(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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
METAMORPHER releases ‘Becoming’
Fans of progressive metal music might be interested in an EP that unfolds its beauty today. German five piece band Metamorpher releases their first EP ‘Becoming’ on September 21st. The disc comprises of three tracks that sound great, but need some time to sink in. Metamorpher, that’s Dominik Kwasny, Michael Junker, Carlos Gottberath, Michael Schiefer... Continue Reading →
CD review BETONTOD ‘Vamos!’
(7/10) One year after having released the very successful ‘Revolution’ album, German punk rocker Betontod launched their newest album ‘Vamos!’ a few weeks ago. The story of Betontod is a successful one. The band from Reinberg, Germany started in the early 90’s and after having published some demos it was the ‘Hier kommt Aerger’ album... Continue Reading →
CD review HAMMER KING ‘Poseidon Will Carry Us Home’
(8/10) Even though Kaiserslautern, Germany has no geographical connection to the sea, it’s Hammer King that got inspired by the ocean. The band, consisting out some Ivory Night members, is fronted by former Ross The Boss singer Titan Fox V. In contrary to the assumption of a Manowar copycat and in contrary to the debut, Joey... Continue Reading →
CD review MAYAN ‘Dhyana”
(9/10) Dutch powerhouse MaYan is back with a new longplayer. It’s not that the band released many records over the last years, but it’s the quality of each of the albums that’s stunning. After having debuted in 2011 with ‘Quaterpast’ the band unveiled their next strike with ‘Antagonise’ in 2014. Both records were critically acclaimed... Continue Reading →
CD review STRATOVARIUS ‘ENIGMA: Intermission 2’
(8/10) I guess that most of you are familiar with Stratovarius' 'Intermission' album from 2001. The record was a compilation that mainly featured live recordings, B-sides and bonus tracks of the Finnish powerhouse. 17 years later, Stratovarius reveals a new album and it's called 'Enigma: Intermission 2'. As with part one, also volume 2 comprises... Continue Reading →
CD review IRON LAMB ‘Blue Haze’
(7/10) Swedish Iron Lamb will release their newest longplayer end of October. ‘Blue Haze’ is the crucial album number three in the bands history and follows ‘Fool’s Gold’, which saw the light of day in 2015. The new record isn’t an album that’s extremely overloaded with songs. Actually it’ a rather limited amount of music... Continue Reading →
CD review HELRUNAR ‘Vanitas Vanitatvm’
(8/10) ‘Vanitas Vanitatvm’ is the title of Helrunar’s next studio album. The German masters of pagan metal created a 11 songs comprising album that has it’s inspiration from bands like the legendary Bathory. What’s fascinating with Herunar is the fact that the band doesn’t solely focus on simpleminded speed. Helrunar takes thing much further and... Continue Reading →
CD review HARDCORE SUPERSTAR ‘You Can’t Kill my Rock’n’Roll’
(8/10) The first thing you notice of an album is the artwork and maybe some first songs that have been revealed as videos. In the case of ‘You Can’t Kill My Rock’n’Roll’ it was more than just one single that has been unveiled, with ‘Have Mercy On Me’ being the first one. These forerunners already... Continue Reading →
CD review MAXXWELL ‘Metalized’
(7/10) ‘Metalized’ is the title of Maxxwell’s newest strike and I must say that the name fits very well. Nearly four years after ‘Tabula Rasa’ has been released the band continues their journey towards harder sounds. Starting as a more hardrock-oriented band, the guys already made a first move towards metal with 'Tabula Rasa'. The... Continue Reading →
CD review ETHERNITY ‘The Human Race Extinction’
(8/10) Good female-fronted metal bands can’t be found in The Netherlands only. Looking across the borders towards Belgium brings Ethernity on the radar. The band was founded in 2000 by two brothers, Julien and Nicolas Spreutels, and their cousin Francois Spreutels. This family teamwork was enriched by two more members and the band began with... Continue Reading →
CD review THRICE ‘Palms’
(8/10) ‘Palms’ is Thrice’s second album in the new era of the band. After a start with hard and harsh sounds and a shift towards alternative rock, the band went on a hiatus in 2012. The return to the scene in 2015 led to a new longplayer, entitled ‘To Be Everywhere is to Be Nowhere’.... Continue Reading →









