(7/10) Musicians of Swedish Royal Republic met in 2007 at Malmö Academy of Music and started a band that combines various influences. Rock meets Disco meets some Soul, this is Royal Republic. The quartet scored already some successes in their home-country and overtime they also became more popular outside Europe with their third album 'Weekend... Continue Reading →
CD review NIGHTQUEEN ‘Seduction’
(7/10) Nightqueen from Genk, Belgium is a new member on El Puerto Records' roster. 'Seduction' is decisive third longplayer of the sextet from the Benelux and features twelve songs that are rooted on Power Metal. Nightqueen is the brainchild of guitarist Rex Zeco who founded the band in the early 2000s. What started as a... Continue Reading →
CD review VULTURE ‘Ghastly Waves & Battered Graves’
(8/10) What is it that German highways and Vulture have in common? Indeed, no speed limits. Vulture is still a rather new powerhouse in Metal. The band was founded in 2015 and released a first demo in 2016. A full-length debut followed one year later and after having inked a deal with Metal Blade it's... Continue Reading →
CD review THE RODS ‘Brotherhood of Metal’
(8/10) 'Brotherhood of Metal' is the pathetic title of The Rods newest delivery. The band of Ronnie James Dio cousin David Feinstein debuted in 1980 with 'Rock Hard' and released some more longplayers during the first half of the '80s. Radio silence took over in 1986 and it took more than 20 years until some... Continue Reading →
CD review LUNAR SHADOW ‘The Smokeless Fires’
(8/10) Two years after having uncovered the first full-length album ‘Far From Light’ it’s ‘The Smokeless Fires’ being the direction-giving second longplayer of the German quintet. The album is again done in cooperation with Cruz Del Sur and features seven new songs. The three years between the two records brought some roughness for Lunar Shadow.... Continue Reading →
CD review BONFIRE ‘Live on Holy Ground – Wacken 2018’
(*/10) German melodic metallers Bonfire have a next live album right in the starting blocks. It’s certainly not the first live album the guys from Bavaria releases and it might not be the last one either. However, it’s the first one that captures a show the band played at the legendary Wacken festival. Bonfire performed... Continue Reading →
CD review VADER ‘Thy Messenger’ – EP
(9/10) Vader is for sure an important pillar in Polish Heavy Metal and a strong player to Metal in general. 14 albums are the offer from the quartet with ‘Dark Age’ being the so far latest longplayer. ‘Dark Age’ started to spread its deadly Metal in 2017 and since work on the next longplayer still... Continue Reading →
CD review DARKTHRONE ‘Old Star’
(9/10) Darkthrone, that's Fenriz and Nocturno Culto, both a well attuned duo in harsh Black Metal. Seventeen longplayer over the period o more than 30 years speak volumes and in contrary to the title of their newest release these guys are for sure no 'old stars'. As if there would be no tomorrow that duo... Continue Reading →
CD review D-A-D ‘A Prayer For the Loud’
(8/10) D-A-D is one of the most important musical exports coming from Denmark. The band that premiered in 1986 with ‘Call of the Wild’ achieved a break-through three years later with the acclaimed ‘No Fuel Left For the Pilgrims’. Together with the equally good ‘Riskin’ It All’ longplayer D-A-D celebrated big successes and definitely had... Continue Reading →
CD review KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD ‘The Traveler’
(9/10) Kenny Wayne Shepherd began his musical journey at the age of seven and is since then a 'traveler' in Blues and Rock. And not only that Shepherd is a traveler in music, he was and is on the road quite often too, delighting fans with excellent performed Blues Rock. With having this in mind... Continue Reading →
CD review DEATH ANGEL ‘Humanicide’
(8/10) San Francisco-based Metal pioneers Death Angel present their newest piece of work, which is 10 songs containing longplayer that shows the guys from California in excellent shape. A NWoBHM-rooted guitar line starts the opener and it's an ear-splitting scream of frontman Mark Osegueda that transfers the song into aggressive Thrash Metal. The song's a... Continue Reading →
CD review XENTRIX ‘Bury the Pain’
(8/10) You could get the feeling that all the oldschool Thrash Metal formations are coming back - some sooner, some later. UK metallist Xentrix is one of these bands, returning in 2017 with a show the quartet played at Bloodstock Festival. Xentrix is an outfit that started in the mid '80s, with a debut unveiled... Continue Reading →
CD review PRETTY WILD ‘Interstate 13’
(7/10) 'Interstate 13', that's Pretty Wild's new album. It's their third record and with releasing it this May, a five years wait comes to an end. It was in 2014 when the sophomore longplayer 'Pretty Wild' saw the light of the day and it's 'Interstate 13' that picks it up where the band ended off... Continue Reading →
CD review RYKER’S ‘The Beginning … Doesn’t Know the End’
(8/10) Fusel, Steve, Flo, Dennis and Chris, also known as Ryker's are longtime Hardcore experts and 'The Beginning...Doesn't Know the End' is already their tenth album. Equipped with an excellent sound, done by Andy Classen, the quintet gets with 'Let's Ruin the Scene' out of the boxes extremely well. Gang-shouts and solid groove, combined with... Continue Reading →
CD review ZONDER/WEHRKAMP ZW BAND ‘If it’s Real’
(9/10) Mark Zonder and Gary Wehrkamp are well-sounding names in rock and metal. Amongst others, Zonder played with legendary Fates Warning and Warlord, while Wehrkamp is known from Shadow Gallery. These two iconic musicians decided to go for a collaboration and the fruitful result will be available end of May this year. 'If it's Real'... Continue Reading →









