(9/10) Dark and greyish clouds introduce the Northern hemisphere fall and winter. The musical soundtrack for these dark seasons comes from Cologne, Germany, which is the homebase of black metallers Ultha. The band is rather new and debuted in 2015. ‘Converging Sins’ was the sophomore album, released in 2016, and two years later it is... Continue Reading →
CD review HEIR APPARENT ‘The View From Below’
(10/10) Seldomly it happens that what you wish to happen also becomes real. It seems to stay a dream that never unfolds its beauty. One of these things is a new album of no less than Seattle-based prog metal legends of Heir Apparent. The quintet from the Amercian West Coast had two awesome releases during... Continue Reading →
Classics: Rainbow ‘Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow’
The latest albums I mentioned in my little 'Classics' series addressed power metal and US metal highlights from the mid 80's and now it's another time leap we take. The display on our rock'n'roll time machine shows 1975. 1975 is the release year of 'Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow', an album that paved the way for Rainbow as... Continue Reading →
CD review TERROR ‘Total Retaliation’
(8/10) A hardcore album never reaches epic length and also Terror‘s new longplayer is no exception. The quintet from Los Angels, CA started in 2002 and grew over time to one of the most impactful bands in American hardcore. Over the last 15 years it feels like Terror not losing any strength or power. The... Continue Reading →
CD review BLACKFIELD ‘Open Mind – The Best of Blackfield’
(*/10) Blackfield is the moniker of a musical collaboration of two highly creative minds. Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson began their cooperation in the early 2000th with a debut that was revealed in 2004. The latest studio release dates back to 2017 when Blackfield launched the 'Blackfield V' album, which was, how should it be... Continue Reading →
CD review RIVERSIDE ‘Wasteland’
(9/10) Polish prog rockers Riverside is a well-known and well-respected prog metal outfit that launched six longplayers before a stroke of fate hit the band. It was in February 2016 when guitarist and founding member Piotr Grudziński died of a sudden cardiac arrest. From one moment to another things haven’t been anymore like they were... Continue Reading →
CD review CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX ‘Great Escape’
(8/10) Crippled Black Phoenix is a rock outfit, hailing from Bristol, UK. The band has its beginning in 2004 when Justin Greaves started to outline some first musical ideas which have been the base for Crippled Black Phoenix. The start was more with a project thinking but things evolved and six studio albums saw the... Continue Reading →
Classics: RUFFIANS ‘Ruffians’
With this classic, we go back in time even further than with the latest 'Classics' posts. The Delorean brings us back to 1985. In a phase when metal gained momentum and many bands pushed into the market, it was Ruffians from San Francisco that unveiled a brilliant six-track album. Simply entitled 'Ruffians' the debut EP of... Continue Reading →
METAL DAYZ 2019 – dates announced
On September 21st and 22nd, the cult venue in northern Germany, the Markthalle in Hamburg, was again the location for the 7th Hamburg Metal Dayz. Battle vests and band shirts, music experts, entertainment industry people, metal lovers and happy faces: Those were the impressions at the hardest event during this year’s Reeperbahn Festival. “We’re again... Continue Reading →
CD review PILLARS ‘Onwards to Nothingness’
(7/10) The first funny thing that happened after I uploaded this album to my player was that all six tracks had the same title, 'Above'. For one second I though that this might have been a weird but planned way to distract, but of course it's not. Each of the six songs on Pillars new... Continue Reading →
Classics: MORTAL SIN ‘Mayhemic Destruction’
Who can remember Mortal Sin? The quintet from Sydney, Australia isn't top of mind of everybody, but the ones of you that started their metallic journey in the 80's are familiar with this five-piece powerhouse from down under. Mortal Sin started in 1985 and was described as the 'Australian Metallica'. This gave already a clear idea... Continue Reading →
CD review TREAT ‘Tunguska’
(8/10) Swedish hardrocker Treat are a longtime player in the fields of melodic hardrock. The first and successful era ended with a split in 1993 before Treat reunited in 2006. The second era also included some good longplayer, starting with 'Coup de Grace'. I have to admit that the 1987 'Dreamhunter' album is still my... Continue Reading →
Classics: MORDRED ‘Fool’s Game’
Today I want to take you back into 1989, a time when San Francisco-based Mordred premiered with 'Fool's Game'. After having produced three demo tapes the guys could ink a contract with Noise International and released a debut that showed a well-executed fusion of thrash metal and funk. In the second half of the 80's thrash... Continue Reading →
CD review BRAINSTORM “Midnight Ghost’
(8/10) September 2018 is an important month when it comes to heavy metal music, hailing from the greater Heidenheim area. The German city in the south of Germany is the hometown of two metal acts that are well-known in metal. Undertow will release their new album “Reap the Storm’ on September 21st and it’s know... Continue Reading →
SATAN enters German album charts
September 7th saw the long-anticipated release of the latest SATAN album 'Cruel Magic'! The NWOBHM legends can now announce they have reached a sensational position 28 on the official German album charts with this longplayer! Comments the band: "It's pretty insane. Once you realize it's not some practical joke you think well why not? We've... Continue Reading →









