Big City is the brainchild of Daniel Olaisen who started the band and gave the outfit an 80’s rock and melodic metal sound. The 2014 released debut album gave a first taste of what the Norwegians stand for and the newest record ‘Sunwind Sails’ marks the fourth release of the five-piece band. In 2019, Big... Continue Reading →
Review DOKKEN ‘The Elektra Albums 1983-1987’
Dokken, this name stands for quality, at least in the 80s. Named after Don Dokken, who started the band in 1978, the band was joined a year later by former Xciter guitarist George Lynch, who became Dokken's songwriting partner, and it was this combination that brought the band great success. The debut album 'Breaking the... Continue Reading →
Review TEN ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’
UK-based hard rock outfit Ten has a new album in the starting box with a release date on January 20th. ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes’ is the title of this ten songs featuring longplayer that presents the typical Ten sound. The driving force behind Ten is Gary Hughes, singer and guitarist since the very beginning... Continue Reading →
Review TWILIGHT FORCE ‘At the Heart of Wintervale’
It was in 2019 when Twilight Force released their third album to date and three and a half years later the Swedes return with 'At the Heart of Wintervale'. The band has not changed anything in their basic musical concept and continues to build on fast and very catchy power metal which they themselves describe... Continue Reading →
Review BEYOND THE BLACK ‘Beyond The Black’
Beyond The Black had a comet-like rise, with their first live show being nowhere else but at the legendary Wacken Open Air. This was in 2014, so even before Beyond The Black had a debut album on the market. To make something like this happen, one certainly needs influential promoters and while some bands have... Continue Reading →
Live report ELUVEITIE, AMORPHIS, DARK TRANQUILLITY & NAILED TO OBSCURITY, Große Freiheit 36, Hamburg – December 17th, 2022
Today's musical journey takes us from Germany via Sweden to Finland and ends in Switzerland. Well, actually the way leads to Hamburg's Große Freiheit 36, the location where four well known bands celebrate the end of a one month lasting tour. Translating the countries into bands, it means that tonight we will see Nailed To... Continue Reading →
Live report POWERWOLF, DRAGONFORCE & WARKINGS, Alsterdorfer Sporthalle, Hamburg – December 2nd, 2022
Germany's Wolfpack number one has been touring Europe for a few weeks now and towards the end of this trip Powerwolf comes to the north of Germany, more precisely to Hamburg, to present their musical mass here as well. But before that happens, there are two more well-known bands that enter the stage. Already when... Continue Reading →
Review ENEMY EYES ‘History’s Hand’
Johnny Gioeli is no stranger to gritty hard rock and powerful metal. The Brooklyn-based singer stepped into the spotlight in 1992 when he delivered an stunning debut album with Hardline. However, after a follow-up album to 'Double Eclipse' took ten years to complete, Gioeli turned his attention to new tasks and signed on with Germany's... Continue Reading →
Review THRESHOLD ‘Dividing Lines’
Since their foundation in 1988 and the debut album released in 1993, England's progressive metallers Threshold are a much respected player when it comes to sophisticated metal. Karl Groom and his bandmates always manage to impress with excellent albums and also the latest record, 'Diving Lines' is a treat for fans of ambitious metal. The... Continue Reading →
RONNIE ATKINS will release ‘Symphomaniac’ on Friday
Ronnie Atkins, legendary frontman of Pretty Maids, had released his solo debut 'One Shot' in March 2021, toured with Avantasia and also performed on Nordic Union's 2022 album. Considering the singer's battle against cancer, these gems are a gift. This also undoubtedly includes the singer's second work, 'Make It Count'. Now Atkins follows up and... Continue Reading →
Live report BEYOND THE BLACK, AMARANTHE, BUTCHER BABIES & AD INFINITUM, Zeltphilharmonie, Hamburg – November 5th, 2022
Once you get through the Elbtunnel in Hamburg without a traffic jam and then you wait in line in front of the parking lot of the Zeltphilharmonie. The latter is a new location in Hamburg, located in the middle of the harbor area. It is the Cruise Center Steinwerder, on whose large site a tent... Continue Reading →
Live report SONATA ARCTICA & ELEINE, Fabrik, Hamburg – October 25th, 2022
What started as a small project has developed into an almost standalone program. Finland's power metal outfit Sonata Arctica started to convert some of their songs into acoustic songs a few years ago and toured the home country. The band just wanted to challenge themselves and what came out of it is an amazing acoustic... Continue Reading →
Review STRYPER ‘The Final Battle’
One of the first white metal bands were Stryper. The California-based group started in the 80s and there were several things that made them the talk of the town. First, there were the yellow and black striped stage clothes and the fact that a band threw bibles into the audience was also rather unusual. Calculated... Continue Reading →
Review AVANTASIA ‘A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society’
After the success of Edguy it was to be expected that Tobias Sammet's next project Avantasia would also find many friends. It all started in 1999 when Sammet began working on a concept album which was released in 2001 as 'The Metal Opera'. What makes this album a great starting point for Avantasia, besides the... Continue Reading →
Review JADED HEART ‘Heart Attack’
The Swedish/German formation Jaded Heart was already founded in 1994 and delivers new albums with consistency. The quartet could impress with 'Stand Your Ground' in 2020 and these days it's the new album 'Heart Attack' which is on its way. A total of eleven songs have found a place on the longplayer and manifest a... Continue Reading →