rock/metal albums
Album Review: Grails – ‘Chalice Hymnal’
Grails, hail from Portland, Oregon. A seaport state nestled under Washington and characterised by its diverse landscape of forests, mountains, farms and beaches. That Pacific Northwest essence runs through the centre of the Grails sound. A sound that expounds on the spectral spaghetti Western side of their oeuvre, marked by tasteful excursions into passages of …
Album Review: Judas Priest – Turbo 30 (Remastered 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)
I’m just going to come out and say it, Judas Priest’s Turbo was a damn good album. It was much maligned by the long-haired, leather-wearing metal dudes that pumped fists to songs like “Breaking The Law”, “The Green Manalishi(with the two-pronged crown)”, “Livin’ After Midnight”, and “Electric Eye”, but that’s their problem, man. Turbo wasn’t …
Album Review: Richard Pinhas – Reverse
Richard Pinhas is what you’d call a pioneer of both electronic music and experimental rock. His early years were spent recording with first Schizo, then space rock pioneers Heldon, as well as releasing records under his own name. He doesn’t shy away from dissonance and extended stays in musical pieces that seem to go on …
Album Review: Mark Eitzel – Hey Mr Ferryman
It’s always good to have Mark Eitzel back. There will always be some who hanker after the particular dimensions and textures that American Music Club brought to his songs. But his solo work has given him a chance to explore different sounds and collaborate around and about a pretty consistent songwriting style. Given that probably …
Album Review: Delicate Steve – This Is Steve
Delicate Steve is not what you’d think of as a guitar virtuoso when you listen to his records, but that’s exactly what he is. The reason you don’t think of him as a guitar great is because his albums are too catchy sounding to be considered as “virtuoso playing”. It’s like listening to the best …
Album Review: Del Paxton – All Day, Every Day, All Night
All Day, Every Day, All Night is the debut album from emo/ math rockers Del Paxton. Combining influences from a whole multitude of genres the band have created a somewhat unique sound that will surely excite fans of alternative, math rock, emo and pop punk. The record is essentially a collection of previous material produced between …
Album Review: Ventenner- Invidia
In a whirlwind of genre bending paired with an undeniably forceful core sound, Ventenner are ready to release their third album Invidia. With this extremely bold outing, Ventenner have developed their own take on the execution of a heavier, more aggressive piece that overshadows anything they have released prior to this. Invidia- released January 20th– …
Album Review: Body/Head – No Waves
I remember being pretty floored by Coming Apart, the first record by the Kim Gordon/Bill Nace avante noise band Body/Head. In fact, I can remember thinking how on the edge that album was. Piercing, jagged guitar squalls mixed with Kim Gordon’s improvised vocal belting made for a compelling listen back in 2013. The record felt …
Album Review: Trivium- Ember To Inferno: Ab Initio
Steadily rising to prominence over the last decade, Trivium are now very much a band at the helm of the modern metal scene. Beginning it all in 2003, they released their debut album, Ember To Inferno. Although this album earned the band a record deal with Roadrunner Records, it’s been out of print for many …
Album Review: Ebbot Lundberg and The Indigo Children – For the Ages to Come
With The Soundtrack of Our Lives, one of the few bands operating at the turn of the millennia to pull off retro-rocking without sounding derivative, going their separate ways in 2012, frontman Ebbot Lundberg quietly released his solo debut album earlier this year (well, his debut if you ignore the album length song that he …