Posted in Cd Reviews

SPV/Playground

MAGNUM formed as a house band of a night club in Birmingham in the early seventies. Quite some house band, as the nucleus of vocalist Bob Catley and guitarist Tony “The Hat” Clarkin still remains intact. Keyboard player Mark Stanway has been around since 1979, while Al Barrow, bass, joined in 2001, and Harry James (of TERRAPLANE/THUNDER fame) was added around that time too. The millennium was a time of hardship for the band, that was defunked for a while. But reformation came and along with it their comeback album “Breath of Life”. It was in turn followed by four more, if you count the almost new “The Visitation”. That brings us back to now, as MAGNUM release their 16th studio album. Can they return to form, or are they relying on former glories?

Opener “All the ...

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Rocksector Records/Plastichead

1980, Chris Tsangarides, Rodney Matthews, Robb Weir, ok, please find the error. This is 2012, and the revamped TYGERS OF PAN TANG, ok seasoned since they stepped back into action in 2001, with Robb as the main man, are well on their way. Along since 2001 are Dean Robertson, lead guitar, and Craig Ellis, drums, and later additions are Italian (!) vocalist Jacopo Meille, and recent bass recruit Gavin Gray (ex. BLITZKRIEG). And since the reformation the band, albeit in changing form, has produced some nine discs all in all. If they were rubbish this would of cause not happen, but what about this their most retro-looking output in recent years?

I might have said something about Jacopo being Italian in the past, but the voice on the excellent opener “Keeping Me A...

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SPV/Steamhammer/Playground

Formed in 1981, VIRGIN STEELE has released a massive eleven albums, which are now in the process of being re-released. From the first line-up of Jack Starr, guitars, Joe Ayvazian, drums, who recruited a phenomenal vocalist by the name of David DeFeis, who, in turn, brought bass man Joe O´Reilly, until the complex metal opera band of today there has been a long and winding road. Guitarist Starr soon left, in pursuit of the direction of their two first, more heavy metal meets RAINBOW-orientated albums. In came Edward Pursino, who is rumored to have just entered and never left, and the operatic era was taking form...

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Pulverised/Sound Pollution

July 2007 saw founding members Julkarn (bass, guitas, vocals) and Bastard (guitar, bass), conjuring up the early stages of what was to become GRAVEYARD. The oair soon hooked up with drummer Gusi from UNDERTAKER. The object was to worship bands from their teens like ENTOMBED, MORBID ANGEL and VENOM, to name but a few. That year second guitarist SBE (ERED) joined the ranks, and promotion started of the demo “Into the Mausoleum”. They obtained a recording contract from Black Seed Productions after only a few months, and they were on their way. Since then, they have, in true underground old school death fashion released 2 EP´s, four splits and one full-length album, and toured relentlessly...

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FS Records/GMR

Swedish troupe FATAL SMILE is continuing their quest for world domination with the release of their second outing “21st Century Freaks”. The band has been around for approximately ten years, but it was not until 2007 that guitarist/founder Mr. Y changed the lineup and started on their debut, modestly titled “World Domination”. Dominating reviews in a.o. Sweden Rock Magazine followed, and a massive 350 shows worldwide is not a bad achievements these days… 2011 saw the band writing and recording, and here is the next chapter…

Opener “Welcome to the Freakshow” opens with a circus part, before a shattering refrain embedded in a classic heavy metal style takes over. Shattering is probably how about seven of the eleven tracks will appear to their competition...

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Concerto for Group and Orchestra is a concerto composed by Jon Lord, with lyrics written by Ian Gillan. It was first performed by Deep Purple and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Septeber 1969 and released on vinyl in December of that same year. Recorded live and played live over thirty times over the years, it’s never been done in the studio until now.
Last year, Jon Lord decided it was time for the Concerto to be recorded in a studio. Over the years he’s tweaked the original version to improve parts of it, so what we have in this release is the new improved version.
Without this album you have to wonder whether various other bands would have ever thought to work with orchestras – it’s highly unlikely that Metallica would have done their S&M concert/album if not for ”Concerto for Gro...

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”Fire from the sky” is the seventh studio album from Massachusetts band Shadows Fall. Over the last seventeen years they’ve been very consistent, releasing a new album every 2-3 years. In the past they’ve finished a tour and then written and recorded the next album to meet specific deadlines, but for this album they chose to spend longer on the album and not work to a specific deadline. The result is a great album with the band sounding to be back at the top of their game.

It’s a great album – it’s heavy and powerful, it’s got fast yet highly intricate guitar work, great guitar solos, powerful screaming vocals, and they’re not afraid to slow things down when it can add to the music...

Posted in Interviews

I spoke with Doris Yeh, bass player with Taiwanese metal band Chthonic shortly after they played the main stage at this years Bloodstock festival.

Festivalphoto: You’ve just played the main stage here at Bloodstock, how did you enjoy it?

Doris: More than happy to be here, to play Bloodstock is always one of our goals, so we are very happy to play the main stage this year. The response from the crowd was really really good. Yeah I think we made them excited today.

Festivalphoto: The last couple of times you’ve been to the UK it’s been supporting Arch Enemy.

Doris: Yeah, last November was the last time. And this year for the summer festival tour we met them again a few times. It’s good to see them again. It’s always been a pleasure to play with them.

Festivalphoto: You wear different mak...

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Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s visionary music

Electric Eden is a new compilation album which features songs chosen by author and journalist Rob Young. The two disc set is designed to serve as a companion to Young’s highly acclaimed book Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music which was published by Faber & Faber in 2010.

The album really charts the way folk music has developed and changed. Rob young comments ’This compilation is designed to follow the flow from acoustic to electric folk in the late 60s and early 70s, a magical time in British music. I’ve tried to include a mixture of rarities, unheard versions, familiar names and unjustly neglected heroes and heroines...

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Initially a model and actress, German singer Nico moved into music and found fame when she sang three songs on the Velvet Undergrounds debut album before starting work on a solo career.

The Music industry is often criticised for being ruthless and money driven, and there’s no doubting that at times it can be, but then they come out with a release like this. Despite good reviews when it was first released, it was a commercial failure, so to spend more cash remastering it, add in a load of bonus material and reissue it seems an odd move from a commercial perspective, but for music lovers it’s a great move as we not only get the original album but also some rare material to listen to.

Newly remastered the album sounds better than ever...