THE 69 EYESX Nuclear Blast (2012)Rating: 6.5/10 Finland’s The 69 Eyes continue their slow takeover of the world with X. Over the years the band’s image has become increasingly more gothic while their sound has become much more guitar rock orientated. X is the culmination of that, offering ten melancholic anthems, that certainly bring to […]
THERIONLes Fleurs Du Mal Adulruna (2012)Rating: 9/10 Les Fleurs Du Mal is an album full of French pop cover tunes presented in Therion’s style. While not necessarily a concept album, the songs are presented as responses to the controversial decadence of author Charles Baudelaire’s works. While the title translates to “Flowers Of Evil” the sound […]
THE SOPHIE LANCASTER FOUNDATION – Somebodies Anthony Morgan September 2012 While walking home during the early hours of August 11th, 2007, Sophie Lancaster and boyfriend Robert Maltby came across an entrance to a skate park. A number of teenage males were at the entrance in Stubbylee Park in Bacup, Rossendale in Lancashire, England, and proceeded […]
PATHOLOGYThe Time Of Great Purification Victory (2012)Rating: 7.5/10 Formed by drummer Dave Astor (ex-Cattle Decapitation / ex-The Locust), Pathology has been lurking behind the corners since 2006. The Time Of Great Purification is the San Diego, California-based band’s sixth album and their third release for the one time hardcore-dominated Victory Records. This is my first […]
AS I LAY DYINGAwakened Metal Blade (2012)Rating: 10/10 Long separated from their early works, San Diego, California’s As I Lay Dying have been one of the hardest working groups in metal music for the last decade. Although their debut for Metal Blade Records, Frail Words Collapse (2003), helped spark the metalcore movement, the band have […]
MOTÖRHEADThe Wörld Is Ours – Vol. 2: Anyplace Crazy As Anywhere Else Motörhead Music (2012)Rating: 6.5/10 The mighty Motörhead return with a massive live album, and when I say massive, I’m not joking dudes. This set contains a two-disc set of 2011 live shows – a full set from Wacken Open Air comprises disc one, […]
DOKKENBroken Bones Frontiers (2012)Rating: 6.5/10 Rumour has it that this is to be Dokken’s final record. Broken Bones is the band’s 11th opus, and in my opinion if this is the album they are going to go out on then I’d be disappointed, because it’s not the blaze of glory I expected. Fans are constantly […]
KIXLive In Baltimore Frontiers (2012)Rating: 8/10 There was a magical time in my younger years when metal ruled the world. Fast guitars and loud drums poured from every speaker, and MTV even played music. This mythical age seemed perfect, until metal forgot its roots. The basics of rock were replaced by the need to play […]
CASTLEUMBRACthulu Wgah’nagl Fntagn EP Obliteration (2012)Rating: 7/10 The oddly named Castleumbra hail from Mexico, and this Lovecraftian-inspired five-track EP is the band’s debut release. Castleumbra are a two-piece, with Antimo Buonnano being responsible for the vocals, bass and guitars, while Alejandro Franco bashes the crap out of the drums. These guys are somewhat metal journeymen, […]
SATAN’S WRATHGalloping Blasphemy Metal Blade (2012)Rating: 6/10 Okay, so I’m going to be short and sweet with this rather than rambling. If you’re a metalhead that grew up in the 80s as a naïve teenager, and were stained by the primitive hollering of Venom, early Voivod, Destruction, Possessed, Sodom and the likes, then Satan’s Wrath […]
