Monthly Archives november 2012

Posted in Cd Reviews

Emanes Metal Records

THRUSTOR has a longer pedigree than the name hints. The band´s mainstays, brothers Phil and Tony Sardo made their first mark with SCEPTRE back in 1983, featuring on the infamous Metal Blade Records compilation “Metal Massacre Volume 4”. Other luminaries of that CD were TROUBLE, LIZZY BORDEN, ABBATOIR and ZOETROPE… As they transformed into SARDO both support gigs with the likes of DARK ANGEL, and headliner shows followed betwixt 1985-87. As SARDO combusted the brothers breathed life into THRUSTOR, and released their first full-length “Night of Fire” in 1999. Since 2006 the band has been remixing that album with world-renowned producer Neil Kernon (QUEENSRYCHE, NILE etc.), as well as commencing n this album back in 2010...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Napalm/Sound Pollution

LIV KRISTINE has been on top of her game since the mid-nineties, and she will always be the first angelic voice in gothic music. Romanticism and the supernatural is always involved in her lyrics, but the bands and co-operations involves THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, LEAVE`S EYES, as well as a joint venture with CRADLE OF FILTH, and efforts with Nick Holmes of PARADISE LOST and various TV-scores. Here she is, almost on her own, but there is of cause a duet with with the German winner of “Pop Idol” Tobias Regner.

The opening “Interlude” involves piano notes and a cozy rhythm, but that is basically it...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Frontiers/BAM

Harry Hess rose to fame as vocalist of HAREM SCAREM, which lasted for seventeen years. AS of late he has been redesigning his career into production work and songwriting but he also found time for a solo career. The basis for this album is Harry´s travels in Europe and the USA, and he strives to recall certain sounds and atmospheres from that period. Featured musicians include former HAREM SCAREM members Pete Lesperance, Creighton Doane, and Darren Smith, but also the likes of Howie Simon (TALISMAN), Magnus Karlsson (Just about everyone), Tommy Denander (senast i IMPERA) etc.

Harry opens with the title track, and it fares well. The arrangements and the refrain are in the class that one expects from this caliber of musicians...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Frontiers/BAM

LOVERBOY might not mean a lot to people today, at least not here in Scandinavia, but the States is another place. The Canadian band has sold more than 10 million albums , with a lot of awards in the US, and that is and that is mostly due to four albums released in the first half of the eighties! They are listed as one of the most prosperous touring acts in the world, which of cause prerequisites that they tour in big nations. They have had a short hiatus, but in 2005 they celebrated 25 years together etc. They returned to making albums in 2007, with “Just Getting Started”, and now this one. But this one is not quite new, not since more than half of the songs are old favorites in slightly reworked versions.

When you are through the first three tracks, you´re done with the...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Last Friday night streets of Göteborg was loud by sounds of the weekend, and something other: retro metal in the air..!

Too bad, that this night wasn’t longer… Dödaren, and another, a bit older metalgroup, Year of the Goat took the party-line this on 27th of October at the famous Sticky Fingers Pub. Unnecessary to over explain it. Dödren from Göteborg made something new, something unusual, giving an incredible mood of music listening by it.

Somebody asked me before the concert, how could I paraphrase the music of this band. I’ve just told them: it’s like young Pink Floyd, in a metal version. And the audience liked it...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

First up were Pain, on a rare visit to the UK. Singer/guitarist Peter Tagtgren is probably the only person who’d attempt to play guitar while wearing a straightjacket (with the sleeves unfastened obviously). They’re an odd choice of support for Nightwish as they are so different musically, and quite a few Nightwish fans had expressed disappointment when they were announced yet again to support Nightwish in the UK. Despite this, once they started playing they did actually go down very well with most of the crowd. Musically they’re a hard band to describe – I’d say its mainly industrial metal but there’s also a strong electronic feel to the music too, and this really lifts the music up a level making it far more catchy and entertaining...

Posted in Press Releases

Mötorhead are on a tour again and as a part of their The Wörld is Yours tour 2012 they are comming to Ljubljana, Slovenia on 10th december 2012.

You can get your ticket here

http://www.eventim.si/si/vstopnice/motorhead-ljubljana-hala-tivoli-422509/performance.html

Posted in Press Releases

Irish folk singer Mary Dillon will release her first full length solo album, North, in February 2013 after a prolonged hiatus from the music scene. The release will be preceded by a single, ‘John Condon’, released on 11th November 2012.

‘John Condon’ is a haunting account of a fourteen-year-old boy’s role in WW1. Mary sang on the original demo recording of this song in 2003, which subsequently became something of a modern folk classic, and it will feature on her forthcoming album with a stunning new vocal. Formerly the lead singer in well-known 90s folk band Déanta, Mary has had a long absence from the music scene, but returns with a renewed energy after 15 years to release an acoustic album of Irish folk songs old and new.

The track can be streamed here: http://soundcloud...

Posted in Press Releases

IRON KNIGHTS is the new name for the band previously known as STUKA SQUADRON.
The official band statement explaining the reasons for this change can be found here: www.stuka-squadron.com (website due to change)
The new website is www.ironknightsband.com and will be live imminently.
The release of the album ‘New Sound Of War’ will be postponed from the original release date of 19 November 2012 to 26 November 2012 and it will be an Iron Knights album.
On behalf of Iron Knights, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise in advance for the confusion this change will cause – it has not been an easy decision. I would also like to thank everyone that has supported the band and continues to support them going forward.

Posted in Interviews

I spoke to Seeb from Orden Ogan to talk about their new album and touring plans…..

Festivalphoto: OK for anyone who hasnt listened to Orden Ogan before, can you tell us a bit about the band?

Seeb: We’re melodic power metal sort of band with orchestrations. We’ve got our new record ”To the end” coming out on AFM records. It’s our third album.

Festivalphoto: Your new album, ”To the end” is due for release at the end of October. Can you tell us a bit about the album?

Seeb: It’s got a loose kind of concept about let’s say after the end of the world, so the world is not five to twelve anymore but twelve to five, and its basically another ice age, and a lot of the songs are loosely connected with this ice topic but it can also be metaphorical – emotional coldness and whatever...