Kompendium is more an ensemble of musicians than a band as such. It brings together for this project an amazing lineup which includes an amazing array of talent including former and current members of bands including Genesis, It Bites, Porcupine tree, Nightwish, Pendragon, King Crimson, Camel, Magenta and many more, along with a choir, an…
British heavy metal legends Saxon are back with their latest album – Sacrifice. It’s their 20th studio album in their 34 year career (they’ve also released 9 live albums and several compilations). The band’s last studio album, Call to arms, was a great album, so expectations for Sacrifice are high. The album was recorded at…
Thyrfing are a Swedish metal band that are often described as Viking metal or Pagan metal. The band take their name from Norse mythology – “Thyrfing” is a royal sword, a cursed blade that appears in several tales and myths. The band was formed in 1995 and released their first album in 1998 (the self…
Swedish metal band Enforcer are back with their latest album, ”Death by fire”. It’s their third album, and their first for their new record label, Nuclear Blast. The album clocks in at around 35 minutes – like all of Enforcer’s albums, it’s deliberately been kept under 40 minutes. Singer Olof Wikstrand explains : “We write…
Frontiers/BAM SNAKECHARMER, the name itself implicates WHITESNAKE DNA. And the truth is that there is as much WHITESNAKE here, at least, as in the version fronted by DAVID COVERDALE these days. At least if you´re a devotee of the band´s earlier works – like me. Feature here are Mr. slide guitar himself, Micky Moody, who…
A couple of young, fresh and talented band from the Swedish music-legend, now depart to a common tour around the North, to mock the postponed ’end of the world’. The Drake Equation: a young metalcore band with pop, jazz and electronic influences from Västerås, has been in the final of the biggest rock talent competition…
Sony Music Entertainment 30 years on HELLOWEEN release their 14th studio album, and they must be content. The first 5-6 years must have been fun, the next 3 disastrous, only to rise again with the splendid “Master of the Rings” in 1994. But member changes have been many and I dare say that I´ve not…
Frontiers/BAM Reunited veterans ASIA, with all original members on board when this album was released, are somewhat productive with live albums. This is the third since their revival, and they seemed to think that “Fantasia” was too polished and “Spirit of the Night” a festival document. This one is said to be the band resonating…
Frontiers/BAM NEAL SCHON is perhaps one of the world´s most recognized guitarists. From his early days, 15 years of age, with SANTANA to the second coming of JOURNEY he has kept his calendar busy like few others. 19 top 40 singles, 25 gold and platinum discs speak for themselves too. Now he somehow found time…
Limb Music/Sound Pollution Australian band EYEFEAR was brought to my attention in 2008, and the excellent “The Unseen” – which was in fact their fourth offering. But the band´s history actually begins back in 1994, and of the founding members only drummer Zain Kimmie and guitarist Con Papazoglu remains. The rest of the band is…
San Francisco rockers Counting Crows have announced their first UK tour in over 4 years. The multi-platinum 7 piece will bring their live show to Birmingham, Bristol, London, Manchester and Glasgow in April, after touring in Australia and a string of European dates. “All I could say when I saw the plans for a UK/EU…
The night started with Chimp Spanner, a band who are fast making a name for themselves and who I was looking forward to hearing. The first surprise for many people is that they are an instrumental band. The second surprise is just how good they really are. Musically tonight they were superb – some really…