Monthly Archives mars 2011

Posted in Cd Reviews

Zero Illusions Productions/Sound Pollution

2004 markerade starten för ZERO ILLUSIONS. De har hunnit med att spela på både Metal Town och Sweden Rock, gett ut ”Prologue to Eternity” och ”Enter Eternity” och nu släpper de skiva nummer tre. Sweden Rock Magazine kallade dem en modern variant av URIAH HEEP, andra jämförelser har gjorts med DREAM THEATER, BLACK SABBATH, VOLBEAT, RAMMSTEIN, METALLLICA m.fl. Är det ens möjligt att ha ett så spritt sound?

De inleder ganska ordinärt med ”Alive”. Sångaren Björn Asking har en hyfsad pipa och ägnar sig åt att sjunga utan krusiduller. Raka riff och lätt dubbeltramp gör att låten passar på scen. ”Rise to the Challenge” får lite distad röst, i övrigt är det samma formula med driv i alla enkelhet...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Tonight is the final night of the Epica UK tour. Epica havent played in the UK for many years apart from a single performance at last years Hammerfest, so expectations from fans are high. The support for this tour is ReVamp – the new band of former After Forever singer Floor Jansen. Its ReVamp’s first visit to the UK, so for many fans this tour is a chance to see both bands for the first time. The venue has a huge queue outside an hour before the doors open, and its already clear that the venue is going to be packed out.

Revamp start as they mean to go on with pounding drums and powerful heavy guitar chords bursting forth as soon as the band come on stage to plenty of applause...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Nuclear Blast/Sound Pollution

Phoenixbandet FLOTSAM AND JETSAM har orättvist oftast fått mest uppmärksamhet för att de levererat Jason Newstedt till METALLICA. Tjafs. Tänk på att de i eget namn släppt tio skivor med denna, 12 singlar/EPS och tre DVD. Skivdebuten kom 1986 med ”Doomsday for the Deceiver”, enda skivan som fått 6K av 5 möjliga i Kerrang! Dagens sättning är något mer original då Michael Gilbert är tillbaka som gitarrist, tillsammans med Ed Carlson. Sångaren Eric A.K. har varit med sedan starten, undantaget ett kort avhopp till countrygenren (!!), och rytmsektionen Jason Ward, bas, och Craig Nielsen trummor, har varit med sedan 1991 respektive 1997. Okej, se nu till att ta mig tillbaka till de goda minnen jag har av bandet!

Inledande ”Hypocrite” låter FLOTS sa...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

When band face eye to eye its 30th Anniversary, it cannot be unnoticed. Laibach from Slovenia decided to mark it with special LAIBACH REVISITED tour and upcoming new album, which is going present various songs different versions and new remixes both from early and latest bands albums.

The tour seems to be quite tough, although they are not going to every country in Europe. In Baltic countries there was the only one concert – in capital of Latvia, Riga. The place for this concert was chosen quite interesting – University of Latvia, the great aula. This made show atmosphere even better. In concert was possible to meet not only Latvian but Lithuanian Laibach fans, too.

Concert started a little bit later than it was promised but the rest was made with really high quality...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Tonights gig is like the rest of The Levellers current tour, sold out well in advance. The Levellers have a reputation as a superb live band, so I’m looking forwards to seeing them for the first time tonight. Knowing that the support on this leg of the tour is The Wonderstuff is a real bonus for me having long been a fan of theirs.

Tonights gig starts early by gig standards due to the venue having a club night on afterwards. Despite the early hour the venue is packed out before The Wonderstuff take to the stage. Kicking off with ”Red Berry joy town” from their 1988 debut album, ”The eight legged groove machine”, the band get off to a great start and quickly show why they are an excellent choice to support The Levellers...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Tonights support comes from Scottish act The Pictish Trail (aka singer Johnny Lynch). Its hard to describe the sort of music Pictish Trail performs – much of it is probably best descibed as folk, played on an acoustic guitar, but Pictish Trial also includes electronic synth music with a drum machine. Banter between songs keeps the crowd entertained and he received a good amount of applause at the end of the set.

When KT Tunstall comes on stage, the first thing that strikes you is how small she is – she is not only short but is extremely thin, and when she picks up a large guitar she seems even smaller (a fact she jokes about with the audience).
As soon as KT Tunstall starts to play and sing though, her size is quickly forgotten and people focus on the music.
KT’s music is an engaging fo...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

I was told before attending last night’s concert that it’s going to be crazy and awesome. So I thought I am in for a nice treat. But I could, by no means, expect the epic show that I witnessed. Each time I recall fragments of it I wear a big smile on my face. I will start by telling you about the end of the concert: all I saw was people wearing the biggest concert smiles ever and saying ’Wow’. I heard so many ’Wow’s on the way to the subway that I know those amazing good mood vibes were transmitted to everyone in the audience.

Before reading the rest of the review, I recommend you watch the ending video of the show, Bend it like Bender, when the crowd was invited on stage and the ’Bend it like Bender’ song turned out to be the apogee of a fantastic evening: www.youtube...

Posted in Interviews

The Levellers are probably one of the most successful British Indie acts of all time with a career stretching back 20 years. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of their debut album, ”Levelling the land”, and the band are currently touring with a celebration of the album.

Bass player Jeremy Cunningham took time out before their sold out show in Nottingham on 12th March 2011 for an interview for festivalphoto.

Q: Tonight’s show is part of your ”Levelling the land” tour, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album being released. When you made the album 20 years ago, did you ever imagine the band would still be going strong 20 years later.

A: Not really no, but then we didn’t think we wouldn’t be either, we just didn’t think about it in those terms at all, we just tho...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Mustasch är nu ute på turné med senaste plattan och 10-års jubilerande med The New Sound Of The True Best. En platta som presenterar Mustaschs tidigare låtar från deras tioåriga karriär, hur de låter idag. Utöver nyinspelningarna finns det en ny låt – Angel´s Share. En låt som visar att Mustasch fortfarande kör på i samma anda och skapar bra låtar som från senaste kritiker-rosande självbetitlade MUSTASCH.

På Mustaschs första turné för 10 år sedan gjorde de ett stopp på Tivoli i Helsingborg. Trots en spelning på KB i Malmö bara två dagar innan ville de inte missa att spela på Tivoli på deras 10-års jubileum (sedan första släppta album) där de spelade för sina första skånska fans. Givetvis svarade Helsingborgs-fansen med ett slutsålt Tivoli...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Massacre/Sound Pollution

East German gothic rock/metal outfit KATANGA has been around since 1998, but this is only their second offering, excluded some EP´s and split discs. But they have been awarded some swell reviews for their previous album “Darkchild”. But with so long between releases it is quintessential that they excel with every album…do they?

The disco intro of “Marquis de Sade” is no coincidence. German lyrics emphases the few words that the intro contains, and the whiplashes and groaning speak for themselves. German depressive rock puts its mark on “Mörder der Erinnerung”, or most of the album actually. In spite of the overall sound they are only four according to the info; Mario and Doreen share vocal duties, Michael handles guitars and Wilko, bass...