Monthly Archives februari 2013

Posted in Cd Reviews

Lordi may have achieved worldwide fame in 2006 when they won the Eurovision song contest, but the band had been around a long time by then. The band formed in 1992, and by 1994 the costumes and masks had appeared. It would be easy to assume that the costumes and masks are a case of image over substance, but listen to one of the band’s albums and you’ll soon find that’s far from the truth. Lordi are actually a very talented band that you really should listen to – after all, a gimmick might get a band fame for a few years but no more than that, so for Lordi to last over 20 years suggests the music is good enough to stand on its own without the gimmicks.

Brief comments on a couple of songs..

The album starts with ”We’re Not Bad For The Kids (We’re Worse)” – a song that sounds like Lordi...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Greek AOR band Wild Rose formed in 2004 and released their demo in 2005 before following this up with a single in 2006. After that they were quiet for several years, partly due to two members of the band having to carry out military service, so it wasn’t until October 2011 that they released their debut album – half past midnight. Since then they haven’t wasted any time and at the start of 2013 are ready to release their second album – Dangerous.

The Greek music scene seems to have been growing in prominence in the last couple of years. Before then most rock fans would have struggled to name a single Greek band other than Firewind, but Wild Rose are probably around the tenth Greek band I’ve listened to in the last six months, and the standards have been extremely high.

A lot of AOR is l...

Posted in Cd Reviews

A spin-off from Last Autumns Dream, Heartbreak radio released their self titled debut album in 2005. For this new album, the line-up includes a number of singers and musicians – Mats Johanson (a guest soloist on Asia’s “Aqua” album), Berra Holmgren (Ace Of Base), the afore-mentioned Strandberg (Jeff Scott Soto), Johan Axelsson and the rousing sax of Wojtek Goral (Stevie Wonder’s band.) Vocalists invited to attend the recording sessions included Jim Jidhed (Alien), Henrik Baath (Dark Water) and solo artist Martin Gabriel.

With six out of ten of the songs including the word ”Love” in the title they must be trying for some sort of record...

Posted in Interviews

A dark rock band – Six Inch formed in Helsinki, Finland in the grey autumn of 2010. After few changes in the crew Andy Moisio, a singer with strong and really personal voice took place as the band`s vocalist from the next spring in 2011. Then Six Inch released its first two song demo in the summer and later in the same year an EP, containing five more rockn’ and more heavy, soulful songs. During the winter months in 2012 violinist Pinja and keyboardist Nestori joined the band so the sound became more dark, mysterious, and passionate. That’s how Six Inch finally got its own totally foggy, romantic and misty feeling on the way to release their debut album, which will appear in the era somewhere in this spring in 2013...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Death In Texas is continually stepping up their game and their newest single “Fear Of The Hundred” is no exception.

With a bass line and drum beat supporting a hauntingly beautiful piano melody, Death In Texas has created a tune that defies all logic. Listening to this track, I couldn’t help but be impressed by how they managed to create a song so full of contradictions to run so smoothly. This beat with that piano melody and those lyrics?! It shouldn’t have worked and yet it did.
Clearly, this trio has the whole Progressive Pop genre all figured out.

I know, I know, how can defining a song as a contradiction be a compliment? Well easy; the lyrics, dark in nature, match the deep rhythm of the bass and drum (played by Terry and Kane), while the light piano and soft yet strong vocals...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Tangowerk is the first solo album from Berlin based producer NHOAH. With this project he has brought together some very different sounds and merged them into one of the most interesting and unusual albums I’ve heard for some time. South American Tango music, modern electronic music, 80s pop and a whole host of other influences have been combined in Tangowerk.

The Tango and electronics make up the core of the sound with other influences appearing at different times throughout the album.

Brief comments on a few of the tracks..

The album opens with ”One more kiss”. The vocals are real crooner style and these are set against music which is a mix of South American classical dance and electronic. At times it’s got an 80s pop feel to it as well as having the Tango feel...

Posted in Gig/Festival Reviews

Indie rockers Darktown Jubilee come from Manchester – a city that has spawned countless Indie rock bands. The band formed in 2010 and after releaseing a couple of singles, are now releasing their debut album.

The album opens with ”Breakdown”. The song was released as the first single from the album and it’s clear to see why. Smooth vocals, a great tune and strong chorus plus enough guitar to give it a solid rock base make this a really good song. I’ve listened to it a lot already and it doesn’t lose any appeal with repeated listening.

Next up is ”Stay”. The keyboards are more prominent here and give the song a different feel. It’s another great song.

”The great escape” opens with acoustic guitar and piano-like keyboards...

Posted in Press Releases

THE TREATMENT CONFIRMED AS MAIN SUPPORT TO STATUS QUO ON THEIR UK TOUR THIS MARCH FEATURING THE CLASSIC ‘FRANTIC FOUR’ LINE-UP…

UK rockers, The Treatment, will be joining Status Quo on a UK tour that sees the most celebrated Quo line-up back together again!

Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster & John Coghlan, the original line-up of the mighty Quo, have invited The Treatment to play as sole Special Guests on a nine-date tour of major UK venues, starting at the Manchester Apollo on March 6th 2013!

Says Treatment front-man, Matt Jones…

“We absolutely cannot wait for the upcoming Status Quo tour. All of us have grown up listening to Quo, so to get the chance to open the shows for the original line-up is a true honour...

Posted in Press Releases

BENEA REACH SET TO RELEASE THIRD STUDIO ALBUM, ‘POSSESSION’, ON MARCH 25TH 2013 VIA SPINEFARM RECORDS
+ BRAND NEW VIDEO FOR FIRST SINGLE, ‘THE MOUNTAIN’, OUT NOW.

Watch the video here:

Grammy-nominated Norwegian tech-metallers BENEA REACH will release their third full-length offering of epic progressive metal on March 25th via Spinefarm Records.
Titled, ‘Possession’, this latest album was produced by Benea Reach & Thomas Wang, then mixed & mastered by Tue Madsen (The Haunted, Mnemic, Raunchy) at Antfarm Studio.
Known for his bipolar vocal ability, BR frontman Ilkka Volume veers memorably from low belly-aching screams through to high manic shrieks – almost as if the band had a dual-vocal set-up. He’s excited about the new record, and can’t wait for it to be heard…
“We...

Posted in Press Releases

VOLBEAT TO RELEASE OUTLAW GENTLEMEN & SHADY LADIES APRIL 8th,2013
Rob Caggiano Joins Volbeat As Second Guitarist

Danish metal band Volbeat has announced that the upcoming studio album Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies will be released on April 8, 2013. The band has also shared that former Anthrax and The Damned Things guitarist Rob Caggiano has officially joined the band. Caggiano served as producer on Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies, alongside long-time production partner Jacob Hansen, who produced and mixed the band’s prior four albums. Caggiano’s producer credits include The Damned Things, Bleeding Through and Anthrax amongst others, and he was a member of Anthrax for two tenures from 2001-2005 and again from 2007-2013. Singer and guitarist Michael Poulsen shared,

”The band is very proud...