Posted in Cd Reviews

Dark Princess are a Russian Symphonic/Gothic metal band that was formed in 2005. Their debut album, ”Without you” was released in 2005 and was followed by ”Stop my heart” which was released in 2006 and was a hit with fans, particularly in Germany. Since then they have released the album ”Crying game” which was made up of Russian language versions of songs from the first two albums.

The band’s new album, ”The world I’ve lost” is the first to feature their new singer Natalia.

Before getting this album to review I hadn’t come across Dark Princess before so I was very happy when I hit play and listened to the album – it’s fantastic. It’s always a nice feeling to find a new band that makes music that you love, and that’s certainly the case here...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Pardise Lost på KB – Malmö, är ett efterlängtat återbesök sedan deras senaste vända två och ett halvt år sedan. Vad har hänt under den tiden då? Förutom att de precis släppt en ny platta – Tragic Idol, så är allt precis likadant! Förvänta man sig något mer än några nya Paradise Lost-typiska låtar så skulle man bli besviken.

Det visuella är enkelt och Nick Holmes är prydligt klädd och överlåter scenframträdandet till sina musiker som levererar.

Malmöiten Adrian Erlandsson är ett energiknippe utav dess like! Han pumpar bandet fullt med energi och röjer stenhårt bakom trummorna. Nick Holmes röst lämnar däremot mycket att önska och ibland undrar man om micken är för lågt mixad eller om han inte alls tar i...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Frontiers/BAM

Back to the roots by a media covered ”divorce” from former vocalist Jack Russell and the addition of the voice of XYZ. GREAT WHITE had their best sales back in 1989, with the slick and sticky “…Twice Shy album”. What many seem to forget is that they started out already in 1977, around vocalist Jack. Guitarist Mark Kendall was there already, and the pair were joined by bass player Don Costa, of OZZY OSBOURNE fame, and Tony Richards, who was later found in WASP. The band, then known as DANTE FOX, found a manager in Alan Niven, and opted for world domination with the EP “Stick It Out”. A self-titled debut followed in 1984, which won them a support slot opening for WHITESNAKE...

Posted in Cd Reviews

SPV/Playground

Formed in 1998 by GAMMA RAY drummer Dan Zimmerman and vocalist/guitarist Chris Bay, the band went on to stardom, healthy sales, extensive touring and unexpected member changes. Their debut “Stairway to Fairyland” got them a good start in 1999 and all in all this is their seventh full-length release. Today´s lineup lacks Dan, who left in 2010, but Chris remains, while guitarist Lars Rettkowitz, bassist Sammy Saemann and drummer Klaus Sperling complete the ranks. 14 new tracks are on offer here, all fantasy and no doubt power metal with some imagination added.

The bag-pipe sounding “Age of the Phoenix” does a respectable job as an opener, but the almost silly and somewhat ESC friendly “Rockstars” does it even better...

Posted in Cd Reviews

It’s that time of year again – its time for the Eurovision song contest. To coincide with the contest, the album is being released with all the entries on it. While most of Europe seems to take it very seriously, in Britain its always been regarded as a bit of a joke – which presumably explains some of the entries we’ve put forward over the years.

I’d love to have had introductions between the songs by Terry Wogan – his presentation of the TV broadcast was always entertaining and I can’t help thinking that him doing some talking between the songs on the album would have boosted sales.

The songs are very variable in terms of style ranging from Euro-disco, to ballads, to pop, and also in quality – from the extremely good to the truly awful...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Steamhammer/Playground

The story of UFO dates back to 1969, and goes on and on. The voice of Phil Mogg has always been there, the nucleus of Pete Way, bass, Andy Parker, drums, plus Michael Schenker is perhaps the names most people associate with their heyday. Schenker left in 78 though so to be fair there´s also much to be said about the years with Paul Chapman, Neil Carter and Paul Raymond. But back to 2012 and the incarnation of the ubiquitous Phil Mogg, the nearly as present Andy Parker, plus Paul Raymond and “new boy” guitar wiz Vinnie Moore. The battles of old seem to be toned town, and much of the party rumors may have left with Pete Way. The new album has been a talker, and praised highly by many…let´s see…

Opener “Fight Night” capitalizes on the patented UFO sound, boost...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Massacre/Sound Pollution

Israelian progressive death force PREY FOR NOTHING releases their second album. Drummer Iftah Levi, bass player Amir Salomon and guitarist Yaniv Aboudy had been in one of PAUL DI`ANNO´s may backing bands around the world. After a tour they decided on disbanding their old unit, DAMNATION, and become more faithful to their mutual musical taste. Completed by vocalist Yotam “Defiler” Avni the quartet debuted with “Violence Divine” in 2008. To follow suit with DEATH and TESTAMENT the band was joined by second guitarist Tal Behar and toured Israel. Massive hitters with metallic brilliance are promised, and they can appeal to fans of both OPETH and BEHEMOTH according to the info.

The vocals are not over the top, and their mix of prog and melodic death metal light...

Posted in Cd Reviews

DKS Music/BAM Finland

Finnish band ANCARA has lots of eighties touch, not least the pedigree of the musicians. The band debuted in 2008 with “The Dawn”, followed by an EP, “The World”, which reached the top ten singles chart in Finland. Second attempt, “Beyond the Dark” was yet again a native hit in 2007, and now we get a third album, somewhat belated album.

The un-eighties sound of “We Paint December” fills my head. The chorus is big enough but there is no clear decade bound sound, as promised. The slight hit feeling of “Far from Grace” is not bad either, but… There is an overuse of pop/rock in some tracks and the feeling of fillers sometimes appears, as in the closing track “Farewell” and the somewhat off “Nicole”...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Eugene Twist is a singer/songwriter/musician from Glasgow. On this his debut album, he not only wrote the songs, but sings them as well as playing guitar, drums and various other instruments. It’s not totally a one-man show though – he does have a group of musicians playing other instruments – bass, keyboards, violin, clarinet, saxophone, cello and extra guitars.

The music is a kind of easy-going relaxed pop music, which is really pleasant and enjoyable to listen to. Whereas many singer/songwriter/musicians seem to go for more of a busking style with the sound really being dominated by a guitar and the vocals, Eugene Twist has produced an album with a richer more varied sound – having those extra musicians involved has really paid dividends.

Brief comments on a couple of songs…

The albu...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Dead Belgian are a band from Liverpool who play the songs of Jacques Brel. For most people in the UK, Jacques Brel is an unfamiliar name – he was best known in France and his home country of Belgium. Born in 1929, he was a Belgian singer and actor and died in 1978, and this is where the band take their name from – he’s a Dead Belgian singer. Most of his songs were recorded in French, but his songs were translated and performed by performers including Ray Charles, John Denver, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Andy Williams and more. With artists of that calibre performing his songs you get the idea that he’s obviously a very talented songwriter.

The four members of the band each rought their own influences to the band, from European folk to prog rock...