Blessed By A Broken Heart - 'Feel The Power' (Tooth & Nail) 4.5/5

Canada's Blessed By A Broken Heart are a band who have come along way since their metalcore debut inspired debut album back in 2004, slowly changing over each release until we have this one, their third studio opus.

Now as I've said before in this review blog, my metalhead was fixed on in the 1980's, inspired in equal measures by the NWOBHM, the thrash explosion and the hair metal outfits of the time.  And its from the later wicket that BBABH are now batting. Playing this one through I can't help but notice the thumb prints of Dokken, Quiet Riot and Ratt all over it, and I for one aint gonna moan about that.

Kicking off with the gloriously Dokken fueled Deathwish and the Ratt influenced Shut Up And Rock, this one had me wondering if I could still get away with wearing spandex and bullet belts and if the girlfriend would object to me getting a bubble permed mullet. It's damn infectious, expertly played, packed with feel good rock and roll attitude, produced perfectly for the genre and has immediately become a bit of a fave of mine.

Tracks like Holdin' Back For Nothin', Rockin' All Night, Scream Like You Mean It and Sleepless Nights boogie past in a glorious parade of the best of LA circa 1987, as hats are tipped to the likes of Motley Crue, Poison, Cinderella and the rest. But there is something deeper going on here in a few places such as on the track Love Nightmare the ghost of this bands hardcore past lifts is head to remind us that BBABH have a certain fire so many of the other 80's rock revivalists often lack.

Over this is a great record, highly listenable and is a worthy addition to the current crop of 80's revival albums that are around at the moment

Highly Recomended

For fans of.... Black Veil Brides, Halestorm, Ratt, Dear Superstar etc......

Goatwhore - 'Blood For The Master' (metalblade) 4/5

This is the fifth studio outing from New Orleans black death thrasher Goatwhore, a band formed some 15 years ago by former members of Acid Bath, Solient Green and Crowbar.

Now I like albums like this, there's no pretensions here, you look at the cover, look at the band name and read the track listing; full of titles like Judgement of The Bleeding Crown, Death To The Architects of Heaven and My Name Is Frightful Among The Believers and you know what to expect. Then you play the album and you get exactly what it says on the tin. There are 10 tracks on offer here, all sweet and neat packages of good old no bullshit black metal attitude that vary in pace from the headlong thrash and smash of Collapse In Eternal Worth to the more controlled grind and bludgeon of In Deathless Tradition. OK there's no marks here for originality, but lots of marks for a band doing what they do best with near perfection.

Vocalist Sammy Duet is in fine form, his intelligible grows and death grunts manage to stay just the right side of understandable and cliche, while the rest of the band support him perfectly by laying down layer after layer of really quite enjoyable metallic soundscapes that should put a smile on the face of headbangers and pit junkies everywhere

In Short - a pretty good album, recommended

For Fans of... Onslaught, Slayer, Anterior, Revoker, etc....

Demon Dudes Revenge - 'An Adolescent Fantasy Vol.1' (self released) 4.5/5

For most of the 1980's keyboard wizard Steve Watts was a key member of Demon, one of the NWOBHMs most eclectic and influential bands.Playing on and later writing the music for classic albums such as The Plague, British Standard Approved, Breakout and Taking The World By Storm he helped pave the way for and create a whole new sub genre of music, progressive metal. Steve left Demon in 1991 and since then has been below the radar. But now he's resurfaced with a whole new project, Demon Dudes Revenge - a project involving something like 20 other musicians, and has just issues this new album.

Now anyone who has heard any of Steve's work with the mighty Demon will know not only is he a mercurial talent but also has a great ear for forging some wonderful soundscapes and wrapping them up in a blanket of first rate rock and roll attitude. This album shows those attributes off to the max. You get some great out and out rockers like the glorious instrumental prog metal workout of The Slicer, the disturbingly driving Tea Cosy Mong and the punk fueled It's Message Is... (Brimstone And Treacle); and by contrast there are some wonderful spaced out and trippy moments such as the sample powered Air Conditioned Ego (a track that hints at the wonderful Hemispheres from the classic Demon album British Standard Approved) and the superb acid soundscape of Damaged, a track that wouldn't sound out of place on a Quarkspace album.

However a word of warning for anyone picking this one up expecting something like those classic Demon albums, while indeed the ghost of Demon does haunt the tracks on offer (and the albums cover for that matter - Demon fans will spot it), this album is far more diverse and far far darker than anything Demon ever recorded. There are no Dave Hill style upbeat vocals to lighten the mood and get you chanting the chorus. Instead this album is dark, in your face and and takes the progressive rock element into places Demon just didn't get to (well maybe just a bit on British Standard Approved - but they didn't take it this far).

But that's not to to say this album isn't one incredible piece of music, that works on so many levels. My personal highlight has to be the three part Glorious Pretension of Being, an epic piece of music that sends a real shiver down my spine every time I play it.

Inshort, Mr Watts has with this project cooked up a rather remarkable album that reminds us all what a talent he is. Volume 2 of An Adolescent Fantasy is due out late 2012 - I for one can't wait.

Very Highly Recommended

For fans of... Demon, Quarkspace, Eloy, Wim Oudjik, Pink Floyd, Hawkwind....

6FearS7 - 'Little Green Box - ep' (self released) 4.5/5

I first discovered Bristol funk rockers 6Fears7 about a year back, playing in the back room of a local pub as part of a local street festival. I blagged a copy of their debut ep, 'The Sky Turned Black' which received a fair bit of airplay on the show, and their single Break Me Down became a listener fave later in the year on its release, becoming the 'earworm' featured track for September 2011. Since then the band have been gigging heavily all over the UK and are now hitting us with this their brand new four track ep.

Now the bands mission statement reads, '6FEARS7 want nothing more than you, on your feet, dancing your tits off.' and listening to this ep it's not hard comply with their wishes. This ep is a superb nugget of rock infused high energy funk that bounces into your ears like a hyper active puppy and sets your body mind and soul dancing along on waves of pure infectious energy.


It kicks off with Fetch The White Coats, a cut that the Greg Badman /  Michael Goodman rhythm section drives into a sweet funky frenzy that sounds a little like Parliament jamming with Primus and Blind Lemon coming in on the chorus. And it just gets better. Dirty Town (Northampton) is a sleazy little slow funk work out that bops along with a joyous beat that perfectly counterpoints the sneering downbeat lyrics. On Your Knees kicks off with a riff thats pure James Brown and intermixes it with some guitar work from Tom Agg that is dripping Led Zep style classic rock sensibilities; and the ghetto strut of closer Indignation features a killer vocal delivery from  Tamsin Cullum and has hints of early Faith No More about it. All great stuff indeed.

All in this another great ep from one of Bristols most promising outfits. I can see big things ahead for this band, oh yes, definitely one to watch.

Bloody great!!

for fans of... Primus, Faith No More, Parliament, George Clinton, James Brown etc.....

Sunstorm - 'Emotional Fire' (frontiers) 3/5

This is the third studio album from Sunstorm, the latest project from former Rainbow / Deep Purple frontman Joe Lynn Turner, a guy who was perhaps one of the the most distinctive voices of the 1980's. Now I was a huge Rainbow fan back in the day, and whilst I did tend to prefer the Dio fronted version of Blackmores boys, Mr Turner did much to win me over, especially on the Straight Between The Eyes album, and I even like that album he did with Purple. So whats this one like then?

Well I'll confess that I'm finding this one enjoyable rather than mindblowing. This is nothing to do with Mr Turners vocals, his power, range and distinctive inflections are all still here and just as engaging as they were back in the early 80's. However the rest of Sunstorm are most definitely not Rainbow, they do try and in a few places such as tracks like The Higher Your Rise and Torn In Half they almost succeed in invoking the ghost of the Difficult to Cure album, but a lot of the rest of this album sounds a little like a Journey or Foreigner tribute band. Thats not to say this record isn't well played and produced by talented musicians, it's just that I've always preferred to hear Mr Turner when he leans on it a bit and belts them out, but on many of the songs on offer here, such as Emily, Follow Your Heart and Lay Down In Your Arms Sunstorm tend to be content to cruise along in AOR safe mode and as a result Mr Turner never gets out of third gear and his power and talent is a little wasted. The result is to me at least a fair bit of listener frustration, I know Sunstorm are a good band, I just wish they would lean on it a bit more and give Mr Turner some good old school rock he can really get his throat around.

Still, this is an old 80's headbanger talking, and I'm sure stadium rock nuts will find a lot here to satisfy them. Horses for courses and all that.

Competent, but nothing too special

For fans of.... Journey, Foreigner, House Of Lords, Work Of Art, Mecca.....

Cannibal Corpse 'Torture' (metalblade) 4/5

For a shade under a quarter of a century US splatter metal kings Cannibal Corpse have been offending everybody and their dog with their distinctive brand of musical gore-no, and now we have studio album number 12 to shred the nerves of the moral majority and subvert the children of the Christian right.

Now like many of the 'think of the children' brigades hate figures, there is nothing here to really cause that much offense. There are 12 tracks on offer here and whilst listening to this album, or any other Cannibal Corpse opus for that matter, is a bit like watching yet another edition of the SAW or Hostel movie franchises, its all good blood soaked fun. Although this album is played for maximum shock and full of mummy baiting possibilities there is nothing here really to take offense at, and fans of the band know that from the off. Tracks like As Deep As The Knife Will Go, Torn Through and Sarcophagic Frenzy are all nice and horrific little studies in death and psycho slaughter that sounds like a collection of short stories by Shaun Hutson, all played out in the bands trademark death thrash style.

And musically Cannibal Corpse are really rather good, although the band stick firmly to their tried and tested formula of brutal as fuck ear ravishing riffage, blast beat drumming and menacing death grunt vocals, they show enough imagination and creativity to still keep themselves interesting and listenable after all these years, and every so often, such as the bass lick in the middle section of The Strangulation Chair, you get hints to remind you that these guys really do have a bit of talent in the old playing department as well.

All in all this is another worthy offering from the Cannibal Corpse guys and one I would recommend to fans of gore metal everywhere

For fans of... Whitechapel, Hell Hammer, Decapitated etc.....

Stone Axe - 'Stone Axe II - Deluxe Edition' (ripple music) 5/5

It's only been a couple of years since this, the second album from Washington (US) based retro rockers Stone Axe first hit the racks, already the band have decided to give the whole thing a revamp and re-issue the whole thing as a double disc set featuring a whole album of live tracks, rare b-sides and other lost goodies.

If you've not encountered the main album before, you've been missing out big time. There are 10 cuts on offer that take a delightful wander through the classic sounds of 70's rock. You get cuts like the Free / The Who influenced instrumental One More Time Before I Die, the Thin Lizzy inspired David Bowie tribute Those Were The Golden Years (where vocalist Dru Brinkerhoff manages to pull off a fantastic Phil Lynott impression (see comments below)),  We Know It's Still Rock and Roll with its head nods to the likes of Status Quo, The Sweet and Mott The Hoople and the wonderful organ lead Turn To Stone which brings back memories of Uriah Heep, The Moody Blues and Procol Harem. This record is flawless, perfectly performed and produced by a bunch of guys who have a real love and understanding of the classic era of rock music.

Then you have the bonus disc, and the delights continue, from the first track, the semi-psyche rock out of SWLABR to the closing cut of Transmissions Pt 2, which sounds a little like the tripped out sounds of the pre-Michael Schenker UFO, you have one your hands a treasure trove of some wonderful rare gems. Just to point out a few personal highlights; there's grinding and dirty blues of The Devils Hand, the Stray-U-like For All That Fly, the Groundhogs influenced When I Come Down and my fave cut offer The Last Setting Sun, a tune that to my ears has hints of long forgotten New York outfit Starz about it. Hell if you have already got this album its worth getting again for the bonus disc alone.

All in all, this this one helluva album, and with all the revived interest in 60's - 80's rock and metal going on at the moment this set will help mark out Stone Axe as one of the very best in their field. and long may they continue.

Buy or DIE

For fans of... Crash Street Kids, Mos Generator, The Muggs, Budgie, Thin Lizzy, Free......

Sonic Station - 'Sonic Station' (frontiers) 4.5/5

Sonic Station is a new project assembled by Swedish guitarist and songwriter Alexander Kronbrink, and is his attempt to recreate the classic West Coast AOR sound of acts such as Mr Mister, Chicago and Kenny Loggins. To this end he assembled some of the great and good of the Swedish rock scene around him and recorded this the projects debut album.


Now in his drive to recreate the classic soft rock sounds of 30 years ago Mr Kronbrink has delivered the dream perfectly. Using no fewer than sixteen other musicians on the project, including four separate lead vocalists, he has forged a record that is a perfect tribute to those times. I Wish I Could Lie To You - a track that features some excellent vocals from his collaborator Marika Willstedt - has hints of Heart at their most commercial about it, The sax lead Hold On To Me is pure Christopher Cross, The Most Beautiful Fear is a haunting ballad that Foreigner would have sold their souls to have penned, Never Let The Sunshine Die is a cut that wouldn't sound out of place on a classic Toto album.... And so it continues, there's even few couple of nice more uptempo rockier cuts like You Have To Let Me Go and Running Through The Night to keep a bit of beat going and counterpoint the slower tracks.


Now there is nothing here to excite my inner metal head, or titillate my progressive rock side, but as for a slice of nice chilled out late night glass-of-wine-in-a-darkened-room listening this album is pretty cool. in fact I'll go as far to say its one of the best in this genre I've heard for a while now. The whole album intelligent and completely devoid of cheesy cliche, expertly penned by writers who have a real love of this genre and performed by a group of musicians of the highest caliber.


There is still a fair market for this sort of stuff world wide and I can see Sonic Station becoming the Toto of the new millennium.


Very very good indeed


For fans of... Heart, Toto, Xorigin, Work Of Art, Journey, Mr Mister, Christopher Cross, Chicago.....

Mr Big - 'Live From The Living Room' (Frontiers) 3/5

This one is interesting, based on a live acoustic set recorded live for Japanese TV last year, this is the eleventh live album from LA rocker Mr Big, and no less than the seventh to be recorded in the land of the rising sun. (A pretty impressive output from a band who have only managed to chalk up 7 studio albums in their entire career), Now I know the whole unplugged thing has been around and popular for a while now, but my jury's still out on the whole concept. Occasionally it can work, other time it can come over a bit flat and be to quite honest as entertaining as watching paint dry.

With a set thats based mainly around tracks from the bands most recent studio opus 'What If...' with a few old classics like Voodoo Kiss and To Be With You thrown in as crowd pleasers, this one isn't to bad. Surprisingly the high point of this one is the guitar work of Paul Gilbert, stripped of his fx units and power drills his playing comes over as solid and inventive and with none of the hysteronic widdle and twiddle he has become renowned for. Hats off to the rest of the band as well, Mr's Sheehan, Torpey and Gilbert all put in some good solid and technically good performances, which go to show they have lost none of the style and swagger that made Mr Big one of the more interesting outfits of the late 1980's.

However, no mater how proficient this album is, there is still some thing lacking, there's no real 'wow' factor. Take Around The World, a track that features some fine interplay between Mr Gilbert and Mr Sheehan, as good as the performance is you end up think that was 'nice' rather than 'bloody hell that was great'. And that holds true for most of the album. There are a couple of stand out moments however, Stranger In My Life is the true stand out cut on offer, just because of the shear quality of the song writing, nd the aforementioned Voodoo Kiss, toned down a little from the rocking original comes over with a nice sleazy groove; but that's it for highlights I'm afraid, the rest of the record is ok, but damned ordinary. That is until the encore cut of Nobody Left To Blame, when the band return plugged and show all the drive and fire the rest of this album lacks.

Over all I think you have to be a real fan of Mr Big or acoustic style sessions in general to get the most out of this one, everyone else should try before they buy.

Competent, but nothing that outstanding.

For fans of... Mr. Big and unplugged sessions

Halestorm - 'Hello, It's Mz Hyde' (roadrunner) 4/5

Pennsylvania outfit Halestorm are a prolific lot, they only issued their first album and single in 2009, but since then they have clocked up a studio album, a live album a clutch of singles and no fewer than five EP's of which this is the latest. Now this five tracker is in all intents and purposes a sampler for the bands second studio album which is due out in April, and I gotta say if the album is half as good as the tracks on offer then I can't wait to hear it.

Now the first three songs on offer here are real balls out rockers. We kick off with Love Bites (So Do I) a storming slice of dark and deadly kick butt rock that sounds a little like Lesbian Bed Death on a Megadeth trip. Elizabeth "Lzzy" Hale has a voice to die for, sounding a little like the great Doro Pesch, full of gutsy hard rock attitude and gritty attack and here she shows it off in fine style. Rockshow is a little more restrained and commercial, but as a slice of hard rock it is still more than enough to make the likes of Paramour look like the third rate pop band they really are. Daughters Of Darkness by contrast is  storming anthem that fuses tribal drumming, air punching chorus and bang and bludgeon riffage into a tastefully vicious hard rocker that sounds like Within Temptation striped of the prog rock and faux-operatic trappings.

The final two tracks are a couple of slightly different versions of Here's to Us (the original album version and a cleaned up radio edit). Now this isn't really my bag, its a lighter waving ballad, a tad Nickleback or 'Bad Animals' era Heart, but its not that bad a track over all, and I suppose you've gotta include at least one track to keep Kerrang fm happy.

Over all this is a pretty good release with three great songs to counterbalance the one pretty ordinary one, and its really whetted my appetite for the album when it comes out.

Worth a look

for fans of... The Dirty Youth, Lesbian Bed Death, Psycho Kiss, Six Hour Sundown.....

Dawn Of Ashes - 'Farewell To The Flesh - EP' (metalblade) 0.5/5

Oh dear no.... I hate albums like this. When I write reviews I do try to find something good to mention about a record no matter how bad it is, but sometimes you get something to write about with no redeeming features what so ever, and this new EP from LA death metal outfit Dawn of Ashes is one of those.

This is another case of a band jumping on the new and oh so trendy dance-rock fusion bandwagon. There are eight tracks on offer here, three new tracks (well two and one mercifully short and pointless synthy outro) and five remixes of tracks from the bands earlier albums.

I'll start with the two new songs. Farewell To The Flesh and Torture Device (part 2) aren't that bad songs over all, however any enjoyment you may have got from these cuts is immediately shot down by some terribly shocking production; the drums sound like they are in fact boxes of matches shaken in time inside a large biscuit tin, the guitars sound like a couple of bored wasps trapped in a jam jar, the vocals are flat and one dimensional and the whole lot is buried behind an over loud and all intrusive one finger synth line which washes over and at times drowns out everything else on offer. Believe me it's that bad, I've had demos from groups of 14 year school kids recorded on lap -tops in bedrooms that are better produced and mixed than this.

Then we have the remixes, five track, but only two songs, (Carnal Consummation In The Empty Space being murdered no less than FOUR times is quick succession). Once again we have what may have been once good songs totally wrecked by drum machine monkeyisms, mindless insertion of bleeping noises and inane repetitive patterns that after just a few seconds have this reviewer choking down the bile and reaching for the off button. OK it could be that I'm an old hippy and just don't get dance music (I never have done), or maybe I don't do the right drugs; but I like my metal rocking, brutal and metallic not sold out and diluted for the pilled up rave heads.

In short this is one of the worst releases I've encountered for a while, and one I will be deleting from my hard drive and trying to forget about.

For fans of.. inane dance music.

Dear Superstar - 'Damned Religion' (Blast Recordings) 4/5

Over the past few years Manchester outfit Dear Superstar have been making quite a name for themselves, with a brace of critically acclaimed long players under their belts and an impressive series of gigs that has seen them sharing stages with the likes of Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Bullet For My Valentine and Papa Roach, they have definitely been turning heads. Now we have 'the difficult third album' on our hands, will it help or hinder their attempt at musical world domination?

Well having lived with this one for a few days now, I can safely say I'm finding it very enjoyable. There are ten tracks on show here, everyone a nice tight and well realised package that blends modern Bullet For My Valentine / Avenged Sevenfold / Royal Republic style modern commercial hard rock sensibilities with a good healthy dose of old school hairy type Motley Crue / Ratt / Poison 80's metal. Over all the tracks on offer here are pretty good, even Tomorrow, a ballad that starts out and ends as a terrible cheese fest is saved some what by some nice heavier riffing in the bridge section in the middle. But that track aside this album is a bit of rocker, and anything that rocks is straight up my street. OK some tracks like Glitter Just Like Gold and Anthem To My Life are very commercial sounding with some extremely slick production, but as Black Veil Brides reminded us on their recent 'Set The World On Fire' opus, you can have something commercial and radio friendly, that still rocks like a bastard.

Highlights include riff heavy workout of Crystalized, the highly headbangable Damned Religion, the mean and moody Our City Sleeps and hard and heavy Turn To Dust. But to be honest this is a pretty strong album over all and marks Dear Superstars out as far more worthy contenders to the next big thing crown than some of their rivals such as The Famous Class and the like.

Worth checking out

For fans of.. Black Veil Brides, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet For My Valentine, Motley Crue, Royal Republic....

Rock In Your Pocket - 'Gutterdub' (Artscare) 5/5

I'm often asked who in my opinion is the most promising act in Bristol at the moment, and currently I don't need to think before I answer - Rock In Your Pocket, their second single Doubtbox picked a fair bit of airplay on both Radio 6 and Radio 1, it's b-side Ditch The Witch became a bit of a listener fave on the BCFM show and their first rate live performances are becoming must sees in their native city . Now this is not to say there is not a lot of good and worthy acts in Brizzle at the moment, its just that in my mind RIYP are the cream of a very healthy crop. Now have the bands debut album to remind us just how good these guys are.

Now this album is a bit of a stormer, from the noise rock and pounding drum beat intro of opener and current single Nobody's Bitch But Mine to the down and dirty dub and grind of Le Son De L'Argent (Dirty Hands) every cut here is testament as to why RIYP are hailed by many (and not just me), as one of the finest acts in the South West, if not the UK in general.

Musically RIYP are one very eclectic blend of styles and influences; punk, old school hard-rock, avaunt guard noise experimentalism, post goth darkness, a bit of shoe gaze, glam rock, new wave, dub reggae....all fused together into one truly unique sound and delivered with a swagger and attitude that few acts if any can match. Vocalist and bassist Charlie Beddoes has an engaging and distinctive voice, often sounding almost ethereal and distant but always compelling. Her bass playing is by contrast, solid and driving; linking up perfectly with the drumming of whichever of the three drummers this album features, to keep the whole record driving on and relentlessly pounding on the consciousness like an angry bailiff on the door of a council tax defaulter. All this frees up guitar god in waiting Ben Fisher to do his stuff. Mr Fisher is a rare talent, no post Malmstein twiddle and dive bombs or Santanaesque sweet melodies from this guy, this is a man who makes his amp scream and then tortures the feedback The result is a mind blowing wall of sonic expression that really does have to be heard to be believed.

Highlights of this classic include the dark energy assault of Take It To The Grave, the gloriously black Dreams To Sell, the punk fueled anthem You Only Love Me When You're Drunk and of course the aforementioned dub-tastic Le Son De L'Argent (Dirty Hands).

Over all I was expecting great things from this album and RIYP have not disappointed in the delivery.

A classic debut from a band destined for great things

For fans of... Bauhaus, Jesus And Mary Chain, Talking Heads, Stranglers, The Banshees....

Chimp Spanner - 'All Roads Lead Here' (Basick) 4.5/5

This is the new mini album from Chimp Spanner, the prog metal alter ego of Blessed Inertia guitarist  Paul Antonio Ortiz. Just like its two full length predecessors it was recorded entirely in his Colchester based home studio.

Now I gotta admit I do like this one lots, in a time when a lot of progressive metal is inaccessible overly self indulgent own backside exploring djent, finding a nice slick smooth intelligent semi ambient work like this is a breath of fresh air. In fact playing through this one you can't help but compare Mr Ortiz with some of the greats of prog guitar past, Steve Hillage, Steve Hackett, Andy Latimar and the rest, which is top notch in my books. Add in the fact that his backing and keys work counjours up images of the likes of Quarkspace, The Enid, King Crimson, Church of Hed, et al. and you have in this record on very enjoyable and chilled out package.

The main body of this one is the three part suite Mobius, a fifteen minute epic that is a pure joy to listen to as it takes you on a glorious psychedelic musical voyage that is as uplifting as it is inspirational. The other three songs on offer are equally good, especially the soaringly majestic Cloud City, a track that has more than a hint of classic Camel about it.

Over this is one great record and is a must have for all proggers and lovers of fine music in general.

Highly Recommended

For fans of... Steve Hillage, Steve Hackett, The Enid, Camel, King Crimson, Quarkspace, Pink Floyd...

Psycho Kiss - 'Monkeying Around' (Psychic Cliff) 4/5

Neath outfit Psycho Kiss are yet another outfit from the seemingly endless line of hellishly talented Welsh rock bands that are exploding from the land of song at the moment, and just like The Bambi Killers, The Effect, Anterior, Betty Swallaux, V0iD, The Dirty Youth and all the others once again they are upholding the very high standard we have come to expect from the thriving Welsh rock scene. Apparently the band have been around for a few years and have built a solid reputation and a fair following through solid gigging before releasing this their debut album.

There are ten cuts on offer here, each a sweet little gem of a number, that ranges in style from the dark and brooding ballad of Little Man via groove rock numbers like Monkeying Around and huge stadium rock anthems like No Good Pretending to balls out rockers like This Is Love.

Helen Ceri Clarke's vocals are to die for, I don't think Wales has produced a female rock vocalist of this caliber since Catrin Southall of the legendary SAL; there is power and melody here with a touch of the old Janice Joplins, and none of the operatic shriek many female rock singers inflict on us.Add in some fine performances from the rest of the band, especially some tasty lead work from g-man Paul O'Brien, and you have in this album a real gem of a debut release that should open doors for them way beyond the Valleys.

Well worth checking out.

For fans of... SAL, The Dirty Youth, Obsessive Compulsive, Rock In Your Pocket.....

RAM - 'Death' (metalblade) 4.5/5

Apparently RAM were formed back in about 1999 by a bunch of Swedish metal nuts who shared a mutual loathing of the then popular Nu-metal scene, and since then they have gone from strength to strength to the extent that they are now releasing this their third full length studio album.

Now as I have said before many times in this blog, I'm a child of the NWOBHM, for me much of the the early 1980's was spent in various clubs and concert halls around part various parts of England giving myself self inflicted whiplash injuries headbanging to the likes of Iron Maiden, Saxon, Tyson Dog, The Mama's Boys and countless other purveyors of classic old school metal. So when I got this one through my inbox and gave it a spin I was more than a little turned on by the metallic delights on offer here. This is after all my first real encounter with this band and it's ringing my bell big time.

Right from the off you know these guys mean business, the double header of Death / .....Comes From The Mouth Beyond starts off sounding a little prog rock then suddenly launches into a galloping driving riff fest that is pure Iron Maiden garnished with slices of Accept and Marshall Law. And it carries on from there I Am The End has hints of Saxon about it, Frozen is a slower metal ballad that hat tips Jaguar and Under The Scythe is pure Sweet Savage. Other musical reference points include Praying Mantis, Sledgehammer, Angelwitch, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Pagan Alter, Tytan and Blitzkreig.

Now don't for a minute think that just because this outfit looks back 30 years or so for its musical cues you have an album of dinosaur metal. RAM's obvious love for this kind of stuff comes shining through. They have taken the sounds and styles of one of metals greatest and most influential and productive eras, and not only made that sound their own, but have also reinvented it for the modern age; something I salute them for.

Add in the fact this record is expertly produced, penned and played and you have here a real gem of a record that will bang the heads of metal fan s world wide regardless of age.


Very very good.

For fans of... Iron Maiden, Saxon, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Weapon, Sweet Savage, Accept....

Blood Ceremony - 'Blood Ceremony' (metalblade) 4.5/5

Canadian occultic rockers Blood Ceremony have recently signed to Metalblade, and as so often happens with metalblade signings before any new material surfaces there is a little archive raiding, and so we have this re-issue of the bands 2009 debut album.

Now anyone getting this one expecting walls of Behemoth style satanic deathism, or Slayer-u-like devil thrash are going to be in for a big shock. While there is a strong early Black Sabbath vibe haunting this record the most noticeable influences here are more in the Jethro Tull, Black Widow dark folk rock style, with goodly dollops of Iron Butterfly influenced primordial hard rock thrown is as well.

Tracks like The Rare Lord and Into The Coven are all sweet and engaging folk metal work outs with haunting flute solos, jiggy organ passages and seductive female vocals from the hugely talented Alia O'Brien, which perfectly counterpoint the primitive doomy folk metal backing from the rest of the band. The result is an album that sounds like it was conceived and created about 1971 as the sound track for a long forgotten Italian horror movie. And any album that features a short sound clip from the classic Brit biker horror flick Psychomania 'There you go my little green friend' has gotta be alright with me.

In world of metalcore, post thrash, and ham fisted Djentisms, the fact that bands like Blood Ceremony are still out there and recording albums like this comes as a welcome change and a breath of musical fresh air and I for one await their next record with great interest.

A devilshly good album

For fans of... Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Black Widow, Skyclad, Inkubus Sukkubus....

Wim Oudijk - 'Tree' (folkwit / disco fair) 5/5

Now I first discovered Dutch musician, composer and producer Wim Oudijk via his work with Florida based Canterbury Sound legend Todd Dillingham (their most recent collaboration is Todds excellent 'Songcycle 2011' release) and now for the first time I am experiencing the genius of Mr Oudijk's solo work.

Tree is in effect a 46 minute long concept piece in ten parts telling the story of a pine tree from its birth from a cone, to its maturity, its felling and a number of possible afterlives as the wooden horse of Troy, boats, furniture, Christmas trees and firewood. And all I can say is 'wow'. I've been sitting here all day listening to this one over and over trying to work out exactly what to say about it, apart from the old 'fuck me this is fantastic'.

This album runs the full range of musical styles from neo-classical sections, acapella vocals, folk influenced moments, snatches of progressive rock and lots and lots of well tripped out psychedelia. It's all blended together with Wim's distinctive and flawless production style, immaculately played and superbly realised into a spine tingling whole that easily ranks alongside the lost Beach Boys classic Smile as one of the truly great psyche concept works of all time.

This is indeed a work of true genius, a masterwork of the highest order and one that all lovers of really great music should have in their collection.

A masterpiece.

For fans of... Todd Dillingham, The Beach Boys, The Pillbugs, Electric Crayon Set, Caravan etc...

Lamb Of God - 'Resolution' (Roadrunner) 4/5

Well the first of the big hitters of 2012 have chucked their hat into the ring, as Richmond (thats Richmond USA NOT Richmond Yorkshire) metalheads Lamb Of God unleash studio album number seven on the world.

Now I'll be honest and say I've not really payed LOG that much attention, before now, not that I don't like them, but its been a case of so much music so little time and they have slipped under my radar, so I'm coming at this one a fresh and with no real preconceptions.

First impressions are rather good, the double header of Straight For The Sun and Desolation lay out the albums stall in fine style with a wall of post Pantera southern style thrash, gruff yet intelligible vocals, brutal riffs and some fine widdle and shred style lead work, and so it continues for the next 14 tracks.

There is nothing really original or earth shattering on show here, infact there is only the short linking passage, the bluesy Barbarosa, to give a short break from the albums blast and bludgeon. But that doesn't mean its a dull record, there's enough creativity and musical invention on show to make the tracks stand apart from each other and more than enough energy and attitude to make for a compelling listen. Highlights include the groove grind of Invictus, the infectious Terminally Unique - a track that sounds Iron Maiden spiked with ground glass and the headlong thrash out of Visitation. However the true stand out cut on offer is the closer King Me with is blues influenced introduction, epic build up and tasteful use of synths and female backing vocals which gives the whole piece a progressive metal vibe.

Over all this is good solid record, Lamb of God fan will love it to bits, and other metal heads will find it an attractive proposition as well.

Pretty Good

For fans of... Mastodon, Machine Head, Pantera, Not Above Evil....

Betty Swallaux - 'Grinding Betty' (self released) 4.5/5

Just a few short months after hitting the world with a very strong demo release, Llanelli grindcore experimentalists Betty Swallaux are back with their debt album.

If you have managed to track down Betty Swallaux's demo you'll know Gaz Wooloff and his crew have developed an almost unique sound, blending elements of industrial grindcore and extreme metal sensibilities with 'nintendo-core' style electronica, elements of progressive rock and great slices of traditional punk, add in the in your face use of drum machines and loops and the result is a sound that is as near unique as you'll hear anywhere.

This nifty eight tracker kicks off with Fantasy, a nifty little number that starts out sounding like something from a 1990's console game sound track before plunging head long into a wall of glorious Electro Hippies influenced noise. Other high points include Ramstein on acid industrial grind of Deep, the wonderful Give Me Some More, a track that bizarrely wouldn't sound to out of place on an album by the late great Robert Calvert and gloriously brutal Cruel Britannia (in my books the stand out track on the album) with its damning political lyrics and breakneck slam dance frenzy riffing.

There a couple of cover versions on show here as well... the old Divynils standard I Touch My Self is a pretty straight forward rendition in the Betty Swallaux style and makes for an enjoyable listen. Then theres a stripped down and rebuilt version of America (Just Say No), an early single by Bristol band Alien Stash Tin that blows the balls off the original.

Another plus here is the production, Its about as slick as its possible to get with a home recording rig and still maintain Betty Swallaux unique sound and jagged edge attack. Something the guys should be proud of.

Over all Betty Swallaux are one of the most unique, innovative and exciting projects around at the moment and should be bound for international cult status at the very least, and this album will only go to help that process along in fine style.

SUPERB!!!

For fans of... Ramstein, Amebix, 23 Skidoo, Electro Hippies, Elephant 12....

Lay Siege - 'Obolus' (self released) 3.5/5

Milton Keynes hardcore / metalcore outfit Lay Siege are angry young men, but when you come from a neo-brutalist new town populated by concrete cows its only natural that the blood will boil from time to time. Now this lot have been around since 2010 and as far as I can tell this is their debut mini album.

Now there are six cuts on offer here, all short and sweet workouts in the old metallic hardcore style of things, nothing too ground breaking but all more than competently performed and penned. You get all the trade mark sounds you would expect from this sort of outfit; pig grunt vocals, a nifty selection of riffs that range in tempo from the death grind via the post Priest old school metalisms to some sweetly controlled neo-thrash, blast beat drumming etc etc etc...

OK to be honest I'm finding this one enjoyable, but to my ears its lacking a real wow factor. There's a lot of bands out there doing this sort of stuff at the moment, and there is nothing here to make Lay Siege a stand out outfit. Although I will say that there is promise on show, a couple of tracks, namely Snarling Teeth and Solitary Confinement are pretty good and show that this band could yet develop into something noteworthy. I will be watching their development with interest.


Worth a quick look

For fans of... Somnus, Screaming Eyes, Terakai, Cindersfall.....

Future Pilots - "Demo ep" (self released) 4/5

This is the debut ep from Bristol based alternative rockers Future Pilots, an outfit whose personnel are drawn partly from the English West Country and party from the Czech Republic.

Now I'll admit I've a high bench mark when it comes to alt and indie rock, I've heard so much bland and generic stuff in the genre that an act has to be something a bit special for me to take notice. Thankfully, Future Pilots are anything but bland and generic.

There are five songs on offer here, and whilst they do fit neatly into the whole alternative/indie pigeon holes, there are enough good ideas and interesting experimentation going on here to lift the band well above the same old same old bucket.

Opening cut Money Can't Buy Protection has lots of nice jangly indie guitars but the whole thing bops along with a post punk attitude and some wonderfully dirt riffs under pinning the neo-brit-pop sensibilities. Next up is Size 5 Blues a sweet almost laid back cut that for some reason reminds me of 70's folk rockers Hudson Ford with its soft shoe shuffle rhythm and tongue in cheek lyrics.

As this demo goes on it just gets better. Assange, a song about the wiki-leaks guy is a bit of a rocker with some almost metal power chordage counterpointing some catchy clean and jangly bits and a main riff that tips a hat towards the likes of The Dirty Youth or The Skuzzies - oh yeah mustn't forget some tasteful lead work as well.

Take It All sounds a bit like The Who jamming with the Arctic Monkeys, and the final track Comfort is a bass lead gem with an almost Half Man Half Biscuit feel worked into the normal indie rockisms.

Add in the fact that singer Honza Syrovatka has a charming and engaging voice and delivery; and the rest of the band are all fine fine musicians and you have something here that hints of great things to come.

This lot a definitely a band to watch out for.

Well worth a look

for fans of... XTC, Vivian, Having Thin Moonshine, The Mudheads...

Zeroking - 'Kings of Self Destruction' (self released) 4.5/5

I've been keeping a close eye on West Virginia hard rockers Zeroking for sometime now, ever since they hit us with their debut single Stone Cold Bitch a year or so back. Since then we've had a couple more equally impressive single releases and a sneak preview promo ep, all of which has left me really looking forward to the album release. And now at long last we have King Of Self Destruction.

And having lived with this one for a week or two now I can gladly say the wait was well worth it. Zeroking are a balls out hard rocking four piece consisting of Andy Haught on vocals, Chris Webb whacking the pig skins, Shane Day on guitar and  Paul First driving it home on the bass. They play good old fashioned hard edged rock and metal in style of Skid Row, Ratt, Motley Crue and Pretty Boy Floyd, and they do it in fine style.

There are thirteen class cuts on offer here (plus a trio of bonus tracks), and from the opening Dead Rock Star to the closer Leaving Los Angeles, every one is a a gem of a little self contained tale of feel good rock and roll debauchery, sleazy sexuality and good time party flashbacks. We get the classic in the making Girls Of California with its epic acapella opening line "You know your bound for stardom when the girls of California wanna fuck you..."; the sleazy party anthem (and my fave cut on offer) of Southern Lady, Ex-Godiva, the barnstorming Showtime Revolution and the riff driven floor filler of The Party's Over. But to be honest there's not a weak link on the entire record. Even the unavoidable ballad Valentine is a sweet little track with some tasteful cello work to lift it above the ordinary.

As for the band, Mr Haught's vocals are distinctive, powerful and engaging - managing to sound something like Sebastian Bach and Blackie Lawless. The rhythm section as tight as tailor made fetish gear and the guitar work of Shane Day is most enjoyable both for his grinding riffage and his intelligent lead work. (special praise to him for the solo on Black Friday).

Over all this is a damn fine debut from a band who deserve to be better know, and is well worth anyones time checking out.

Highly Recommended

For fans of... Motley Crue, Trucker Diablo, Crash Street Kids, Ratt, Skid Row.....

Not Above Evil - 'The Transcendental Signified' (self released) 4/5

Early last year I received a copy of 'Deification', the debut full length release by Manchester multi influenced metal outfit Not Above Evil. Sadly I didn't review it as I wasn't running this blog at the time, but I played a few tracks off it on BCFM, and it got good feedback, and the Radio Satan 666 listeners loved it; so marked them down on my mental list as ones to watch. Now, less than  year later Sideeq Mohammed and his crew have issued their second album The Transcendental Signified.

Now this is pretty good, NAE take their musical cues from a number of diverse influences. There are large slices of Behemoth and Bathory style black metal in their sound, a fair bit of old school Slayer type thrash as well, and then, just to take the edge off the bang and bludgeon there are bits of Lamb Of God and Mastodon-U-Like southern metal thrown in the mix as well. The result is most pleasing to the ear and makes for a far more complete and rounded sound than on the preceding Deification opus. It's almost as if NAE have come of age musically.


All the extremely brutal slash smash and slay of the proceeding album is here in abundance. Tracks like the opener Crossroads crawl from the speakers dripping menace and metallic mindfuckisms like and H.P. Lovecraft novel made sonic reality. Yet where as Deification tended to steam roller along laying waste to all its path, this album is more controlled, more considered and is all the better for it. We get tracks like Nexus where raw speed is sacrificed in the name of darkly controlled riffage and almost Machine Head style song structures and Amon Amarth type epic storytelling.

Just to select a few more highlights; we have Death and Transformation, one of the best thrash-outs I've heard since Onslaughts seminal album The Force; Legion with its Behemoth referenced attack and drive and my fave cut on offer here, the epic closer of The Duel, a classic in the making that build from a deceptively sweet and mellow introductory riff into a multi-sectioned meisterwerk that showcases exactly how good a band NAE really are.

Add in the fact that every member of this band delivers the goods in playing their parts to almost perfection and the production, which the band did themselves, is spot on, and you have an album that will do NAE's grow reputation no harm at all and will only add to their status as one of the UK's most promising up and coming metal acts.

In short - a damn fine album from a band to watch

For fans of... Lamb Of God, Elimination, Anterior, Behemoth, Slayer etc....

Tylean - 'Formaldehyde EP' (Bast Records) 4.5/5

Darkwave / alternative singer songwriter and self confessed 'cello rapist' TyLean originally hails from Wapwallopen in the USA, but these days is based in London, UK. Over the past few years she has served up a trio of really quite remarkable albums, that featuring just keyboards, vocals and cello, explore the darkest textures of the human condition with an insight that few artists can match. Now we have 'Formaldehyde' a four track EP of finely presented slices of musical darkness to add to her canon of works.

Now if your not familiar with this ladies work, be warned. This is not easy listening, far from it, TyLeans music makes the likes of Bjork sound mainstream. But please don't take that as a negative comment. This is very very good stuff, it's just very very dark.

We start off with Love Always Dies, a dark and downbeat tale of lost romance that speaks of 'sleepless nights and tearful goodbyes', Tyleans vocals are bleak and sorrowful, and they are rocked gently along with a simple piano line and a haunting cello solo. Next up there's The Dark The Blue and The Grey, a moody and brooding piece that is almost disturbing in delivery, with its discordant chords, heartbeat rhythms and multilayered  vocal lines. Then there's Big Hearts that spins off into a dark jazz vibe, almost like a gothic Billie Holiday, all late night piano and heart rending lyrics; and then to conclude there is Amputation Of A Heart, in my book the real stand out track on this impressive EP., with its free form intro, sawing cello riffage and almost operatic vocals. Spine tingling stuff.

So we have the songs here, and I'm glad to say we have the performance as well. TyLeans vocals are some of the very best, she can take in everything from heart broken whispers to primal screams, from jazzy resignation to operatic resolution like very few others can. Add in the fact she can play a mean piano line that steps well away from the expected cliche and she can use a cello to add attitude, attack and atmosphere and you have here a four tracker that is a real gem.

And there's more. It seams TyLean is not only a musician of extraordinary talent, but she is a bit of a painter. This ep comes with her original art work on the cover and with more original paintings to illustrate each track, now I'm no art critic, but I know what I like and I love the artwork as much as I'm loving the ep.

In short - Another winner from TyLean

For Fans of... Bjork, Tori Amos, Errin Williams, etc......

For more info and details how to get hold of this ep...  http://www.tylean.com

Primal Fear - 'Unbreakable' (Frontiers) 4.5/5

Just in case you don't know, German power metal outfit Primal Fear came together in the late 1990's around the core of vocalist Ralf Scheepers (ex - Gamma Ray / Tyran Pace) and Bassist Matt Sinner (ex-Sinner), and have since become fairly major players on the European metal scene. Now they are hitting us with studio album number eight, 'Unbreakable'.

Now as a fan of both Gamma Ray and Sinner I've kept an eye on Primal Fears development over the past 14 years or so and grown to really like their no frills, straight forward, highly headbangable brand of pacey power metal; and I'm glad to report, that this new album stay true to the bands core direction, whilst taking their delivery to the next level.

There are 12 cuts on offer here, and everyone of them is a balls to the wall metal classic. There are metal floor fillers like Bad Guys Wear Black with its sub tribal almost boogie beat and air punching anthemic chorus 'Bang your head and never turn it down....'; power metal epics in the finest Teutonic rock traditions of Scorpions and Helloween like the eight minute plus Where Angels Die; spine tingling semi ballads like Born Again (a track that contains an early contender for lead guitar solo of the year) and of course lots and lots of good old school power metal cuts like the storming Blaze Of Glory and break neck riff fest of Give Em Hell.

The band are on fine form, Ralf Scheepers vocals sneer and wail with an infectious venomosity, the twin guitars of new boy Magnus Karlsson and Alex Beyrodt drive and wail like the good 'uns they undoubtedly are and the rhythm section of Matt Sinner and Randy Black keep the whole kit and caboodle rolling along like a trans European express train on a falling grade.


OK this is not the most original album I've ever heard, far from it, but for anyone who likes their metal old school and stripped of the trappings of pretentiousness then this is as good as it gets.


In short - a belting album that will put a smile on the faces of most metalheads.

for fans of ...  Helloween, Gamma Ray, Machine Head, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest etc....

Red Kyte - 'Look To The Sky' (self released) 3.5/5

Red Kyte are a five piece indie type pop-rock outfit based between Brighton and Oxford, and this is their debut album.

Now as indie rock type stuff this isn't too bad. there are eight tracks on offer, most of which follow the fairly safe indie rock formula of big walls of fuzz guitars with a chiming lead, Aled Phillips style plaintiff vocalisations, big hooky choruses etc. It is a tad generic, but fortunately not too annoyingly so; this band are no Tiger Please or Kids In Glass Houses, but they are mercifully several cuts above the likes of My Extraordinary and Street Fight Silence - mainly due to the fact this lot can, when they put their minds to it turn out a good tune.

Don't get me wrong. not everything on here is top notch, the best material on offer here is is placed towards the end of the album, meaning the listener has to struggle through a couple of fairly uninspiring indie rock by numbers cuts like Hearts Of Stone and You Are My Gold before they reach the good stuff.

And the good stuff IS worth looking out for. You get the chilled and laid back Not Letting Go which has a certain Radiohead vibe about it. Safe Side which is a bit of rock that hints at the aforementioned Tiger Please. Sharks is a great anthem with a catchy hooky chorus, that has fan fave penned all over it. Then we have the mini epic closer of ...But Where Do We Go From Here? that smacks of Kids In Glass Houses jamming with The Verve and features a very nice Hammond organ chord at the very end.

Over all this album isn't earth shattering, but its a competent and promising debut from a young band that if they started to develop their own sound and move away from the well worn indie rock pathways could turn into an outfit of note.

For Fans of... Tiger Please, Kids In Glass Houses, Lost Prophets, Radiohead etc...

Dario Mollo Tony Martin - 'The Third Cage' (frontiers) 4.5/5

Ooo this is a good un. This is the third studio opus from sometime metal supergroup Mollo / Martin. Formed around the core duo of ex-Crossbones axpert Dario Mollo and former Black Sabbath and Forcefield vocalist Tony Martin, and also featuring some of the great and the good from the Italian metal scene such as ex Voodoo Hill drummer Roberto Gualdi and former Crossbones bassist Fulvio Gaslini, Mollo/Martin play good old school hard rocking metal in the style of Rainbow, late era Sabbath etc. And they do it very very well indeed.

I've always had a great admiration for Tony Martin as a vocalist, and its a particular bug-bear of mine that those great albums he did with Sabbath, such as Headless Cross and the magnificent Tyr are not hailed as the classics that they undoubtedly are, and are dismissed by the philistines as inferior to the product of the Ozzy and Dio era's. Still he has a great and distinctive voice, sounding like a mix between Dio and Maybe Graham Bonnet and boy can the guy belt em out, Just listen to the cut Still In Love With You (no NOT the Lizzy track of the same name) or the albums opener Wicked World and you will hear storming performances by one of the best rock vocalists of the past 30 years.

As for Mr Mollo; well I will admit I'm not all that familiar with his stuff, having not heard the past two Mollo / Martin albums and only having heard a few odd Crossfire tracks over the years. However I will say his playing on this one is impressive to say the very least. When he is riff riding he can churn them out along with the very best riff merchants of times gone by (Iommi, Brock, Tipton etc) and when he is playing his freak out lead work he has a touch of the Richie Blackmores or the Michael Schenkers about him, and thats a sure way to get this old metalhead sit up and take notice!!

However you need more than great guitar work and amazing vocals to make a good album, you need the songs as well. And thankfully I can say that 'The Third Cage' has great songs in abundance. To pick a few at random you have Wardance, a cut that wouldn't sound of of place on a classic Rainbow album such as Straight Between The Eyes, and then there's Blind Fury and Cirque Du Freak (the later being my fave cut on offer here) which revives memories of Tony Martins time in Sabbath.

OK I'll admit the sound here is rooted firmly in the 1980's, but hell there was a lot of great stuff around back then and in a musical world awash with endless formulaic metalcore wannabes and angry young thrash revivalists, a bit of expertly performed and produced old school metal makes for a welcome change once in a while.

This really is a good record, older metalheads and hard rockers will lap it up, and I recently played this to my 13 year old nephew who has just discovered the world of rock and metal, and he was raving about it, so I can see some of the more open minded younger crew getting into this as well.

Well worth a listen or six.


For fans of... Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, UFO, Crossbones etc....

Beyond The Bridge - 'The Old Man & The Spirit' (Frontiers) 5/5

Ah the new year is here, and first releases of the year are beginning to fill my inbox. Now I do like this time, the months of Jan and Feb are when many labels release their new signings, and I just get such a buzz from hearing new bands.

So first up we have this, the debut album from Frankfurt outfit Beyond The Bridge. Now the germ of this project first formed apparently some 13 years ago as a high school band under the name Fallout. They were regulars on the local circuit for a couple of years, then as is the way of many school bands, adult life and university called and the band fell apart. However guitarist Peter Degenfeld-Schonburg had a plan, a 'meisterwerk' of a vast concept opus he had been working on with his old friend and keyboardist Christopher Tarnow. So by late 2005 with university nearly finished Peter decided it was time to get the band back together. With some old Fallout personnel returning and some new faces joining in a new band slowly came together under the name Beyond The Bridge and work on the album 'The Old Man & The Spirit' started.

Now in 2012 after much hard work, fitting in around other musical 'jobs' (all members of this band are professional musicians - playing sessions or working in other outfits), the album is out, and bloody hell, its a cracker.

The Old Man & The Spirit is a work that manages to sit perfectly between the worlds of classic heavy metal and old school prog rock. The concept here is a simple, yet engaging tale of an old man facing death and the dilemmas and memories that are running through his mind. It is a tale told simply, clearly yet with purpose and passion and delivered with a superbly polished and meaningful musicality tht is so often sadly lacking these days.

From the opening cut of The Call with its almost Diamond Head influenced metal riffage and Eloy style mellower moments, to the closer of All A Man Can Do (a true epic of a shade under ten minutes duration) not only is there not a weak moment on offer, but the whole album is constantly sending shivers up my spine, and in my book that is the mark of something very special indeed.

The musicianship here is flawless, every member of this seven piece outfit plays their role to perfection, but I must give special praise to the two vocalists; Herbie Langhans for delivering the male vocals with power and clarity that reminds me of former Diamond Head vocalist Sean Harris and especially female vocalist Dilenya Mar- whose powerful jazzy almost Janice Joplin style delivery is a breath of fresh air in a time when most metal devas are doing the operatic style stuff.

As this is a concept album, and such a smooth flowing one at that, it would be wrong to single individual tracks out for praise, after all, this is a work that should be listened to in one go to get the full effect. But personal highlights of mine include Doorway To Salvation, a prog-metal classic that sounds like Dream Theater stripped of the 'head up the backside' self indulgence; the shiver inducing prog-tastic The Difference is Human where Dilenya Mars vocals are given a full run out and my personal fave, the almost balladic World Of Wonders which makes you want to wave a lighter in the air without the slightest hint of irony.

The bottom line line is this is a great album, and should become seen in future times as one of the true classics, and it should be in the collection of ever discerning progger and metalhead.

Flawless

For fans of... Opeth, Martyr, Within Temptation, Royal Hunt, Diamond Head, Darkesis etc....

Pilgrim - 'Misery Wizard' (metalblade) 4/5

Until yesterday I knew three things about Rhode Island. 1) It's the smallest state in the union, 2) its the home to a fictional family in a popular US animated sitcom and 3) The place gave its name to a breed of chicken. But now I have a fourth fact, its the place where doom metal titans Pilgrim hail from.

Now Pilgrim are a classic power trio of The Wizard on guitar and vocals, Elric The Soothsayer on bass and a certain Krolg, The Slayer Of Men on drums; and they play doom metal of the darkest and doomiest kind. Imagine the sort of stuff the likes of St Vitus and Candlemass were doing back in the late 80's and you'll get the idea.

Now the first thing you notice about this album is how slow it is. Its SLOW, very slow indeed; so slow in fact it makes a lot of Black Sabbaths early work sound almost speed metal in comparison. In fact its not until half way into the the third track Quest, that the tempo even lifts beyond funeral march speed, when Pilgrim go off on a Witchfinder General style trip for a minute or so before slamming on the breaks again and grinding out the rest of the track in fine funeral metal tradition.

The second thing that hits you it that this album is epic in scope. There are six songs on offer, half of which top the 10 minute mark - in fact only one song, Adventurer (a surprisingly snappy tune that sounds not unlike NWOBHM gods Pagan Alter) comes in at under five (don't go expecting much mainstream radio play guys).

Now I know what your thinking, this has gotta be one boring album. But you'd be wrong in thinking that. Despite the fact this album moves along with all the pace of an arthritic tortoise it still keeps itself very entertaining and listenable. This is partly due to some cleaver production that positions everything in the mix perfectly, with plenty of space around each instrument so every power chord and cymbal splash has room to breath and resonate to maximum effect and turns the whole listening experience into a gloriously dark sound-scape. The other key factor is that the vocals here are clean, not a pig grunt or death groan in sight, this means you can hear exactly what The Wizard is singing about as he spins his dark tales of swords, sorcery, death, damnation and daring do. All of this results in a very entertaining listen that holds the attention for the entire album and makes the whole work stand up to repeated plays.

In short I'm pretty impressed with this album. it's been a while since I last discovered a new doom act of the old school, and a long time since I've found one as good as this. Highly recommended.

For fans of... Black Sabbath, St. Vitus, Candlemass, Pagan Alter, Witchfinder General.....

Trucker Diablo - 'The Devil Rhythm' (Ripple Music) 5/5

Ok, this lots are new to me. Apparently Trucker Diablo are out of Northern Ireland and are a four piece formed by some veterans of the local music scene; and recently they are having a bit of a purple patch. This, their debut album, has gotten its self a worldwide release through that home of all this old school and interesting, Ripple music, are getting airplay on five continents and early next year are out on the road with Black Stone Cherry.

Now listening through to this album its easy to see what all the excitement is all about. Trucker Diablo play good old no nonsense heads down boogie fueled damnation rock and roll. Imagine a truck load of Molly Hatchett and Black Oak Arkansas style southern boogie in a motorway horror smash with a cargo of Spider / Dedringer style NWOBHM and a van load of Black Stone Cherry type modern hard-rock sensibilities piling into the wreckage and you'll get the general idea. The end result has a certain Almighty vibe to it, and it's no surprise to find former Almighty front man Ricky Warwick turning up to add his voice to the track Juggernaut.

Gotta say I'm finding this one right up my musical alley. Tracks like the opener and current single Drink Beer, Destroy with its beer fueled blue collar slam boogie riffage and mob yell chorus; the Sweet Savage style truckers anthem Big Truck, the juke-joint sleaze of Dirty Love and the ZZ Top on Steroids drive and grind of When Angels Die: all thunder straight from the speakers like the devils own 18 wheeler and they give you a simple choice, get on and enjoy the ride - or end up as another lump of roadkill in their musical wake.

The performance and the production here can't be faulted - its smooth enough to be clear, balanced and 100% listenable, but still retains enough rawness and rough edges to keep its greasy rock sensibilities true and maintain the whole 'rock and roll is the devils music' feel.

This is one of the best truckin' rock and truckin' roll albums of recent years, and I'm not alone in that opinion, When they number the likes of Dee Snider (Twisted mutha truckin' Sister) and Joe Elliot (Def Leppard) amongst their admirers, you know you have summit special on your hands, and I've got high hopes that this may just be the album that puts old school hard rock and roll back in the public eye where it belongs.

Its truckin' great, buy it and love it forever.

For fans of... Grifter, The Almighty, Motortrain, Sweet Savage, Black Stone Cherry, Drivin' and Cryin'....

KoRn - 'The Path Of Totality' (roadrunner) 3.5/5

Anyone who has read back through the reviews in this blog will already know of my utter and intense dislike for dance music, so when I read that KoRn were teaming up with a load of drum machine monkeys to do a full album I was filled with a more than a little dread and bile. After all Korn themselves are a band I can take or leave at the best of times, and the thought of having to listen to a full album their stuff remixed for the pilled up dance-floor massive was more than bit off putting. Still Roadrunner were good enough to send me a copy and ask for my honest opinion, so here goes....

Ok on first play I gotta say this isn't as bad as I was prepared for. At least what we have on offer here are real songs, not endless drum loops with three second sampled hooks dropped in at random, and to be honest some of the songs here are fairly good, for KoRn tracks. The opener Chaos Lives In Everything is probably the best cut on offer here, Like most of the album it comes over  little like Rammstein and features some nice metal riffage and even the dub-step drum beats don't annoy too much. And so the album continues. Other high points that suprised me a bit were the Peter Gabrielesque Sanctuary and the dark industrial grind of Way Too Far.

In fact there are only three places on the entire album that had me reaching for the next track button, the two Skrillex produced tracks, Narcissistic Cannibal & Get Up, where fair competent songs are ruined by scratch mix masturbation and pointless random drum beat breakdowns; and the closer Bleeding Out, where what starts out as a nice downbeat chilled out bit of post rock ambiance is ruined by over complex drum beats, naff euro trance synth breakdowns and a mix that buries the vocals into a wall of acid dub whatever drum machine monkeyisms and a strange and pointless bagpipe sample sequence.

I'm still suprised I made it to the end of the record with out wanting to throw up, or smash up the CD player, and for me to say that really is something. Don't get me wrong, this has done nothing to win me over to dance fusion, or make me a KoRn fan, but at least its something in that genre that I can listen to without a psychotic reaction.

Not as bad as you would expect.

For fans of... Pendulum, Rammstien etc...

Beggars And Thieves - 'We Are The Brokenhearted' (frontiers) 4.5/5

New York rockers Beggars and Thieves have been around for a while now, although they haven't always had the best sense of timing, they arrived on the world stage just at the time when the world and his wife were going grunge crazy and attempted a come back at the height of the Nu Metal revolution. The result was their distinctive brand of prog influenced melodic hard rock just was never right for the time and they seamed destined to remain firmly in the also ran camp. However Louie Merlino and his crew are a persistent bunch, and at times persistence can pay off. So when they issued a low profile ep to great acclaim last year it looked like this time the world may take a bit more notice of the band, so as a result we have 'We Are The Brokenhearted' their fourth full length studio offering, and the first full album in 12 years.

Now I've been living with this one for a few weeks now and I've been meaning to review it for a while; but you know how things go, you sit down to start typing, the phone rings or something else crops up that demands immediate attention and you put it off for another few days... but when this has happened I've tended to leave the album playing in the background, and I've grown really fond of it as a result.

The over all sound is a very ear friendly blend of old school melodic hardrock that sounds not unlike Warrant meets Magnum; poppy prog in the It Bites, Asia style and even a slice or two of early U2 / Simple Minds / Energy Orchard type of celtic influenced stadium rock. all in all a nice and diverse blend of influences and styles that sit together nicely and make for a damn good listen.

There are some damn fine personal musical performances on show here, Mr Merlino has a great voice, it's natural sounding, mid ranged and very distinctive. There's none of that cliched power wailing or screamed high notes that singers in this genre are often suckered into - here's a guy who knows his own voice and uses it to maximum effect. The guitars of Ron Mancuso are a real joy to listen to, there no over the top hysteronics, just some very nice playing that ranges from some soulful and beautifully under played acoustic lines to some tasteful melodic lead lines that Floyds Dave Gilmore would be proud of. Add in the rhythm section of former Left for Dead Stickman Bobby Borg and bassist Phil Soussan returning from his various outings with the likes of Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Idol and Dio and you have a well tasty line up capable of peddling some first rate, intelligent rock music.

Picking individual highlights from this one is tough, the whole album is damn good, but I have a big soft spot for Midnight Blue, a great hardrock number which resolves into a very tasteful piano lament at the end. Then there's the title track that sounds a bit like Simple Minds jamming with Bruce Springstein, turns into an air punching anthem to die for and ends up going sort of left field jazz at the end; and then there's Oil & Water a prog rock influenced little number that wouldn't sound out of place on a classic Pendragon album - complete with a Nick Barret style solo. Or how about Seven Seconds with its sleaze rock riffage and Paul Toner (Energy Orchard) style guitar bridge section....

...I could go on, but don't wanna give you a full track by track breakdown (it annoys me when reviewers do that - I like to give a few pointers and let the listener explore the record for themselves), but I will say I don't think there's a single weak moment on show here, this is a great record and if there's any justice in the world it will be the record that after all these years will show the world what a great band Beggars and Thieves are.


Well worth checking out.

For fans of... Simple Minds, Warrant, Boston, Pendragon, Queen...etc

Austrian Death Machine - Jingle All The Way' (metalblade) 4/5

This is the latest seasonal offering from Californian Arnold Schwarzenegger worshiping outfit Austrian Death Machine (actually a side project featuring As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis) and this time its Arnies Chrimbo comedy flick 'Jingle All The Way' thats set up for equal doses of praise and parody.

There are three songs on offer here, all very over the top and very silly looks at various Arnie one liners from the movie. We get I Am Not A Pervert, It's Turbo Time and Who Told You You Could Eat My Cookies? All of which are packed with some gloriously over the top power metal, self parodying shred solo breaks and off course some fairly passable Arnie impressions delivering some very much tongue in cheek comments through out. "What the hells the mater with you, you totally forgot the guitar solo, you idiots, play it, play it now..." It's not big and it's not cleaver... but it is highly entertaining, and like the movie that inspired it, mercifully short, so the joke is not worn thin at the end.

In fact I'll be honest I like Austrian Death Machine, which is more than I can say about As I Lay Dying (never a band that has done anything for me) and I also find it refreshing that this is a seasonal record that doesn't feature cheesy sleigh bells and Santa references, which is another big plus.

In short this is the best Chrimbo release of the year, Highly recommended.

For fans of.... ARNIE. (Girly boys should give this one a miss)