Author Andy Barker
There’s no denying that you know what you’re going to get with a new Brainstorm release. Heavy Power Metal with great vocals, well written songs and expert musicianship. And at this stage, three factions of readers have formed, those who… Continue Reading →
Sometimes a band starts off well and goes down a path that seems correct at the time, but three albums down the line they start to sound constricted, trapped and a little unoriginal. That, for me, was Delain. Stuck with… Continue Reading →
What the hell do they put in the water in Finland? You can keep your fluoride additives Cameron – we need some of what they’ve got!! How do they instinctively know how to do Metal…and do it so well? Maybe… Continue Reading →
Listening to this latest offering from Sinbreed is like being in a Power Metal wind tunnel! A relentless, galloping double-kick onslaught that when turned up loud feels like it’s blowing your hair back a-la Gromit’s ears. One after another, like… Continue Reading →
I seem to be encountering building wave of Gothic Metal bands that seem intent on recapturing Gothic Metal from the symphonic Nightwish-a-likes that got dubbed with the term more due to image than sound. Gothic Metal – the male (more… Continue Reading →
The interesting and talented recent crop of retro-rock/metal bands is a lush one indeed. Though Dutch 3 piece Birth Of Joy are new to me they have been steadily building a healthy following since their inception in 2005. “Prisoner” (album… Continue Reading →
What I like about many of the UK Metal bands I’ve heard from the last 10 years or so, is that they generally either take a style but try to make it sound different in some small way, re-imagine what… Continue Reading →
Before we get going can I just remind readers that I gave a positive review to F&J’s 2013 release “Ugly Noise” and that I have been a follower of the band since hearing their debut way back in 1986. Good,… Continue Reading →
I reviewed “Vanitas” by Italian Metallers Macbeth back in 2001 (for a short-lived UK metal magazine called Sound Barrier). Kind of blacker/heavier Theatre Of Tragedy with much promise I seem to remember saying – I’ve still got the Dragonheart Records… Continue Reading →
It’s hard to know what to say about Freedom Call that hasn’t already been said in the many reviews written over the years. Self-confessed purveyors of ‘Happy Metal’, they are excellent at what they do. They don’t veer too far… Continue Reading →
Though Vanden Plas have quite amazingly had the same line-up since they formed way back in 1986, they only really came to my (and many other’s) attention with their second album “The God Thing” in 1997. They were part of… Continue Reading →
“Undecimber or Undecember is a name for a thirteenth month in a calender that normally has twelve months”. Thanks Wikipedia, that’s cleared that one up – but what of the band? “Undecimber is a Swedish Gothic/Dark Metal band that should… Continue Reading →