(7/10) Beach Rats is a new band, entering the fields of punk and hardcore. Even though the band is new, band members are veterans when it comes to this style of music. Minor Thread/Bad Religion guitarist Brian Baker is part of this all-star cast as well as Lifetime’s Ari Katz. The band releases with ‘Wasted... Continue Reading →
CD review ENUFF Z’NUFF ‘Diamond Boy’
(7/10) It was in 2016 when glam rockers Enuff Z’nuff went through a bigger line-up change with new players coming on board. Today the quartet is represented by one founding member only. Chip Z’Nuff, being singer and bass player, is the only remaining member that was already a part of the band in 1984, the... Continue Reading →
CD review SINSAENUM ‘Repulsion for Humanity’
(9/10) ‘Repulsion for Humanity’ is the second strike of supergroup Sinsaenum. The band started in 2016 and is a collaboration of musicians, known from other pretty successful extreme metal bands. Drummer Joey Jordison is known from his days with Slipknot. Next to the drummer the band consist of two growlers/shouters. Attila Csihar (Mayhem) is one... Continue Reading →
CD review MANTICORA ‘To Kill To Live To Kill’
(6/10) Manticora's lead singer Lars F. Larsen isn't only a vocalist, he's also a writer who took care about the storyline that builds the base for the band's new album 'To Kill To Live To Kill'. It's a horror story he wrote and it's spread over two albums of which the first one will be... Continue Reading →
CD review SKELETONWITCH ‘Devouring Radiant Light’
(8/10) Athens, Ohio based Skeletonwitch released their sixth album end of July this year. 'Devouring Radiant Light' is the band's first release in five years and it shows a shift that happened over during this time. The first thing that's new is the singer. Adam Clemans joined Skeletonwitch in 2016 and the new album is... Continue Reading →
CD review MAD MAX ’35’
(8/10) I have to admit that I'm always looking forward to a new Mad Max album with full excitement. It was their fourth album, ‘Night of Passion’, that put a spell on me and since then new longplayers by Michael Voss’ melodic metal outfit always have been a delight. Nothing changed when I heard about... Continue Reading →
CD review ARTIZAN ‘Demon Rider’
(8/10) Jacksonville, Florida is the homebase of Artizan, a US metal powerhouse that has its fourth longplayer in the pipeline. 'Demon Rider' follows the 2015 release 'The Furthest Reaches' and features, in the standard version, 5 songs. A limited version includes, next to the 5 songs, the title track with no less than Jag Panzer's... Continue Reading →
CD review GRAHAM BONNETT BAND ‘Meanwhile, Back in the Garage’
(8/10) British vocalist Graham Bonnett, well known from his days with Rainbow, Alcatrazz and Impellitteri, always had solo releases too with 'The Book' being the latest one to date. Two years after 'The Book' was unveiled it is 'Meanwhile, Back in the Garage' that opens a new chapter of Bonnett's solo journey and it's an... Continue Reading →
CD review REDEMPTION ‘Long Night’s Journey Into Day’
(9/10) One of the bands that constantly delivered excellent music over the last few years was prog metal powerhouse Redemption. The band is the brainchild of guitarist Nick van Dyk and debut in 2003 with their self-titled first album. After some years with InsideOut the band released the first album for Metal Blade in 2016.... Continue Reading →
CD review MARILLION ‘All One Tonight (Live at the Royal Albert Hall)’
(9/10) Rock pioneers Marillion have a long track record in music. The band, that debut with 'Script for a Jester's Tear', has unveiled many brilliant rock albums from then till now. Most Marillion longplayers went right into the charts, some of those even achieving gold status. The latest studio release of Steve Rothery and bandmates... Continue Reading →
AL DI MEOLA releases ‘Elegant Gypsy & More Live’
(*/10) An album that doesn't entirely fit into the context of Markus' Heavy Music Blog is the newest release of guitar legend Al Di Meola. Therefor I will not write a regular review for the album, but I still want to mention it. The passionate and talented musician from New Jersy is one of the... Continue Reading →
CD review JUNGLE ROT ‘Jungle Rot’
(8/10) Jungle Rot's start in the first half of the nineties wasn't the easiest time for a metal band to enter the scene. Traditional metal faced a hard time during these years, a time when nu metal and grunge grew rapidly. However, the band from Wisconsin showed a lot of willpower and premiered in 1997... Continue Reading →
CD review RIOT GRRRLS ‘ The Riot Grrrl Sessions’
(8/10) You haven't heard of Riot Grrrls before? Could be. Therefor I would like to start with a short introduction of the project and its background. Rock Grrrls Sessions is a music project that began in September 2017. Various punk and rock musicians joined forces for one weekend to write, rehearse and record this pretty... Continue Reading →
CD review MICHAEL ROMEO ‘War of the Worlds // Pt. 1’
(9/10) There's some radio silence when it comes to New Jesey-based prog metal band Symphony X that released their latest album 'Underworld' in 2015. Between then and now some of the band members focussed on other bands and projects, like singer Russell Allen that released 'We the People' with Adrenaline Mob. Bass player Mike LePond... Continue Reading →
CD review BLACK SPACE RIDERS ‘Amoretum Vol. 2’
(9/10) Not only that Muenster-based alternative metal band Black Space Riders delivers exquisite records; they also do it in a fast fashion. Six months after having published the terrific ‘Amoretum Vol. 1’ album the next record waits in the starting blocks. ‘Amoretum Vol. 2’ will be unveiled end of July and by this the band... Continue Reading →








