Category Cd Reviews

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”How to get your love” is the second single from the debut album from Red Sky July.

The band are a new name to me, but when you look at the members you’ll see that there is a lot of talent and experience here – you have husband and wife team Shelly Poole (Alisha’s attic) and Ally McErlaine (Texas) plus Charity Hair (The Alice Band). In 2009 they wrote and recorded their album, but Ally suffered a major brain aneurysm and everything was put on hold while he recovered. Last summer the band got back together and wrote some new songs before recording the final version of the album live in Bristol.

This is a fantastic song that I must have listened to 30 or 40 times since it dropped through my letterbox yesterday...

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Embodied tar steget ut I världen.

Det är med stor nyfikenhet som jag sätter I Jönköpingsbandet Embodieds debut cd I spelaren! Jag har följt bandet under några år och sett utvecklingen, och jag kan direkt konstatera att debuten inte är något hastverk. Embodied killarna har verkligen gjort ett genomarbetat album, man presenterar 10 låtar och inte en enda av dom känns onödig, att man menar allvar understryks av att man valde King Diamond gitarristen Andy LaRocque som producent. Andy har verkligen styrt upp produktionen och fått till ett sound som passar Embodied som handsken...

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Galia Arad is a singer songwriter based in New York. Originally from Bloomington, Indiana. Her classical musician parents and classical voice training steered her directly into the arms of rock ‘n’ roll.

This is Galia Arad’s second album (the first being ”Sand in your bed”). It’s a deceptively simple album – just her singing and playing acoustic guitar, but there’s actually a lot more to the album than that.
The album is a concept album and tells the story of a girl finding love with a young Irishman. The songs are superbly written with the story easy to follow through the songs and with plenty of emotion, warmth and at times bitterness. The guitar playing is nicely done so it never distracts focus away from Galia’s lovely voice but instead merely complements it nicely.

This is de...

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Diamond Head are a band familiar to most older fans of Heavy Metal, but some younger fans might not be so aware of them. For some heavy metal fans their first exposure to Diamond Head will have been when they joined the Big 4 (Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth) on stage at Sonisphere to perform ”Am I evil”. Contrary to the belief or assumption of some people, this isnt a Metallica song, its a Diamond Head song that Metallica have chosen to cover. When a band as influential as Metallica chooses not only to cover a song by a band, but to invite them on stage, then you know there is something special about that band. Between 1979 and 1983, UK band Diamond Head released three classic albums – the first being the White Album, reviewed here.

The album contains just 7 tracks which may not ...

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Napalm/Sound Pollution

THULCANDRA are about to hit ten years next year. The band is formed along OBSCURA member Steffen Kummerer (guitars/vocals). Five years of hibernation followed when original co-founder Juergen Zintz committed suicide, and first in 2009 brothers Ludwig, Tobias, bass, and Sebastian, guitars were taken on board. That marked 2010 as the year of their long awaited debut album “Fallen Angels Dominion”. The aim seems to be going back to Sweden in the nineties, playing blackened death metal in the vein of e.g. DISSECTION. I wonder how they cherish the memories of the nineties?

The epic opening of “In Blood and Fire” may even bring echoes of BATHORY in full swing, but THULCANDRA is soon in black symphonic territory...

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Napalm/Sound Pollution

Germany´s NACHTBLUT mix dark with gothic, techno and a slash of RAMMSTEIN. Starting up as a solo band of vocalist Askeroth the band soon evolved into a real band completed by guitarist Greif, bassist Sacerdos, drummer Skoll and keyboardist Lymantia. Love us or hate us seems to be the band motto, but they soon opened up for bands like EISREGEN and SODOM. In 2009 this album was first released, with a concept enough to be trendy. This is of cause a remastered
edition with four bonus tracks. So…impress me!

The initial softness of the title track transforms into soft troll metal sung in German. The feeling is a black metal band going poppy. They seem to move between troll metal, death and black...

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Bitches Sin/Metal Nation Records

NWOBHM band BITCHES SIN was formed in circa 1980 and were quite prolific with the albums “Predator” and “Invaders”. By the mid eighties the band disbanded, transforming into FLASHPOINT who lasted for an album. As many of their peers the internet signaled a new dawn, with people expressing their interest and an ease to reach out with your music compared to the days of old. Today the band consists of the ubiquitous Ian Toomey on guitars, Steve Turton on drums, Chris Tsangarides, yes the famous producer, on guitars, Macca on bass and Dave Mills on vocals. Today´s band is a mix of ages and backgrounds, maybe that is the secret to a lasting lineup and final glory?

The opening guitar riff echoes of big 80´s productions, no wonder since Chris was responsi...

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Angel Air/Border

The second album of 1971/72 success HARD STUFF ”Bolex dementia” was another example of an album that was delayed in the wrong time. But after a serious accident traveling from a gig in Frankfurt´s Zoom Club the band had no choice since their guitarist/vocalist and drummer were hooked up in a Belgian hospital, lucky to be alive. Almost a year after the iron was hot this cramped release was first heard, sporting a legendary awful cover, which did them no favors. The band broke up shortly afterwards, with DuCann and Hammond reforming ATOMIC ROOSTER, and Gustafson joining ROXY MUSIC. Is the album as bad as the cover?

The subject of the title is madness, and the title track, hushed away at the very last spot of the B-side, is not short of that description...

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Angel Air/Border

HARD STUFF was first known as BULLET, but changed to avoid confusion with an American band. Behind the words stood three experienced musicians with careers both behind an in the future; John DuCann, guitars/vocals, (ex ATTACK, ex. ANDROMEDA, ex. ATOMIC ROOSTER), Paul Hammond, drums (ex. ATOMIC ROOSTER), and JOHN GUSTAFSON, bass (ex THE MERSEYBEATS, ex. QUATERMASS). A heavily touring band, often as support to DEEP PURPLE or URIAH HEEP, they almost ended up dead on the road in a car crash in Germany. The band´s story was seriously hampered when DuCann and Hammond were seriously injured, and bedridden for long rendering them far too late with the follow-up to this 70´s success...

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Napalm Records/Sound Pollution

Their fascination of the legendary Atlantis still remains. VISIONS OF ATLANTIS now surpass four releases with a mini-album. The band has been on an apparently successful tour and wants to show their progress with some new and refreshed tracks, plus a catchy cover of SANDRA`S old hit “Maria Magdalena”.

The cover will be a hit! Remember the SANDRA original? This one has a slight touch of depressed seriousness but also the voices of Maxi Nil and Mario Plank. The arrangement captures the spirit of the original and adds the right touches to make it feel a VISIONS OF ATLANTIS track. This will do well when played in clubs and pubs. Of the remaining five two are re-workings, “Last Shut of Your Eyes” and “Beyond Horizon”, and the rest are totally new...