Category Archives: Album Reviews

Demon Eye – Prophecies & Lies

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Taking their name from a Deep Purple song from the 1971 classic Fireball (Warner Bros.) are Demon Eye. Arising from North Carolina, Demon Eye started out life as a ‘70s rock covers band called Corvette Summer before transforming into a fully-fledged band in 2012. As their origins suggest, their sound is an amalgamation of 70s hard rock and metal – with Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, early Judas Priest and Iron Maiden the major influences. Their third album Prophecies and Lies (Soulseller) was produced by Corrosion of Conformity’s Mike Dean and continues down this old school path. Continue reading →


Ehnahre – The Marrow

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Let’s be honest – for all its talk of “extremes”, Metal is largely a pretty conservative genre. Few bands experiment beyond the controlled combination of rigorously defined subgenres, and even those who do truly push the boundaries are normally content to do so only once. Ehnahre – formed with the stated intention of creating the most horrible and perverse music imaginable – have been a dedicated exception to this rule from the beginning, to the extent that they frequently don’t sound like a Metal band at all.Continue reading →


Rings of Saturn – Ultu Ulla

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While the deathcore genre really has not put out any stellar releases this year, or really in the past couple of years, Rings of Saturn have put together quite a collection of songs in their latest release, Ultu Ulla (Nuclear Blast). While not being a fan of the earlier material, this latest album from the Bay Area Deathcore group actually had me intrigued for a few spins. Between the guitar wankery and the well-placed/tasteful breakdowns, the record carries itself from start to finish with no real need for a skip button.Continue reading →


Paradise Lost – Medusa

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It’s not uncommon for bands that have been around for a long time to ‘go back to their roots’ and rehash styles they’ve long since got bored of and moved on from. But despite nearly 30 years in the business, UK veterans Paradise Lost are yet to become a nostalgia act.Continue reading →


The Haunted – Strength in Numbers

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For how long has The Haunted been around again? No need to look it up on your phone, let’s just say the band is old enough to drink. And in those 21 years, the lads have remained very active with 8 albums in the can and number nine is upon us in Strength in Numbers (Century Media). At this point, headbangers know what they’re getting from this Swedish wrecking crew. Continue reading →


Beyond Grace – Seekers

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Melodic death metal is a very tricky style to get spot on, with a balance that needs to be struck between heaviness and an ear for a tune; a balance that all too often is lop-sided. It’s an understanding that Nottingham based death metallers Beyond Grace have, in a short life-span, have already recognised and mastered and thus, as evidenced on latest album Seekers (Self-released), have proven themselves as one of British metal’s best kept secrets and exciting prospects.Continue reading →


PVRIS – All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell

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What became of real pop stars? This is a question I have asked myself over and over the last few years. As we’ve lost Prince, George Michael, and David Bowie, and there is no new Madonna, Bjork, Sinead, Tori, or nary even an Alanis in sight, I wondered when the next generation of legends would come, if ever. A few years back I got turned on to PVRIS when I still lived in their home state of Massachusetts, and I heard White Noise right when it came out. Then I saw them live, and whoa, I was blown away by them. However, one of the hardest things to pull off in music is the second album. Sure you have your entire first act to create a sound and cultivate your style. People are fickle and expect a lot as fans. Much tougher to grow from that and keep it going, but PVRIS has pulled it off impressively. Continue reading →


White Moth Black Butterfly – Atone

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With such a rich and diverse musical landscape at our fingertips, it is often the nonlinear artists that truly stand out. The ones that, far from sticking to rigid formulae, offer and showcase encompassing palettes; often shared with audiences and showing they aren’t limited to one style or sound. Truly a worldwide venture, White Moth Black Butterfly is one such entity that offers an alternate creative outlet to a contingent across all four corners of the globe. Consisting of Dan Tompkins of TesseracT, Keshav Dhar of India’s Skyharbor; plus Randy Slaugh and Jordan Turner; WMBB was born from a love for less rock-based but still progressive and experimental music, but always felt somewhat sidelined if not creatively immersive. On the evidence of new album Atone (Kscope) and their joining with Kscope, it now feels like this is an entirely serious entity.Continue reading →


Running Wild – Blazon Stone, Pile Of Skulls, Black Hand Inn, Masquerade Reissues

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If ‘Riding The Storm’ from Death or Glory, the album that closed the first chapter of Running Wild’s career as well as being the chronological end of the first batch of Noise Records/BMG’s reissues, saw the band absolutely perfect their main songwriting style, sixth album Blazon Stone saw them kick off a run of unprecedented consistency and quality. By now armed with a recognisable, cohesive and distinct sound, for the next four albums, Rock n’ Rolf dragged Running Wild to a level of Heavy Metal excellence that, though predictable stylistically, was welcomed with open arms, raised horns and strained voices. During this period, Running Wild became masters at their craft, even if they had not yet perfected the art of the photo shoot (seriously… the Labyrinth style costumes and volumized bouffants have not aged well…)Continue reading →