For their sixth full-length studio release, Swedish metallers Portrait journey to the land of the concept album in order to conjure up a tale of sword and sorcery set in the seventeenth century. Their first full-blown conceptual release, The Host (Metal Blade) is not an entirely fictional piece but also inspired partly by historic events, with the band imparting the tale of an unnamed protagonist seeking strength after encountering injustice and hypocrisy.
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Everybody loves covers! Especially covers of iconic songs by great bands. What is better than a single cover version of a classic track, but an entire album of them? What’s even better than that? Well, how about two albums of covers of a bunch of classics!
Yes, we’re talking about Apocalyptica, and we’re talking about Apocalyptica covering Metallica, which they did to great effect on their debut album twenty-five years ago! They have made a career of covering classics in Thrash Metal, introducing thrash fans to classical music on a new scale. while slowly creating their own repertoire of incredible original music, including a few hits along the way. What we often say about cover songs is that there are two approaches to take; a direct copy just redone beat for beat, or making those songs truly your own. Obviously and speaking of the classical metal masters of the Cello from Finland, we are talking reinterpretation. But they ratchet that up significantly on the sequel to their classic debut, Plays Metallica Vol 2., which is releasing via their own new imprint, Throwdown Entertainment.Continue reading
On Raw Blood Singing (Debemur Morti Productions), Insect Ark returns with an otherworldly and compelling sci-fi landscape of noir, subtle menace and mystery. Continue reading
Having reemerged from its dank void of horror to release To Be Cruel in 2023, deconstructed-avant-doom entity Khanate continues to be pulled piece-by-piece from the mud, as the band’s third and fourth records — 2005’s Capture & Release and 2009’s Clean Hands Go Foul (Sacred Bones Records) — get shined and buffed for physical reissues. Continue reading
Eight years on from his last solo record, Cut To Black (Barry Adamson Inc) sees Barry Adamson (former Magazine bassist and Bad Seed) bring us back into his cinematic universe. While soul and murder are still very much on the menu, his latest vision seems a little less murky.Continue reading
One of the least high-profile sign-offs since Button Gwinnett affixed his moniker to the Declaration, Ghost Stories (Frontiers Music srl), billed as Blue Oyster Cult’s final studio album, still qualifies as a “must have” for aficionados, even if it will never be widely celebrated or remembered in the same way as Secret Treaties, Agents Of Fortune, Cultosaurus Erectus, or Fire Of Unknown Origin.Continue reading
Social media might be to blame for the increasing enmeshment of Pop music into the Rock genre. Pop artists are more marketable and interchangeable with social media influencers. What record label would not want an artist with the iconic charisma of Taylor Swift? Continue reading
Having teamed up with Black Keys frontman Dan Auberbach for the last two albums, on his new one Mood Swings (American Recordings/Republic Records/Snakefarm Records) Marcus King is helped out by producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin. Gone is the seventies, bluesy Rock N’ Roll of the previous record Young Blood, in its place is R&B, Soul, Jazz, Pop and Classic Rock influences with King’s smokey, bluesman vocals taking centre stage. Continue reading
With its namesake taken from poet Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, Connecticut’s own Boundaries have offered an undeniably bleak effort which is certainly relatable in current times. Inspired by the notion that dying is perhaps not a terrible alternative, it’s a thought that certainly feels cuttingly real in a day of continued strife and tribulations on an almost constant basis. An undeniably dark overall narrative and inspiration Death Is Little More (3DOT Recordings) encapsulates with utter gloom and savagery in aplomb.Continue reading
Sweat are a Los Angeles trio composed of guitarist/vocalist Justin Smith, drummer Anthony Rivera, and frontwoman Tuna Tardugno who handles both the band’s vocals and album artwork.