Album Reviews

Literally translating as a dark, chilling shiver or a horrific chill, Finnish soprano Tarja’s immaculate new album, ‘Frisson Noir’, is about the physical reaction that music can provoke, the shiver that runs through the body when sound, emotion, and performance align in a real moment. One in the eye for …

With Tori Amos recently releasing her sprawling, near-80-minute, fully immersive concept album ‘In Times of Dragons’, fans of dark, emotionally heavy melancholic music have been spoiled of late. On a less grandiose scale (but just as immersive), British multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter A. A. Williams has been quietly releasing some of …

Shinedown in numbers: 25-year career, thus far; more than 10 million albums sold worldwide (including the double-platinum ‘Sound of Madness’); over 8.3 billion global streams; 15 platinum and gold singles; the most No. 1s in Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart history (23); named the number-one act on Billboard’s Greatest of …

With Aerosmith no more (or, if you pay attention to the rumourmongers in ‘Murica, is something on the way?), and (sadly) a Thunder-sized gap in the market, the time is perfect for South-London rockers The Karma Effect to build on the head of steam built up from two well-received albums, …

With AI-generated music looming large in the background, and “artists” such as “Eddie Dalton” actually breaking into the Official UK Singles Charts (meaning that the Official Charts endorses computer trickery), it’s a palate cleanser when an album like ‘Love Is A Wish Away’ lands on the desk. Previously only available …

The artists formerly known as Hell’s Gazelles are back, full of piss and vinegar, as Stud Farm Mafia, and by Freddie Mercury’s ‘tache, it is good to have them back. Dating back to pre-COVID, pre-2020, for that matter, Hell’s Gazelles had a certain something that made them stand out from …

It’s incredible to think that for a performer with so many decades under their belt, it’s taken until 2026 for them to release their debut solo album. But that’s exactly what ‘New Day’ is: the first full-length solo album of original material from well-travelled modern troubadour John Corabi. As Corabi …

With seminal Dutch rock outfit The Gathering celebrating the 30th anniversary of breakthrough album ‘Mandylion’ in 2025 by reuniting with vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen (it seems disrespectful to simply refer to the magical van Giersbergen as vocalist), once again, a genuine masterpiece of an album has been thrust back into …

On album number three, ‘Reckless’, Welsh songstress Chez Kane seems to have adopted the well-travelled idiom of “Go big, or go home”. Bigger, bolder, and more 80s-tastic (if such a thing is possible) than 2022’s sophomore album, ‘Powerzone’, ‘Reckless’ is Chez Kane four years down the road with heaps of …

It’s the album sleeve for ‘The Great Satan’ that provides the biggest clue that Rob Zombie is not dicking around. Rewind the last 20 years or so, and consider the cover artwork for albums such as ‘Venomous Rat Regeneration Vendor’ (2013), ‘The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser’ …