CYNICCarbon-Based Anatomy EP Season Of Mist (2011)Rating: 8/10 “Cynic isn’t even metal anymore”, snarled one rather narrow-minded metal-head I spoke to when this record first emerged. “But”, I responded, “They weren’t exactly metal in the first place!” Why do people expect heavy metal musicians to always produce heavy metal albums in every project they partake […]

MY DYING BRIDEThe Barghest O’ Whitby EP Peaceville (2011)Rating: 8.5/10 For those not in the know, the Barghest, in folklore, was a dreaded phantasmal Black Dog, also known as a hellhound, believed to patrol some of the shorelines of Great Britain – particularly the windswept coast of Whitby, the setting for Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). […]

SCORPIONSComeblack Sony Music Entertainment (2011)Rating: 6/10 In the midst of their farewell tour, rock legends the Scorpions took some time to re-record seven of their biggest hits and six songs that influenced them. The result is Comeblack, and will likely be the band’s final studio offering. As a fan of reissues, re-recordings, and deluxe versions, […]

MEGADETHTh1rt3en Roadrunner (2011)Rating: 7/10 What else could be a more fitting title for Megadeth’s thirteenth studio full-length album than Th1rt3en?! Megadeth have had more line-up changes than I’ve had hot dinners, and although Chris Broderick (guitar) and Shawn Drover (drums) remain from 2009’s Endgame, it’s no surprise that there is yet another change in personnel […]