Posted in Cd Reviews

Limb/Sound Pollution

New York guitarist Jack Starr first rose to fame with VIRGIN STEELE. But his spell with them was not to last for more than two albums, the self titled debut and “Guardians of the Flame”. Jack stuck to his guns releasing a solo album plus four more under the BURNING STARR moniker between 1985 and 1989. Time passed and not until 2009 came the band´s return with “Defiance”. This time Jack´s back, backed by long time bass player Ned Meloni, drummer Rhino, of MANOWAR fame, and vocalist Todd Hall. Guests on the album are Ross the Boss and David Shankle, adding to the MANOWAR touch, plus Marta Gabriel of CRYSTAL VIPER. Are we in for a delightful trip in the time machine?

The title track opens with a spoken voice, welcoming me to the land of the dead...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Music Buy Mail/Sound Pollution

1992 marked the start of CAGE, in the heyday of grunge. But the band now release album number six, proving everybody wrong. CAGE hovers in the classic age of metal sound-wise, but both the NWOBHM and more modern touches are incorporated. Today the band consists of vocalist Sean “The Hell Destroyer” Peck, guitarist Dave “Conan” Garcia, drummer Norm “The Legend” Leggio (PSYCHOTIC WALTZ), and bass player Pete “Hands of” Stone. This seems to be a high priority release, is it that good?

The foundation of US heavy metal, Venom-like NWOBHM, JUDAS PRIEST and, to some extent, KING DIAMOND is omnipresent. CAGE is not trendy, and they go for the throat already in opener “Bloodsteel”...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Lion/Warner

Italians MASTERCASTLE seems to become hotter by the day. They debuted in 2009 with the neoclassical “The Phoenix”, returned with the more straightforward “Last Desire” and now they apparently aim to combine the two with their third outing. The driving force behind the band seems to be guitarist Pier Gonella, bass player Steve Vawamas and drummer Alessandro Bissa. They chose vocalist Giorgia Gueglio to crown their efforts with her quite exceptional voice. The topics in the lyrics are very varied, everything from an Italian painter to the harsh lives of fishermen is included here. Is this their best yet?

The dynamically melodic “Another Flower” says they´re doing alright, no more. The refrain is a big vague, but the sound, especially the guitar, is great...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Friday nights at MFVF are a warm up for the main event – two full days of music at the weekend. There are only three bands tonight, but with fans arriving from all over the world then it’s a chance to meet up with friends, buy some merchandise and enjoy some great music after a long day of travelling.
Held at the Oktoberhallen in Wieze, just outside Aalst in Belgium, MFVF is the premier event of the year for fans of female fronted metal, so its no surprise to find fans here from all over Eurpoe as well as places as far away as Canada.

First up are Bare infinity from Greece who put in a great performance to get the crowd warmed up.

Next up are Xandria, who have just finished their tour of Europe as part of the ”Out of the dark” festival...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

The night opened with sets from Toxic Federation and Rough Cut. Both were very good, but Rough Cut impressed particularly, partly because for a band that looked too young to be out late on a school night, they performed very well, and their singer in particular was very impressive. The only weak link was the drummer who didnt seem to be quite as good as the others – or was just having a bad night.

Swedish hard rockers Coldspell took to the stage in front of a fairly disappointing crowd, but didnt let that bother them. They put in a great set consisting of five songs from their latest album (Out from the cold) as well as three older songs.
With plenty of good heavy guitars and some great vocals, Coldspell definitely impressed quite a few people...

Posted in Interviews

Ant May from Festivalphoto spoke with Olli Herman and Hessu Maxx from Reckless love shortly before their show at Islington Academy in London on 26th November 2011

Festivalphoto: First of all, welcome to London – first night of your UK tour.

Olli: Thank you. Second time we’re here, or doing a full tour here, and it was more than a year ago that we last played on British soil so it’s a bit exciting to tell the truth, a bit nerve-wracking as well – do they still remember us.

Festivalphoto: Well the queue outside the venue started around 2 hours before the doors open so I think they do remember you.

Olli: Really, thanks for sharing this information, a load just came off my heart.

Festivalphoto: Your UK tour ends at the Hard Rock Hell festival. Have you heard anything about the festival?

Ol...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Ännu osignade men efter denna recension officiellt accepterade Göteborgsbandet PshycoBrew släppte i höstas nytt med EP’n Alcohol Zombies. En 8 låtar lång trash/metal skildring med tydliga referenser i göteborgsmetal-sound hos band som bla Entombed om än (!) med tydligare drag av hardcore än just metal …
Med ett elakt sound och en illa fördold mask av avsky, vrålar sångaren Simon Hansson sig igenom hela plattan och lyckas stundom med att låta riktigt ond. Bra där, det behövs för att inte trilla ner i det för två år sedan så populära pojk-hardcorebandsträsket.

Vad jag gillar med plattan är att sångaren får sin rättmätiga plats och inte överröstas av resten av de mycket samspelta bandmedlemmarna...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

LG är pepp som aldrig förr och röjer så att snoret flyger.
Det är en sanning, jag såg det! Inte desto mindre tappar Entombeds nu (enligt wikipedia 39 år gamla) frontman och sångare knappast charmen för det – utan röjer vidare som om ingenting hänt.

Klockan är bara barnet och bjuder på en aningen sömnig och för bandet; ovanligt ung publik. 15 åringarna improviserar en speedad moshpitt medan de äldre fansen nöjer sig med att i takt med musiken avmätt slänga med hårmanen i bakgrunden. Inte desto mindre saknar jag den energi publiken vanligtvis brukar ge på Entombeds spelningar, ty oavsett klockslag förtjänar bandet mer bifall.

Entombed gör en suverän spelning och LG bör få bravur för sin fina publikkontakt och skillade ölfontän...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Two hours before the doors were due to open a queue had already begun to form, and by the time the doors opened the queue was a fairly long one. This meant that The Dirty Youth, who took to the stage at the fairly early time of 7.30, managed to play to a venue that was already half full and still filling.

Singer Danni Monroe is strikingly attractive with eye-catching pink hair and a great stage presence, and most importantly, she has a great voice. Headbanging regularly she moves around the stage making a great front woman. Having heard their debut album and really enjoying it, I was looking forward to seeing the band live, and they certainly didn’t disappoint...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Massacre/Sound Pollution

Fresh-faced thrash quartet DIABOLUS DUST debuts with Massacre. Formed in 2006, the seminal line up of Jurgen Dachl, vocals, Roland Zehrer, bass, Stefan Fessert, drums, and Anton H. Lini concatenated in 2008. Old school is the aim, and thrash says the info sheet. Well, fire away.

They open with the title track, very old school in the first place. The old METALLICa fare works most of the time, they steer clear of latter day outings from Hetfield & co. The song thunders along but lacks a bit in the refrain department. Unfortunately DIABOLUS DUST lose their grip with songs 2-4. There might be echoes of everyone from ZAKK WYLDE to CLOVEN HOOF, but the refrains are not discernable from the verses in any way...