Posted in Cd Reviews

I must admit to being surprised that Counting Crows have chosen to release this live album. After all, it’s only a couple of years since their last live album (August and Everything After: Live at Town Hall). With the last studio album – ’Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation)’ having been a collection of covers, I’d expected them to follow it up with a studio album of new material given that it’s been five years since their last album of new material.
Having said that, the band are touring and are about to hit the UK and the rest of Europe, so a live album to coincide with that does make sense, especially given the band’s reputation as a great live band.

The songs on the live album include four from the Underwater sunshine album along with tracks from their other al...

Posted in Cd Reviews

„What we see around us is a world made of lies. Reality is rarely experienced it is escaped! Gashes of unbelief rattle our earthly path as we try to keep our illusions intact. Our human instict kills our creed and eats our brains. Yes, we prey on the living. You cant escape the truth! You will soon awake in the savage playground..” -states the introduction by the band, as a kind of explanation of the abstract context of the 4th Crashdiet album’s wild dream. The Savage Playground was one of the first rock productions released this past January, providing almost a full hour of totally crazy, orgasmic bliss for the rocking audience. The savage playground is THE SLEAZE ALBUM of today, written with capital letters, for all who have at least a tiny bit of sleazy feelings in their lives...

Posted in Interviews

Jag möter upp Ryan O’Keeffe, trummis och den ena av två bröder i Airbourne, på Warner Musics kontor i Stockholm. Dagen har varit lång, det ser man på honom. Han ber om att få ta några minuter innan intervjun, för att få skvätta lite vatten i ansiktet och vakna till. Det verkar ha varit en sen kväll. Han återkommer med en öl i handen och slår sig ned i en fåtölj bredvid mig.

Tro det eller ej, men ni har nu spelat ihop i tio år. Hur känns det?
– Det är rätt roligt, för många som har intervjuat mig har just påpekat detta. Och jubileet i ära så är första låten på nya albumet skriven för tio år sedan. Men vi känner oss fortfarande fräscha. Visst, för tio år sedan var vi 16 år och gick i skolan, så man har ju inte direkt turnerat världen runt alla dessa år...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Mad Association/MusicBuyMail/Sound Pollution

French surprise band strikes from nowhere featuring some true talents in the vocals department. Prior to 2013 I had never heard of SHANNON. The band formed in 1998 with Patrice Louis on guitars and Thierry Dagnicourt on keyboards. They soon found Olivier Del Valle (ex.JANNYLEE) on vocals, bassist Claude Thill (ex. DER KAISER) and drummer Maxence Pilo (ex. HEAVENLY) and convinced them of joining.

The band album debuted in 2003 with their own brand of classic US melodic rock and Europeanized NWOBHM style. Prior to this album they changed brhythm section and in came Philippe Sassard (SQUARE) and Jean-Marc Anzil...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Mausoleum/Border

Newcomes RAVEN LORD boosts one of the more interesting lineups of 2013. Front man Csaba Zvekan of KILLING MACHINE has joined forces with guitar hero Joe Stump, ex. TONY MARTIN bass player Jamie Mallender, drummer Lawrence “Larry” Paterson (ex. BLAZE BAILEY), guitarist George Karafotis and keyboard player Alessandro Duo. The combo sets out to find diehard devotees and fresh young disciples with their DIO/YNGWIE/PRIEST/SABBATH-tinged classic metal.

Opener “The Rebel” leaves little more to be wished for if you´re into the classics. Joe has an YNGWIE-like presence and tone and the US melodic heavy metal with European refrains sits nicely. Their “Atilla the Hun” will work most audiences on a drunken night, without quite reaching the opener´s magic...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Napalm Records/Sound Pollution

VAN CANTO mastermind Stefan Schmidt is behind this one, enlisting the aid of classic drummer Jörg Michael and a bunch of classical composers. Modern, undoubtedly German, power metal meets classical music in various doses. The BLIND GUARDIAN choir is here in part, the same goes for Stefan´s friends in VAN CANTO. Everything for true lovers of metal is said to be here, can this project be that complete?

First up, to avoid taking up page after page I steer clear of enlisting every classical movement that is used on this disc. When I first heard “Replica” Everything felt familiar at once, even the refrain. It was so well-packed together and so aimed at what may have become the heart of power metal...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Napalm/Sound Pollution

The info sheet tells of universal praise, all hell breaking loose and the next league of thrash. Canadians MOTRILLERY has created a buzz, but they may not be filling those shoes today.

It is a matter of taste, as they have a female vocalist on the verge of cracking her voice, some punk thrown in and all the trademarks of old school thrash that many ask for. I personally was around when the old school reigned, and I think they are well up to par with many an underground act. The sheer frenzy of songs like “No Way Out”, “Feed the Fire” and “F.O.A.D.” (yes, acronyms ruled back then) are sure enough to have people speaking about a new wave. But there is no need for the album to sound as it was made back then, and I think there are a few fillers in here...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Massacre/Sound Pollution

UK newcomers DAMNATION ANGELS show more than the term “newcomer” hints at. The lineup of main man, guitarist, orchestrator and backing vocalist William Graney (CRADLE OF FILTH orchestrator), vocalist Per Fredrik Asly (PELLE K for short as an artist), drummer John Graney, bassist Steven Averill and pianist Dawn Trigg have been around since 2006, and debuted with their first EP “Shadow Symphony” in 2009. The critics were nice and a lot of touring followed. The band then felt ready for their debut. This album was released in Japan in 2012 and the video for “Pride (The Warrior´s Way) has been viewed a lot on YouTube. What could stop them now?

Maybe not a lot...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

The air was different at the Hi-Fi tonight, the usual demographic of hipsters, heavy metal heads and fluro kids have all been replaced with older males waiting for their beloved The Mark Of Cain to return to them. T-shirts of Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins and Faith No More littered the floor; this crowd was once a faithful youth to the music scene and they yearned for reincarnation.

Opening the night were prog rock bands, ‘The Sea Shall Not Have Them” and “Black Level Embassy”. Being a fan of prog I can appreciate the level of skill required to play this genre and sure, they were good at what they do, but to warm this sort of crowd in a venue like this? No. I’m dumbfounded as to how these acts gained their support roles here. Moving on.

The onstage arrival of The Mark Of Cai...

Posted in Press Releases

Folkligt bandsläpp till Bråvalla Festival!

Ångerockarna Takida och jazzpoparna Bo Kaspers Orkester besöker Norrköping och Bråvalla festival i sommar!