Monthly Archives februari 2012

Posted in Cd Reviews

”Pop War”.

Känn på titeln. Storslagen och maffig. Men vad betyder den? Är det en krigsförklaring mot dagens popmusik? Är det en hyllning till U2’s skivor Pop och War? Jag vet inte, men bara av att se skivomslaget får jag höga förväntningar på Nicke Anderssons uppföljare till den självbetitlade solodebuten från 2010.

Det finns hur som helst ingen anledning att oroa sig. Att Nicke kan skriva rockmusik vet vi och här gör han det kanske bättre än någonsin. Första plattan hade låtar som sträckte sig tillbaka till 50- och 60-talen. ”Resign” och ”I’ll let you down” kändes som moderna tolkningar av Beatles och Yardbirds.

På ”Pop War” tar Nicke två steg fram, ett tillbaka och landar i sjuttiotalets glamrock med Kiss och tidiga Alice Cooper som inspirationskä...

Posted in Press Releases

Heavy rock quintet The Sun Explodes create a genre-defying mix of crushing riffs, sweeping melody and pulsating electronica in this – their debut album ‘Emergence’. It is a record that classes them as a truly original and burgeoning force on the UK rock scene.

Their first year as a band saw them travel the length of Britain showcasing their epic and frenetic live performances. These gigs, aggressive and energetic though they were, demonstrated a level of technical quality matched by few new bands. It was these gigs that garnered them a fierce fan base and subsequently strong online presence. Now the band have honed their sound into a sophisticated and compelling album recording.

Heavy metal, metalcore, synth rock, prog rock… You’ll hear an amalgamation of styles on this album, but it...

Posted in Press Releases

The new SONATA ARCTICA record will be called ”Stones Grow Her Name”, and will be released on May, 18th. It was recorded in several studios all over Finland, mixed at „Sonic Pump Studios“ by Mikko Karmila and mastered at „Chartmakers“ by Svante Forsbäck.
The album will be released as limited edition digipak, standard jewel case, vinyl and download.

The tracklist of the album will be:

01. Only The Broken Hearts (Make You Beautiful)
02. Shitload of Money
03. Losing My Insanity
04. Somewhere Close To You
05. I Have A Right
06. Alone In Heaven
07. The Day
08. Cinderblox
09. Don’t Be Mean
10. Wildfire II
11. Wildfire III

Vocalist Tony Kakko comments: ”Our newest adventure is only a final touch short of being ready. The recordings went extremely well and the mixing is in schedule...

Posted in Press Releases

Roadrunner recording group Halestorm has announced the release of their hugely anticipated new album. “THE STRANGE CASE OF…” arrives in stores and at all DSPs on April 11th.
The album is heralded by the electrifying new single, “Love Bites (So Do I),” impacting now at Rock radio outlets nationwide. The track – as well as three other highlights from “THE STRANGE CASE OF…” – is featured on Halestorm’s new EP, “HELLO, IT’S MZ. HYDE,” which is available today at all leading digital retailers.
Produced by Howard Benson (who previously collaborated with the Pennsylvania-based hard rock band on their self-titled 2009 debut), “THE STRANGE CASE OF…” was recently named among Revolver’s “Most Anticipated Albums of the Year...

Posted in Press Releases

Soulfly incite a musical uprising on Enslaved, their eighth album for Roadrunner Records.

This time around, the heavy metal tribe treads extreme territory by incorporating blast beats, violent riffs and wheezing whammy squeals into its patented groove-driven war cry. All of those elements converge within a concept record about slavery—a first for legendary frontman Max Cavalera [Sepultura, Cavalera Conspiracy].

This is also the inaugural offering from the group’s new lineup featuring bassist Tony Campos [ex-Static-X, Asesino] and drummer David Kinkade [Borknagar] alongside Cavalera and guitar cohort Marc Rizzo...

Posted in Cd Reviews

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the classic T-Rex album, Electric Warrior, Universal are re-releasing the album with a whole host of extras. There are several different versions being released – a Deluxe, Super-Deluxe, a special vinyl and digital exclusive editions.

The core of each edition is the album, re-mastered by original producer Tony Visconti. The album comes with four bonus tracks – the non-album single, “Hot Love” (No. 1 in February 1971) plus the B-sides “There Was A Time / Raw Ramp”, “King Of The Mountain Cometh” and “Woodland Rock”.

The second disc in the Deluxe and Super-Deluxe editions opens with Marc Bolan reciting a previously unreleased poem titled “The Electric Warrior” which was recorded for a US Radio promo that is featured in full at the end of...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Primal Rock Rebellion is a new band that has been formed by two well known UK musicians – Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Mikee Goodman (Sikth). Their debut single was released on 6th February, and now their debut album, Awoken Broken, is available.

The music features some great guitar melodies and is slightly heavier than Iron Maiden with more of an edgy feel to it. The vocals are mainly the normal style of rock/metal singing (as opposed to screaming, growling etc), and are extremely good. I must admit to never having listened to Sikth so I can’t say if Mikee Goodmans vocals here are a similar style to his vocals with Sikth – all I can say is that they’re great here...

Posted in Cd Reviews

”The art of metal” is the second album from Swedish all-female metal band, Hysterica. For anyone who hasnt listened to Hysterica before, these ladies don’t play gothic or symphonic metal – they play proper old school metal. Since releasing their debut album, Metalwar, Hysterica have recruited a keyboard player which does seem from listening to this new album, to enhance their sound without detracting from the traditional metal feel of the music.
The album was produced by Pontus Norgren (HAMMERFALL) and Marcus Jidell (EVERGREY).

As with the first album, the lyrics can be slightly cheesy at times, but then that’s a trait fairly common in heavy metal.

There are some great songs on the album – ”Heels of steel” and ”Fighters of the century” in particular...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Utsåld premiär på The Tivoli =Bäddat för fest

Turnépremiär i Helsingborg för Mustasch med deras nya Sounds Like Hell, Looks Like Heaven. The Tivoli hade förärats detta kungliga besök från Göteborg. Nu med en helsingborgare bakom batteriet – Jejo Perkovic, som (tillfälligt?) ersatt avhoppande Danne McKenzie.

Premiären med sitt nya band på ”hemmaplan” började lite skakigt, för hela bandet. Första två låtarna Speed Metal och The Challenger kändes Mustasch trötta och oengagerade men det vände när de pressade ut Never Too Late. En riktigt skön låt med både bra text och musik. Ljudbilden är aningen fläskigare än tidigare.

De har en egen ljusrigg med sig och har stora ljusväggar som tar ordentligt med plats på scenen och gör att pågarna på scenen blir fastlimm...

Posted in Press Releases

Texan electronic metallers THE BROWNING have confirmed a US tour with industrial metal titans FEAR FACTORY.

The tour is scheduled to kick off on May 1st in San Antonio, Texas, and also includes SHADOWS FALL, THE DEVASTATED and LEGACY OF DISORDER.

THE BROWNING drummer NOAH ”SHARK” ROBERTSON comments:

”We are extremely excited to be touring with such legendary bands in the metal scene as Fear Factory and Shadows Fall. We really look up to these bands that helped pave the way for the metal of today, and we’re definitely inspired by their ability to stick around for so long doing this, especially Fear Factory, being that they are one of the pioneers of the industrial metal genre. Also, we can’t wait to hit the road again with our good friends in The Devastated...