(8/10) Eindhoven Rockcity is more than just a name. It's the moniker of an initiative that combines Eindhoven's vital rock- and metal scene, with Komatsu being one representative of. The quartet, consisting of Martijn Mansvelders, Mathijs Bodt, Mo Truijens and Jos Roosen, started Komatsu in 2010 and debuted in 2013 with ‘Manu Armata’. Komatsu plays... Continue Reading →
CD review UNDERTOW ‘Reap the Storm’
(9/10) A lot of things happened since Undertow released their seventh album „In Deepest Silence“. A line-up change took place in 2017 when longtime member Thomas Jentsch left Undertow and a successor needed to be found rather quickly. At that time recording activities have been planned already and things shouldn‘t face major delays. Fortunately Andreas... Continue Reading →
CD review DREAM CHILD ‘Until Death Do We Meet Again’
(8/10) It’s not by conincidents that Dream Child sounds very much like ‘Dream Evil’. The moniker is inspired by the Dio album and “Dream Child’ was Goldy’s nickname from these days. So far so good, but let’s begin from start. Dream Child is a new metal formation that comprises of some scene veterans and like... Continue Reading →
CD review LIONCAGE ‘ Turn Back Time’
(7/10) Lioncage premiered in 2015 with ‘Done at Last’ before they went into studio again two years later to record ‘Second Strike’. Already one year later the third album is in the starting blocks, ready to spread a melodic rock vibe. The band from Elmshorn, Germany put together a 12 songs tracklist, including songs that... Continue Reading →
CD review SATAN ‘Cruel Magic’
(9/10) One of the bands that transferred the spirit of the NWOBHM best to the here and now is metal veterans Satan. The guys started back in 1979 in Newcastle, UK and released with ‚Court in the Act‘ and ‚Suspended Sentence‘ two exquisite longplayers, which made them to real underground heroes. Unfortunately things came to... Continue Reading →
Live report ENTRAILS/GRACELESS/BLOODMOON, Musicon, Den Haag – 02.09.2018
The Musicon in Den Haag provided a more unusual Sunday afternoon activity. Instead of coffee and cake it was beer and death metal that stood in focus. So what should be more obvious than going there and enjoying good music and a drink. Let’s break the pattern I would say. The bands, which played that... Continue Reading →
CD review BLACK MAJESTY ‘Children of the Abyss’
(7/10) Black Majesty, hailing from Australia, is a band that releases albums on a very regular base. The guys provide new melodic metal songs in a three years pattern and since the latest longplayer ‘Cross of Throns’, has been launched in 2015 it’s time for a new longplayer in 2018. That's the math an here... Continue Reading →
CD review MONSTROSITY ‘The Passage of Existence’
(8/10) If people think about US death metal it’s often bands like Obituary that come to their minds. The quintet for sure belongs to most popular representatives of Tampa-based death metal, but they aren’t the only ones. Another band that hails from Florida is Monstrosity and the guys can also build on a long track... Continue Reading →
CD review TANTARA ‘Sum of Forces’
(8/10) It was six years ago when Norwegian thrashers Tantara debuted with 'Based on Evil'. The band, that was founded in 2009, takes its inspiration from the 80's thrash era, proving in the here and now that thrash metal is as vital and lively as it was back then. This September the quartet returns with... Continue Reading →
CD review LIZZIES ‘On Thin Ice’
(7/10) We had to wait pretty long this year for getting served the worst artwork of 2018. Here it is. I don’t know what inspired Spanish rock’n’roll ladies Lizzies to go for the chosen artwork of ‘On Thin Ice’, but it for sure leads to some big smiles. Catching girls, drawn in a way a... Continue Reading →
CD review MCC (MAGNA CARTA CARTEL) ‘The Demon King’ – EP
(8/10) If you’re a regular follower of Markus’ Heavy Music Blog (which I can recommend … hahaha), you recognised that I sometimes write about releases that might not be metal or sometimes even not rock music. However, they have a link to our beloved musical style. One of these bands is MCC which stands for... Continue Reading →
CD review VOIVOD ‘The Wake’
(9/10) Canadian prog thrashers Voivod were never a band whose music was easy to follow. It always demanded time and some spins to explore and grasp the details of their songs. This goes for the raw and anarchic sound of the early days and it's like a common denominator, bridging to the here and now.... Continue Reading →
CD review SIEGE OF POWER ‘Warning Blast’
(8/10) You maybe haven't heard of Siege Of Power yet, but you might be familiar with the moniker First Class Elite. First Class Elite was a kind of predecessor to Siege Of Power. The band of Dutch metal veterans didn’t go strong and after having released a split album things were over almost before they... Continue Reading →
CD review MANIMAL ‘Purgatorio’
(8/10) Gothenburg is known for a vital metal scene. Death metal and especially the melodic version of this extreme metal genre has a solid homebase in Sweden’s’ second biggest city. But the epicenter of Swedish metal has more in the offer. Also more traditional based metal is hailing from Gothenburg and one ambassador in Manimal.... Continue Reading →
ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN announces ‘Symphonized’
In May 2018, Anneke van Giersbergen performed two career-spanning concerts with orchestral arrangements together with Residentie Orkest The Hague. Now those special concerts will be available for all to hear when they are released as ‘Symphonized’, an 11-track live album due out on the 16th November 2018. Taking in material from across her career, she... Continue Reading →









