ALBUM REVIEW: Blue Oyster Cult – 50th Anniversary Live – Second Night


Majestic, mysterious, magical Blue Oyster Cult career once again down “Hot Rails To Hell”. Join the latest celebration of the most supernatural, sinful and iconic rock ’n’ roll outfit from the Lovecraftian woods, mists and shores of Long Island.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Mono – Oath


A sensuous, rapturous and thought-provoking collection of superior, post-rock instrumental music, Oath (Pelagic Records), from Japanese four-piece Mono, was recorded and mixed by late, great and already much-missed engineer Steve Albini, who passed away last month, aged 61.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Slash – Orgy Of The Damned


Slash’s much-anticipated blues cover album is studded with fine performances – Chris Stapleton singing on “Oh Well”, Iggy Pop on “Awful Dream”, Brian Johnson loving it on “Killing Floor”.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Botanist – Paleobotany


Green Metal like Black Metal … hammered dulcimers instead of guitars … gruff, growling vocals as well as clean singing, plus choral voices and symphonic passages. Yes, Botanist are “plant based”. Yes, Paleobotany (Prophecy Productions) is heavy and proggy. And yes, it’s very different, in a good way. Continue reading


EP REVIEW: Hollow Leg – Dust


A tasty slice of rhythmic, headbanging Sludge, this groovy, nicely gnarly EP finds Hollow Leg in fine fettle, smoking hot and leaving many others in their wake – leaving them in the dust, you could say.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Blue Oyster Cult – Ghost Stories


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


ALBUM REVIEW: The Monolith Deathcult – The Demon Who Makes Trophies Of Men


Avant-Garde Death Metal mentallers with serious swagger and a slew of crazed ideas, Netherlands-based wild bunch The Monolith Deathcult are back.

The Demon Who Makes Trophies Of Men (Human Detonator Records) is an imaginative, irreverent slice of noise that screams “Attack! Attack! Attack!” for much of its grim, punishing but seriously rewarding running time.Continue reading