Out Of The Beyond 14

The Black Spiders: Sons Of The North

The Doncaster mentalists Black Spiders gained a reputation based on explosive live performances and their two E.P's. the majority of the songs from those E.P's appear on this debut album with barnstormers Stay DOwn and the very misogynistic Just Like A Woman. The album is chock full of ACCA DACCA riffage with a Lizzy swagger and the tongue in cheek silliness of KISS (who are name checked on the excellent KISS Tried To Kill Me) the album never dips in quality producing snotty punk anthems, swamping blues and balls out rock n roll. The album almost manages to capture the spirit of the bands live performance, almost. A cracker of an album from a band more serious than The Darkness but less so than most rock bands, they really seem as if they are enjoying themselves and this shows in the quality of the songs. Fucking brilliant! 9/10

The Parlor Mob: And You Were The Crow

The Parlor Mob's first album is a mixed bag of modern and classic flavoured hard rock with a distinct American feel, Mark Melicia's vocals are very 70's rock sounding being similar in sound to Jack White and Cedric Bixler-Zavala from the Mars Volta. Starting with the old school blues of Hard Times before hitting into the equally rocking Dead Wrong the and do slow as well with Everything You're Breathing For and the acoustic When I Was An Orphan before returning to familiar territory Real Hard Headed. This is a very accomplished album from a little known (outside of the UK) but excellent hard rock band. 8/10

Anna Calvi: S/T (Not strictly rock/metal but dark enough to be)

Anna Calvi is a guitarist and singer from Twickenham who has both a unique playing and singing style. Her guitar playing is technical and melodic and sweeps like an orchestra especially in the first track Rider To The Sea she adopts a circular style of playing which is augmented by the backing strings and Calvi's smoky and darkly atmospheric voice. This is romance mixed with sin and every track oozes seduction and glamour. The ambiguous nature of Suzanne And I and I'll Be Your Man both allude to this sinful world of lust and desire. Like I have said her voice is fantastic and her guitar playing is understated but devilishly complex. This is great album that’s a little too dark to be placed under the mainstream pop banner. 8/10