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
Social media might be to blame for the increasing enmeshment of Pop music into the Rock genre. Pop artists are more marketable and interchangeable with social media influencers. What record label would not want an artist with the iconic charisma of Taylor Swift? Continue reading
Having teamed up with Black Keys frontman Dan Auberbach for the last two albums, on his new one Mood Swings (American Recordings/Republic Records/Snakefarm Records) Marcus King is helped out by producer extraordinaire Rick Rubin. Gone is the seventies, bluesy Rock N’ Roll of the previous record Young Blood, in its place is R&B, Soul, Jazz, Pop and Classic Rock influences with King’s smokey, bluesman vocals taking centre stage. Continue reading
With its namesake taken from poet Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, Connecticut’s own Boundaries have offered an undeniably bleak effort which is certainly relatable in current times. Inspired by the notion that dying is perhaps not a terrible alternative, it’s a thought that certainly feels cuttingly real in a day of continued strife and tribulations on an almost constant basis. An undeniably dark overall narrative and inspiration Death Is Little More (3DOT Recordings) encapsulates with utter gloom and savagery in aplomb.Continue reading
Sweat are a Los Angeles trio composed of guitarist/vocalist Justin Smith, drummer Anthony Rivera, and frontwoman Tuna Tardugno who handles both the band’s vocals and album artwork.
In recent years, it seems there has been a heightened embrace of electronic music within Metal that is becoming increasingly at the forefront. From the likes of Perturbator and HEALTH sitting on Metal and Rock lineups so fluidly with the likes of LLNN capturing dystopian and pounding soundscapes in their John Cxnner project, it is seemingly becoming a more prominent and welcome aspect within the more extreme fringes of Metal. Continue reading
You can take the boy out of The Bronx, but can’t take The Bronx out of the boy.
Ace Frehley, Kiss guitar legend, gives birth to some of his finest cuts and hottest licks with the fret-burning, string-bending, grin-inducing 10,000 Volts (MNRK Heavy).Continue reading
Drawing inspiration from the life and work of German Renaissance painter Albrecht Dürer, Austrian symphonic metal virtuosos Serenity return with eighth full-length studio release, Nemesis AD (Napalm Records).
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.
There is something about the wine in France that brings out a unique progressive slant to the Black Metal that hails from its soil. Ardraos (Florian Denis) is a part of this legacy, and he is now forging his own path with Sühnopfer. From the opening track of fourth offering Nous sommes d’Hierument (Debemur Morti), a powerful, impactful musical statement, he lashes out with a dynamic blend of melodic atmosphere, expanding the mood beyond the screams of torment hurtling at you. Choirs ring out from the background of the blackened chaos, baroque themes woven in are taken from composers Charpentier and Cherubini.