CULT OF LUNA – Synchronicity Anthony Morgan January 2013 Cult Of Luna (clockwise from back-row): Andreas Johansson, Magnus Lindberg, Fredrik Kihlberg, Johannes Persson, Thomas Hedlund, Anders Teglund and Erik Olofsson Umeå, Sweden-based avant-garde metal outfit Cult Of Luna devised a manifesto in making January 2013 full-length Vertikal, a manifesto designed for the group to understand […]
NECROWRETCHPutrid Death Sorcery Century Media (2013)Rating: 8/10 Oh what a joyous name for a band! Clearly Necrowretch, who hail from the darkest corners of France, are not a band to be messed with. This deadly duo have been around since 2008, but Putrid Death Sorcery is their debut record. Upon first listen of this album, […]
PINK CREAM 69Ceremonial Frontiers (2013)Rating: 6/10 Germany’s Pink Cream 69 is a hidden gem of melodic metal. Although the band has been releasing music since 1989, many know them as simply “That band Andi Deris was in before he joined Helloween back in 1993.” Okay, that may be the case, but don’t jump to the […]
HATRIOTHeroes Of Origin Massacre (2013)Rating: 8.5/10 I’m finding it rather surreal that so many new, young thrash bands are emerging and creating quite a scene. I guess it’s a good thing that so many of them are heavily influenced by the 80s thrash scene, whether it’s the San Francisco Bay Area crunch or the European […]
JORN – He Came To Orchestrate Anthony Morgan January 2013 Jørn Lande Authoring the composition ‘I Came To Rock’ for June 2012 studio full-length Bring Heavy Rock To The Land, Norwegian vocalist Jørn Lande felt the number would be suitable for a classical arrangement. This spawned the genesis of January 2013 endeavour Symphonic, an outing […]
VOIVOD – Warchaic Anthony Morgan January 2013 Voivod (l-r): Jean-Yves ‘Blacky’ Theriault, Daniel ‘Chewy’ Mongrain, Michel ‘Away’ Langevin and Denis ‘Snake’ Bélanger Late guitarist Denis ‘Piggy’ D’Amour – an original member of Jonquière, Québec, Canada-based heavy metal outfit Voivod from 1982 until his death from colon cancer in August 2005 at the age of 45 […]
CRASHDÏETThe Savage Playground Frontiers (2013)Rating: 8/10 Crashdïet are the saviours of all things glam and sleazy in modern metal. The Savage Playground is the fourth album of 80s fueled modern metal from Stockholm’s finest sons. If you’re already a fan, then you know what to expect. Crashdïet takes the best of Kiss, Skid Row and […]
NIGHTFALLCassiopeia Metal Blade (2013)Rating: 9/10 The band that put the Greek metal scene on the map, Nightfall, return with their sophomore Metal Blade Records release, Cassiopeia. Titled after both the mighty constellation and the mythological mother of Andromeda who, together with her daughter, suffered great loss for the arrogant belief that they were more beautiful […]
VOIVODTarget Earth Century Media (2013)Rating: 8.5/10 13 albums! As a spotty teenager growing up in the 80s and thrashing out to War And Pain (1984) I would’ve never have guessed that these Canadian weirdos would have made it this far, let alone become one of metal’s most innovative and important bands. Let’s face it, there’s […]
KISS – Outta This World Anthony Morgan January 2013 Tommy Thayer Pic: Neil Zlozower A member of American hard rock outfit Kiss since March 2002, lead guitarist ‘Spaceman’ Tommy Thayer has favoured the use of Les Paul Standards for the most part, the majority of which have been reissues crafted by the Gibson Custom Shop. […]
