Lucifer Star Machine originally hail from the British capital London, but have been at home in Hamburg for years. This has mainly to do with the fact that bandleader Tor Abyss was drawn back to his home country, which also led to the temporary end of the band due to the geographical distance. 2014 was... Continue Reading →
Review SAXON ‘More Inspirations’
Saxon are one of the pioneers of heavy metal and have shaped the genre like hardly any other band. Compared to some of the earlier colleagues Saxon still offer good to very good studio albums and also live the band still delivers. Even in an iconic band like Saxon, however, the members have role models... Continue Reading →
Review HATESPHERE ‘Hatred Reborn’
Denmark's metal band HateSphere have been particularly successful in the 00s and have delivered the one or other milestone, think of the 2007 work 'Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes' which brought the band into the Danish charts. With guitarist Peter Lyse Hansen nowadays only one founding member is still active, but it should be noted... Continue Reading →
Review DISCREATION ‘Iron Times’
After Dicreation from Hanau, Germany brought their fifth album 'End of Days' to the record stores in 2017, fans of the death metal icons had to wait six years before a new effort from the five metallers is released with 'Iron Times'. Discreation, that's Marc Grewe, Sebastian Schilling, David Hübsch, Martin Engels and Peter Frick.... Continue Reading →
Review LORDI ‘Screem Writers Guild’
Hallelujah, Lordi are back with a new album and those who expected great innovations will be disappointed, but those who like slightly ironically crafted horror rock will enjoy 'Screem Writers Guild'. As with the previous albums, the latest record has a title that reflects a typical Lordi neologism. In allusion to the "Screen Writers Guild",... Continue Reading →
Review NE OBLIVISCARIS ‘Exul’
Australia's extreme metallers NE Obliviscaris present with 'Exul' their latest work, which was created with a lot of uncertainties, imponderables and possibilities. If you take a closer look at the record, you will notice that 'Exul' was recorded in a number of studios. If one considers the exceptional situation of the past years, this is... Continue Reading →
Review MDXX ‘MDXX’
MDXX is still relatively unknown and also surrounded by a cloak of mystery. What we do know is that MDXX consists of four musicians who call themselves V, T, C and A. The musical head of the band is V. V is the musical head of the band and is responsible for both music and... Continue Reading →
Review MORK ‘Dypet’
You can't exactly say that Mork from Norway are one of the quick starters. Founded in 2004 in Halden, Norway it took the band already nine years until they could present their debut album 'Isebakke'. Before that, there was only a demo called 'Rota til ondskap'. Not more. The debut was released in 2013 and... Continue Reading →
Review GATEKEEPER ‘From Western Shores’
Canadian epic metal force Gatekeeper first hit the scene in 2013 when they released their first EP called 'Prophecy and Judgement'. However, it took a few more years until the band could finish their first full-length studio album 'East of Sun', which was released through Cruz Del Sur. With 'From Western Shores' the second album... Continue Reading →
Live report LONG DISTANCE CALLING, JONATHAN HULTEN & PIL&BUE, Gruenspan, Hamburg – March 18th, 2023
Long Distance Calling are without a doubt one of the most important German post rock and progressive bands. Not only do they have a lot to offer musically, but also the unusual locations of the Seats & Sounds tour have manifested the quartet's innovative spirit. I've had quite some opportunities to see the band live... Continue Reading →
Review REDEMPTION ‘I Am the Storm’
Nick Van Dyk and Bernie Versailles started Redemption in 2001 and after Versailles took a break due to an aneurysm, it is Van Dyk who takes the band forward. I first became aware of Redemption between 2005 and 2017 when they had with Ray Alder a singer whom I already appreciated on the Fates Warning... Continue Reading →
Review IHSAHN ‘Fascination Steet Sessions’ – (EP)
It's been quite a while since Ihsahn released a full-length record. It was in 2018 when 'Àmr' saw the light of day and since then the exceptional Norwegian artist has focused on EP releases. Following 'Telemark' and 'Pharos', 'Fascination Steert Sessions' is now the third EP in a row. The new release contains three songs... Continue Reading →
Review DOWNFALL OF GAIA ‘Silhouettes of Disgust’
The German metal collective Downfall Of Gaia have been working on their sixth album and now the result of their efforts hits the record stores. After the predecessor 'Ethics of Radical Finitude' was released just before the pandemic, fans of the band had to wait four long years for a follow-up album. With 'Silhouettes of... Continue Reading →
Review GRANDE ROYALE ‘Welcome to Grime Town’
Grande Royale have already released several albums and are one of the established acts in the Swedish retro rock scene. Inspired by the Detroit sound of the 70's and influenced by the Swedish rock scene of the 90's, Grande Royale have become quite an impressive band. 'Cygne Noir' was the debut album of the guys,... Continue Reading →
Review RPWL ‘Crime Scene’
RPWL (it stands for the names of the founding members: Rissettio, Postl, Wallner, Lang) have been among the spearhead of German progressive rock for many years. Since the late 90s, the Bavarians have been enchanting their audience with great song, atmospheric density and superb melodies. The debut album 'God Has Failed' was released at the... Continue Reading →









