Mention UFO and thoughts usually focus on their seventies catalogue. Unsurprisingly really, given that throughout their career it was tracks from albums such as Lights Out, Force It, Phenomenon and No Heavy Pettin’ that formed the bulk of their live sets. However, dig deeper into the band’s 22 albums which span their 50 years together, and you’ll find many gems buried deeply and tucked away.
Having disbanded for several years in the late eighties, 1991 saw vocalist Phil Mogg put another version of the band together, before managing to reunite what to most is the classic UFO line-up of Mogg, Pete Way, Michael Schenker, Paul Raymond, and Andy Parker. Their 1995 album Walk On Water is well worth a listen, particularly for Schenker’s guitar work and Mogg’s lyrical prowess.
Having walked out on the band during their US tour to promote Walk On Water, Schenker returned to join UFO for their 2000 album Covenant. Mogg, Way, and Raymond were joined by Aynsley Dunbar on drums for the album, Parker having decided to leave (he was to return in 2005 until the end of the band in 2022).
Covenant is packed full of solid UFO songs, with their trademark melodies blended with the classic hard rock style that has always stood UFO apart from many of their peers. Dunbar links in well with Way, whilst Raymond’s subtle keyboards add layers to the songs. It’s a fine performance from Mogg throughout, his clipped yet emotive style working well with the songs. Alongside Mogg, it’s another masterclass from Schenker who sounds in great form.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Covenant is a vastly underrated UFO album. It’s consistent from start to finish, from the bluesy smooch of Love Is Forever, via the stomping rock of In the Middle Of Madness, with some of Schenker’s most relaxed playing, through to the up-tempo The World And His Dog, which has shades of seventies Scorpions in its style and riffs. The songs are cleverly constructed, the right blend of melody and hard-edged rock, and all involved seem on great form.
Two years later and we see Raymond no longer with the band. It’s Schenker’s last dalliance with UFO, but he, alongside Mogg, Way and Dunbar ensure it’s a fine finish. Sharks is the 16th studio album and kicks off with the slightly left of field Outlaw Man, which sees Schenker’s playing expansive and riddled with gorgeous flashes of colour. It’s followed by the defiant Quicksilver Rider which bears all the hallmarks of traditional UFO, before the emotion of Serenity with another great Schenker riff kicks in.
Sharks may not be quite as appealing as Covenant, but it certainly has its moments. It is again well crafted, with Schenker showing several flashes of his brilliance whilst Mogg once again brings all his quality to the show. The tracks bear a similar consistency to Covenant, with tracks such as Perfect View, Shadow Dancer and Crossing Over all high quality and written in the classic UFO vein. Both albums demonstrate why UFO are still so highly revered and why their music remains timeless.
The third disc in this Cherry Red set sees the combination of live recordings from the Walk On Water Tour from 1995. Recorded at Blind Melons, Buffalo, NY, USA on September 11th, 1995, the classic line-up prove my earlier point with several classics including Mother Mary, Love To Love and the usual epic Rock Bottom. We also get three tracks from Walk On Water, which stand up well amongst the epic songs that surround them. In terms of live performances, there is little to compare with the classic Strangers In The Night of course, but live UFO with Schenker’s magnificent guitar work is always a joy to listen to.
Two underrated albums and a blistering burst of live music, what’s not to like? 9/10
My Dying Bride - A Mortal Binding (Nuclear Blast) [James Jackson]
In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Covenant is a vastly underrated UFO album. It’s consistent from start to finish, from the bluesy smooch of Love Is Forever, via the stomping rock of In the Middle Of Madness, with some of Schenker’s most relaxed playing, through to the up-tempo The World And His Dog, which has shades of seventies Scorpions in its style and riffs. The songs are cleverly constructed, the right blend of melody and hard-edged rock, and all involved seem on great form.
Two years later and we see Raymond no longer with the band. It’s Schenker’s last dalliance with UFO, but he, alongside Mogg, Way and Dunbar ensure it’s a fine finish. Sharks is the 16th studio album and kicks off with the slightly left of field Outlaw Man, which sees Schenker’s playing expansive and riddled with gorgeous flashes of colour. It’s followed by the defiant Quicksilver Rider which bears all the hallmarks of traditional UFO, before the emotion of Serenity with another great Schenker riff kicks in.
Sharks may not be quite as appealing as Covenant, but it certainly has its moments. It is again well crafted, with Schenker showing several flashes of his brilliance whilst Mogg once again brings all his quality to the show. The tracks bear a similar consistency to Covenant, with tracks such as Perfect View, Shadow Dancer and Crossing Over all high quality and written in the classic UFO vein. Both albums demonstrate why UFO are still so highly revered and why their music remains timeless.
The third disc in this Cherry Red set sees the combination of live recordings from the Walk On Water Tour from 1995. Recorded at Blind Melons, Buffalo, NY, USA on September 11th, 1995, the classic line-up prove my earlier point with several classics including Mother Mary, Love To Love and the usual epic Rock Bottom. We also get three tracks from Walk On Water, which stand up well amongst the epic songs that surround them. In terms of live performances, there is little to compare with the classic Strangers In The Night of course, but live UFO with Schenker’s magnificent guitar work is always a joy to listen to.
Two underrated albums and a blistering burst of live music, what’s not to like? 9/10
My Dying Bride - A Mortal Binding (Nuclear Blast) [James Jackson]
As a fan of My Dying Bride since their Turn Loose The Swans album released in 1993, I’ve followed the band’s journey somewhat sporadically as my tastes in music changed through the years, whatever the flavour of the month however, I’d always held those early albums dear and frequently return to them.
One of the things I have absolutely loved MDB for is their solemn melodies, the contrast between the more Death Metal inspired riffs and the drawn out Doom, often accompanied by female vocals, piano and violin, an instrument most capable of portraying sorrow.
A Mortal Binding is the band’s 15th album, its release preceded by two singles, the nautically inspired Thornwyck Hymn and The 2nd Of Three Bells, A Tale Of Life And Death. Aaron Stainthorpe’s vocals on this album seem to lean more towards the Death Metal style; though it’s my least favourite style, the contrast within the songs where those vocals are often varied between clean and emotive, growled and fervent, is played out to great effect.
The poetic storytelling as evident as ever, break neck time changes steer the course between Doom laden riffs and Death Metal influences for on each of the songs listed upon the album, My Dying Bride deftly show what makes them a force to be reckoned with, what makes them as relevant now as they’ve always been in the genre that they helped shape and define.
An absolute must have album for any self respecting Doom Metal fan. 10/10
Necrot - Lifeless Birth (Tankcrimes) [Matt Bladen]
One thing you an say about Necrot is that they have riffs, bloody thousands of them, a smorgasbord of flaying death metal that are inserted into every song until they're fit to bursting. Lifeless Birth is the Oakland trio's third album and while it doesn't reinvent their sound dramatically, it does keep their penchant for riff packing and tightens their assault up. This is the type of death metal that evolved out of the Bay Area thrash scene, keeping the melodies but getting darker in the vocals and the subject matter.
The title track here is very much in the thrash vein but as that fades, Superior unleashes a death metal assault that grinds away with some percussive blasts from drummer Chad Gailey. Necrot are a trio but their sound is massive, Chad Gailey's drums are intense and technical, coupling with Luca Indrio's bass, on stompers such as Drill The Skull, Indrio's vocals on this track are visceral and menacing too. The third slice of this pie is guitarist Sonny Reinhardt who shreds up a storm when needed but is also quite content to just riff away on Winds Of Hell and Dead Memories.
Lifeless Birth is more US death/thrash to break your speakers with as Necrot show that they can keep their sound fresh without too much deviation. 8/10
One of the things I have absolutely loved MDB for is their solemn melodies, the contrast between the more Death Metal inspired riffs and the drawn out Doom, often accompanied by female vocals, piano and violin, an instrument most capable of portraying sorrow.
A Mortal Binding is the band’s 15th album, its release preceded by two singles, the nautically inspired Thornwyck Hymn and The 2nd Of Three Bells, A Tale Of Life And Death. Aaron Stainthorpe’s vocals on this album seem to lean more towards the Death Metal style; though it’s my least favourite style, the contrast within the songs where those vocals are often varied between clean and emotive, growled and fervent, is played out to great effect.
The poetic storytelling as evident as ever, break neck time changes steer the course between Doom laden riffs and Death Metal influences for on each of the songs listed upon the album, My Dying Bride deftly show what makes them a force to be reckoned with, what makes them as relevant now as they’ve always been in the genre that they helped shape and define.
An absolute must have album for any self respecting Doom Metal fan. 10/10
Necrot - Lifeless Birth (Tankcrimes) [Matt Bladen]
One thing you an say about Necrot is that they have riffs, bloody thousands of them, a smorgasbord of flaying death metal that are inserted into every song until they're fit to bursting. Lifeless Birth is the Oakland trio's third album and while it doesn't reinvent their sound dramatically, it does keep their penchant for riff packing and tightens their assault up. This is the type of death metal that evolved out of the Bay Area thrash scene, keeping the melodies but getting darker in the vocals and the subject matter.
The title track here is very much in the thrash vein but as that fades, Superior unleashes a death metal assault that grinds away with some percussive blasts from drummer Chad Gailey. Necrot are a trio but their sound is massive, Chad Gailey's drums are intense and technical, coupling with Luca Indrio's bass, on stompers such as Drill The Skull, Indrio's vocals on this track are visceral and menacing too. The third slice of this pie is guitarist Sonny Reinhardt who shreds up a storm when needed but is also quite content to just riff away on Winds Of Hell and Dead Memories.
Lifeless Birth is more US death/thrash to break your speakers with as Necrot show that they can keep their sound fresh without too much deviation. 8/10
Sunface - Cloud Castles (Apollon Records) [Rich Piva]
The Norwegian band Sunface is one I was not familiar with before I moved their first album in eight years, Cloud Castles, into my “to review” folder. Back in 2016 the band released Observatory which created quite the buzz in the stoner/psych community. Cloud Castles continues the vision of Observatory, but is way more psych than stoner and way more tribal shoegaze than anything else, as the beats and the slow burn fuzz is what rules the day on this one.
Atmosphere and swirling guitars are what drives Cloud Castles. A song like Tall Tress has more to do with My Bloody Valentine than “name your stoner rock band”. This is some fuzzy, chill goodness driven by procession and it is pretty great. The opening title track sounds like Sympathy For The Devil for about ten seconds until it sounds like a shoegaze version of Pearl Jam’s WMA. Both of those songs are drum forward, which is exactly what we are getting here. The cool thing is you are getting some cool stoner riffs on top of the fuzzy atmosphere too.
The same goes for tracks like New Natures and Thunder Era. I have to believe that these guys have a lot of 90s bands in their collection, as Second Voyage musically sounds like a track from the second Porno for Pyros album covered by the Jesus and Mary Chain. Dig that fuzzy solo. I really love the tracks Priest Of The Rays too it all of it’s fuzzy funkiness and the epic slow burn closer …Through The Snow And Beyond The Fertile Land that shows the band’s willingness to lean on the guitar to pair it with the percussion for beautiful results.
If I had one complaint, the album is a bit one note and can drag a bit, so maybe the interludes/instrumentals could have been left out, but overall Cloud Castles is an excellent return to form for Sunface. Let’s hope the band doesn’t wait another eight years for some more shoegaze stoner goodness, because this is a genre I am here for. 8/10
If I had one complaint, the album is a bit one note and can drag a bit, so maybe the interludes/instrumentals could have been left out, but overall Cloud Castles is an excellent return to form for Sunface. Let’s hope the band doesn’t wait another eight years for some more shoegaze stoner goodness, because this is a genre I am here for. 8/10
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