With a name that will annoy grammar pedants the world over Atlas : Empire (yes, the gap is intentional) is an Alternative Rock band with a difference – the Scottish trio’s alt.rock comes complete with large servings of Prog, Metal, and Grunge. With three EPs under their belt since their formation in 2011, December 2018 sees the release of their debut album The Stratosphere Beneath Our Feet (self-released/Bandcamp).Continue reading
On Heavy Yoke (Solid State/Indie Recordings) Azusa is a bit all over all the place. Solid State’s own website has them described as “Can you imagine Kate Bush fronting Slayer; Death collaborating with Annette Peacock?” And they’re not technically wrong. Heavy Yoke is ripe with flashes of Thrash, Death Metal, Punk, Pop and Prog. It seems contradictory or musically adverse, but these are professionals at work.Continue reading
It’s long past the time of day when Thomas Giles (aka Tommy Rogers of Between The Buried And Me) began being able to do whatever the hell he wanted. To be fair, to say his day job band has moments of eclecticism is like saying that Brexit negotiations have been a little bit difficult. And that diversity of spirit, of zig-zag, is absolutely at the core of fourth solo offering Don’t Touch The Outside (Sumerian Records), a record that is everything and nothing, and that is laissez-faire in respect of genre while being incredibly focused in trying to keep the listener moving.Continue reading
It’s been five years since Pelagial, the last album from German harsh progressives The Ocean. The quartet, again referring to themselves as The Ocean Collective and now with Mattias Hagerstrand on bass duties, is renowned for its prolific output as well as incendiary live shows, so the anticipation for eighth studio album Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic (Metal Blade Records) is huge.Continue reading
Although Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen (then still with her previous band, After Forever), and Pagan’s Mind guitarist Jorn Viggo Lofstad had never actually met before, when they played a handful of cover versions during an ‘All-Star Jam’ at Progpower USA in 2007, the two hit it off immediately. Discovering they both shared a fondness for basic, stripped down heavy rock music, the pair sat down the following year and wrote an album’s worth of music quite different to what they were both producing at the time.Continue reading
Instrumental Rock, as a branch of post-Metal, can be such a tricky genre to pull off well. Many times it is about a balance that bands can miss. Too often bands miss that poignancy and enchanting quality that such material often needs and instead prove mechanical and disengaging in nature. Over three prior albums, Floridian act Set And Setting have showcased both a technical prowess in their sound and that difficult ingredient, heart, whilst continuously adapting their sound; a case which is proven once again on their latest effort, Tabula Rasa (Pelagic).Continue reading
Danish quartet VOLA are an impossible band to pigeonhole as their 2016 debut Inmazes gleefully hopped genres encompassing Heavy Metal, Prog Rock, Industrial and Electro elements amongst others. Their new album Applause of a Distant Crowd (both Mascot) continues this broad outlook, but this time the keys of Martin Werner play a more prominent role.Continue reading
Dutch progressive metallers Vola are releasing a new album next month Applause Of A Distant Crowd, on 12th October via Mascot Records. The band has released a video for their new single “Ghosts” which you can watch now. Continue reading
Formed in 2006, and including members past and present of Soilwork, Arch Enemy and Spiritual Beggars, are The Night Flight Orchestra. Despite their heavy origins they are anything but, this Swedish sextet are enamoured with the sounds of the late 70’s and early 80s – so expect big riffs, huge choruses, corny lyrics and artery-clogging amounts of cheese. Continue reading