GODYVAAlien Heart Southern Brigade (2013)Rating: 8.5/10 Since forming in 2000, Italy’s Godyva have played alongside such bands as Theatres Des Vampires, Panic Cell, Tristania, Rage, Dark Funeral and Arch Enemy at a variety of festivals including Metal Female Voices Fest, Gothic Rave, and God Bless The Metal. Having released two albums (2006’s In Good And […]
SOILWORKThe Living Infinite Nuclear Blast (2013)Rating: 9/10 After a confusing couple of albums in Sworn To A Great Divide (2007) and The Panic Broadcast (2010), Soilwork return with The Living Infinite. Suffering a second loss of guitarist Peter Wichers, the band sounds like they have had enough of indecision and are ready to take Soilwork […]
HARDCORE SUPERSTARC’mon Take On Me Nuclear Blast (2013)Rating: 7/10 With the recent trend toward classic glam sounds being reintroduced into mainstream metal, it’s easy to forget that some of the bands that are embracing the sound of their lipstick-stained predecessors have been at this for quite a while. Sweden’s Hardcore Superstar are among the rock […]
TOMBSTONE HIGHWAYRuralizer Agonia (2013)Rating: 7/10 For those of you metalheads who think you’ve heard and know everything about the metal scene, then I think you need to check out Italy’s Tombstone Highway. Believe me, when I heard that an Italian band was inspired by Southern rock I was all ready to reach for the sick […]
KMFDMKunst Metropolis (2013)Rating: 9/10 Germany’s KMFDM have been around so long they should be household names. Maybe in some households they are. If that household includes members of Mortiis, Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Prong or Rob Zombie’s band, it’s hard to believe that the progenitors of industrial metal aren’t spoken of in reverent tones […]
STRATOVARIUS – Standing Their Ground Anthony Morgan February 2013 Stratovarius (l-r): Jens Johansson, Rolf Pilve, Timo Kotipelto, Lauri Porra and Matias Kupiainen Timo Tolkki – longtime guitarist for Finnish power metal outfit Stratovarius – parted ways with the outfit in April 2008 following a 23-year tenure which spanned across Stratovarius’ first 11 full-lengths. Matias Kupiainen […]
DARKTHRONEThe Underground Resistance Peaceville (2013)Rating: 8.5/10 Darkthrone’s latest album crawls from their dingy Norwegian dungeon like some armour-plated dragon, breathes a fiery breath onto the stark trees and retires to the darkest corner leaving me aghast. The Underground Resistance is without a shadow of a doubt Darkthrone’s most “metal” record. The punkoid crust of previous […]
BUCKCHERRY – A Confessional Anthony Morgan February 2013 Buckcherry (l-r): Keith Nelson, Jimmy Ashhurst, Josh Todd, Xavier Muriel and Stevie D. Los Angeles, California-based hard rock outfit Buckcherry – had discussed the notion of authoring a full-length revolving around the seven sins for several years. Albeit a concept previously explored by other artists as well […]
SCATTERED HAMLET Release Debut Studio Album ‘Skeleton Dixie’ February 22nd, 2013 Los Angeles, California-based southern rock / groove metal band Scattered Hamlet issued debut full-length studio album Skeleton Dixie independently on February 22nd, 2013 through Hell Rider Recordings. Skeleton Dixie was produced by Jason Donaghy and Scattered Hamlet, and mastered by Howie Weinberg. The outing […]
JESS AND THE ANCIENT ONESAstral Sabbat EP Svart (2013)Rating: 7.5/10 This three track EP comes from Finnish occult rockers Jess And The Ancient Ones, the sort of combo who evoke images of late 60s psychedelia and 70s prog esoterica. This type of music seems extremely popular at the moment with acts such as Ghost, Bloody […]
