CONCERT REVIEW: Wardruna – Jo Quail: Live at Manchester Albert Hall


It’s a sight to behold the lengthy queue of hairy Viking looking metalheads snaking around Manchester Albert Hall, assuming of course the snake in question was quite hairy and dressed like a Viking, which I feel is probably stretching the metaphor a bit too far. You’d assume that said hairy, mead quaffing snake (alright, I’ll stop now) was going to be finding its way inside to some sort of very loud and very metal sort of gig. You’d be wrong, as indeed despite the roots of the headliners in Black Metal group Gorgoroth the queue is in fact for the mesmerizing solo cellist Jo Quail, and Nordic Folk legends Wardruna.

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Blood Incantation – Timewave Zero


Timewave Zero (Century Media) is, to say the least, not what you’d expect from the band picture of the Blood Incantation. The almost archetypal group of hirsute metalheads, adorned with bullet belts and indecipherable long sleeves trying to look hard in a graveyard. Even by their own standards of innovative recordings though this is a pretty-radical departure from their previous albums.

Continue reading