Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

On Saturday evening after Thin Lizzy it was the turn of the guitar legend that is Slash ! This is the man who just over 12 months ago pulled in a crowd at Download for his early afternoon slot that rivalled any of the headliners crowds. Today the crowd is far smaller – a decent size but not as big as I’d expected – possibly a sign of the poor turnout generally.

Slash’s choice of setlist was a short history of his career, including four tracks from his time with Guns’n’Roses (Nightrain, Rocket Queen, Sweet Child O’ Mine & Paradise City), three Slash’s snakepit songs (Been there lately, Mean Bone & Speed parade), one Velvet revolver song (Slither), and just two songs from his new album (Ghost & Doctor alibi)...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Michael Monroe opened this years High Voltage festival in nice sunshine (something we didnt see much of for the rest of the day). Despite being the first band on and it still being early he managed to attract a sizeable crowd. 
As always Michael put in a highly athletic performance, running around the stage and then coming out past the tv cameras to get closer to the crowd (and causing the cameramen a few headaches as his microphone cable trailed across the rails the cameras were mounted on).

Michael Monroe is an expert at working a crowd and as always went down well with the crowd. After abandoning a brief attempt to climb up the stage scaffolding he jumped down into the photo pit before climbing on top of the crowd barrier where he stood and sang while the crowd helped support him. 
Th...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Shortly after 2pm the silence around the Metal Hammer stage was broken by the sound of roaring motorbike engines – yes it was the intro tape for Scottish Rockers, Attica Rage. They’d drawn a decent size crowd even before they hit stage, and managed to pull a bigger crowd in the end than most of the bands who played higher up the bill – a suggestion perhaps that they deserve a higher spot on the bill next time.
Kicking off with ”36 Insane”, a track from their new album, Road Dog. In fact the entire set today comes from their new album (and why not when the tracks sound this good), with one exception.
Singer Johnny Parr introduces the last song as being in memory of a great rocker who passed away recently – former Motorhead guitarist Wurzel, before the band played a cover of the Motorhead ...

Posted in Cd Reviews

”Handful of dreams” is the superb debut album from London band Slam Cartel. The band can count Billy Morrison, Bass player for The Cult (and guitarist with Billy Idol) as one of their fans – and that’s a man who really knows about what makes good rock music.

A few comments on some of the tracks…

”Wishing eye” is the opening track and immediately impresses.

”Handful of dreams” has great guitar riffs, and like so many of the tracks on the album has parts that feel familiar even though its the first time you’ve heard the song.

”Once in a lifetime” is a cover of the Talking Heads classic, and they’ve really done a superb job on it – for a really good cover version a band needs to do something different to make it stand out from the original, but they still need to keep some resemblance...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Lion Music/Warner

14 never before heard performances and seven new songs make up the numbers of this retro release of JAMES BYRD`S ATLANTIS RISING. Discovered only last year by lead vocalist Freddy Krumins, these songs tell the story of the time after James had left FIFTH ANGEL back in 1987. Recorded by a mobile, like “Smoke on the Water”, these raw tracks of Greek mythology and lost love will entertain fans of the finest American heavy metal of 1987, or?

US heavy metal has never been this much influenced by SCORPIONS, RAINBOW, UFO, and YNGWIE J MALMSTEEN. The classical themes was mostly European, but right from the solo of “Chasing the Shadows” through to the acoustic guitar picking of “Requiem Atlantis” the material is not really US sounding...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Lion Music/Warner

CONSORTIUM PROJECT is the creation of Ian Perry (ELEGY etc.). Every album, this being the fifth since 1999, has featured an armada of prominent guests, and this time is no exception. Playing on this one are; guitarists like Stephan Lill (VANDEN PLAS), bassists like Kris Gildenlöw (PAIN OF SALVATION) and drummer Casey Grillo of KAMELOT. The epic story is based around the destruction of the earth and how females save the day. Ian celebrates 25 years in rock and metal, is it a worthy celebration?

This is supposed to be a heavy installment in the series, which is noted right from the start. Opening intro “Epilogue (Storyteller)” has a ring of KING DIAMOND to it, and together with the heavy and progressive “Life on Earth” it makes my expectations rise...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Angel Air/Border

YOUNG BLOOD was formed back in the early eighties. Included among the countless bands of the NWOBHM they may not ring a bell (of more than a UFO single), but they were a good example of victims of circumstances. Their melodic take on the NWOBHM got them on tour with PHIL LYNOTT`S GRAND SLAM, TOKYO BLADE, STRAY and MOTÖRHEAD. A record contract was offered, more than one actually, but the constant instability of the group caused delay, and during that period things changed in the record company offices. Ultimately guitarist/vocalist Stewart Goodchild´s aspirations were cut short by grunge in the early nineties, but YOUNG BLOOD had folded in 1986. Here are the rare “First Blood” EP, plus a full unreleased album.

Opener “Fantasy” is a reminder of days gone by...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Vicisolium Productions/Sound Pollution

EXELOUME är ett norskt thrashband, som hämtar sinidéer från tidig amerikansk thrash och Old School dödsmetall. Omslaget har legenden Ed Repka gjort, gästar gör Andy LaRoque och Dan Swanö, som även mixat och mastrat. Bandet i sig består av Tom ”Welhaven” Wahl, gitarr, André Ulriksen, gitarr, Öystein Haltbakk, sång, Johnny Wangberg, bas, och Alessandro Elide, trummor. Uppskrivna är de så det räcker, hur låter det egentligen?

Introt ”Lex Talionis” är faktiskt så bra att de borde gjort det till en hel låt. 0.51 kort är det inget typiskt skvalintro utan en melodisk men kort låt. Därutöver noterar jag att ”Blind Billions” och ”The Bitsa Maniac” håller mycket god amerikansk klass, låtar som de amerikanska förebilderna gärna hade gjort...

Posted in Cd Reviews

”Rarities & Reacharounds” is a limited edition EP from The Erotics, which consists of six previously unreleased tracks recorded between 1996 and 2001. The EP is on a Vinyl effect CD, in a plain black sleeve & a gatefold inlay with track details, giving it a very retro feel. The EP is limited to 100 copies, all hand numbered, making it a must for the bands fans.

A nice touch is that the CD inlay lists for each track, what year it was recorded and what the band’s lineup was for it. Over the 6 tracks, there are four different band lineups represented

While the bands last album (”Today The Devil, Tomorrow The World”) had a sleaze rock feel, the tracks on this EP have far more of a punk sound, but its not pure punk – the sleaze feeling is still there, it’s just not as prominent as in their new...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Frontiers/BAM

1982, young guitarist Laurie Mansworth exits MORE. To get into the more melodic vein he hooks up with vocalist Keith Murrell, bass player Jim Reid, keyboardist Toby Sadler and drummer Jason Bonham, the son of LED ZEPPELIN drummer John. To keep things ZEPPELIN style they sign with manager Peter Grant, who subsequently signs them to Atco/Atlantic Records. Not bad for a young band. Beau Hill worked with the band on “Shaft of Light”, a lighter than they wished for affair, but still highly regarded by the press. In spite of gigs with bands like AC/DC, QUUEN and TED NUGENT the band crashed to a halt in the summer of ´85. 25 five years later the debut albums gets an anniversary re-release overhaul, in effect reuniting the band. Gigs with the likes of THUNDER and TESLA followed...