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: 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: Smoulder – Violent Creed of Vengeance


 

Formed in 2013, life has been anything but normal for US/Canadian act Smoulder. With one full-length album under their belts, singer Sarah Ann Kitteringham and guitarist Shon Vincent moved to Finland in 2022, leaving guitarist Collin Wolf, bassist Adam Blake and drummer Kevin Hester behind, but having already written new album Violent Creed of Vengeance (Cruz Del Sur Music).

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EP REVIEW: Cirith Ungol – Half Past Human


Returning from the grave after close to three decades, California heavy metal legends Cirith Ungol blasted back last year with Forever Black (Metal Blade), their first album since 1991’s Paradise Lost (Restless Records). Striking back while the iron remains hot, the band follows up last year’s full-length offering with Half Past Human (Metal Blade), a four-track EP that reaches back into the past, resurrecting a handful of tracks that never made it properly onto any of their existing albums. 

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