Reviews: Spock's Beard, Wolftooth, Kill Ritual, Frozen Land (Matt Bladen)

Spock's Beard - The Archaeoptimist (Madfish) [Matt Bladen]

I hailed 2022's The Myth Of The Mostrophus by Ryo Okumoto as the most Spock's Beard sounding album in a very long time, but a conceptual, cinematic version of the veteran prog band, focussed through the wild and creative mind of the kinetic keyboardist and writer. I remember listening to it on a plane and wanting it to land so I could write up the review and tell everyone about it.

Apparently Spock's Beard feel the same as their latest album The Archaeoptimist has been masterminded by Ryo Okumoto, formed of his creative vision and co-writen alongside long time collaborator Michael Whiteman, plus Alan Morse (guitar) & Ted Leonard (vocals/guitar), this is Spock's Beard 30+ years into their existence, filled with prog rock grandiosity and pomp but delivered with that undeniable love of life Ryo brings to the band.

He also produces the record with Rich Mouser mixing and mastering to make it this six track monster sound huge. From the Yes meets ELP style of Invisible, where there's lashings of keyboards and those classic Spock's Beard harmonies, through the crossover prog of the jazzy Afourthoughts where all the members get a chance to show off their skills especially Alan Morse and his smoking hot guitar playing.

I've spoken about Morse and Okumoto's playing at length a few times before but they always amaze, but bassist Dave Meros and new drummer Nick Potters bring the undulating, never simple rhythms of this band and this album to life be it on the shorter offerings or one of the gargantuan ones like the title track.

I've also talked about Ted Leonard possibly being the best singer SB have had, and he proves that on a track such as the St. Jerome In The Wilderness, where the emotion is strong beneath the prog posturing.

The Archaeoptimist is Spock's Beard first album since 2018's The Noise Floor, many touted that as their last studio album. However Spock's Beard are clearly not content with becoming a nostalgia act and they have leaned on the creative drive of their keyboardist to continue the recording legacy of this veteran band. 9/10

Wolftooth - Wizard's Light (Ripple Music)

Back in 2021 I praised Midwest riffers Wolftooth highly, putting together NWOBHM and stoner metal this is proto-metal with a snarl. Blood And Iron their last release had them signed to Napalm Records but for their fourth album Wizard's Light they have gone back to Ripple Music, the spiritual home of riffs and they've sharpened their steel for some more fantasy themed heavy metal.

Wolftooth take the Iron Maiden route of a triple guitar attack, Jeff Cole, Jerrmey Lovins and Chris Sullivan all bringing the riffs, from the Intro right the way to Allfather, the three guitars are all used well, intermingling between each other, joining Terry McDaniel's bass in the thunderous rhythms and weaving in and out of each other in the melodic/lead parts such as the Maiden-like Darkened Path where the the solo sections have those lush harmonies.

Sightless Archer kicks off with riffs The Sword would be proud of. Sullivan is also the singer, his vocals are Ozzy meeting John D. Cronise of the Texas band. Shane School's drumming drives the speed on the killer title track, the Sabbath worship is particularly strong here. Wolftooth seemed revved up on Wizard's Light, like they have something to prove with this fourth record.

Maybe it's the move back to Ripple, but Wizard's Light brings an epic feel to the this already heavy style, at it's strongest on Armor Of Steel which has the fist pounding march of Grand Magus. With their steel glistening in the late winter sun, Wolftooth gear up for another raid of your riff stores on album four, raise those fists and bang those heads to some heavy metal glory. 9/10

Kill Ritual - In My Head (Massacre Records)

If I was to play you one song and ask you where Kill Ritual were from, you would probably instantly answer with USA. They play the darker, heavier, more evil style of US power/heavy metal favoured by Iced Earth, Sanctuary, Metal Church, Vicious Rumours or anything involving Tim Ripper Owens.

Kill Ritual is the creation of Steven D. Rice, he is responsible guitars, bass, synths, additional vocals along with lyrics, arrangements, recording and production, only the mix and master are outsourced to King Diamond man Andy LaRoche who Kill Ritual also share some similarities with.

This is classic heavy metal on steroids with influences from thrash and prog metal, delivered with downtuned riffs, furious doubles kick drums from Seamus Gleason and a histrionic vocal delivery from Judas who can scream, soar, snarl and growl through this records aggressive atmosphere and dark lyrical content.

There are moments when the melodic side creeps out (My Love Is Hate), but Kill Ritual keep most of the record on the heavy side, telling a thematic story where all the songs are part of the journey, the virtuosity of Rice very much the cornerstone and driving force of this band and he gets to show off throughout.

Album number seven from Kill Ritual and even with a number of line up changes over the years, Steven D. Rice is keeping this heavy metal engine running. 8/10

Frozen Land - Icemelter (Massacre Records)

Finnish power metal now with the return of Frozen Land and their third album Icemelter. With two albums under their belt, Frozen Land have increased the aggression on album three.

Still retaining the cinematic melodies of Stratovarius and Sonata Arctica, and their established neo-classical virtuosity, with Icemelter they have written a record that sees this Helsinki five piece, sharpening their riffs towards the US or German style of power metal where it so often meets with thrash.

The Carrier immediately showcases this shift in sound with a bit of speed metal Blind Guardian, they take it back to classic heavy metal chugs. Lyrically driven by the corruption and fear in the world, this is a more muscular sound from Frozen Land, embracing the modern style of Stratovarius with a track such as Dead End and of Sonata on Chosen, Corrupt And Cancerous.

Although unlike the genre legends, these particular Finns don't take the long route, ensuring that most of these tracks hit quickly with rampaging drums, light speed guitars/keys and high piercing vocals used to make their mark. All of what makes power metal and Frozen Land great is still present in their style. Just on Icemelter, it's a bit meaner and leaner. 8/10

Reviews: The Halo Effect, This House We Built, Edit The Tide, Maha Sohona (Matt Bladen)

The Halo Effect - We Are Shadows (Nuclear Blast Records)

Covers albums/EP's can always been a bit hit and miss, they're usually stopgaps used to cash in on an up coming tour, in between albums of new music. We Are Shadows doesn't break that trend but it is more hit than miss. What we have here is a five track EP with each cover specially chosen by a band member to showcase the diverse influences The Halo Effect have.

For a band with members who are originators of the Gothenburg melodeath scene you may expect lots of nasty death metal but no, We Are Shadows actually only features two songs you could consider to be by metal artists. How The Gods Kill, by Danzig was chosen by vocalist Mikael Stanne, who gets to interpret the lyrics of 'Goth Elvis' in his own style, while W.A.S.P's I Wanna Be Somebody, chosen but guitarist Jesper Strömblad gets a sonic melodeath overhaul.

Co-guitarist chose Dance With The Devil by Phenomena, rightly giving the kudos to Tom and Mel Galley for the All-Star multi album spanning prog/AOR concept project, that did it long before Mr Sammet and Mr Lucassen. It's in the rhythm section that things take a left turn as they so often do, as bassist Pete Iwers decided on If You Were by synth pop rockers Kent and drummer Daniel Svensson, chose Shoreline by Swedish indie-pop artist Broder Daniel, both of these are shown a bit more of a lighter touch to the EP.

Is it a stopgap? Yeah of course, but it's an interesting look into the influences behind The Halo Effect and for fans will be a must have curio. 7/10

This House We Built - Get Out Of The Rain (Self Released)

Scarborough rockers This House We Built release their second album Get Out Of The Rain and it's chock full of the sort of modern rock that's all over classic rock radio. Having had countless positive reviews from other media along with personal recommendations from none other than Danny Vaughan from Tyketto.

They've been playing the rock festival circuit this summer and wowing audiences at Call Of The Wild, Love Rocks, Wildfire, SOS Festival and Maid Of Stone Festival. So clearly they're on the right path and have the right music for these events so what do they have to offer on album number two? Well Rain begins with some moody lead guitars that's conjure a storm before the bass throb of Wayne Dowkes-White gets the song going properly, the choral vocals sitting against the excellent lead pipes of Scott Wardell who mixes Mike Patton with Shane Greenhall and Chris Robertson.

Bringing a classic meets modern delivery on this slow burning beginning and the more propulsive Addiction where there's a strong Alter Bridge influence in the guitars from Wardell and Andy Jackson, the latter playing some flashy leads that add to the swaggering heavy rock riffs.Jackson also takes gritty lead vocals on Broken Dreams which comes from that furious late 80's early 90's rock scene, that sound of the 80's continuing on rock ballad Desires which features some great drumming from Chris Mayes. There's a bit of bluesing of the Crowes/Stones on It's Only Rock N' Roll as One By One takes a leap towards the radio.

They follow this with a proper ballad in Coming Home To You where the word "Bon Jovi" jumped into my brain when I first heard it, while second ballad Better Man just said Creed as loudly as it could, the finale of Drifter meanwhile could easily be an MTV Unplugged session. They do return to massive rock riffs on Crash N Burn and Wheels but this variation in style is a real benefit to This House We Built is that they have a lot inspiration coursing through their music but they're able to channel it into something of their own. Danny Vaughan was right about this band, expect huge things to come! 8/10

Edit The Tide - The Space Between Seconds (Self Released)

I've always said there's something in the water in South Wales and Bridgend in particular, outside of the USA it seems to be the biggest concentration of metalcore and post-hardcore bands in the world. Bullet For My Valentine, Funeral For A Friend, From Her Eyes all come from Bridgend with The Blackout, Casey, Holding Abscence and others come from the surrounding Valleys.

Basically if they played the Big Ponty circa 2005/6 then they probably come from Wales. There is a reason why Noizze, another publication with roots in South Wales puts on a showcase of metalcore/hardcore/post-hardcore etc in Cardiff every year.

Edit The Tide do emotional metalcore and they hail from Bridgend, formed in 2023, they have specifically honed into the sound of FFAF and the early BFMV material where melodic metal leads meet with chunky riff breakdowns and the vocals shift from emotional angsty cleans to cathartic screams.

They released their debut EP in April last year they have rather quickly followed it up with their newest release The Space Between Seconds, this work ethic is evident here as even though they are only three years into existence they are trying to produce and release as much music as possible so it's recognised at shows. In a world where content is key, Edit The Tide know the deal.

Thankfully the music they make is really good if you're a fan of metalcore/post-hardcore, the technical leads from Rob Norris bring those crystalline melodies over the top of Dave Snell's head moving grooves, the open drumming of Rudy Mason a perfect anchor for both the emotion and power of these tracks.

Slickly produced and mixed by Romesh Dodangoda (Bring Me The Horizon, Bullet For My Valentine) at Longwave Studios, Edit The Tide have tightened their songwriting here, adding some Djenty touches that bring it bang up to date as the vocals of Benjamin James speak for themselves as he carries the weight of the lyrics through his affecting vocal.

Five tracks of modern alternative metal from a band born to do it, the Bridgend/South Wales metal scene magic works again with Edit The Tide and The Space Between Seconds. 8/10

Maha Sohona - Visions (Bonebag Records)

For fans of Elder, Tool and Alice In Chains huh? Yeah sign me up to the trippy stuff right now.

Psychedelic meditative throbs of fuzz drenched guitars, repeating grooves and vocals that put angst alongside apathy. Visions is the Swedish band's third album following 2021's Endless Searcher which took them on extensive tours across Europe, it's their first on Bonebag Records and as Liquid Motion Medicine begins you know what to expect from the rest of the record.

These are Visions of a world beyond ours, psych soundscapes that have crawled on their belly out of Sky Valley and into Europe getting dirtier and rougher as they travel through a different sort of vista. The use of analogue instruments brings a warmth to Uddh where they let go of the fuzz and just settle on straight astral wandering.

Though these moments of ambience are rare as Maha Sohona are a band who love fuzz, the bite of the distortion through a tube amp just gives you the satisfaction you want from a record like this. Ostera moves with the crunch of heavy doom, the drums exploring the space while the bass carries those hypnotic grooves on Voyagers.

These are the collected Visions of Maha Sohona, experience them as loudly as you dare. 8/10

Reviews: Ghold, Preyrs, Wheel Of Time, Fimbul Winter (Mark Young, Cherie Curtis, Simon Black & Matt Bladen)

Ghold - Bludgeoning Simulations (Human Worth) [Mark Young]

This is quite the intense listen. Bleak, heavy and punctuated with moments of beauty it is a release that can captivate and boil piss in equal measure. The oppressive mood starts almost immediately with Cauterise; the initial piano trod on by a repeating guitar measure. Its when the bass joins the fray and just fills your ears. Its just a massive sound that pulls forward at all times and drags the rest of the band with it. Its not the start I expected, but its one that I’ll take as it understands the brief that the opening track has to do something that is worth your time to stay. 

If I thought that the bass on Cauterise was big, Christ it is colossal on Lowest. The almost happy sound espoused on the start has been replaced and we are in that dark doom arena where riffs are slow moving but demand your attention. This is an early indication of how well they can put a song together. That descending motion is offset with a manic, almost out of control lead that sounds as though it was seconds from collapse. Put this together with that truly massive sound and you have something that has the capacity to cause physical pain. I can only imagine what this would be like live, how it would expand from its current state. 

Compared to Place To Bless A Shadow, Lowest is like their accessible warm welcome song, flying through its 7-minute runtime without lagging. Place... is tortuous, and I know that others have compared this (like the album) as a soundtrack to a film that is yet to be written and the words associated with this release notes visions from Ben Wheatley’s A Field In England. I couldn’t say to that, but it’s a 10-minute trip that starts almost imperceptibly and builds with a steady pulse. For me it evokes images of a chase and escape, or of a near-escape. Its beauty is in its simplicity, efficient build means that this stays with you. 

Luckily for us they avoid trying to repeat that and go almost upbeat on Fallen Debris. Possessing a similar arrangement to Cauterise, any familiarity is there due to the speed it moves at and its ability to convey a lot within a small time. Its role is to act as a palate cleanser before they drop another audio nightmare on you with Leaves.

Spoken word combines with that by now trademark super wide sound that now has added noise to add to its darkened edge. I keep going back to how big they sound on this, its something that you have to experience for yourself and is one of the main reasons why their songs on here are so affecting. Drums come in here, volume swells there with no rhyme or reason and yet it doesn’t strike you as being put together in a haphazard manner. Its directed with purpose, orchestrated to unsettle, to put you on edge.

Rude, Awaken is their goodbye. Its muted start would sit comfortably within any Doom scenario as it unhurriedly unfolds, vocals that come in with an almost angelic sheen to them. Replete with feedback and sonic degradation it switches from the light into the maddening with vocals now spat with venom. Entering the final minutes, it shrugs off any restrictions and bounds towards the end in a lumbering manner and then we are done. 

Is it for everyone? No, I don’t think it is. This is an album that can’t be listened to in fits and starts, or as part of a playlist. Even its more immediate moments, as good as they are need the longer, more involved tracks because without they lose a lot of their power. It’s a definite soundtrack to your worst nightmare, but consider this: What has driven them to write and record such a thing? 9/10

Preyrs – The Wounded Healer (Pelagic Records) [Cherie Curtis]

Preyrs is a modern alternative rock band with a technological / Industrial feel and their debut album - The Wounded Healer, is deliciously authentic with a fierce attitude and an airy almost languid quality throughout all 11 tracks.

Change Change has raw almost raspy vocals paired with a pulsing build and distorted guitars which offers an utterly cool and smooth listen; it is powerful and atmospheric rather than the knockout heavy metal we’re used to. Bring Ur Bruises is slightly faster with some ethereal, more melodic backing vocals which pair nicely with the harsh ones as well as adding depth. 

What interests me is that the tracks build up slowly adding while adding more layers and instead of leading to a riff heavy breakdown; we get louder and more emotional vocals and a more textured composition which to me is a creative spin on this genre. The Wounded Healer is my favourite track from the album, its fluid and effortless with a magnetic bassline and weighty instrumentals for extra flair.

To summarize, Preyrs delivers a great one. It is an album that works for everyone and anything. It’s great for a drive or a night out, and it goes without saying that these guys are talented. Professionals all round and even though they’re not for me specifically and at times can fall flat, I see the appeal and I know that Preyrs will put on a great show if you want to see them live. 7/10

Wheel Of Time – Asymmetry (Self Released) [Simon Black]

One of the joys (and occasionally the terrors) of this reviewing lark is that you get to listen to music that you would not necessarily come across unless a wily editor sticks it into your inbox, along with a deadline. To be fair he’s pretty good at assigning things that I’m likely to react well to and Wheel Of Time are certainly managing that today.

99.99% of the music in the vast and extensive canon that is all things Metal tends to be predominantly Western in origin, with South America (and particularly Brazil) coming in closely behind the vast cohort of European, North American and Australasian acts. Asia and the Middle East don’t get so much traction with the notable exception of Japan, although I’ve had some crackers from Israel (Sinnery), India (Against Evil) and even Nepal (Arogya)in recent years – all found through this reviewing lark, and whose music I continue to dip into just because I like it. The one positive of Global distribution via streaming means that even acts that really are well outside of those established circles have a chance to get out there, and I’m happy to say Wheel Of Time are also the first act from China that I have had the opportunity to review.

One of the problems bands hailing from countries where Rock and Metal don’t have a thriving Metal underground is the inability to get a studio or a producer who has a clue how it should sound, so having cracking tracks let down by a production that sounds like a four track bedroom from the 90’s is not unusual, but Progressive musicians tend to know exactly how they want things to sound, and frequently are more than capable of doing quite a lot on their own. I’m sure there’s some of that home schooled skill in play, but they do have help here too. The first point to make is that the Production here is absolutely top notch.

Secondly, this Power / Progressive hybrid isn’t really a band – it’s mostly the superbly talented multi-instrumentalist Jimmie Hong cranking most of what you can hear, with support from several rather noteworthy guests and with British Producer and fellow Prog maestro Tom MacLean handling the Production from deepest, darkest errr, Guildford… 

And those guests – former Dream Theater keyboard player Derek Sherinian plays on many of the songs, Stratovarius founder Timo Tolki pops up, drummer Alexandre Aposan adds some depth vocally and even shredder extraordinaire Tony MacAlpine puts in an appearance. For an act without a touring audience, and only one EP to date, that’s one hell of a roster to assemble and the kind of Supergroup line-up that labels like Frontiers would drool over.

Thirdly, that’s not as easy as you might think. Yes, the world is connected via the internet and pan-Global collaborations are not unusual, especially since Covid forced everyone out of their comfort zones, but China is not a country well known for its free and easy access to Global connectivity. Logistically that is quite something…

Finally (and perhaps most importantly) however they did this logistically, the songs are really rather good. There are some really strong arrangements in here, with songs that manage to walk the fine line between demonstrating the innate and significant musical skill from Mr Hong, with all the technical flourish and musicality one would expect yet balanced with a strong ability to make songs that are easy to listen to. 

Whereas bigger bands in the field might have an ear for hooks, but often get distracted with over-indulging the individual members of the band in order to allow the audience to marvel at how good they each are, especially when they stop soloing and synchronise (sit down Dream Theater, everyone knows I mean you) a one man band doesn’t need to do that, unless he’s stepping back to allow one of those guests to shine and thus the overall impact of the song is far more focal, and Hong nails this here.

Not that he isn’t rather good at everything he plays. Even the drums (no doubt delivered electronically) sound organic and full fat, with the kind of sensitive interplay with the other instruments that really creates the feeling of a band with years of experience together whose chemistry is just spot on. I’m not sure you can thank Alexandre Aposan for this either – he’s only credited on one track. 

Even vocally Hong completely surprises. He has a good strong, charismatic delivery presence, and his grasp of English and annunciation is absolutely perfect and a powerful, broad range with just enough rock ‘n’ roll rawness to hook you in and keep you there.

I have to say that this really rather surprised me. And that’s why I do this gig. 8/10

Fimbul Winter - What Once Was (Self Released) [Matt Bladen]

Fimbul Winter are a melodeath band from Sweden featuring Amon Amarth founding members Anders Biazzi (rhythm guitar) and Niko Kaukinen (drums), long time Amon Amarth drummer Fredrik Andersson on lead guitar and vocalist Clint Williams.

They were formed as an excuse to jam Amon Amarth's 1994 demo but shifted into writing their own music that keeps a similar vein to those early Amon Amarth release before the power/viking metal stylings started to become more precedent.

This isn't nostalgia though, some of these songs were written for Amon Amarth but others are brand new, this is a collection of veteran musicians drawing from their musical history and the genre their country innovated to create new music with an old soul.

Across five songs the aggression and visceral nature of those early years is obvious, there's more death than melo, snarling vocals, tremolo picking and double kick drumming, and some session bass by Tobias Cristiansson (Necrophobic).

What Once Was is melodeath when it was unrefined and nasty, the members of Fimbul Winter began this journey until the changing winds prevailed, but now their back to return Swedish death metal to is aggressive roots. 7/10

Reviews: Drofnosura, Electric High, Ptolemea, ODC (Spike, Simon Black, Rich Piva & Matt Bladen)

Drofnosura – Ritual Of Split Tongues (Transcending Obscurity Records) [Spike]

This is not a casual record. Drofnosura is a colossal, mutated beast from Toronto, and their sophomore album, Ritual Of Split Tongues, is a 63-minute slab of pure, abrasive violence designed to grind planets together. This is the sound of Blackened Sludge filtered through a dense progressive lens, and it demands you clear your schedule for the full submission.

Forget easy labels. This band took Sludge, Doom, Black, and Post-Metal and finely ground them into a singular, unsettling texture. The music operates at the speed of geological pressure, with instrumentation so heavy it seems to bend the air. The long tracks aren't lazy; they are meditative, transcendent acts of endurance, a colossal shapeshifting entity that leaves an undeniable, hideous mark on the listener.

The sonic landscape is defined by its constant, overwhelming duality. The album is built on enormous friction. the Canadian trio excels at taking elements that should be incompatible, dissonant black metal structures, groovy sludge riffs, and long post-metal passages and making them merge into something monstrously cohesive. The sheer technical ambition of these compositions is terrifying, yet they never sacrifice the raw, emotional weight.

The journey begins with the deceptive six-minute burst of Selection Of A Corpse, quickly showing the crushing weight they wield before pulling you into the album's core. But the title track, The Ritual Of Split Tongues, is the central event: a 15-minute marathon that uses dense dissonance and swirling, hypnotic riffs to drag you into the mire.

The drumming here is intricate and punishing, pushing complex rhythms beneath the wall of sound. The vocals are utterly crucial: twisted croons and blackened screams that haunt your damned soul for eternity. This is the music of profound, system-wide death screams, all diverse, yet merged into one cosmic cry of pain.

Where Drofnosura truly elevates the experience is in its thematic commitment. Tracks like the ten-minute Kapala Kriya, a reference to a Hindu cremation ritual, move with a funerary slowness, building atmospheric dread through sustained dissonance and minimalist vocal lines. This is not anger; it's the inexorable, suffocating weight of finality. It gives way to the ritualistic interlude ἐγείρω, a moment of eerie, synthetic stillness that functions as the album’s black heart, setting the stage for the final descent.

The ensuing track, The Well Of Seven Heads, delivers wave after wave of colossal weight and sinister melodic undertones. The doom-laden riff that eventually crashes in is utterly colossal and capable of flattening an entire forest. The song morphs into something frenzied but never relinquishes any of the previous darkness. It's almost impossible to escape the shadow that pumps through the veins of this record.

The cycle of agony finally closes with Desounen, a colossal, 15-minute finale. This closing statement proves the band is just as adept at crafting overwhelming, immersive soundscapes as they are at delivering raw brutality. It finds that bleak, psychedelic groove and rides it to the finish, leaving the listener submerged in the hypnotic sludge. Ritual of Split Tongues is an astounding album where multiple influences converge to create music that's at once expansive, stirring, and dissonant. 9/10

Electric High - Free To Go (Apollon Records) [Simon Black]

Norway’s Electric High have come a long way in a remarkably short time. Like many old school Rock ‘n’ Rollers, a prodigious rate of output is a keystone of what drives this engine. Some bands take years to gestate a good LP, and shortening the album cycle to less than four years can have terminal consequences if it’s only half baked, but this sort of traditional Rock seems to be able to effortlessly crank the handle, with the added advantage that should a hasty misfire get out into the wild, the follow-up tends to be breathing down its neck very rapidly and can quickly supersede any negative impact of its hasty predecessor. Bands like AC/DC and Aerosmith in they heyday generally released something new every year, and although it’s only record number 2, Electric High seems to be charting a similar course.

Incidentally those two big names can be clearly heard as musical influences, along with a whole smorgasbord or Hard Rock sounds from the 70’s and 80’s positively dripping from this band. That said there’s a lot more going on than a straight 4/4 groove. Listen closely and it rapidly becomes clear that the musical precision lurking under the riffin’ groove is a lot more complex than a first skim would seem to indicate. Just check out the time switches and complex interplayed fills that litter this piece – it’s Rock ‘n’ Roll, but these guys could easily handle the complexity of Prog, but that’s not what they are about. It adds an edge, and a completely different one from the sort of dangerous edginess that Rock ‘n’ Roll bands normally aim for. This is unusual because there’s only one guitarist and bassist in the mix.

With two lead vocalists however, something new is added. They alternate taking different registers, but can harmonise cleanly or down and dirtily interchangeably, and it’s not the sort of thing you expect in the genre. OK, there’s a thousand R’n’R acts with multiple vocal lines in play, but usually they’re coming from the instrumentalists and supporting a single lead vocalist, but PV Staff and Olav Iversen not only manage traditional vocal approaches, but deliver these hugely effective and complex cacophonic vocal lines with the added advantage that there are also at least two string slingers able to add some backing lines as well. It’s almost choral, but without losing the Hard Rock feel.

Then there’s the songs…

From the opening bars of the catchy as hell Thick As Thieves, it’s clear that these boys now how to graft an earworm or two. Or in this case ten, as this disk has a lot of earworms in it. Given the pedigree of all of them, as experienced players with a whole roster of different acts in their respective histories’ it’s perhaps not surprising, but as I’ve hinted above they do it in an alarmingly unusual and effective way that’s both traditional and original, which in the world of Hard Rock is no mean feat in the 75 years that have passed since DJ Alan Freed first coined the term.

Every one of the three singles they have released so far could act as the everyman hook that would get stations like Planet Rock playing them to death and I can see them doing well at the likes of Steelhouse. This bizarre fusion of the technical and straight Hard Rockin’ really works, because even the non-anthemic fist punchers work in a standalone way, and I am left rather gobsmacked that something so clearly old school can sound so new and fresh. 9/10

Ptolemea - Kali (Raging Planet Records) [Rich Piva]

Ptolemea is the first band I have reviewed from Luxembourg. Now that we have that bit of trivia out of the way, let’s go ahead and talk about album number two from the project that is a vehicle for singer/songwriter Priscila Da Costa’s material, Kali, which is a gigantic burst of sound and colour for which you will have no choice to pay attention to, whether you want to our not.

What do I mean by that? Kali has so much going on that it is impossible not to stop and listen closely to all of the controlled chaos that Ptolemea brings across these nine songs. The vocals are multi layered, there is a wall of sound that pairs nicely with Da Costa’s vocals, and there is a heavy aspect happening as well. The description in the promo folder where I grabbed Kali is labeled “Atmospheric Doom Rock”, which fits pretty perfectly. 

There is a (mostly) controlled chaos to the songs, like on the opener, Kura, but barely, as it feels like it could go off the rails at any time. There is so much going on it can be hard to fully concentrate on what’s happening. Piano makes an appearance on Breathe, which is a really, really big sounding song that features Da Costa’s huge voice. I could see how fans of Messa would dig a track like Blue Moon, which is really heavy on the atmosphere part of the description. 

I like how Luta opens with a quiet acoustic guitar that builds and gives me Florence And The Machine vibes. I also enjoy the violin on Guilhotina. The closing title track is one of my favourites, as it encapsulates all that this record brings to the table with its atmosphere, vocals, and Ptolemea’s version of heavy. The record does drag a bit in the middle and stays a bit too much to the formula, but the highlights on the record shine bright.

Priscila Da Costa is obviously mega talented and has a big vision for Ptolemea, which is mostly achieved here on the band’s second record. There is a lot going on here, but give it a shot, even if it is in smaller doses to start. Huge sounding stuff with a ton of potential. 7/10

ODC - Twisted Love (BLKIIBLK) [Matt Bladen]

ODC are a French band that who combine alt metal, nu-metal, electronics and more, they call themselves the "soundtrack of a hybrid generation" a polished record of very modern sounds that doesn't confined to any sort of boundaries.

The band expressing themselves through music that involves many many genres throughout 10 tracks which includes a cover of Despechá by 'genre bending' Spanish pop star Rosalía, although done in a very modern metal sound. Celia Do is a brilliant vocalist, versatile and powerful, able to wrap her voice around her all the various styles featured on this record.

Celia is not just a singer, she's also a producer teaming up with bassist/rapper MX MNK, Raphaël a guitarist who prefers the heavy groove of 8-string guitar and drummer Hector with a background in death metal, so these clashes of styles and influences all play a part in the broad scope of ODC's music.

Strong links to the music of the early 2000's (Nu-metal etc) and the early 2010's (Djent), Twisted Love is modern hybrid metal record with themes of defiance and resilience in the songs that cement ODC as ones to watch. 7/10

Reviews: Avatar, Hell In The Club, Spawn, Primal Scourge (Matt Bladen)

Avatar - Don't Go In The Forest (Black Waltz)

Avatar are destined to be huge, I mean stadium level huge, their darkly theatrical, experimental, multifaceted metal style has been gaining them fans since 2001 but it's only since 2012's Black Waltz that they have really locked into to their look and also to the music they want to play, adapting it every album after this to create a unique but familiar musical experience every time.

They released their last album Dance Devil Dance in 2023 and it got them the critical plaudits their fans have been heaping on them for years. Yes their fans are dedicated mirroring Johannes Eckerström's facepaint and vaudeville styling at gigs, a place where Avatar are very comfortable as they spend most of their time on the road.

Next year they will brought on as support for Metallica on their 2025/2026 tour and will be playing a huge show in Mexico City, so Avatar are a band who are finally reaching the grandiose potential they have been projecting for several years now. Avatar have a flair for the theatrical, the cinematic and the conceptual, as many of their records are based around a theme or a story or poem of their own making.

The band have stated that “It would have been impossible to make this album at any other time than now" and when Don't Go Into The Forest bursts to life with Tonight We Must Be Warriors which begins with a Tin Whistle similar to When Johnny Comes Marching Home, adopting a power metal sound before those harsh vocals return on the In The Airwaves as they shift into swashbuckling folk metal of Captain Goat and throbbing Ghost-like spookiness on the title track.

This is just the beginning though as Avatar prove to be fearless with album ten, with Death And Glitz bringing both, an undercurrent of funk below modern metal as they bludgeon on Abduction Song and then bring jazzy rhythms to the dramatic balladry of Howling At The Waves, the synthy prog of Dead And Gone And Back Again and more thrashy madness on Take This Heart And Burn It.

With new record Don't Go In The Forest vocalist Johannes Eckerström, guitarists Jonas Jarlsby and Tim Öhrström, bassist Henrik Sandelin, and drummer John Alfredsson, wanted to evolve again, adding new strings to their bow, going down as yet undiscovered avenues and digging deeper into the darkest recesses of the human experience through musical styles that point them at those bigger stages to come. 9/10

Hell In The Club -Joker In The Pack (Frontiers Music)

Joker In The Pack is the seventh album from Hell In The Club, I was actually surprised to find this out of I'm honest as I thought they were quite a new band but they formed back in 2009! This experience goes some way to explain why this Italian/Swedish band are so slick with their brand of metallic hard rock drawn from the 80's heyday.

A style that has been more pronouced since their previous record and defines Hell In The Club as it's own entity away from the more metallic other bands of founder members Andrea Buratto (bass) and Andrea “Picco” Piccardi (guitars) and current drummer Marco Lazzarini.

Joker In The Pack continues with this hard rock style but with a new voice to carry it, as founding vocalist Davide Moras left the band on 2024 and Hell On The Club took the bold steps to get singer Tezzi Persson behind the mic after wowing the band at her audition and then the fans on stand alone single Carolina Reaper.

Having a female voice over the long established male on may be seen as a risk for long term fans but Tezzi has a powerful set of pipes and fits perfectly on the retro meets modern style of the band. Having already showed she can handle the older music with her own version of The Kid, for her first official album as singer Hell In The Club pack a flair for the dramatic and the gothic that will gain them new fans for sure.

A new era but pretty much the same old song and dance, 15 years into their career it's a change but not a seismic one. 7/10

Spawn - Light Rite (Ramble Records)

Light Rite is an album that has been in gestation for nine years, the debut album from Asian/Australian psychedelic doom band Spawn. This album has seen them shift line ups, tragically lose a member but channel this into spiritually transcendent music where stoner doom collides with celestial wandering and psychedelic expanses.

Acid Mothers Temple, Church Of Misery and Elder are all points of reference for what Spawn do and on the final act All Is Shiva they turn the Wheel Of Dharma with Dr Sarita McHarg's sitar and percussion perfectly pitched for those ethereal moments at the beginning before the doom comes rushing in under waves of keys from Angelique Forsyth and the explorative drumming of Rhiannon Smith.

It's a substantial track at 14 minutes but shows off everything Spawn are good at, mystical space doom with emotion behind it. Light Rite begins Lotus Rising kicks off with guitarists Lenz Ma and Madi O'Shea cranking out the riffs with the multiple vocals all working together, with Don't Let Them Dim Your Light they take a turn down the Syd Barrett Floyd path with some more sitar in the middle and a hearty bass throb from Andie Kate

With Ascension there's Theremin, stoner riffs and an outro by the songs writer Jewel Gold who is the member they lost but who's journey to the other side is a massive influence on the record as a whole. Enriched with Eastern atmospheres but driven by Western heaviness, Spawn deliver a bewitching debut album with Light Rite. 9/10

Primal Scourge - End Of Eden (Iron Fortress Records)

End Of Eden is the debut album from American death/doom act Primal Scourge. Released through Iron Fortress Records who have been putting out extreme metal bangers recently. This debut is the soundtrack to the apocalypse, the lamb has opened the seventh seal and the silence in heaven is followed by the deafening roar as paradise falls.

Now maybe I'm getting my religious metaphors mixed up here Primal Scourge are band with a soundtrack to the end times. Formed by Austin Asmus (guitar, bass, vocals) and Rio Mariucci (drums, vocals), the duo share a long history together so Primal Scourge is a collaboration between two veterans of their scene creating some bludgeoning death metal.

Abyssal Imprisonment begins with the record with power, double kicks are relentless even when the riffs move from tremolo picked thrashing to a mid-tempo crush, invoking the artillery march of Bolt Thrower and Benediction with Morbid Gestation and Necromantic Plague both doing something similar keeping the theme of the first track but Visceral Crown brings some synths/atmospheres at the beginning and then double down into doom.

Primal Scourge are a band who divide their time between steamrolling and crushing, End Of Eden is an old school offering that death metal fans will love. 8/10

Reviews: Mezzrow, Degraved, Enemynside, Voidceremony (Spike & GC)

Mezzrow– Embrace The Awakening (Rock Of Angels Records) [Spike]

If you thought Swedish Thrash peaked in 1990 and politely faded away, you were wrong. Mezzrow has climbed out of the grave after a long, necessary silence to prove that the old ways are still the best ways. Embrace The Awakening is not a nostalgia trip; it’s a high-velocity manifesto that sounds like classic Bay Area Thrash filtered through a meat grinder built in the Gothenburg suburbs. This album doesn't ask for your attention; it demands that you get off the couch and into the pit.

The core of this record is uncompromising speed and surgical precision. They don't waste a single moment. Tracks like the lead single Architects Of The Silent War explode with a driving, relentless rhythm that showcases every single element you demand from the genre: sharp, technical riffing, aggressive chanting, and a pace that threatens to leave the speakers smoking. Lyrically, this track taps into the dark, sophisticated world of cyber warfare, proving that even thirty years later, the themes of corruption and unseen threats remain terrifyingly relevant.

The genius of this attack is the dual guitar prowess. Magnus Söderman and Ronnie Björnström lock in with pure, traditional thrash riffage that pays homage to Testament, but the final sound is lean, clean, and utterly contemporary. There is no murky production here. every note is intended to pierce. The Moment To Arise and Sleeping Cataclysm are built on this foundation, utilizing fast, complex transitions that keep the listener constantly off balance, providing hooks that are both catchy and crushing.

Even the slightly longer tracks, like the nearly six-minute Foreshadowing, maintain the necessary urgency. Mezzrow understands that atmosphere in Thrash isn't built through ambient filler; it's built through escalating tension and relentless drumming, perfectly executed by Alvaro Svanerö. The vocals, delivered by the inimitable Ulf “Uffe” Pettersson, are the final layer of savagery: a classic, aggressive snarl that cuts through the precision.

The entire album is a testament to longevity and dedication. Embrace The Awakening is unapologetically old-school in spirit but executed with new-school technical venom. It's the sound of veterans refusing to coast. This isn't just a comeback; it's an undeniable threat to the new generation. 8/10

Degraved - Spectral Realm Of Ruin (Dark Descent Records / Me Saco Un Ojo Records) [GC]

For my second review this week I am reviewing, let me see? Oh yes more death metal, its my (upside down) cross to bear I suppose! It’s been a mixed bag this year for death metal as with most genres there has been some exceptional albums and some less than exceptional albums, time for me to find out where Degraved’s Spectral Realm Of Ruin fits in.

It starts off with a blur of noise in the shape of Pariah Of Death & Darkness, I wasn’t sure what to expect but I don’t think it was this if I am honest, its all lo-fi blackened death blasting with vocals that sit on top of the music instead of running with it, it all feels just a bit too unsubtle and it took me while to even think of how to describe it. 

Sulfuric Embalming follows the same template, heads down, blast the drums, mix the guitars just slightly higher than the vocals and then hope the sheer force of everything will make the listener work out what is going on, it’s a bit of a struggle in places but there is some decent bits and on the whole it is a good listen it, I think it just needs more focus and a more clear sound?! 

On Inept Descent it feels like it clicks into place a bit more, it has more focused beginning that then leads into the all-out chaos of the song but also manages to pull back and mix the styles together with much more sensible and recognizable sound and the real dirty sounding mix is really prominent on this track and really helps the overall effect of the track and it seems like they want to keep this going. 

Stalker Of The Herd follows the same blueprint but really focuses more on the mid-pacedness and it really benefits the song as a whole as you can actually hear all the individual elements and what they can actually achieve when given the room to shine, it never takes long for them to get the blasty bits in there and there is no complaint from me as they add more depth and unpredictability to proceedings on the album highlight for sure! 

Unseen then almost takes it too far and extends the run time past 7 minutes, it’s a decent enough track but with this formula, for my tastes it doesn’t really lend itself to tracks this long, you get the slow but, the fast bit and they then long out sections to pad the track out and its all just a bit to much and goes on for far to long. 

March Of The Dead thankfully doesn’t do that and has a heavy thrash style to the way the song unfolds, its still the down low scuzzy death metal but it has a more groove orientated structure for the most part, sure the usual break outs are there but it always falls back into a dependable rhythm, and just like that Vacuous State is the last track on the album and thankfully they don’t try and do anything to out there and unpredictable, it’s another blast of groove infused, blasting and grim sounding death metal and is one of the better tracks on the album and wise choice to end on.

At the very beginning I really wasn’t expecting too much from this album as it sounded like it was just going to be a bit of a confusing mess but as it went on it got better, I liked most of the record barring some bits here and there and it was as solid and enjoyable listening experience, I think with a bit more focus and care there could be a really great album in Degraved but in the meantime Spectral Realm Of Ruin is well worth a listen. 7/10

Enemynside – In The Shadows Of Unrest (Self Released) [Spike]

This four-track EP from Rome’s Enemynside is exactly the kind of unpretentious, high-velocity assault you need when you just want the job done. This isn't philosophical metal. it's pure, modern aggression filtered through a Thrash Metal lens, and it moves with the terrifying efficiency of a professional hitman.

The short runtime is a masterstroke of design. Clocking in at under 13 minutes, In The Shadows Of Unrest doesn't allow for a single moment of contemplation. It rips out of the gates with In the Shadows of Unrest, immediately establishing the frantic, surgical precision of the drumming and the clean, serrated edge of the guitar tone. This band excels at maximum volume, maximum speed, and minimal breathing room.

The EP’s power is cemented in its focus on the classic thrash themes of cynicism and betrayal. Carnal Betrayal, a single previewed before release, is the undisputed highlight. It delivers a full-scale barrage of blistering riffs and a breakdown that hits with genuine, modern force. It’s the sound of aggression against a system, or perhaps just against the nearest person who annoyed you, and it feels absolutely mandatory for the pit.

Concrete Jungle keeps the velocity dial jammed into the red. It's built around a rhythmic core that drives everything forward without collapsing into noise rock chaos. The tracks sound polished enough to pierce you, yet retain the necessary thrash grit. Even the final track, Desolation, is less a sombre conclusion and more a final, frantic burst of speed before the needle lifts.

Enemynside proves that sometimes, the best musical statement is the fastest one. They are here to headbang, and they are here to ensure you leave the encounter with whiplash. This is a vital, uncompromising dose of modern aggression. 8/10

Voidceremony - Abditum (20 Buck Spin) [GC]

It feels like and eternity since I have had a 20 Buck Spin record to review, I have had many death metal releases in that time, but a TBS album usually hits different and can usually guarantee quality and today it comes in the shape of Voidceremony’s 3rd album Abditum.

Before I start, I have to say that an album that only has 9 tracks should not have an intro AND an outro like Abditum does, it feels unnecessary to me but here we are and Intro- Inevitable Entropy is upon us and it doesn’t really do much to give get the blood pumping or give anything away and just seems pointless but I am of course only expressing my opinion here! 

Veracious Duality would have been a much better way to start, racing out of the blocks with a ferociously Morbid Angel sounding tirade of cascading guitars and rapturous drumming and everything sounds so wonderfully dirty but has enough clarity in the production to really keep hitting the marks, it can get a bit choppy in places and the section changes could be a lot smoother but it has enough charm to keep you listening.

Seventh Ephemeral Aura as a song title is utter nonsense but there is no mistaking the formula they have musically, it falls between the juddering technicality of Nile and old school punishment of previously mentioned Morbid Angel, if you didn’t know any better this could easily be an unheard old school death metal gem, and that’s meant as a total compliment, it sounds like its form the glory days but of old but brought in with more modern styles. 

Dissolution is frustratingly just a 51 second interlude that really is 100% frustrating and not needed on any level, you wouldn’t usually hear me saying this but, I think Despair Of Temporal Existence needs to be longer, as it has a decent idea and sounds like it could break out into something really potent but its over in just under 2 minutes so never really gets out of first gear and then just ends abruptly and seems like its missing a trick another couple of minutes could have added a real killer section in to make the song shine! 

Failure Of Ancient Wisdoms gets things back on track and makes full use of a longer run time to get the guitar fret boards worked over and the sections intertwine and chop back and forth in a much more coherent way than previously and the bass is front and centre on this track and really creates a huge sound to support everything else.

Silence Which Ceases All Minds is more wonderfully executed technical sounding death metal but not tech-death, this is the more subtle approach and has the undeniably old school element really pinned down more than ever and its only until the song finishes I notice there was no vocals, you pay so much attention to what is going on with the music that things just pass you by! Gnosis Of Ambivalence is the final actual musical track and there is nothing to not like, thundering drums, wonderfully technical and jagged guitar work, the bass poking through here and there and its another triumph of a track that celebrates the old and new schools of death metal

As mentioned at the beginning Outro- Elegy Of Finality are the frustrating end notes of this criminally short but magnificent album. People with more knowledge than I have will be able to tell you how many tracks an album should contain, but I think 6 is pushing it massively! 

The tracks that were on here were all wonderful and had so much involved you could really only complain that there wasn’t enough of it when all was said and done! Despite the briefness of this record it will stick in your mind and keep you coming back for more and at the end of the day that what matters. 8/10

Review: Kidney Black, Sons Of Hades, Honeybadger, Cremate (Matt Bladen)

Kidney Black - Urban Decay (The Lab Records)

Taking it back to the 90's now with the debut from Athens band Kidney Black. 

The four piece band say they play "grungy sounds and punk attitude” which is a pretty accurate assessment of the band, this is grunge by way of alt rock with a sprinkling of that punk rebirth that hit in the late 80's early 90's the period of time all of Kidney Black's songs stem from. 

Drawing inspiration from as wide of a church as Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, The Cure and even New Model Army (who they have shared a stage with) of you like your Seattle sounds dashed with a bit of jangly British post punk then you'll find a lot to like on Urban Decay. 

Formed in 2019 from other well known bands on the Athens scene, they are a band who like to do things live, recording their demo Lychnopolis Sessions at the studio of the same name before following it up with Rooftop Jam Sessions on 2022, Kidney Black want their music to feel raw and vital, playing in the studio like they do on stage. 

They returned to Lychnopolis Studio to record Urban Decay and cracked out twelve road weary anthems that brim with vitality and maturity of a band who knows exactly who they are. 90's alt rock in 2025? Kidney Black do it with skill and grit. 8/10

Sons Of Hades - Tombs Of The Blind Dead (Floga Records)

Tombs Of The Blind Dead is an album you could definitely refer to as rip snorting, a ferocious focused blast of blackened heavy metal from the dark dwellings of Athens. Masterminded by veteran of the Greek scene Apostolis K, Sons Of Hades remind me of Hellripper, due to the sheer force of their music. Apostolis snarls and screams, as Vangelis F unleashes the blastbeats that you will recognise from Sacral Rage.

It’s black metal in the vein of the second wave, the riffs from Apostolis K and Vasilis K weave between tremolo frenzies and chunky mixed with the black n roll grooves of Venom or Midnight, while the bass of Alex G gives the classic gallop of King Diamond/Mercyful Fate meets Iron Maiden on a track such as La Maschera Del Demonio.

Having only formed in 2023, they are a new bands to the scene but with experienced members there's no wonder then that this full length debut is packed with great songwriting and skin blistering riffs. I’ve made a few comparisons but if you like Celtic Frost you’re going to love this, and I love Celtic Frost so the mix of ferocious black metal and widdly guitars on this record excites me.

The constant switching between fast, slow and then faster riffs before the solos explode, on final track La Noche De Las Gaviotas for instance, gets the blood pumping, the whole album racing by in a flashfire of speed and Satan. Imagery of B-movie horror fills the lyrics, the perfect fit for this ominous savage set of tracks that make up the blackened speed assault of Sons Of Hades on Tombs Of The Blind Dead. 8/10

Honeybadger – Let There Be Light (SODEH Records)

Honeybadger are classed as desert rock and it's easy to see why that is as they are very much inspired by Kyuss and Queens Of The Stone Age, with the latter probably tipping the scales about more than the former. Much of that comes from Dimitris Vardoulakis' louche, deep, Homme-like delivery on the vocals.

Let There Be Light is their sophomore album, inspired by life and blue collar people doing blue collar things, it's music from the streets, keeping a dark sonic overhaul that the Queens themselves have had in recent years, adopting alternative and boogie style, Honeybadger adding horns from Christos Spiliopoulos and Nikos Tattoo Vlachos on the title track.

Vardoulakis sharing the guitar duties with Dimitris Giannakopoulos, both taking leads but with Vardoulakis the main source for fuzzy, strutting, sultry riffs, the bass playing, shared by Dimitris Giannopoulos and Fogg, matching the pace on tracks such as Filth And Disorder and brings a throb to The Green, while The Joke Is On Me shows off the drumming of Vagg Oikonomou.

Let There Be Light, the man upstairs said, well Honeybadger let that light thine through on this second album. 8/10

Cremate - Ready To Fight EP (Wormholedeath)

Another story of a band from the 90's Greek scene that was almost lost to the mists of Mount Athos. Formed back in 1991 by guitarist/vocalist Christos, Cremate forged death and black metal together, inspired by the nastier German thrash scene, the result was a demo seminal demo in 1993, an EP in 1995 and then through numerous line-up changes a split not long after. 

However these things have a habit of someone back around and in 2021 Christos, now on bass reactivated Cremate alongside drummer George and guitarist/producer Akis Pastras (Dexter Ward, Damon Systema, Nightfall). Christos found himself drawn back to that demo and decided to rework the three 'proper' tracks on that EP, (one is an instrumental), and record a new song too. 

This signifying that Cremate are aware of their last but want to set in stone the band they are now, 30 years since they split. The reworking comes from these tracks having and much broader sonic range, the death/thrash sound is still there but it's made grander by the industrial synths that twitch and lay down dark atmospherics.

Lusty Apricot (cannot be their real name) brings violin to provide more range while the production means Die As You Lived, Cerebral Pain and Human (originally title Another Pain Born) all hit harder than they would have in 1993. As for the new song, well the title track of this EP exhibits that they haven’t lost any of their abilities to write death/thrash, moving toward some melodeath styles by enticing Marios Iliopoulos of Nightrage to give them a guitar solo. 

Cremate seemingly are back, bigger and badder than before, fans of band like Kreator should be tuning in. 8/10

Reviews: Eric Gales, Laura Cox, Parker Barrow, Luna Marble (Matt Bladen)

Eric Gales - Tribute To LJK (Provogue Records)

Little Jimmy King was a bluesman who rose to prominence as part of Albert King's band in the late 80's and then forming his one group in the 90', he tragically passed away in 2002 at the age of 37 of a heart attack. So why is Eric Gales paying tribute?

Well LJK's real name was Manuel Gales, Eric's older brother by 10 years. When Eric set out on his career in the early 90's his oldest sibling was someone to emulate, his death caused Eric to go off the rails and led to being incarcerated. Since then though Eric has changed his life around. Witnessed by his string of recent super successes Gales has become one of the top blues players in the world commanding the likes of Gary Clarke Jr and Lauren Hill on recent albums.

So now the time is right to pay homage to his inspiration, his older sibling whom he wanted to be just like, the man who showed him the blues. Featuring an intro from Manuel's twin brother Danuel Gales. Tribute To LJK has the spirit of Manuel through it, these are his songs played by his you get sibling and some high profile guests who all have links to Little Jimmy.

From the legendary Buddy Guy who played with King back in the day and appears on the emotional Somebody alongside pedal steel maestro Roosevelt Collier to Christone "Kingfish" Ingram who stated that King was a major influence on him and gives the funky, hip shaker Rockin' Horse Rise his signature six stringing. There's also two appearances by the encyclopaedia of blues music Joe Bonamassa who not only plays on the slinky Don't Wanna Go Home but also produced the album with Josh Smith who joins Joey Bones on the bouncy It Takes A Whole Lotta Money.

From the brass parping beginning of You Shouldn't Have Left Me, to the strutting Guitar Man, the soulful Something Inside Of Me to the solo filled Baby Baby and Worried Man which is a great blues ballad. An ode to Manuel, this is Little Jimmy King for anyone who didn't know the history or the talent. 8/10

Laura Cox - Trouble Coming (earMusic)

Laura Cox is an Anglo-French guitarist/singer who made her name with rock and blues covers on YouTube.

Going viral online is one thing but producing your own music is another, Cox though has been releasing albums of original modern blues rock, with Hard Blues Shot (2017), Burning Bright (2019) and Head Above Water (2023) she has cemented her sound as on that cutting edge of blues rocking, where there's atmospheric moments, fuzzy guitars, country picking and garage rock moments too.

With Trouble Coming, Laura expands her sound about more, the drumming has an electronic quality to it, matching the fuzzy distorted guitars on A Way Home and Inside The Storm with the latter bring a bit of pop too, the vocals are dreamily layered over the music for a very modern take on blues rock where there's Americana balladry alongside punchy rock n roll on tracks such as The Broken.

Album number four sees Laura Cox playing music that will get plenty of radio ariplay but doesn't sacrifice her roots. 7/10

Parker Barrow - Hold The Mash EP (Self Released)

Bluesy Southern rockers Parker Barrow deliver a steam hot set of new tracks on their Hold The Mash EP. The first music from the band since their 2023 debut. It brings together two previously released singles, a new single and two new songs, showing what the been up to since their debut and giving their fans some new music prior to supporting The Damn Truth on their upcoming tour.

Formed by a chance meeting between singer Megan Kane and drummer Dylan Turner, they took their name from the infamous anti-heroes Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the duo embarking on a life of rocking together which merged professional and personal as they are now husband and wife. On 2023 they gained the experience of guitarist and musical director Alex Bender and Parker Barrow as it is today took shape.

With this EP is the trio who inform the songwriting and it's a chance to be a bit more experimental than with their debut record. Still keeping that bluesy Nashville swagger, Megan's soulful vocals delivering emotion and grit but giving it a bit of a harder edge with the guitar heroics and heavy beat of Bender and Turner.

Influences from The Stones, The Crowes and The Allmans can be heard on these five tracks but there's also some organs from Eric Safka sweep in the background of the rootsy Olivia Lane, Parker Barrow pack this EP with new tracks primed for the stage. 7/10

Luna Marble - Luna Marble (Self Released)

On their self titled debut album Luna Marble are a band who happily languish in the past, inspired by the blues based rocking of Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Free and Heart, fusing 70's blues rock with grunge, psych and even a bit of pop for a thrilling ten tracks record that will have classic rock fans absolutely going wild.

A lot of the talk about these songs on the accompanying information is that they reflect who the band were when they wrote, them taking each one the way they first encountered them, almost like a musical patchwork of the past, rockers and ballads, that have been honed through gigs and sessions to where they are today. Disinterested with following trends or even sticking to one route, these songs were recorded through various sessions in their native Manchester. All of the tracks have something a little different about them, the cohesion of Jim Spencer's mix and Graeme Lynch's master, keeping a sonic link between them.

Fronted by the powerhouse pipes of Maria Rico, Luna Marble deliver, potent rock tracks, such as the Zep-like All Of My Love or the gospel-tinged Redemption, but also the smoke filled jazz Begging Mercy, where Luna Marble showcase their groovier, slower side. Those parping organs rising alongside the virtuoso guitars of Dragos Colceriu, who brings the riffs on the marching Waves, the propulsive opener Running and the fuzzy So Long. In the boiler room, Sea Of Sorrow pulsates with drama and pathos while there's a dusty southern swagger on Crazy Loving, those Fleetwood Mac moments creep in with the bass of David Grundy and drummer Sean Stewart.

They say you have your entire career to write your debut album, well Luna Marble have done it in five years and have captured the tenacity and grit they show live with album number one. 8/10

Reviews: Cold In Berlin, Magic Wands, The Mountain Goats, Vandampire (RIch Piva & Spike)

Cold In Berlin - Wounds (New Heavy Sounds) [Rich Piva]

Cold In Berlin have been around for a while, but I was not introduced to the London, UK band until last year’s EP, The Body Is The Wound, which caught my attention with its dark, goth atmosphere, fuzzy, filthy guitar work, and great vocals. The band is now back with their fifth full length, Wounds, which is a great extension to their last EP and shows that Cold In Berlin is quite the dark force to be reckoned with.

The opening synths scream a band called Cold In Berlin, and shows that Wounds is going to be quite the goth party. You have no choice but to hear Siouxsie Sioux in Maya’s vocal delivery on the first track, Hangman’s Daughter, and that is fine by me. The synths play a big role here, and the drum work is next level. The dirty riffs arrive, but never to overtake all of the other goodness going on. There is a goth swing to the next one, 12 Crosses. I love when it gets to the bridge and it goes all frantic. Great stuff. 

There is usually a polish in more modern goth leaning stuff that I come across, but Messiah Crawling is just filthy in all the best ways, which is why I think I dig Cold In Berlin so much. Maya’s voice is next level on this one. They Reign is bursting with 80s goth vibes, Bauhaus being what comes to mind first, and I am here for that with this slow burner. The synths start again on The Stranger, but this one has a tiny bit more of brightness to it, relatively speaking, and is a nice change up about midway through the record. 

Don’t get me wrong, this is still dark stuff, this one just shines a bit more. CIB get a bit grungy for a moment on We Fall, which then moves into Gates Of Slumber territory, while the dark wave synths return on The Body, which is like a séance that conjures (the still alive) Siouxsie Sioux. 

The record closes with two more great ones; I Will Wait, which has Maya’s voice on full display, while the closer, Wicked Wounds has some spoken word to start, killer dual vocals, and a killer meet-me-in-the-alley-by-the-dumpster-after-the-Fields-of-the-Nephilim-show vibes going on.

Yes, I am late to the party, but Cold In Berlin is a great band and their new record, Wounds, will scratch the stoner/doom/goth vibes you didn’t even know you had. The band sounds great, Maya’s voice is amazing, and there are just enough goth vibes and synths to keep Wounds very interesting. 8/10

Magic Wands – Cascades (Metropolis Records) [Spike]

Full disclosure here, this review was conducted via headphones on a packed train into London. This will become clear from the last sentence of what follows.

The sound of Magic Wands is less music and more an invitation to eternal damnation in the coolest possible gothic nightclub. Their album Cascades operates entirely in the twilight, delivering a brand of Dark Dream Pop so heavily layered and intoxicating that it functions as auditory poison. This isn't just listening. it's submitting to a gorgeous, synthetic ritual.

This duo knows that true terror is seductive. They blend gothic post-punk with deep, droning synths and guitars so textured they sound like they’ve been pulled directly from the soundtrack of a forgotten 80s vampire movie. The overall mood is mysticism and longing, the soundtrack to the eternal pursuit of an insatiable thirst. The minimal instrumentation is masked by a monumental sound design. every space is filled with reverbed dread.

The opener Across The Water immediately plunges the listener into this ethereal, yet menacing, soundscape. It uses hypnotic repetition and ethereal vocals that drift over the throbbing synth and heavy, fuzzed-out guitar work. It's the sound of a world receding as you give in to the night. The urgency of the rhythm section here, though subtle, keeps the movement propulsive, ensuring the dream is always moving forward, straight toward the edge.

The collaboration's strength is that it never lets the sonic beauty become comfortable. Tracks like Moonshadow use shimmering synths and heavy reverb to create a claustrophobic sense of dread. Where the album truly succeeds is in its duality. The vocals are clean, haunting, and utterly captivating, but they are constantly offset by guitars that buzz and drone with corrosive intent. 

This tension is the point. the softness is the illusion, and the decay is the reality. Tracks like Time To Dream manage to feel both desperately wistful and aggressively propulsive, like running at top speed through a gorgeous, suffocating hallucination.

This atmosphere of beautiful menace is sustained throughout the album's core. Albatross and Armour are exercises in layered sound, feeling heavy, not because they hit blast speeds, but because the weight of the emotion and the sheer density of the sound pushes you into the floor. The sonic layering is thick, meticulous, and rewards repeated listens, revealing new threads of sonic decay with every pass. 

The closing track, Riverbed, ends the session not with a triumphant chorus, but with a moody, melancholic collapse. It's a mourning song for everything you just let slip away, leaving you alone in the spectral silence. 

If you need a soundtrack for the long, beautiful slide into ruin, this is it. 9/10

The Mountain Goats - Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan (Cadmean Dawn Records) [Rich Piva]

John Darnielle is a huge metalhead and his band, The Mountain Goats, are an honorary metal band, even though on the surface they are an indie folk group. Besides being a huge metal guy, Darnielle’s writing is as heavy as anyone in any genre. No Children, from his perfect classic Tallahassee, is the heaviest and saddest song ever. You can find all sorts of stuff like this across his 40 or so releases, which is not quite Bob Pollard territory, but to say the Goats have been prolific would be an understatement. 

One thing is for sure, however; from his early solo, raw acoustic albums, to his more polished records, to the concept albums, to a mini-hit with This Year, and back again, The Mountain Goats are always, at the very least, really good, very interesting, and evolving. Now, Darnielle has decided to write his version of Tommy, with the rock opera Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan. 

Once again JD never fails to engage his audience. Outsiders and casual fans may say all The Mountain Goats songs sound alike, but I completely disagree. Yeah, you can always tell it is him singing, just like you can tell it is Colin Meloy when you listen to The Decemberists. However, on Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan, the instrumentation and complexity across these compositions are next level for a band that has been so great for multiple decades. This record really stands out from the huge back catalog, for many, mostly positive, reasons.

Well, some of it is not that different. John’s voice and vocal patterns are what they are, and his songwriting and his storytelling abilities are always so great and are once again on full display on Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan. This is a full-on production, with string and woodwinds and synths, and harp and arrangements and even Lin-Manuel Miranda. Yes, you read that correctly. Don’t worry, we still have the cool factor as Tommy Stinson plays bass on two songs, but this is as close to an indie rock Broadway production as you can get. 

The songs are great too, with tracks like Dawn Of Revelation, that is the closest Darnielle has ever come to The Who. Peru, which harkens to JD’s delicate singer/songwriter side, where he never fails to break the listener’s heart. Rocks In My Pocket, which reminds me of a better produced version of one of his early acoustic numbers. Some tracks may be a bit too Broadway production for some, Through This Fire for example, but the story he weaves makes it all make sense.

Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan is a great listen. I love how Darnielle continues to evolve and create with the Mountain Goats. You will always know that a song is a Darnielle composition, but you will never know what the Mountain Goats will do next. This is the beauty of Through This Fire Across From Peter Balkan. 8/10

Vandampire – Hope Scars (Ripcord Records) [Spike]

This album is a masterclass in emotional brutality. When Vandampire decided to title their debut Hope Scars, they weren't being subtle. They were giving you a concise, clinical explanation of their entire sonic philosophy. This is the sound of dragging yourself through tar, hoping for sunlight, and realizing that the only thing you have to show for it is the wreckage. This is Post Metal that keeps the Sludge engine running hard, ensuring every inch of forward progress is earned through friction and pain.

The sound here is enormous. It's built on a crushing, corrosive tone that feels like being buried alive in slow-moving concrete. The bass is a seismic threat, the drums are heavy, measured artillery fire, and the guitar work oscillates between abrasive, grating distortion and moments of soaring, agonizing melody. That melody isn't there for comfort. it's there to show you exactly what you lost.

The descent begins with the short precursor Only Truth, which is less an intro and more a final, frantic gasp before the crushing reality of the title track sets in. Hope Scars is the main event: a five-minute monolith that immediately establishes the album's suffocating, doomy core. It’s here that the crushing tone is most evident, hitting with the density of a collapsed star.

Vandampire excels at controlling the pace. Tracks like Ultralow and Eaves are grinding, mid-tempo monsters that move with the inevitability of a force of nature. This is the sound of acknowledging your damage, the vocals a raw, desperate howl delivered over a rhythm that feels utterly inescapable. They use subtle interludes to devastating effect. The acoustic space of In Ascension and I Will Miss Everything I Forgot acts as a chilling, sparse breath, the moment you catch air only to reload the aggression. These quiet passages are short and unsettling, simply serving to emphasize the chaos that surrounds them.

The journey culminates with the colossal, twelve-minute closer, Let Ruin End Here. This is the album's most ambitious statement, a sprawling, narrative-driven epic where the thunderous musical cascades give way to distant, clean guitars and whispering, ethereal vocals. It’s the band's final, furious testament that ensures the only thing left in the end is the dirt and the noise. Hope Scars is a phenomenal achievement in atmospheric violence. It refuses to be easy, demanding full engagement as it maps the brutal, interior landscape of endurance and self-wounding. This is necessary, high-calibre sludge. 9/10

A View From The Back Of The Room: Planet Of Zeus (Matt Bladen)

Planet Of Zeus, Haggard Cat & Sigyria, The Bunkhouse Swansea, 08.11.25



On a night where you could see a never quite was, play songs from the band he was in 40 years ago you could also head over to The Bunkhouse to watch three bands absolutely kick the crap out of Swansea. It was a night of excellent riffs from Wales England and Greece so I don't know why you would want to be anywhere else than down there in the front getting sweaty with three excellent bands.

Kicking off the night we're a local bands Sigiriya (9) always give a good show especially in their hometown showcasing tracks from their upcoming new record which is currently being mixed if they sound anything like they do live on the record we are really in for a treat as listeners. What I've always admired about the band is how they have an effortless confidence that yes is built by the fact that they are quite a how can I say this nicely mature band in terms of the scene but they always seem to have this level of being much bigger better than they are booked.

A lot of this is because of a few of their members position within the Swansea stoner doom scene but the way that there's very little interaction with the crowd other than just a few well placed localisms which immediately get everyone on side before they jump back in to more riffs. Settling up with some older tracks just to get the long in the tooth fans going to give me a opened the floodgates to what was to be a really energetic and rocking night.

Following that up was English two-piece Haggard Cat (9) who I totally underestimated as a band because I thought I was expecting a hardcore punk band such as Idles and while there are major elements to their sound they can attribute to hardcore punk. Haggard Cat are a lot more groove driven they are a two-piece and as such sound similar to a lot of other two-piece bands using plenty of guitar effects and utilising the drums as a lead instrument.

They incorporate quite a lot of classic and heavy metal sounds into their music that perhaps wouldn't sit as well in the hardcore punk crowd but that is to their benefit as it means that they have the ability to easily appear on a line-up like this where punk metal Rock all collide and they don't stick out because of it. I've never seen the band before but I heard testimonies from them playing festivals such as ArcTanGent about how good they are in Swansea they showcase that again the amount of noise they can generate for just being a two-piece is excellent.

The way they play their instruments is innovative guitars don't always need to sound like guitars the drumming as I said is maximalist and tribal. Their between song banter is also on point favoring tanks of diesel over buying merch, but still buy merch guys yeah?

Sigyria had the stoner side covered, Haggard Cat the punk side, and Greek rock n roll heroes Planet Of Zeus (9) sit somewhere in the middle, filled with chuggy punk attitude, vocals that are shouted rather than sung but the melodic phrasing and groove of a stoner band, it's always an absolute pleasure to see Planet Of Zeus perform. Just as comfortable supporting a band such as Grand Magus on tour where I've seen them previously, they're a different beast headlining. With more albums under their belt, PoZ are a band who are loyal to rock n roll and to their fan base, it's no frills music played like it's the only thing they care about in the world.

The constant reiteration by frontman Babis they "we" are all Planet Of Zeus and that playing rock n roll music is the only thing he knows how to do, makes you want to take part, throw your body around and shout along to their honed songwriting that seems simple but carried with it a melodic complexity. It's also delivered loud, and in your face, even their love songs are gritty and everything glows in the inspiration of QOTSA, Monster Magnet or even Wo Fat, can be heard in tracks such as The Great Dandolos, Vigilante, The Song You Misunderstand, The Vixen and Loyal To The Pack, all of which are firm favourites now.

With a small but loud room, the smiles when the Welsh choir carried the call and response admirably says it all, Planet Of Zeus welcomed us to the Wolfpack, we are all Planet Of Zeus now and they are a brilliant live band on a night of brilliant live music.