Posted in Cd Reviews

American female fronted band Upon Wings are due to release their Afterlife EP in March. The EP features some guest vocals from Brett Hestla (ex-Creed, Dark New Day) and was mastered by Kid Rock recording engineer Glenn Brown.

Opening track ”Afterlife” is absolutely superb. Vocally the best comparisons are probably Epica and Delain, and musically Delain are definitely a good comparison too. A very impressive start to the EP.

”Take away” is a heavier track with the guitars and drums being harder and making it more of a metal track.

”The dream” has an operatic vocal style for the main vocals with some beautiful haunting vocals alongside them and the music is kept fairly soft and in the background. It’s a beautiful track.

The final track, ”You are my weapon” is another metal track...

Posted in Press Releases

Late March sees the release of Transvision Vamp’s first two highly successful album releases from the late 1980s, Pop Art and Velveteen. The albums are being released as 2-CD sets, each featuring a bonus disc of B-sides and rarities.

Signing to MCA in 1986, British rock-pop act Transvision Vamp enjoyed massive chart success in the UK and abroad before disbanding in early 1992. In late 1987 they released a cover version of the Holly and the Italians song, Tell That Girl To Shut Up and a few months later their follow-up single, I Want Your Love, which made number 5 in the UK charts. Their debut album, Pop Art was released in October of that year, reaching the British Top 5.

Pop Art was Transvision Vamp’s debut album and is celebrating its 25th anniversary with this 2CD re-issue.

Led b...

Posted in Cd Reviews

HELLO CATHOUSE!- extremely new single from Babylon Bombs

Hard rock and sleaze in the air- as we love to feel it in bones everywhere. Swedish band from Stockholm seems actually unstoppable.. So, are you ready?

New single from Babylon Bombs is available in 7 days! „It’s a song written as a homage to a good friend of ours and his great rock ’n roll club, which we have played in so many times, since 2005. Cathouse is a kinda catchy-feel good song, perfect in that party-playlist before a wild night out!”- tells the band before secret will turn out to the rock world’s sunshine. Spirit of sleaze is totally owns the tune, and also the audience will be rocked by listening that kind of cool and wild memories of great rock n’ roll times...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

UDR/EMI

When both Steve Dawson (1986) and Graham Oliver (1994) had been erased from the band pictures I sort of left the fold too. From late 1982 onwards SAXON were my heroes, but I thought I´d bought my last album after the uneven “Metalhead” in 1999. When former members started SON OF A BITCH, Later OLIVER/DAWSON SAXON around 1994 I followed closely as they were faithful to the old songs.

Fast forward to 2013, and the release of yet another SAXON album, their 20th studio outing I believe. The cover is just about the same as the previous three or so, but the music. At long last Biff has lead his cohorts back in time, 25 years or so, and created an album almost filled with modern sounding NWOBHM...

Posted in Cd Reviews

AOR Records/Sound Pollution

Behind the moniker PHOENIX RISING stands guitarist Andrea Maddalone (NEW TROLLS, session musician) and lead vocalist/drummer Titta Tani (ASHENT, GOBLIN etc). After a successful EP, “Give It a Name” in 2012 the band were on their way. They state influences like BOSTON, JOURNEY, PRIDE OF LIONS and GIANT, and they seem to be aiming very high.

The eighties poppy opener “No Lie to Say” boosts electronic sounding retro drums, a nice chorus but alas not the star quality of their peers. On the other hand that may well be the weaker spot on the album, odd choice for an opener. And “It´s Up to You and Me” will not please the target group of listeners either...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Frontiers/BAM

Here´s a new one, imagine three guys, members or associated with Italian heavy metal band LABYRINTH doing a moderns sounding hard rock album?! Well this is not a mirage, it has happened. Guitarist Andrea Cantarelli, bassist/vocalist Roberto Tiranti and drum ace Alessandro Bissa /VISION DIVINE) are A PERFECT DAY, and have debuted with Frontiers Records.

On the strong side this album contains a lot of well played and highly skilled melodic hard rock. The voice suits the music, the songs are of a quality that would work in many genres..but it is very modern sounding in places. Their self titled opener has a touch of its own, but the refrain can´t reach as high as possible due to the modern sound...

Posted in Press Releases

Vi är oerhört glada att kunna presentera Mando Diao till Norrköping i sommar! Borlängegrabbarna har under loppet av tio år släppt ifrån sig fem stycken studioalbum som sålt mer än 1,5 miljoner exemplar runt om i världen vilket gör dem till ett av våra internationellt mest framgångsrika band på den här sidan millennieskiftet. I sommar kommer de endast att ställa sig på ett par få festivalscener för att framföra musiken från den senaste succéskivan Infruset så därför känns det extra kul att de väljer att besöka Bråvalla Festival.

Mando Diao har som band visat sig vägra att stagnera, som om utrymmet i den garagerock de utgick ifrån vid debuten Bring em In 2002 inte var tillräckligt för all fantastisk musik inom dem...

Posted in Press Releases

Singer/songwriter Chantal Claret unveils an exciting new direction, blending big 60s beats with a contemporary hip hop embellishment, for her new solo debut ‘The One, The Only…’out in the UK this March.

Fans around the world know the little lady with the big voice for her time fronting acclaimed rock band Morningwood, whose “catchier than Chlamydia hooks” (as described by Rolling Stone), led to sold-out tours around the world, countless film and television appearances and a No. 1 debut on the Billboard Heatseekers chart.

Written and co-produced by Chantal, new album ‘The One, The Only..’ puts a modern twist on early femme-pop, getting inspiration from the clubs she used to sneak into underage...

Posted in Press Releases

WITH A storming new stomp in their boots and a renewed, lithe swagger to their legendary sound, Saxon will release “Sacrifice”, on 25th February 2013 through UDR Records. Taking a sharper, re-invigorated approach to the production, on this, their 20th album, Saxon have produced 10 of their strongest, heaviest and most inspired songs for many-a-year, and a more than worthy successor to their last album “A Call To Arms”. “Less tricks, more power!” roars frontman and founding father Biff Byford, “my brief to the band was to be raw, be real and not be afraid to look back at the old classic material for inspiration.”

The album was recorded at LS Studios in Yorkshire and was produced by Byford with Andy Sneap mixing and engineering by Jacky Lehmann...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Swiss melodic death metal band Dreamshade formed in 2006, and in 2008 released their debut EP – To The Edge Of Reality. After two years of touring and playing festivals including Metalfest, Metalcamp and Summer Breeze open air, they signed to Spinefarm records. In January 2011 they released their debut album (What silence hides). Since then they’ve been busy touring, playing more festivals and recording their second album – The gift of life. Now that album is ready to be released. The band recorded the album in their own recording studio and then brought in Jacob Hansen, a man with a seriously impressive reputation, to handle the mixing and mastering.

Guitarist Rocco Ghielmini says of the album ”The songs’ lyrics are mainly about common life situations: questions, torments, thoughts, ...