Tag Archives: Gary Alcock

ALBUM REVIEW: Bloodbound – Field Of Swords – Napalm Records

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If Metal – Power Metal, especially – can be relied upon for one thing, it’s headbanging history lessons. Teaching you the things school either thought unimportant or simply didn’t have the time for, Metal wants you to learn about the past rather than rewrite or forget about it. While teachers drone on incessantly about crop rotation in the 14th century, bands like Sweden’s Bloodbound take you onto blood-soaked fields of battle. On their previous record with Vikings, and now on eleventh full length studio release, Field Of Swords (Napalm Records) into the middle ages and the time of the crusades.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Season Of The Dead – Zombie Chronicles Vol. 1

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Missing Halloween by a couple of weeks, but still coming in well before Christmas, if you prefer the the smell of decaying flesh to mulled wine and mistletoe then look no further than the collaborative efforts of Season of the Dead. An array of US and European talent that come together in blood-soaked disharmony on full length debut release Zombie Chronicles Vol. 1 (Time To Kill Records). Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Agnostic Front – Echoes In Eternity

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Four and a half decades ago, Agnostic Front headbutted their way onto the New York punk and hardcore scene, rose quickly to the top, and despite a four year split in the nineties, stayed there. With songs built on the foundations of social injustice, corruption and inequality, AF might have changed musically over the years but their messaging and their warnings have not.Continue reading →


CONCERT REVIEW: Battle Beast – Dominum – Majestica – Birmingham 02 Institute

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It’s a well known fact that the average metalhead spends around two hours preparing for a night out. Forty-five minutes to actually get ready, the other hour spent choosing which band shirt to wear. Sometimes however, the decision can be made a little easier. For a night like tonight, if it’s brightly coloured and Power Metal, wear it.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Bastard Cröss – Crossripper

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Formed in Philadelphia back in 2021, Bastard Cröss finally get to unleash their first full-length studio album on an unsuspecting world. With the quartet having already recorded a number of split EP’s and singles over the last four years, Crossripper (Morbid And Miserable) more than lives up to its potential. Delivering a snarling combination of Black Metal and Thrash; the band also possess a keen ear for melody as well as a clear and obvious respect for the old school.Continue reading →


CONCERT REVIEW: Paradise Lost – Messa – High Parasite Live at KK’S Steel Mill

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Photo credit: Ville Jurrikkala

 

Seeing as summer is fast becoming a memory, I figured it was time to check my weather app before setting off this evening. With poor visibility due to dense fog, the forecast, leaving earlier than usual was definitely a wise move, but strangely, this apparently widespread, impenetrable wall of mist never actually materialised. However, soon after entering KK’s Steel Mill the reason became clear. With three bands of varying Goth persuasions on the bill, all the fog in the country was inside.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Battle Beast – Steelbound

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If you enjoy grinning like an idiot while banging your head and playing all manner of air instruments then that probably means you’ve already discovered the mighty Battle Beast. Twenty years into their career, and the Finnish Power Metallers are still delivering instantly enjoyable records chock full of riff-heavy anthems designed for maximum Metal enjoyment.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Biohazard – Divided We Fall

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When Brooklyn hardcore crew Biohazard released new single “Forsaken” in June – their first in thirteen years, and their first with the band’s original line-up since 2012 – it felt like being on the receiving end of a sweetly delivered but completely warning-free uppercut from an old friend. From bassist/vocalist Evan Seinfeld‘s no-nonsense “Let’s fucking go!” to the song’s monstrous groove and welcomingly familiar violent energy, it was made extremely clear extremely quickly that Biohazard was well and truly back in business.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Heads For The Dead – Never Ending Night Of Terror

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Sounding like the tagline to an eighties slasher movie, Never Ending Night Of Terror (Pulverised Records) is the fourth full-length studio release for US/European Death Metal gorehounds Heads For The Dead. This time out, the band draw inspiration from directors such as David Cronenberg and Stuart Gordon (among many others), focusing on their favourite slasher/revenge films. However, instead of simply copying down movie plots, the band’s chief lyricist/frontman Ralf Hauber infuses the stories with original ideas.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Warcoe – Upon All Thrones

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When thinking about Italian metal, the chances are the first things that come to mind are silk shirts and symphonic keyboards, or the honest down-to-earth raging of thrash and death metal. Warcoe, however, are the purveyors of that rarest of Italian delicacies – classic Doom Metal.Continue reading →