ALBUM REVIEW: Leila Abdul-Rauf – Calls From a Seething Edge


Leila Abdul-Rauf is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and singer who has been part of various bands (Vastum, Hammers of Misfortune, Saros, Amber Asylum) since the 1990s. Calls From a Seething Edge (Cyclic Law Music / Syrup Moose Records) is her fifth solo album.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Eye – Dark Light


Eye is the new project of MWWB (formerly Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard) frontwoman Jessica Ball and Dark Light marks its debut following MWWB’s  2022 album The Harvest. Joining Ball in her latest venture are keyboardist Jonny and Drummer Gid Goundrey (Gulp/Ghostlawns/Martin Carr). Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: BIG|BRAVE – A Chaos Of Flowers


Hot on the heels of 2023’s excellent Nature Morte, experimental doomgazers BIG|BRAVE release their sixth full-length record, A Chaos Of Flowers (Thrill Jockey Records). Continue reading


Huntsmen Announces Their New Album “The Dry Land” – Coming Soon



Chicago, IL ensemble Huntsmen has today announced their third album, The Dry Land, set to be released via Prosthetic Records on June 7. Alongside the album announcement, the Americana / Doom Metal group has shared release show details for The Dry Land, set to take place on June 7 at Sleeping Village in Chicago, IL. Further details on The Dry Land will be revealed in the coming weeks, with the band sharing a teaser for the lead single below. Watch it now!Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: The Black Crowes – Happiness Bastards


Rock ‘N’ Roll might be a young man’s game, but it is not stopping the Robinson Brothers from again coming together on Happiness Bastards (Silver Arrow Records) to prove they still have it. If Amorica was the last album you picked up by these guys, then things have changed dramatically. If you are one of their more avid followers then you have heard their transition away from merely being a Led Zeppelin/Rolling Stones hybrid, so this album makes perfect sense. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Wayfarer – American Gothic


 

American Gothic (Profound Lore) opens with a great deal of fanfare – a Western-tinged throb of guitar before you are reminded Wayfarer are a Black Metal band: snarled vocals control the mic, the drummer leans into a deliberate double-bass attack rather than joining the blast-beaten status quo…  the band displaying a dynamic progression as songwriters on their fifth album as they continue to get even better with each release.

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Gaslight Anthem – History Books


 

Almost a decade has passed since The Gaslight Anthem sadly went on their indefinite hiatus as a band with Brian Fallon discovering a new side to his music under his solo project. Finally though, after all this time, the band are finally reunited with a brand new set of music to bring into what looks like a very busy 2024 for the act. For so many bands reuniting over the years, fanbases have become apprehensive on whether to expect a quick cash-grab or if the bands are back for real. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Chris Shiflett – Lost At Sea


 

Much-admired, rightly and properly-acclaimed Foo Fighters guitarist/songwriter Chris Shiflett delivers his latest solo album, Lost At Sea (Snakefarm Records), and proves yet again, experience can count for so, so much. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: Duff McKagan – Lighthouse


 

Duff McKagan is an interesting character. Having released his first solo album in 1993, a big gap followed till 2019’s Tenderness, with Lighthouse (BFD Records /Orchard/Sony) his third. This of course is but a fraction of McKagan’s musical story. Consistently coming across as the most likeable out of the classic Guns N’ Roses lineup (in which he played bass and for his part was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame), such a rock pedigree is already more than most mere mortals would ever get a sniff at. 

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ALBUM REVIEW: The Menzingers – Some Of It Was True


 

When a band captures a perfect creative moment like The Menzingers did with their sixth album 2019’s Hello Exile, they find themselves in a position of having to measure up to it. While Hello Exile was a creative high mark met with deserved praise from music critics such as myself, its success in terms of dollars and cents was relative as it hit 89 on the Billboard Top 200 Charts. 

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