Album Reviews

Fronted by vocalist Fabienne Erni and guitarist Jonas Wolf (both of Eluveitie) ILLUMISHADE is the perfect example of how what might have started as a short-term project can grow legs and outlive the reason why it was started in the first place. ILLUMISHADE was formed in 2019 when the ball …

With the demise of Sons of Apollo, it was only a matter of time before a new progressive metal supergroup formed. And with the kind of relationship that sparked comparisons with Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord playing off each other, guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal and fellow SoA alumni, keyboardist Derek …

Opening an album with the title track doesn’t happen that much. Usually reserved for mid-album, the title track is very often the anchor that holds the album steady. Enter from stage left, genre-melding Swedes Amaranthe and the title track to their seventh studio album, ‘The Catalyst’. If anyone stumbled across …

A 5-year gap between studio albums is unusual. Unless you are Metallica of course. The relentless album-tour-album-tour cycle can often burn musicians out and the result can often be sub-standard albums where a break might have been more beneficial. In the case of California’s New Years Day the gap between …

Vocabulary.com has this to say about the definition of Perdition: “Perdition refers to hell, and especially the religious idea of eternal damnation: suffering for an endless period of time after death.” There is a fantastic duality about this with regards to South Wales’ five-piece Valhalla Awaits and their new EP …

Almost 20 years after releasing his last solo album (2005’s ‘Tyranny Of Souls’) Bruce Dickinson returns with the hugely ambitious multi-media solo project known as ‘The Mandrake Project’. Lead single ‘Afterglow of Ragnarok’  – released earlier this year as a stunning 7″ single that also featured a comic book in …

Amigo The Devil should have won a Grammy in 2022 for his ‘Born Against’ album. Best New Artist; Best Americana Album; Best Album; Best Single (‘Murder at the Bingo Hall’); take your pick. Perhaps the Grammy folks weren’t ready for a tale of bingo and “…cocaine and Adderall”, or maybe …

‘The Detail Is In The Devil’, album number three from Bristolians Sons Of Liberty, sees the band dialing back some of the more Southern rock aspects of previous albums ‘Animism’ (2020) and ‘Aces & Eights’ (2021) in favour of more of a traditional hard rock feel. It could be organic, …

British guitarist and singer-songwriter Jack J Hutchinson is on a hot streak of late. Released in 2022, his third solo album, ‘The Hammer Falls’ was well-received and showcased a heavier sound from the likeable North West native now residing in London. Quickly following this up with the Kevin Shirley-produced EP …

Delivering the goods in the form of a new studio album every 2.5 years or so, Blackberry Smoke has gone from strength to strength on each outing, and even the most cynical of cynics would be hard-pressed to come up with a Blackberry Smoke album that falls below par. The …