Category: Reviews

Leader Of Down – “Cascade Into Chaos” (Cleopatra Records)  Continuing the Motör – legacy comes Leader Of Down, the last band formed by Motörhead guitarist Würzel, who actually began working on the material for this debut release before tragically passing away in 2011. Since then, the remaining members have continued to finish the album, enlisting the help of some friends to honour the great man. And what a list it is! With guest appearances from Lemmy, Fast Eddie Clarke, Phil Campbell, Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe), Bruce Foxton (The Jam) and Cliff Evans (Tank), “Cascade Into Chaos” is at last complete. The 10 tracks include Motör-rocker ‘Paradise Turned Into Dust’ with Lemmy providing the lead vocals just… Continue reading

Onkel Tom – “Bier Ernst” 2CD (Steamhammer / SPV)  Better known as the alter ego of Sodom’s legendary front man Tom Angelripper, Onkel Tom is, needless to say well known throughout Germany and a long established name on the summer festival circuit where their brand of singing traditional German bier keller and football terrace songs has long gone down a treat to many a crowd! “Bier Ernst” is the band’s 7th album actually split into two sections, “Bier” which is pretty self explanatory for the first 12 songs, and “Erst”, the remaining 9 tracks of which are less jovial, although… Continue reading

Terror – “Total Retaliation” (Nuclear Blast Records)  ‘…this time I can’t ignore, muthafucka you’ll get yours!!..’ Man, this could be the year of hardcore, what with Madball’s recent impressive release and now, this 7th album from this fearsome LA crew. Anyone who’s seen these guys live will know why Terror is such a name, built up over 15 years through countless shows delivering intensity and aggression time and again and while I wouldn’t say you don’t feel an air of menace, there’s no doubting the undoubted camaraderie you feel afterwards. This isn’t pleasant music but aggressive metallic hardcore reflecting on… Continue reading

Windhand – “Eternal Return” (Relapse Records)  Indeed – no title could be more warmly welcomed! From their formation in 2009, this Virginian occult / doom / psych band have been nothing short of spectacular and here, on this 4th album, they have totally nailed it! With an utterly mesmerising sound made up of Dorthia Cottrell’s hypnotic vocals starkly contrasting the mud thick, reverb soaked fuzz exuding from the rest of the band, prepare yourselves to enter the next realm on the 9 enchanting tracks here. Opening with the incredible ‘Halycon’, it feels like there’s 2 songs here, the first being… Continue reading

DC4 – “Atomic Highway” (Highvol Music)  After 2011’s devastating “Electric Ministry” comes the 4th album from this family super collaboration of the Duncan Clan 4 made up of: Jeff Duncan (Armored Saint, Odin) on guitar and vocals, drummer Shawn Duncan (Odin, Killer Bee), bassist Matt Duncan and their kid brother Rowan Robertson (Dio, Raiding The Rock Vault) also on guitar! If you’re a fan of driving US hard rock towards the heavier end of the scale along the lines of early Armored Saint and Y&T, then DC4 deliver the high octane fuel and headbanging furore to very much meet that need. However, given the heritage of the band, expect… Continue reading

Ultha – “The Inextricable Wandering” (Century Media Records)  Despite being labelled black metallers, there’s a whole lot more to this German band as amply evidenced on this tantalising 3rd studio album. Very much centred around guitarist / vocalist Ralph Schmidt’s disposition – in this case adding to the already present sadness and hopelessness an overpowering sense of fear, it is this that Ultha draw upon to terrify their listeners rather than the usual 666 dial in offering. From the 6 lush offerings on show here, it’s pretty clear these epics – some of which are gargantuan and hit the 18… Continue reading

ALL OF THE DIRT ALL AT ONCE “Vire” () This Australian band with the slighty odd sounding name is an instrumental duo. Yeah, I know. It doesn’t sound too cool on paper but wait until you hear this lot. They are heavy as fuck. I like my music with lyrics but this time I think I am quite satisfied as it is. This is really good stuff to mosh to like a maniac in your living room, bed room, backyard or wherever the hell you find yourself when you listen to this. I don’t really know what to compare this… Continue reading

BLOODSHED WALHALLA ”Ragnarok” (Hellbones Records) Despite not knowing anything about this band I had high hopes for this album. Don’t ask me why because I cannot tell you. And once I started to play this album I knew I had been right in expecting the best from this. With Quorthon dead there will never ever be anything new from Bathory but when there are bands like BLOODSHED WALHALLA the pain is being eased a bit. This is bloody brilliant and so incredibly beautiful Viking/epic/battle metal that I just had to lay down on my sofa and listen to this from… Continue reading

CULTURAL WARFARE “Warmageddon” (M-Theory Audio) For some reason I expect this to be some sort of death metal/grindcore explosion. I could be terribly wrong and this could turn out to be something completely different but my gut feeling tells me I am correct, even though the band pic says differently. I must have been gassy or something because my gut feeling was off. This is thrash metal in the second style of the second wave. Not that I complain. I am huge second wave thrash fan, so this sits well with me too. It is cool to hear an album… Continue reading

ERIPHION “Δοξολογία” () Back in July I reviewed ERIPHION’s debut EP. Now it has come time for the debut album. I liked what I heard on that EP and I like what I hear on this album. This is black metal with a really dark vibe. You can almost feel the atmosphere of descending to Hades to meet Charon before you cross the river Styx. It has that looming atmosphere to it. And that is something I like in my black metal. A feeling of despair and the final ending. I don’t know if it is because I am Swedish… Continue reading