Posted in Press Releases

Canadian synth rockers THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE have announced details for their fifth studio album – “Hide And Seek”, was once again mixed by Rainbow and Dave Ogilvie (Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Killing Joke, Marilyn Manson) who worked with the band on their last two albums – and will be released October 8th.

The dark time of year is drawing nigh and the monsters that live under the beds and in wardrobes to become the essence of countless children nightmares start creeping out of their summer hideaways...

Posted in Press Releases

Electro Punk act Angelspit is returning to the UK for a run of 5 headline shows as part of the ’Wall Street Massacre’ European tour which is kicking off in Germany at the end of this month.

Angelspit, known for vicious distortion, biting lyrics and harsh drums, have churned out eight releases over the past seven years and have shared the stage with acts such as KMFDM, Skinny Puppy, Frontline Assembly, Sisters of Mercy and Nitzer Ebb. The band’s music and performance have been critically acclaimed worldwide.

Singer Zoog comments: “I am so excited about our European tour – It will be awesome to ROCK Europe again and I cannot wait to get back to the UK, as NO-ONE can rock like those guys…HELL YEAH!”

Front woman Amelia states: “playing the UK is no doubt a highlight of our European tour...

Posted in Press Releases

MARTYR DEFILED have announced a run of UK shows to follow the release of their new EP ’In Shadows’ (3rd September) and have promised fans each show will be £2 entry with advance purchase tickets.
”After nearly 5 years of touring around the UK and Europe we have played amazing shows to amazing people, made amazing friends and had an amazing time. But there has always been something hanging over us, every time we see a tour announced or turn up to a venue – ticket prices are so high these days. We did a tour in 2011, and every single show was 8 pounds or more for a ticket, and so ridiculously priced on the door that it shocked us...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Lion Music

BOOK of REFLECTIONS is yet another vehicle of virtuoso guitarist LARS ERIC MATTSSON. This is the third installment in the band saga, this time featuring two great vocalists. Carsten “Lizard” Schulz (EVIDENCE ONE) and Markku Kuikka of STATUS MINOR both have what it takes for this neo-classically tinged metal.

Opener “Until the Day” is one of the finest moments on the album. The feeling of a modern day RAINBOW is there. And the album continues along that line. The aim to make a more straightforward album gets us the two best songs on offer; the guitar masturbating riff of “Rise Up!” and the heavy “Ritchie Malmsteen” style of the heavy “Crashing Through”...

Posted in Cd Reviews

SPV/Playground

KILL DEVIL HILL sounds like someone running out of good ideas for a band name. But behind these words stands none other than Vinnie Appice of BLACK SABBATH and DIO fame, and bassist Rex Brown, formerly of PANTERA. Also appearing are vocalist Dewey Bragg who resembles Layne Staley of ALICE IN CHAINS, and guitarist Mark Zavon who has been involved with the likes of RATT and WWIII. Power and force is promised, and a fantastic new album. Well, here goes…

Grooves! I think that may well sum up this album. Slow songs and a lack of refrain might also be in the cards...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Gwyn Ashton is a guitarist, singer and songwriter, who in 2001 was voted the third best guitarist of the year by readers of a French guitar magazine (Jeff Beck and Gary Moore were the top two). He has his own signature guitar model from Italian firm Liutart.
His last album was ”Two man blues army”, released in 2009. Since then he’s toured extensively in support of the album – I saw him perform supporting Magnum on tour in 2011 and was impressed by his ability and music.

Often albums by guitarists are released to show off how well they can play, and some songs are sketched in around the guitar parts to pretend its a real album...

Posted in Interviews

I spoke to Amie and Gemma from Dakesis at Bloodstock shortly after they played their set on the acoustic stage.

Festivalphoto: You’ve just played the Jaegermeister acoustic stage here at Bloodstock. How did you enjoy it?

Gemma: It was fantastic. It was so much fun, we had a great reaction, huge crowd, and it was just incredible really. It was our first time playing Bloodstock so it was really special for us.
Aimee: We come every year, we’ve been here since the dawn of time when it was indoor, and went through that transition, so to actually play is just amazing.

Festivalphoto: Have you done acoustic sets before or was this a new experience?

Gemma: We’ve not, no. Our frontman and drummer went to the pub and got drunk...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Perhaps our expectations were too high – Peninsula was, for many years, our favorite Romanian festival. Perhaps a comparison with Sziget is unjust, although it can’t be avoided – but this year we were somewhat disappointed by Felsziget.

The festival was not bad or poorly organized. The line up consisted of smaller bands, but nothing here to complain about. It’s just that something was not right, thought it’s hard to put your finge on it.

For starters, we didn’t like the the way the festival perimeter was reorganized (they moved Main Stage somewhere in the middle of a field, along with the food court and a smaller stage). The space in front of the Main Stage was tiny – but then again, the Main Stage was about half the size we were used to.

There were few people, some of the headliners per...

Posted in Interviews

Eldrimner från Göteborg släpper sin debutplatta ”Inom förloppet av ett liv” i slutet av september. Bandets sångare Alexander Andersson är laddad inför skivsläppet.
­ – Det är så himla gött, så länge som vi har jobbat med den här plattan, säger han.

Eldrimner bildades när killarna i bandet gick i högstadiet.
­ – Då var vi alla utom basisten, jag spelade bas och sjöng. Men det blir så tråkigt när man är låst vid basen, så då tog vi in Otto som spelar bas. Den sättningen är vi idag, säger Alexander.
Drygt fem år senare är det dags att släppa första plattan.
­ – Det är så himla gött. Vi har jobbat med den här plattan i två år och det ska bli så jävla gött att få släppa den.

“Inom förloppet av ett liv” är en konceptskiva, som titeln antyder får...

Posted in Press Releases

Legendary Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett has announced the details of his forthcoming studio album Genesis Revisited II in a special YouTube video message for Genesis fans worldwide.

Steve Hackett has brought together a host of stunning guest performers including Steven Wilson and Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) to craft an album that revisits many of the best loved songs from his Genesis years.

What better person to introduce you to this epic undertaking than the man himself.

Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited II will be released on 22nd October 2012 and comes in a limited edition 2CD Media-book, as well as a beautiful 4LP & 2CD version that showcases the brilliant artwork above.

Last year saw the release of Steve Hackett’s critically acclaimed and best selling solo album Beyond The Shrou...