A few weeks after having released a live album, Dutch metal pioneers Picture releases the 2012 album 'Warhorse' on vinyl. The album features singer Pete Lovell, in his second era of being a Picture member. 14 songs, spread over 2 vinyl discs, stand for strong heavy metal in the spirit of the NWoBHM. The extra... Continue Reading →
CD review ARION ‘Life is Not Beautiful’
(7/10) Arion is a Finnish symphonic metal band, hailing from Helsinki. The guys debuted in 2014 with an album entitled ‘Last of Us’, followed by a few single releases. Four years after the debut seeing the light of day it’s ‘Life is Not Beautiful’ being the sophomore release of the quintet. I have to say... Continue Reading →
CD review WITHERFALL ‘A Prelude to Sorrow’
(9/10) It was in 2017 when Witherfall debuted with 'Nocturnes and Requiems', an album that created a big wow amongst metalheads. Looking at the background of the musicians involved explains the quality of the debut. Iced Earth, Ross the Boss, Fortress and Sanctuary are just some of the bands Witherfall members have been or are still... Continue Reading →
CD review IMPELLITTERI ‘The Nature of the Beast’
(8/10) Three years, that was the waiting time of Impellitteri fans for a new longplayer of the guitar wizard from the US. On October 12th, the wait is offer. It's the day when the eleventh album of the six-stringer arrives at the record stores. Named 'The Nature of the Beast' the album comes with 12... Continue Reading →
CD review NECRONOMICON ‘Unleashed Bastards’
(7/10) A few days ago German thrashers Necronomicon unveiled their newest album. 'Unleashed Bastards' is already album number nine in the band's discography. Things took its course in 1986 when the debut 'Necronomicon' has been released, followed by two additional records. Things slowed down in the 90's before Necronomicon gained speed again in the first decade of... Continue Reading →
CD review FIFTH ANGEL ‘The Third Secret’
(9/10) 2018 is the year of two glorious comebacks of Seattle-based bands that released milestone records in metal during the 80’s. Prog masters Heir Apparent is one of them and Fifth Angel is the other one. The latter released a terrific debut in 1986. Songs like ‘In the Fallout’ and ‘Fifth Angel’ belong to the... Continue Reading →
CD review BONFIRE ‘Legends’
(*/10) German hardrocker Bonfire entered a rather successful new era a few years ago. The last three studio records showed a good development of a band that scored bigger achievements in the second half of the 80's when they toured with bands like Judas Priest. This time Bonfire unleashes a double CD with cover versions.... Continue Reading →
CD review PICTURE ‘Live – 40 Years Heavy Metal Ears – 1978-2018’
(*/10) Picture are real pioneers in heavy metal. The band, hailing from The Netherlands, was one of the first metal bands in Holland with a foundation date in 1978. In the meantime we are four decades further in time and Picture is still around. Already this fact is impressive since it demands a lot of... Continue Reading →
Live report SAXON / FM / RAVEN, TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht – 16.10.2018
Three live reports of the same band in one year doesn't happen that often. It's British metal pioneers Saxon that scored such a record on Markus' Heavy Music Blog. It was in February this year when Saxon played a show at 013 in Tilburg, followed by a headliner show at this years Rock Hard Festival.... Continue Reading →
CD review THE WIZARDS ‘Rise of the Serpent’
(8/10) Sometimes you never know what you have to expect when you receive an album of a band that isn’t familiar to you. Sometimes chicken, sometimes feathers. Now, this time it’s for sure chicken. The Wizards are a band I wasn’t really very familiar with. So let’s start from the beginning. It was in 2013... Continue Reading →
CD review OUTLAW ‘Marauders’
(7/10) The fact that Finland is the home base for many interesting metal bands is well known. One of these bands is Outlaw, hailing from a city with a rather difficult name: Lappeenranta. Singer Lee Anvel and bassist John Kaiser started the band which grew to a five-piece. Guitars are handled by Jimmy Slashburner and... Continue Reading →
CD review SHELTON/CHASTAIN ‘Edge of Sanity – ’88 Demo Session’
(10/10) There are releases that are beyond any score or rating. The value of these kinds of releases is far more than what can be summed up to a rate. ‘Edge of Sanity – 88’ Demo Session’ is such an album. The true value of ‘Edge of Sanity – ’88 Demo Session’ is the fact... Continue Reading →









