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Author Martin Harris

Rock and metal have been in my existence for about 30 years and saw me go through a rapid weaning period that covered AC/DC, Maiden, Saxon, Whitesnake, Motorhead, etc from about 1982 to 1984 before shifting to thrash in the summer of 1984. At that point my only mission was to find the fastest, most violent music on the planet resulting checking out every genre in extreme music from death metal and grindcore to crust punk and hardcore all of which I still adore today and buy albums from and go see live. During the 80s I grew up in the infamous Bradford thrash scene, a time I still dearly miss such was the inventiveness and great camaraderie it held. I’m a bit of phase metaller, going from one style to another, through sheer investigation of finding something new, but always sticking with them all. I’m a total sucker for double bass and blast beats and always will be no matter what genre it comes from. I absolutely detest people that have joined the metal scene because it is trendy or their mates like it, likewise I detest people who are shallow and think this music is a fad of growing up. Most of us are extremely well educated and articulate individuals who prefer freedom of self expression than indoctrination by mass media organisations hell bent on artistic sterilisation. Much of my cash is spent on following metal and I wouldn’t change a thing about it because it is the best music scene in the world.

Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody – Ascending To Infinity (Nuclear Blast Records)

I like many others were stunned when Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli decided to call it a day with their joint venture under the banner of Rhapsody, which subsequently became Rhapsody Of Fire due to so called copyrights of the… Continue Reading →

Whitechapel – Whitechapel (Metal Blade Records)

It is tempting to write two separate reviews for Whitechapel’s fourth full length, one for death metal purists and one for deathcore freaks. Deathcore is oft berated in extreme metal for not being a genuine scene which I find rather… Continue Reading →

I Am I – Event Horizon (Self Released)

 ZP Theart has taken a brave move by leaving power metal virtuosos Dragonforce to go it alone and caused by the clichéd musical differences rationale. The danger with prominent vocalists going it alone is that the bands they form can… Continue Reading →

Firewind – Few Against Many (Century Media)

For a change I didn’t get into this band from their early days as my first introduction to Firewind was with “The Premonition” album in 2008. You may say I am slipping up, you may say I did well to… Continue Reading →

Fester – A Celebration Of Death (Abyss Records)

Having reviewed the two reissues from Fester that came in rather nice digipacks I have to say, my reward I guess is to review the latest and newest album from a reformed Fester that only contains one original member, namely… Continue Reading →

Chopstick Suicide – Lost Fathers And Sons (Peyote Music)

Arguably Dillinger Escape Plan pioneered the crazy mathcore sub genre of hardcore creating an explosion of outfits all trying to outdo each other in terms of manic hyper technicality and packing more riffs, hooks and leads per five second break… Continue Reading →

Nexhymn – Black Horizon EP (Self Released)

I seem to have had a lot of female fronted material recently and this band hailing from Colorado is fronted by the scary Holly whose vocal barking is truly demonic and a match for Simone of Cerebral Bore or Jill… Continue Reading →

Hrafnblóð – Heathen Psalms (Wodfreca Records)

I admit to having severe cynicism for one man (or woman) metal projects, as it conjures up images of desperate teenage angst ridden isolationists spreading themselves far too thinly without actually mastering one particular instrument and do it full justice… Continue Reading →

Valknacht – Chants De Guerre (CDMR)

60 minutes plus of pagan black metal is not something I would generally be enthralled about, but Canada’s Valknacht kept me occupied with ease throughout this albums duration. As with all pagan influenced albums this starts with battle like noises… Continue Reading →

Marduk – Serpent Sermon (Century Media Records)

Established acts like Marduk don’t make bad albums, they never will but the question of whether one Marduk album is better than another is open for wide debate as Marduk fans spanning 20 years argue for their own particular choice,… Continue Reading →

Superchrist – Holy Shit (Hells Headbangers)

Everybody loves a surprise or two in music, and I personally love getting albums where I expect nothing but then end up with something I really enjoy and rave about. Chicago based Supercrhist is a well established metal outfit with… Continue Reading →

Moonspell – Alpha Noir (Napalm Records)

Credit where credit is due, Portugal’s Moonspell has had one of the most stable line ups in metal, with the core of the group going back to 1995 and before. Only the bassist is the new fish within the band… Continue Reading →

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