Category Cd Reviews

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Angel Air/Border

Angel Air has a way of finding old bands and musicians to cherish their legacy and new output. Nick Simper was part of DEEP PURPLE Mk 1, but was let go along with Rod Evans after the first three albums. That very period is the focus of this album. Invited by Austrian band NASTY HABITS, the pair is accidentally working on a debut album nowadays, Nick brings to life songs that today´s DEEP PURPLE don´t play live. Apart from “Hush” I believe. It all started when drummer Peter Brkusic and friends visited England to see a gig with THE GOOD OLD BOYS, featuring Nick and two ex WARHORSE personnel etc. One fast decision later Peter booked the band for a gig in his home town, which led to the gig captured here...

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Canadian band Kobra and the Lotus are releasing their new self title album in August. To whet your appetites they’ve released a new song from the album – Forever one. It’s a cracking track. It’s got some great guitar work, pounding drums, good heavy bass and of course the awesome vocals of Kobra Paige. It’s not one of the heaviest songs on the album, but it’s still a great song with plenty of power and a great tune. If you also check out the video for ”Welcome to my funeral” then you’ll get another peek at what to expect from the album.

The band will be appearing at Bloodstock both on the main stage and also on the Jaegermeister acoustic stage, and also have a few other dates around the UK including an album launch show in London – see the dates below.

AUGUST 2012
6th – Kasbah, Cov...

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While Trollfest may sound like the name of a music festival, they are in fact a Norwegian ”Baltic metal” band that mix Balkan folk music with black or extreme metal, to produce a quite unique and crazy sound. The band formed in 2004 and released their debut album ”Willkommen Folk tell Drekka Fest!!” in 2005. Brumlebassen is their fifth album.

OK for people who haven’t listened to Trollfest before, how would I describe them? I’d start with a folk metal band then feed them massive amounts of caffeine to get them playing much faster than normal. Add in a dose of insanity so they start writing the lyrics in a fictional language and you’re heading in the right direction. Add in a large amount of alcohol to get the party spirit going and thats it – you’ve got Trollfest.

The lyrics are often...

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It’s almost four years since Doro’s last album (Fear no evil), and it won’t be long till she releases her new album later this year. To whet the appetite of fans she is releasing an EP on the 3rd August, which coincides with her performing at the legendary Wacken festival.

“This is the first record for my new label Nuclear Blast”, Doro explains. “Thus it’s a very special album, because the cooperation means very much to me. So I hope that in the end the fans will love the EP and the album as much as I do”. Doro promises her loyal fans even more: “Everyone who likes the EP will sure be delighted by the album with it’s 13 to 14 songs as well. I’ve put all my passion, blood, sweat and tears into my first record for Blast.“

The EP contains the track – ”Raise your fist” in ...

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One thing that Finnish metallers Children of Bodom are known for is their habit of including cover versions as bonus tracks on their albums, and as separate releases (the ”Skeletons in the closet” album was a full album of cover versions . These are usually songs that you wouldnt think of as being anything like the band’s usual music, and are often absolutely brilliant – one of my favourites is their cover of ”Ghostriders in the sky”, but they have also covered songs by bands including Creedence Clearwater Revival, Pat Benatar, The Ramones, Britney Spears, Anthrax, Kenny Rogers and many more...

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Young Cambridge band The Treatment are doing very well at the moment. They released their debut album on Powerage records before signing with Spinefarm and re-releasing the album to a good reception. They’ve been busy touring the UK and have supported Alice Cooper on tour in Europe. They are currently in the USA as the support band for the KISS/Motley Crue tour – now that’s a good lineup and a great opportunity for the band to make a lot of new fans in the USA. Their debut album, ”This might hurt” has been followed by a limited edition EP (Then & Again) released for Record Store Day which contained several cover versions.

This single contains two tracks – ”Nothing to lose but our minds – 2012 version” and ”Evil Woman”...

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Frontiers/Bam

14 albums into his solo career, 19 with other bands/projects and a lot of guest spots under his belts Jorn Lande is a heavy metal phenomenon of his time. If born in the eighties he would have been bathing in dollars… But this is the wrong decade, so sales of more than 2 million albums is an achievement. Alas the quality of his releases seems to be on the vane, at least with the previous outings that has since 2009 only been one studio album, the others being two live albums, one greatest hits and one DIO tribute. Until now!

Opener “My Road” is a short half-song, not an intro not a full song – not all that entertaining as it never develops. The title track is same old from JORN and the “ok-tag” is very frequent during my listening sessions...

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Old Ironsides are a Chicago based band who have taken their name from the nickname of the USS COnstituion – the famous ship that these days resides in Boston harbour. The band formed in 2005 and released an EP in 2008. They’ve been through various lineup changes and have now released their debut album ”The path of madness” which includes four of the six tracks from the EP.

The music is Prog Rock and there’s plenty of variety here. The music is very good – there’s some nice heavy stuff with plenty of power from the guitars, and also some slower stuff. The vocals though are another matter – while they are good and at times work well with the music, at other times they just seem to be lacking the power needed to match the music, and that does tend to bring the whole thing down somewhat.

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Mike Tyler is a poet from New York City who has been cited as an infleunce on Beck, and who’s words have been stencilled by the artist Banksy outside London’s Paddington station (the line used was ”only the ridiculous survive”). ”Erection” is his second album.

Listening to this album, the closest comparison is to Lou Reed – vocally Mike Tyler is very similar, and the emphasis on the lyrics is also a reason to compare them. Mike Tyler’s lyrics are thoughtful and well written with a bit of humour – which is what you’d expect from a poet, good lyrics. Musically the album is a blend of Folk, Blues and Rock’n’Roll.

The tunes are quite catchy and there is a lot of variety here – in fact the album feels quite unpredictable as you’re never quite sure what’s coming next...

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This album was originally released in 2010 but has now been re-released with extra tracks. This is a very unusual album (but in a good way). It doesn’t really fall into any recognisable genre. Ambient or Prog are the two terms that come to mind when listening to it – certainly at times it has Genesis feel to it, but generally it really is unique. It’s music that you can happily have playing while you’re doing something else as the music doesnt disturb your train of thought but just gently washes over you.

The use of Synth, piano, wind chimes and harp give the music a very interesting sound and the vocals are used in really interesting ways with echoes and other effects used to really add a whole new dimension to the sound.

This really is a hard album to review as the music is so uniqu...