releases from the likes of Fornost Arnor, Fortune Favours The Brave and the aforementioned Imperial Vengence. But it aint to bad either. In the blurb that came with my promo copy the band say that they are looking at each new album they release as "a huge climb in sound from now on.", and if they can put the whole 'Uno-gate' saga behind them and consontrate on developing their sound they could, given time turn into an outfit of real note.


In short - A good album from a young band on their way up

For Fans of..  Behemoth, Cradle of Filth, Not Above Evil, Berserker... etc

Crowned By Fire - 'Prone To Destroy' (Digital Media Records) 4/5

I gotta admit I knew naff all about Los Angeles metal merchants Crowned By Fire until this opus arrived in my inbox. Apparently vocalist John Fitterer is one of Californias leading tattoo artists and body piercers, whilst guitarist Justin Manning's regular day job is as roadie, personal assistant and guitar tech to a certain Zak Wylde. Now according to the bumpf that came with this, this album was actually recorded a few years ago during a tour of Italy and has seen a local release in the US, but now has gone world wide thanks to a new deal with the label Digital Media.

Now to be honest as far as metal albums go, this is a good un. It's rooted firmly in the fertile metallic soil of Pantera, Slayer, Black Sabbath, Armored Saint etc; and whilst it isn't that original or ground breaking fans of good old no holds barred traditional metal will find a lot here to satisfy them. Riffs grind and pound relentlessly, solos are whammy bar heavy scream outs, vocals are gruff and dark without resorting to the cliched post core pig grunts.All in all its a great listen.

Highlights include the post sabbath brutality of Get Under The Dirt. the Motorhead influenced Witch In The Window, Shake the Bag which sounds like St Vitus on PCP, As Above So Below which has a hint of Raven about it and the wonderfully titled Vulture With A Rifle - a track that features an intro riff that can only be described as a real killer and reminds me a bit of the legendary Cirith Ungol.

Now I don't for a minute think that this album will make Crowned By Fire international metal superstars, its far too cult and rough around the edges for that. But it will win them a lot of friends on the international metal underground and assure them a damn good stab at cult status in the years to come.

In short - The stuff cults are made of.

For Fans of.. Slayer, Pantera, Cirith Ungol, Motorhead, In Solitude

Somnus - 'The Stench of Deceit' (self released) 5/5

Over the past few years I've seen Bristol metal-grind merchants Somnus spring from the ashes of several previous worthy local outfits, and mature into an act that has become not only one of the most interesting bands on their local scene, but one of the UK's most promising, and note worthy metal bands. Taking their cue from a potent blend of old school thrash, the late 80's grindcore and sludge scenes and big healthy dollops of classic doom and death metal; we have a band that developed a sound that is rare if not unique in UK metal. Now we have, 'The Stench of Deceit', a six track mini album that really is something to take note of.

Opening with the darkly acoustic The Subtle Kiss Before The Slaughter, a track that wouldn't sound out of place on an Ambix record, Somnus serve up a platter of killer tracks that leave all and sundry no doubt that they are a band that means business. The subtle kiss of the opener soon gives way to Nothing Left But Ashes, a full on brutal assault on the ear drums that provides a perfect soundtrack for the social paranoia of a post 9/11 world. Vocalist James Matthew Wragg spits anger and rage not in a style not unlike Johnny Doom (of Doom / Police Bastard fame), but manages also to deliver some powerful melodic lines as well, without resorting to the cliched post emo vocalisations so beloved of so many of the modern metalcore wannabes.

And so it continues, Killer sees the rhythm section of Jason Cole and Joe Christmas, working up a righteous frenzy that perfectly counterpoints the angry vocals and venomous lyrics; The Stench of Deceit features some relentless riffage from Darren 'Baz' Barrett, has all the attack and brutality of American soldiers attending an Iraqi wedding and again some excellent lyrics and an incredible vocal performance from Mr Wragg. H.I.V. is a blindly fast paced, whiplash inducing thrash out with blast beats a-go-go, that stirs memories of the likes of Sore Throat and the aforementioned Amebix; whilst closer A Better Place - the albums true stand out track delivers all the above and once more contains some wonderfully biting and insightful lyrics. I mean any song that delivers the line '...suicidal monkeys on L.S.D.' has gotta be worth checking out.

In a time where the UK metal scene is awash with third rate metalcore bands with nothing to say, bands like Somnus stand head and shoulders above the rest and come as a real breath of fresh air. I really can't praise this band and this album highly enough. But don't take my world for it, Buy it, play it loud and love it forever.

For fans of... Doom, Anterior, Sore Throat, Amebix, Napalm Death, Carcass, 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

House Of Lords - 'Big Money' (frontiers records) 2.5/5

OK, for those who don't know, a quick history lesson. Back in the 70's there was an American pomp rock outfit called Angel, rock gods in the US, virtual unknowns in Europe, They split in the early 80's and keys player Greg Guffria put his own outfit together under the name Guffria. Two albums later a certain Gene Simmonds decided to sign them to his own label and got them to change the name to House of Lords and brought in vocalist James Christian. From the late 80's til the early 90's they put out a string of three very high quality soft metal albums, made distinctive by Guffiras sharp and edgy synth work, Christians husky but sweet vocalisations and some first rate song writing. The band split in 1993, but since then there have been several reformations with numerous personnel changes.

Which brings us to the bands latest reincarnation and their latest studio release Big Money. Now right from the off you can tell there is something vital missing on this album. House of Lords was always Greg Guffiras band in all but name, it was his song writing and inspired synth playing that made them stand out from the crowd. And sadly Mr Guffira is not involved in this latest incarnation of the band. His replacement, Jeff Kent does a fair job, and on a couple of tracks, most noticeably the songs  Living In A Dream World and Run For Your Life, he does manage to keep the classic of spirit of House of Lords alive, these are two tracks that retain all the majesty and epic soundscapes that made House of Lords a stand out outfit.

But sadly two good songs do not a good album make. The rest of this opus is to be honest a big disappointment. The rest of the tracks are fairly limp hair metal headbangers meets light weight stadium rock anthems, that sound over all like a collection of Warrent b-sides; forgettable, uninspiring and to be honest not very good. Big Money, One Man Down, Hologram, Once Twice... all the rest is a catalogue of disappointment. However the real let down comes from the power ballad, The Next Time I Hold You, one of the most cliche soft-rock-love-song-by-numbers I've ever had the misfortune of hearing, a song that is so sickly it could possibly induce type 2 diabetes in the listener. And it's made all the worse by the fact it's coming from the band who recorded Remember My Name, one of the greatest rock ballads of all time.

Don't get me wrong, this album is well performed by talented musicians, but House Of Lords set themselves a very very high standard over those early albums and Big Money comes nowhere near to the standard the band themselves set.

For fans only

for fans of... Saga, Styx, Loverboy Warrent

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...

Screaming Eyes - 'Greed' (this is core records) 4.5/5

It's metalcore time again kiddies, but this time we have a twist, Screaming Eyes are not a bunch of hopefuls from some bland south east English dormitory town; they are infact from Piedmont in Italy.

Now I'll admit that the fact these guys are Italian came as a bit of a suprise to me. Not cos I doubt the Italians ability to play great music - everyone from PFM to Speedjackers and Deluded By Lesbians has proved Italy rocks with the best of them; its just that Screaming Eyes sound so English. Sounding like a mixture of Skin The Pig and Malefice they have produced a really rather remarkable little opus that stands proud alnong side, if not above the very best of the current UK metalcore scene.

There are 10 tracks on offer here. Ten slices of shear musical brutality that grab you by the sonic short and curlies and pull with all the power they can muster, and they can muster a lot of power. The opening track Sentenced smacks you round the head like a few tonnes of dolomite marble dropped from a great height and other tracks like My Reason, My Fire and Cash-O-Crazy just explode from the speakers and leave your ears feeling a bit like Pompeii after the big one.

However as I said before when there is a big genre scene around you need a trick or two under your toga to make you stand out from the plebeians, and fortunately Screaming Eyes have just that. The instrumental And Nothing Else Shall Remain is a wonderful moment of musical tranquility amid the pound and bludgeon that wouldn't sound out of place on a Goblin soundtrack to a Dario Argento movie, One Last Trip features a melodic middle section that springs out of nowhere and teasing lifts you out of the metallic hellfest, only to throw you back in head first and the closer Dream Pt.9 has a couple of very strange progressive type sections that make me think of Amon Duul II for some reason.

Basically this is a great record - Buy It NOW

For fans of... As I lay Dying, Skin The Pig, Malefice, Anterior, Trivium 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

Weapon - 'Set The Stage Alight (30th Anniversary Edition)' (weaponrock) 4.5/5

No matter how old I get, I will always take comfort in the fact that my teenage years and early 20's were set to the soundtrack of two of the UK's greatest musical movements, The '77 punk boom, and the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. So its always a pleasure to rediscover gems from that era that you last rocked out to many years ago. so with that in mind I give you this re-issued and updated version of Weapons classic 1981 opus Set The Stage Alight.

I used to have this album on cassette back in the day, and it was a bit of a permanent fixture in my Walkman for a year or so until it went the way of all tapes and became a mass of brown spaghetti wrapped around the play heads and damaged beyond repair. But now I have this re-issue on CD and sitting hear playing through it is like a host of old friends you haven't seen in years rushing into a room at a suprise party.

But enough of the nostalgia trip, what is this album like? Well to be honest its typical NWOBHM fare in the vein of Sweet Savage, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Jaguar, Dark Star etc. Not very 'heavy' by today's standards, but laden with memorable riffs, catchy vocal hooks, care-free guitar solos, pounding rhythms and played with an enthusiasm that so many of today's so called 'serious' metal acts have forgotten how to capture.

Tracks like Set The Stage Alight (a Tommy Vance Friday Rock Show fave in the early 80's), One Night Stand, Midnight Satisfaction, Liar and the rest of the album to be honest all go to show what a cracking band Weapon were back then, and also points out what a lottery the whole NWOBHM era was, with bands like Iron Maiden and Def Leppard becoming international superstars and equally worthy outfits like Weapon bound for the cult status file.

Maximum praise for the four guys who recorded this classic. Vocalist Danny Hynes has a voice that is powerful, tuneful and instantly likeable, guitarist Jeff Summers is a guitar hero in all but mass adulation and the ducks backside tight rhythm section of Baz Downes and Bruce Brisland hold the whole thing together with bolts of pure British Steel. The songs are expertly penned and despite being 30 years old are just as fresh as they were when this album first came out.And you younger ones remember without the likes of Weapon and the NWOBHM you wouldn't have yer thrash and death, and metalcore at all. This is where it all started.

Fans of the band are also in for a treat for this edition contains four early demo tracks, that are if anything even more urgent and classically NWOBHM than the main album, (just check Jeff Summers slick solo on Remote Control to see what I mean)

Now I've penned the above in the past tense, but I, and fans of the whole NWOBHM will be glad that Weapon are still very much alive and kicking, and there is a new album on the way, that if the latest single Ready 4 U (available through the usual outlets and NOT featured on this reissue) is anything to go by should be just as much a classic as this their debut opus.

So if you've not heard Weapon before, load up and check out this gem whilst your waiting for the new album, you'll love it, I promise.

For Fans of - Marseille, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Sweet Savage, Dedringer, Def Leppard etc...

Bambi Killers - 'Invisible ep' (self released) 4.5/5

As I was an impressionable teenager in the late 1970's when the likes of The Pistols, Stiff Little Fingers, The Clash etc exploded onto the public consciousness it is inevitable that I have developed a bit of a taste for punk of the ol' skool. So when I find a new band who play no bullshit, heads down, pogo til yer puke and have a good time doing it type punk, I tend to sit up and take notice. So with that in mind I give you this demo ep from Swansea outfit Bambi Killers.

And what a classic this is. Five tracks of good old no nonsense punk that take me screaming back to the old days of cider fueled safety-pin and bondage trouser mayhem that marked some of my earliest musical fascinations and kept me on the floor at school discos until the NWOBHM came along.

Opening with riff heavy title track, that sounds not unlike a more controlled Exploited, this disc just rocks. Vocalist Cluffy spits fire and venom like a pissed off Becky Bondage on laughing gas and the rest of the band of Pumpa, Muppet and Bom Tarker keep the thunder coming like the good 'uns they are.Get Up Get Out Get Off is a relentlessly paced slam dance floor filler. Weight Of The Morning sounds a little like Poly Styrene fronting the Subhumans and Lights Out is nifty little ode to sexual frustration in the style of The Adverts. All good stuff, very good stuff indeed.

However the real killer is the closer, a cover of the old Rolf Harris track Two Little Boys, played in the style of The Toy Dolls, that blows the balls, cock and most of the lower abdomen off the Splodgenessabounds version from the early 80's.

Having seen this outfit live a couple of time, and can safely say they are every bit as good on stage as they are in the studio; I am therefore content that the future of punk of the ol' skool is in safe hands.

In short - A must for all punk lovers

For fans of... Vice Squad, The Adverts, The Clash, Toy Dolls, The Ruts etc...

In Archives - 'Traitors' (self released) 3.5/5

I know I joke about it, but hardly a week goes past without a new metalcore outfit stuffing their latest offering into my inbox, and this week is no different. This time it's Peterborough noise merchants In Archives who are chancing their arm.

Now this outfit are very new, they only formed last year, although apparently their various members have been around on their local scene for a while, and as 'core stuff goes this aint to bad. Its brutal, got some nice lead guitar work, the traditional clean and dirty vocal interplay and riffs that variate from the fast as frigg to the dark and doomy. Tracks like Lost At Sea and The Oncoming Seasons are the sort of stuff that will keep your average circle pit going all night. 'Core fans will love it.

However, like a lot of the 'core that's around at the moment it is a bit formulaic and doesn't really stand out from the crowd of other 'core wannabes that are bombarding my in tray at the moment, but as long as In Archives are content to cater to their 'core audience and not seeking broader horizons, there is nothing wrong with that.

In Short - Core kids will love it, the rest may wanna try before they buy

For fans of ... Converge, Pay No Respect, The Bled, Skin The Pig

Black Iris - 'Black Iris' (self released) 3.5/5

It's metal time again, and this time it's Surrey outfit Black Iris who are stepping up to the plate with this four tracker to see if they can stand out from all the other hopefuls.

Well things start off promisingly. This ep's opener The Tangled Web We Weave is a bit of a classic of epic proportions, eight minutes long, nice melodic vocals counter pointed with the usual pig grunting, some fast and intense riffage and a slick widdly yet tuneful wah wah guitar solo. And thus it continues. It's Only Just Begun has hint of the old Iron Maidens to it - even to extent of sounding a tad like Phantom of the Opera on its lead break. Better Luck Tomorrow wouldn't be out of place on an Alter Bridge album whilst closer (and this ep's stand out track) Heart Still Beats is as tasteful a slice of contemporary commercial metal as anything the likes of Bullet For My Valentine, Avenged Sevenfold or Killswitch Engaged could cook up.

Don't get me wrong, this ep isn't perfect, it sounds a tad too generic to be truly remarkable, but Black Iris are a young band with their first release and they show enough talent here to show that given time and guidance they could develop into something a bit special.

In Short - Worth a look.

For Fans Of.. Killswitch Engaged, Alter Bridge, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine.

Anterior - 'Echoes Of The Fallen' (metal blade) 5/5

I have been hearing good things about Anterior for sometime, nearly every band I've had on the show over recent months has been tipping them as the next big thing in UK metal, and now at last we have Echos of The Fallen, the debut album from this hotly tipped outfit. So does it live up to the expectation and hype?

The answer is a simple YES. It's been a long time since I've come across an album by a British metal band that has hit me with so much wow factor. It's tight, powerful, slick, controlled and played to absolute perfection. Echoes Of The Fallen straddles the gap between thrash and mainstream metal. You get blasts that echo (pun intended) 'The Force' - Onslaughts incredible 1986 album, the mark by which all British thrash shall be measured, yet other sections are pure Judas Priest / Iron Maiden - melodic harmony guitar lines a-go-go and then there are hints of other greats here Dragonforce, Black Sabbath, Saxon, Marshall Law... all the good stuff.

A track by track breakdown is not called for here, for every number is a complete gem but a few highlights include: the epic opening of To Live Not Remain;  some wonderfully doomy riffage in By Horror Haunted; the brain bludgeoning brutality of opening to The Evangelist - a track that resolves into something so epic Dragonforce would sell their souls to have penned; the face melting intensity of Venomous; the sublime lead guitar work on Senora de las Sombras... I could go on, but you get the picture. Basically there is not a weak moment on show here, this album is just 44 minutes of metallic heaven.

Remember this is a debut album from a fairly new band, and if they are this good at the start, just imagine what they can be once they have got a few more releases under their belt and done a few tours to hone their already impressive sound... I have a feeling we just might be witnessing here the birth of the new metal gods.

In short this is an album that MUST be added to the collection of everyone who claims to be a metal fan.

For Fans of... Slayer, Trivium, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dragonforce etc etc etc...

Fall Against Fate - 'If Not For Ourselves' (self released) 4.5/5

As I keep saying, there is an awful lot of quality metal core around in the UK at the moment, and the bar has been set very high by the likes of Cinderfall and Terakai etc, so it's getting hard and harder for any band in the that genre to stand out from the crowd. So next up for the high jump we have Fall Against Fate from Hertfordshire with their second album 'If Not For Ourselves'. Can they clear the bar and give us something to take notice of?

Well the good news is that not only do FAF clear said bar, but they have also raised it to a new level. This album ranks among the very best of what this genre has to off. It' powerful, intense, brutal and slick, yet at the same time shows enough invention, melody and intelligence to mark it out as something beyond the ordinary, something to hail as genre defining.

Every track here is something special, from the semi commercial melody's of So Real, to the Rolo Tomassi like Le Corps and the wonderfully titled mini epic I Hate Godzilla, He Destroys Cities (funny I love Godzilla for the same reason), each track is a real gem that entertains, brutalises, enthralls and enraptures at the same time. Amazing stuff.

So in conclusion if you like your metalcore then buy this album. And if your in a band that plays metal core pay special attention, for this is the album that sets the standard.

For fans of...  Pay No Respect, Maliface, Rolo Tomassi, Cindersfall etc...

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...