Tag Archives: NWOBHM

Interviews & Features

Tailgunner: ‘The marks we leave on this world last longer than we do, and that’s okay!’

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We had the absolute pleasure to chat to Tom of the incredible Tailgunner in between tours to talk about their brand new album, all their touring, and shoot the shit about great bands! Check it all out below!

I imagine the last couple of years have been a whirlwind for the band, right?

Yeah, it’s so wild! It started three years ago and it’s really not stopped at all. It’s getting faster and faster, we have to keep one foot on the ground or it will spin out of control!

What’s it like to be signed to Napalm?

It’s great! I think we’re very fortunate. We had a label put out the first album, someone at that label believed in us. We had a great debut album with them and we made that album for no money at all. We went to them like ‘okay, we’ve proven our worth, give us some money’ and they were basically like ‘well you did it for no money last time, can’t you do it again?’. We said no, fuck you!

Napalm was the label we wanted to go to, I think they’re the world’s biggest metal label for a reason. The thing that’s really important to us is they don’t just have legacy bands that have made a name for themselves elsewhere 40 years ago. They have bands that they’ve taken from club bands to arena bands. I mean just look at Powerwolf! We’re a little different, but if we can have a career trajectory the same way, I’d be extremely pleased! With Napalm it feels like we’re in a place that we can grow, and we’re really happy with that!

You’ve just gotten home from touring Europe, right?

Yeah! We were out with Hammerfall, playing Spain, Portugal, Switzerland. Had a really amazing time with them! A fantastic band to tour with and the nicest guys, the crew, the tour manager, the bus driver, everyone! And the great thing about that tour was that us and Hammerfall are cut from the same cloth, it was just this rolling caravan of heavy metal nerds, basically! We could talk to them about all these artists and they’d be like ‘wow, this is a young band that are coming from the same place that we are’.

What’s the scene like over there compared to here?

I don’t know, honestly I don’t pay too much attention to what was going on in each individual country. There’s plenty of bands around in the scene! I think there’s more of a love for heavy metal in mainland Europe than in the UK. We’re fortunate to be from the UK as it allows us to have a fanbase here; if we were from the mainland I don’t think we’d do as well here as we do. But I think sometimes because the UK gets credited with making heavy metal music, it maybe gets given more credit in terms of quality and ingenuity. I think mainland Europe aren’t so proud. If it’s good, they don’t care if it’s been done before.

The album’s out on Friday [time of recording], right? Is there any overarching story to it in terms of writing, or is each track its own thing?

With our debut, that was written largely by myself and it was the first time I’d ever written songs. I never expected to be a songwriter. With Guns for Hire’s success it proved to me that maybe I can write songs, maybe people want to hear them, so I felt more confident. Also, we’d been out on the road, played over 100 shows, shared staged with legends. I think it’s very difficult for that stuff not to rub off on you. It made me more collaborative and more focused. The first album, I almost look at it as album zero, like a pilot episode, almost.

In terms of the overarching theme, there’s a theme of the album lyrically of dealing with your own mortality. It’s certainly not a concept album but there’s a lot of that theme. And to put it as more of a positive message, that through heavy metal and through art, you can live forever. The marks we leave on this world last longer than we do and that’s okay!

Has the rest of the band been involved in the writing this time around?

Yeah, absolutely! Because I’d wrote most of the first album before the band existed, that’s just how it all fell. This time we have the lineup; it’s been a hell of a lot more collaborative. I’m really proud of the others for stepping up! Zack [guitar] has four or five co-writes on this record. That’s amazing! And the album is all the better for the fact that Craig, Zack and Rhea have all wrote for it.

I imagine it’s cool to get everyone else’s inspirations in there, too!

This is it! You listen to Iron Maiden, for example, it’s Steven Harris band and all that, but some of the best songs for me are written by Adrian Smith. It would be crazy for me to tell anyone ‘hey, sit this one out’!

What was it like working on it with KK Downing?

He made us think twice… or 200 times… about everything. But that was the one lesson for me is that every single second, every single note, counts. He made us really consider every single thing we put down on track. Nothing was throwaway or ‘that’ll do’. We considered every last thing, sometimes to the point of madness!

Exactly, it’s having a fresh set of ears on it, especially from someone who’s been doing this as long as KK!

That’s it! If we couldn’t quite decide on something, having KK Downing as the final say, is not a bad person to have in that position!

Have you got any thoughts on the current state of the UK music scene?

I think there’s some really great bands coming through! A band that are doing great things currently are Rattlesnakes. Their singer Rowena, she reminds me of a young Dickinson or Dio or something! I’m really impressed by those guys. They said to us that having Guns for Hire come out and be successful showed them that actually you can be from the UK and play heavy metal and actually do well. Hopefully the success of us and those guys and other bands coming through will have even more bands continue to come through!

There are definitely more bands doing it, it really feels like a renaissance of the sound! Wailing Banshee are another great one coming through!

Love those guys! They supported us in the first show we played in Manchester! Great band!

Have you heard of Ominous Moon, from Essex? They’re like a blackened speed metal, definitely worth checking out! Really cool band!

You’ve got quite the busy rest of the year planned, right?

I leave tomorrow! I’ve been home for four days, just got back from Planet Rock Winters End, then the UK tour starts on Friday. That’ll run until the end of February. Then hitting the festival season really hard! Just announced two dates with Accept. Then there’s a lot more for the rest of the year that is booked and set to be announced. I think a lot of people will be very happy!

I don’t know how you find the time. If I was at home for just four days I don’t think I’d be able to move to do a full months tour!

Yeah, I mean I’ve not guilt tripped myself too much. Your pattern goes so far wrong that you come home like you know what, I’m not even going to try and sort that problem out until I’m up. If I’m honest, my days have consisted of waking up at like 11, having something to eat, doing press for like five/six hours, smoking a joint and then just chilling out for the rest of the night!

You said you’ve played with some legends already, is there any other dream tour lineup you’d want to be a part of?

Oh for sure, there’s so many bands we’d love to play with! I know Megadeth are doing their farewell tour, we’re hoping to talk to the right people about that! Obviously Iron Maiden. Whether that would happen I’m not sure. Priest is maybe more realistic, I’d love to play with Priest. I think one for me which could be a real possibility, at least I’d like to think so, is Helloween. I’m a huge, huge Helloween fan, they’re the reason I started playing, so if we could open for them that would really feel like a full circle moment for me. And, we’ve played with them before, but I’d love to do a full tour with Airbourne, love those guys!

Reviews

Midnight Blitz: Do Tailgunner Top their Debut with Napalm and KK?

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The NWOBHM revivalists have had an insane few years, forming back in just 2022 and dropping their excellent debut just a year later. Fast forward to now, and they have played with some of the biggest names in metal across the UK and Europe, signed to the mighty Napalm records, and had this sophomore release produced by none other than the legendary KK Downing. And all of these things are more than deserved! The band are amazing live and there is little wonder this is on our most anticipated albums of the year list. The singles have been awesome so far, and I can’t wait to sink my teeth into the full album!

The title track starts things off perfectly, with a massive guitar/synth melody as the rest of the instrumentation builds epically behind it. it then explodes into a massive verse, the perfect combination of NWOBHM and 2000s European power metal. Think Priest meets Hammerfall (the perfect touring partners at the start of the year!). The energy and pace continues through the chorus, yet it definitely has a catchy element to it, too! The harmonies and backing vocals on it are awesome as well, making it sound somehow even bigger. We get a fantastic, very Adrian Smith-like guitar solo (or two) in the middle, being as much a standout moment of the track as anything else. It’s a balls-to-the-wall track from start to finish and the absolute perfect way to open things up. A definite early highlight!

‘Tears in Rain’ opens on a great, Maiden-y riff, and drops back awesomely in the verse; no guitars in the first half of it. They build back in halfway through, chugging the steady, solid pace of the drums and bass, and it all builds even more into a HUGE chorus. It’s surprisingly brief, but I found myself almost impatiently waiting for it to come back around each time. And of course, all the soloing is so good. It almost feels like a lost art form especially for a UK band, to do two plus separate solo sections, but it keeps it constantly interesting and gives everything time to breath, as well as making it even more epic! I’m already obsessed with this song, and it’s one that very easily made our playlist! Two for two so far on excellent tracks!

The epic vibes continue through ‘Follow Me in Death’, another fast-paced track full of plenty of double kick and insanely technical guitaring. Craig’s vocals are as amazing as ever on this too; soaring and powerful, showing off that he really is one of the most underrated frontmen around today. It all again builds to that massive, arena-filling chorus that the band have really nailed on this album, sure to be stuck in my head for days to come! Especially with all those vocal harmonies on it too, making it sound absolutely huge. It also has one of my favourite solos on the whole album, really putting plenty of feeling into the impressively technical playing. This is another massive highlight of the album, and another to make our playlist!

Tracks like ‘Dead Until Dark’, ‘Blood Sacrifice’ and ‘Night Raids’ all carry the energy of the rest of the album through perfectly. All are excellent songs in their own right, but do all have a similar vibe, not that that’s a bad thing. There’s a slight air of AOR about them too, giving off vague H.E.A.T. feelings in the best way. From the massive choruses to the sweeping guitar solos, they’re all so good! The latter in particular is fantastic and another favourite track of mine from the release!

‘Barren Lands and Seas of Red’ is a straight up thrash metal song, and I love it! It’s lightning quick, Painkiller-esque pace is awesome, yet the melodic guitar is also straight up Iron Maiden in the absolute best way. And once again, the chorus is amazing, designed to be played to huge festival crowds around the world! The solo once again is absolutely incredible too, showing that Rhea and Zach are just as underrated as Craig is! The whole band are insanely talented though; shoutout to both Tom Hewson and Eddie Mariotti for working their asses off throughout, too. This is an amazing track blending together every single one of their influences, from NWOBHM to power metal to AOR. Another absolutely massive highlight, and one I’ll be listening to a lot moving forward!

The ballad of the album, ‘War in Heaven’, goes just as hard as anything else on it. Starting with a fantastic, retro-synth intro, the beautiful clean guitars soon come in, with Craig’s vocals fitting amazingly over the top. It all builds perfectly with the drums and distorted guitars coming in for the pre and then the typically massive chorus. The synth staying present throughout was a nice touch, keeping its weight and epicness. It’s also perfectly placed on the album; halfway through and after the heaviest track, breaking things up perfectly! If you are into the slower side of metal, this is definitely one for you. And, though I’m sick of saying it, another huge highlight on an album packed full of them!

The final two tracks on the album, ‘Eye of the Storm’ and ‘Eulogy’ are the perfect one-two-punch to end the album. The former, while still heavy, is a bit more ballad-like, having a slightly slower pace and stripped back first verse, contrasting perfectly with the massive, heavier choruses. It almost reminds me of BFMV at times, like a ‘Hearts Burst into Fire’ or ‘Bittersweet Memories’, which surprised me but was also a more than welcome element to their sound! Meanwhile, the closer is a near-seven-minute epic that honestly draws together everything before it. You want epic guitaring and riffs? Soaring vocals and huge choruses? Insane drumming? This has all of it in spades! It’s yet another big highlight of the release, and closes the album in perfect fashion. Damn, amazing!

Overall: This is an absolutely incredible release. Being big supporters of the UK underground scene, we have heard so many incredible bands over the last few years, but few releases have excited me for the future quite like this one. Every track is amazing, Downing did a phenomenal job on the production and the band all got to show off their amazing talent throughout. They seem primed to follow in the footsteps of Those Damn Crows, Florence Black and Massive Wagons and transcend the scene, though they’ve arguably done that already alongside Napalm. If you are at all a fan of metal, this is an absolute must-listen. I’ll surely be listening to it a lot moving forward, and don’t be surprised to see it high on our albums of the year list come December!

The Score: 9.5/10

Features, Reviews

Hella Rock 2025: The Big Bad Review!

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The second edition of Hella Rock festival took over the HMV Empire in Coventry last weekend, bringing seven incredible bands with it! We had the pleasure of heading down to check it all out, and knew we had to shout about how great it was!

Mystiek opened things up in style. They tore the Empire a new one with their insane energy right from the gate. Being pretty heavy but still having some catchiness and melody to them, they were the perfect way to kick off the day! It was somehow the first time I’d really heard them, but they almost immediately made a new fan in me. They’re all clearly talented musicians, and put their all into their performance here!

After some brief technical issues. Eddie & The Wolves took to the stage. It’s no secret at this point that I am in this band, so of course I’d praise the set. However, I had a blast on stage, and the rest of the band seemed to, too! Thank you so much to James and the rest of the Hella Rock team for having us on and being so accommodating, and for every single person that showed up early to check us out! I thought we sounded pretty good, and it was fun to play a shorter set full of energy throughout after a summer of slightly longer sets. Of course, let us know what you thought in our comments though, especially if you disagree!

Outlaw Orchestra followed swiftly suite and blew the roof off the place! Any longtime readers know we love these guys, and it’s been too long since we’ve seen them live! They were on top form again here, and it was so great to hear some of their new songs make it into their set! The band have grown into some of the best performers on the circuit in recent years, with multi-instrumentalist Pete Briley bouncing all over the stage while his brothers-in-arms were stuck behind the kit and at the mic. And, to top it off, they are all such incredibly talented musicians. From the regular rock fair to box guitars, banjos and plenty of percussion, there was never a dull moment! Their Southern rock stylings made them a unique addition to the bill, and they certainly stood out in the best way!

Not long after, another excellent trio took to the stage in Apriori. The fact that these bands can pack so much of a punch and huge sound into their arrangements is incredible, and it would be a rather running theme throughout the night. The keys packed out the songs fantastically, and brought an air of AOR to the heavy blues sound that set them apart in a big way. They look the part and play it just as well, putting on one of my favourite sets of the day!

Electric Black were fan favourites heading in, and on the day! They were the closest thing to straight-up hard rock on the day, and put on a show to match that. It was like stepping back into the 80s in the best way, putting on a performance reminiscent of the likes of GnR or Electric Boys, or modern counterparts like The LA Maybe. The band very much came, saw, and kicked ass! They showed off their talent for both playing and songwriting perfectly, and had plenty of stage presence to go alongside it. They have been around a little while now and their live shows are like a well-oiled machine, being polished in a way only a rough hard rock band can be!

Tattoo Molly took the stage like they had something to prove, and they did just that! Only their second show under their new lineup, you wouldn’t have thought that they’d had minimal prep time as they smashed it out of the park to the hometown crowd. While it took the new frontman Tim a little to warm up, everyone else put on an immediately electric show, and he soon warmed up to join them! It was a great setlist full of their biggest and best hits, performed masterfully to an adoring crowd. Even with the bands leader also being the organiser for the festival, Tattoo Molly have owned the festival for two straight years now, making the most of their slot!

Fury have returned with a vengeance this year, it feels, and their live shows match up to that. On the verge of dropping their massive new album, the band are firing on all cylinders currently, in a major way! The powerful pairing of Julian and Nyah’s vocals soar perfectly over the heavy, NOWBHM-inspired riffs, making for a fantastic mix of old and new. Speaking of old and new, the band played a great spread of their fantastic back catalogue, thrilling with every track. They have been gathering a wealth of momentum over the last few years and it’s insane that they aren’t one of the biggest bands in the UK currently, especially when they put on shows like this. Still, seeing them in a smallish venue like this is incredible, and the sound for them made it even better!

Finally, the mighty Virginmarys took to the stage. Veterans of the scene by this point, they are no strangers to packed out clubs, and played their asses off accordingly. The fact that they have been so warmly accepted into the NWOCR scene is amazing, and it was clear a large swath of the crowd have been eagerly anticipating the bands set. The fact that it is just two of them making this much noise is mind-blowing, and a true testament to their talent! I love this band yet it was somehow the first time I had seen them live, and I was hugely impressed! Opening on crowd and personal favourite ‘Just a Ride’ was a masterful choice, and playing a lot off The House Beyond the Fires made it even better. They’re headliners and a respected band in the scene for good reason, and they put on one hell of a set to close things out!

And there we have it folks, an excellent day of live rock music! Eight incredible bands that I cannot recommend checking out enough, both live and on track. Tickets are already on sale for next year’s edition of the festival, get them while they’re hot and while you still can. If this year is anything to go off, it’ll be another stellar lineup and will most likely sell out fast!

Reviews

Nova Atlantis: KingCrown’s Best Album to Date?

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The French heavy/power metal rising stars return with their third studio album this coming Friday. I’m familiar with a couple of tracks off their previous albums, and that coupled with the singles I’ve heard from this so far I have to say I’m pretty excited. So, without further ado, let’s dive right into this world of heaviness and mysticism!

The album starts off in perfect fashion with the high-energy ‘The Magic Stone’. The riff is traditional heavy metal awesomeness, while there is also just a touch of sleaziness to the sound too, which surprised me but definitely isn’t an issue! The soaring, Rob Halford-style vocals firmly ground the track in an epic, NWOBHM/power metal blend, though. The chorus is huge and massively catchy, while the instrumentation throughout is amazing. And that guitar solo, especially the harmonies in the middle… DAMN. It’s an amazing track, a damn good opener and one that easily makes it onto our playlist!

The epicness continues into the album’s epic title track and recent single. The opening riff is massive with the choir in the back, and only gets even bigger when the rest of the band join in! The steady verse builds up perfectly through the pre into another huge, arena-filling chorus. We also get another technical masterclass of a guitar solo, them being a big highlight of the album in general. It’s an amazing classic power metal track, and the second incredible track on the album in a row!

Some groove metal opens ‘Real or Fantasy’, and I love it. It has more of a Firewind style over the more Hammerfall-esque like last track, and I can’t help but love it! The riffing is somehow taken up yet another notch in this track, as is the soloing; it’s a guitarists dream! Meanwhile the vocals are just as solid as ever; powerful and effortlessly soaring. The band somehow go three for three on incredible tracks so far, and this is another easy highlight and playlisted track!

‘Guardian Angels’ picks the pace back up into thrash-infused power metal, again drawing comparisons to Hammerfall. The same could be said for ‘Letter to Myself’ and the Judas Priest-like ‘Souls of Travelers’, though I do love the heavy synth-focus on the former! All are amazing, traditional power metal/NWOBHM tracks that I love, but all are fairly similar and I don’t want to keep repeating the same gushing over and over again. It doesn’t make for a fun read, trust me!

Between the aforementioned tracks, the album pauses to slow down and breathe a little. ‘Judgement Day’ is another NMWBHM-inspired slower intro and, while it does get heavier, it does still stay at a rather steady pace and has plenty of epic feelings in the chorus. The backing vocals in it are incredible, making it so damn catchy. Meanwhile ‘A Long Way to Valhalla’ is a beautiful, folky power metal ballad, and fits the theme of the album perfectly. It’s also in the best spot on the release, breaking up the heavier stuff and keeping things even more interesting. The band shockingly do this style just as well as the metal stuff, and it’s another huge highlight of the album! It has an epic feel throughout and the distortion, when it comes in, is hugely earned.

The final two tracks are more awesome heaviness again. The band do their brand of power metal perfectly at this point, and it’s hard to fault either of the closing tracks! The final one, ‘When Stars Are Alligned’ in particular is excellent, and the perfect way to close out the album! Again, it’s so hard to write interesting while still saying over and over how good the instrumentation and vocals are, so just trust me, they’re excellent.

Overall: This was amazing! Three albums in the band are going just as hard as ever, and may have delivered their best release to date. Everything about the album was amazing, from the vocals to the instrumentation to the songwriting. If you are in any way a fan of either of the genre’s I’ve brought up in this, check them out, you won’t be disappointed! The band have a bright future ahead of them if they keep putting out stellar releases like this!

The Score: 8/10

Reviews

Humanoid: Do Accept Continue Their Run of Stellar Albums?

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The German metal legends Accept are back with their 17th studio album. If you remember, we loved their last one, so have been rather impatiently waiting for this one to be released since it was announced. The singles so far have been excellent, so I can’t wait to hear the full thing!

‘Diving Into Sin’ surprisingly opens slower than I expected, a fantastic clean, Egyptian-style guitar riff being the main focus. Even when the drums, bass and distortion comes in, it maintains that similar Iron Maiden Powerslave-era feel, which I love. Mark Torillo’s iconic vocals soon come in over the top as the pace quickens to more of the expected thrash styling. It’s utterly insane that, now pushing 70, Mark’s vocals are so fantastic and effortlessly powerful, really showing how well he looks after them. It all builds into an awesome chorus, both catchy and heavy in equal measure. The call-and-response style battle between Mark and the backing vocals, over the top of the awesome riffing, was exactly what I was expecting and hoping for with this album. And of course, we get a face-melting guitar solo tucked in the middle of this. The technical skill on display was awesome, and the cutting out part was really interesting! This is one hell of a way to open an album, and easily makes it onto our playlist immediately!

The album’s title track is up next, keeping things heavy in the same way and style the band are known for. The lyrics for this one are a tad on the nose, but the music behind them, and their delivery too, are all so good that it more than makes up for it. It’s a straight-forward modern NWOBHM track filled with everything you’d expect from the band; awesome riffs, huge choruses and blistering solos. And it’s another awesome song!

The same can be said for the likes of ‘Frankenstein’, ‘The Reckoning’ and closer ‘Southside of Hell’. All are fantastic songs, don’t get me wrong, giving off heavy Painkiller vibes as well as their typical output since their 2009 reunion. Heck, I loved the former that much that it’s another track that easily makes it onto our playlist! All three tracks are just rather similar, and also similar to the opening two tracks, and I simply don’t want to repeat myself over and over and make this review rather boring! As I said, all are great tracks that if you’re a fan of traditional metal you will certainly love!

Meanwhile, songs like ‘Man Up’, ‘Nobody Gets Out Alive’, ‘Straight Up Jack’ and ‘Unbreakable’ are all lighter, sounding more like their old-school 80s sound, closer to AC/DC or early Priest, like ‘Balls to the Wall’. Yet again, all are fantastic, foot-stomping tracks closer to rock than metal. I feel like I’m going to have the chorus of ‘Nobody…’ stuck in my head for days to come!

‘Ravages of Time’ is one of two slower songs on the album. It has a distinctly European, power/heavy metal feel to it immediately that I love. The clean guitars and simple drums fit together with Mark’s vocals just as well as the heavier stuff. The lyrics are pretty fantastic too, a bittersweet tale woven perfectly. The dynamics of the track are phenomenal too, going from stripped-back to the more distorted, massive chorus perfectly. And all of the guitar work is of course impeccable. I love this song, and I hate that it hits me far harder than it should. It’s another song that easily creeps onto our playlist!

The final track on the album is just as fantastic as all the others. ‘Mind Games’ feels like a perfect mid-ground between the 80s and 90s heavy metal sounds that the band straddle for most of the album. The main riff running through it is galloping awesomeness, and Mark’s vocals are just as on point as ever. And the backing vocals through the pre and chorus make it all so massively catchy and arena-filling. It’s another highlight track, for sure!

Overall: The more I listened to this, the more I loved this. After their last album I came into this with pretty high hopes, and while I at first felt a tad underwhelmed, by the end I was certainly feeling it. There really isn’t a bad song on the album, and I’d easily put a couple of them up there with some of the bands very best. Too Mean to Die was up there in our top 10 albums of 2021, and honestly looking back 8/10 then seemed a little harsh. I have to say I didn’t quite enjoy this as much as that last album, though that may change with subsequent listens. It’s a very good, overall more-solid release than the last one, so I’ll happily give it another…

The Score: 8/10

Reviews

A Quiet Country: Did Scarefield Release One of the Best Debut Albums in their Genre?

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I am first going to preface this review by saying I have never heard of the band before. However, they tout themselves as thrash/power metal, two genres that I love, and this album is an ode to 80s horror, which I also love, and seems like a match made in heaven. It released back in February and I sadly missed it, but am excited to dive into it now and see what I missed out on!

Opener ‘Ancient Evil’ sets the tone for the album perfectly. Opening on not one or two but three early-Metallica-esque riffs in a row, the band set up their 80s inspired thrash sound perfectly. The vocals soon come in over the top, fitting the genre and style perfectly. It’s low and powerful and yet the melodies are catchy as hell. The backing vocals add to the catchiness too, complimenting the lead awesomely. And the chanting in the chorus was great too. I only wish it ran all the way through, not stopping after the first couple of bars! The bridge was simple yet effecting, letting the guitars showcase their impressive rhythm skill. However, the real highlight is the drummer, who’s insane double-pedal work throughout the whole track blew my mind a little bit. He really worked his ass off! Then a final chorus takes us home in style. This was a fantastic way to open the album, showcasing exactly what the band are like from a style and sound perspective.

‘Dead Center’ keeps the tempo and energy high. It’s more of the same but that is anything but a bad thing. If anything, the higher vocals are even better and more impressive than the lower ones, especially when the backing vocals come in behind. While I enjoyed the riffs in the previous track more, this song is amazing overall, and has slightly more of a radio-friendly feel to it. And we got a technical masterclass of a guitar solo tucked in the middle. Plus, it leads directly and perfectly into the drop-out to just vocals, which I also loved. Everything about this song is amazing, and it easily makes our playlist!

The acoustic guitar in the opening of ‘Alter of Fear’ was a really interesting touch that I LOVED. It’s a shame it didn’t play a bigger part in the song after that. However, it’s still a quirky addition to the track that could be considered a risk, yet massively payed off! However, it does herald the slightly lighter tone the track has, that certainly made for an interesting listen. While still firmly grounded in thrash, this had much more of a NWOBHM feel to it than the previous tracks. It wasn’t a total change of pace, but different enough to stand out and be another great listen. It actually really reminded me of Trivium’s The Crusade album, which (controversially) I loved, and I love this song too!

‘Spectre’ also then changes the pace yet again, while again still maintaining the band’s root sound. This one has more of a stomping groove metal edge to it, kinda like Prong’s recent stuff. I love the slower pace to it, and the riffing and vocals all fit it perfectly. Heck, we get some harsher vocals and screams in this as well as the melodic cleans, both sounding just as good as each other. We get plenty of awesome guitar work in the bridge too, as is expected from the band at this point. It’s another incredible song, and another that sneaks its way onto our playlist!

Things slow down with ‘Child of the Corn’. It starts as an acoustic ballad of a track, and a brilliant one at that. The vocals almost remind me of Aaron Lewis, giving it all an interesting, great alt-rock edge to it all. And once again, the vocal harmonies are incredible. The instruments slowly build in more and more; drums, bass, some awesome electric lead guitar before the distortion kicks in and the energy shifts and the track kicks into full gear and back into thrash. It’s awesome, and shift is masterfully written and performed. The chorus is heavy but still catchy, the vocals again hitting some impressively high notes. It drops back down around the midpoint, building back up perfectly into an epic finale. It’s another amazing track, and the third to make it onto our Spotify with ease! I’d recommend this song to anyone!

As expected, the thrash comes back in full force with ‘God of Terror’. However, that little bit where it drops back to acoustic guitar was awesome, not only giving it some awesome dynamics but giving off theatrical, Nightmare before Christmas vibes. Again, I’d loved for the band to have revisited the idea later in the track. However, it is still a great song, with some amazing lead guitar work, a catchy chorus, and once again the drummer working overtime!

The rest of the album is pretty interesting, too. Tracks like ‘Primitive Shadows’, ‘Shiver’ and the closer are all heavy, awesome thrash songs that are just as good as any other on the album. However, surprisingly both ‘Dreams’ and ‘Always’ slow things down again, and rather brilliantly I might add. The former falls somewhere between an early 2000s metalcore ballad and something Queensryche would put out, and I’m all for it. The guitaring is a really highlight of the track, but the vocals throughout are also incredible. Meanwhile, with the focus on the acoustic guitar (finally for a full track, yey!) it almost gives off more Coheed and Cambria or Breed 77 vibes. Both are awesome songs in their own right, and well worth checking out!

Overall: I loved this! I went in with no expectations and was honestly blown away. It’s exactly the sort of style and sound I love, and as such I loved every single song on it. There isn’t a bad track on this album, and almost every one stands out as on its own and as a highlight. If you’re a fan of thrash, metalcore, or just metal in general, check this out, you’re sure to love it as much as I did. I’d almost mad at myself for not finding this on the day it was released, but I’m just glad I have it now and will certainly be listening to it a lot over the coming weeks and months. The band have a big new fan in me, and this album will certainly be up there in the albums of the year discussion come December!

The Score: 9.5/10

Reviews

The Sinner Rides Again: Does KK Downing Put Out His Best Album Yet?

The sophomore solo album of the former Judas Priest guitarist, The Sinner Rides Again has a lot of hype behind it. KK ‘s Priest have built up a pretty decent reputation as Downing actively tries to oppose his old band, like Mustaine to Metallica. However, their first album was fantastic and the band are all hugely talented and half made up of ex-Priest members. Honestly, what’s not to love? So, without further ado, let’s dive into album number two!

Opener ‘Sons of the Sentinel’ gets right into it, after a couple of great nods and call-backs. It’s a clear nod to one of Priest’s most famous and well loved songs, ‘The Sentinel’. However, and this might just be my super nerd brain talking, but the operatic vocals in the back gave me heavy Halo vibes, and for anyone who’s into those games you’ll know that Sentinel’s play a pretty big part in them!

Check out a similar review here!

Either way, the listener is then slapped in the fact by a lightening quick riff and some insane drumming, giving off heavy Painkiller era vibes. It tracks too, given that former Priest vocalist Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens joined the legendary band after that album, and killed it both then and here. His vocals sound phenomenal over the top of the instrumentals, and everyone kills it through the verse. It leads to a pretty huge, catchy chorus, one that I’m sure will be stuck in my head for days to come. A fun bridge leads to a typically amazing KK Downing guitar solo, blisteringly quick and filled with awesome moments. He hasn’t lost a step, even when he’s now in his 70s. Honestly, it’s an amazing opening track to the album, outlining everything that the band are about and sound like. It easily makes our playlist!

‘Strike of the Viper’ is a short, concise and heavy track. The riffing is again massively high quality, Sean Elg proves that he’s still a massively underrated drummer, and Ripper not only comes up with some great vocal melodies, has some insane high screams, but even breaks out some impressive growls. The track had ripped through two verses and choruses in just over a minute, of course leaving plenty of time for KK to do his thing before the final chorus takes it home. It’s another great track that doesn’t even come close to overstaying its welcome.

The pace stays quick for ‘Reap the Whirlwind’, providing more riffing and drumming excellence. It also has maybe the best guitar solo on the album. Downing goes hard and it sounds incredible and rather epic. Meanwhile, ‘One More Shot at Glory’ slows things down a little. After three songs that are fairly similar, I think it’s needed, too. It’s still heavy, but more of a stomping, plodding pace. Honestly, I loved it. It feels closer to power metal than NWOBHM, or at least a fusion of the two. And again, it’s very Painkiller. I LOVE the slower, cleaner bridges after the first chorus, it was a nice touch that added a fun dynamic. I also love it speeding up for the extended solo, really feeling like a crescendo. It’s another fantastic track and another that easily makes our playlist!

‘Hymn 66’ has a cool robo-spoken-word intro, and one evil-ass riff to follow it. It’s a similarly slow song to the previous track, but combined with the awesome riff, it’s heavy as fuck. I LOVE it. Honestly, with how awesome the playing was for the first minute plus, I’d have happily taken it as an instrumental. Ripper’s vocals aren’t the strongest on this track, either. Sure, there’s a couple of amazing high notes, but generally the melodies aren’t as catchy as the previous tracks. The focus is all on the instruments in this track, and that’s exactly what the mixing focuses on too. The structure is a tad all over the place, however. It’s a fun track with a real old school Priest feel to it.

The album’s title track opens on a beautiful clean chord progression, setting the slower, moody tone immediately. The riffing picks up a little by the time the verse comes in, but it’s still a steady pace. It kinda reminds me of modern Anthrax in a odd way. It’s another solid British heavy metal track, featuring all the tropes of the genre and delivering them with easy perfection. Heck, the same could be said for ‘Keeper of the Graves’ and ‘Pledge Your Souls’. They are both good tracks, and I especially love the extended acoustic/operatic, dark intro on the former. But both follow the same formula and structure of a lot of the previous tracks on the album.

The closing track is the longest and most epic on the album. It has more of the operatic vocals and spoken word over the top like album opened on, really tying everything together nicely and neatly. The clean and acoustic guitars after help build everything up perfectly. The distorted guitar stabs behind it are great, teasing it before the track drops into a HUGE riff. Another great growl from Ripper leads to a great stomping verse and massive, catchy chorus.

Honestly, it feel more like an Iron Maiden-like structure, which I love. The solos are awesome (both fast and the extended slow one at the end), and the ‘woh’s in the bridge will go down so well live. It’s another awesome track and such a good choice to close out the album! My only slight issue is the fade out ending. I thought that shit died out in the 90s. It doesn’t work and never has.

Overall: This was awesome! Being a big fan of the band’s first album, Judas Priest and NWOBHM as a whole, I knew I’d enjoy it. However, I was not expecting quite such high quality; every song on the album is a banger. If you are into metal at all, you’ll love this just like I did. KK has been firing on all cylinders again for a while, and this really is a testament to that!

The Score: 9/10

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Meshuggah and More!

Another big week for new music in rock and metal, both for younger bands and older ones. 11 albums in total, so let’s not waste time, here they are!

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Unlimited Love

I’m just going to leave a link to my full review of the album here. I hated that I wasn’t a big fan of it , and given that it’s had mixed (at best) reviews, at least I’m not alone. But hell, I don’t want to talk about this album any more, I want something funner. Find the score from the link, but it was not great.

Meshuggah: Immutable

The extreme-prog metal band have been on the roll of their careers the last 15 years or so. Despite forming way back in the late 80s, it wasn’t until 2008s ObZen when it felt like the band truly hit their stride commercially and artistically. The two albums that followed that were also amazing. Does this one live up to them?

Meshuggah’s Official Facebook

After a slow start, we reach the single ‘The Abysmal Eye’ and the album takes off into a gear only few can hit. It’s heavy and crazy proggy while somehow still maintaining an almost Mushroomhead-like catchiness to it all vocally. It’s a good album, but I do have to admit it does get a little repetitive at times. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice to have a reprieve from the brutality momentarily thanks to ‘They Move Below’ (what a track, by the way), but otherwise it’s pretty full on. Still, I cannot complain about having too much of a good thing really, can I? If you are a fan of Machine Head, Parkway Drive, or just general industrial, prog or extreme metal at all, check this out! 9/10

Islander: It’s Not Easy Being Human

The South Carolina alt-metal band has a lot of guests on it. Eight of the 17 tracks on the album has a guest vocalist or band member be a part of it. I’m not sure if that’s cool or overkill or feels cheep and like they couldn’t write a full album by themselves. Especially since tracks like ‘Evil’ and ‘The Outsider’ are just the band on their own and are both awesome tracks. Having said that though, some of the tracks with guests are also fantastic. In particular, ‘Skin Crawl’ with members of Korn, Zao and Living Sacrifice. It somehow sounds like a mixture of all four bands, blending the styles perfectly. The album as a whole is a diverse blend of styles, a melting pot of the early 2000s metal scene, from Linkin Park to Machine Head to Papa Roach to Korn. I love the whole scene they are going for, so the band have definitely gained a new fan in me! It’s maybe a tad bloated at 17 tracks, but it’s worth a listen from front to back, for sure! 8.5/10

Nekrogoblikon: The Fundamental Slimes and Humours

And now it’s time for a band that I don’t really get. I’ve always seen it as a gimmick that’s fun at first but the appeal never lasted too long. After this new album, I still don’t think I get it. I enjoyed it more than everything else I have heard from the band (which admittedly isn’t a lot), but I still don’t think I liked it. There’s some fun, catchy vocal lines and keyboard melodies, and the vocalist that sounds like he’s trying to be Axl Rose has a good voice. If it was just him and the carnival-style metal instrumentation behind it I could at a push enjoy it. But switching between that and the growling goblin and the sheer mess of songwriting each track is, I found myself getting lost and bored easily. ‘This is It’ is kind of a bop, though. I get that a lot of people like it and they aren’t the most serious of bands so maybe I’d appreciate it more live. But for now, 4/10

PUP: THE UNRAVELLING OF PUPTHEBAND

Pathetic Use of Potential, the band, are a fantastic Canadian punk band. Another band I hadn’t even heard of before I’d started doing this NMM, I’m disappointed that I hadn’t found them sooner. This album is amazing. It’s so refreshing to hear bands actually having fun with their music these days, especially when talking about some pretty deep subject matter at times. All of the ‘Four Chords’ parts are hilarious and tracks like ‘Totally Fine’, ‘Robot Writes a Love Song’ and ‘PUPTHEBAND Inc. Is Filing for Bankruptcy’ are all amazing. They can get pretty heavy at times, almost feeling like a punk version of early Biffy. And it all fits so well with the concept of the album. There isn’t a bad track on here and I’ll definitely be listening to it a lot over the coming months! 8.5/10

Wolf: Shadowland

The Swedish heavy metal band have worked hard since forming in ’95, on their 9th album since the turn of the millennium. Shadowland is exactly what you would expect out of a band heavily inspired by NWOBHM in 2022. It’s a good, fun rock album, but it doesn’t bring anything new to the sub-genre that arguably peaked nearly half a century ago. All the band members are immensely talented at music and songwriting, and tracks like ‘Dust’ and ‘Seek the Silence’ are definite highlights. I simply feel that after so much from Saxon and Priest and Accept over the years that new music like this isn’t too interesting to me. But as I said, I did enjoy the album, and I feel like I would love it live! 5.5/10

Crows: Beware Believers

Crows’ Official Facebook

The sophomore album of fast-rising indie-punk band Crows feels like a big deal for them. Having toured with the likes of Wolf Alice and IDLES before and their first album being well received, this second seemed a little make or break. While I’m not really down with the whole indie scene, it definitely feels like it’s a big deal album for the scene. It’s pretty heavy and dirty, almost transcending the typical genre restraints. It definitely meant I enjoyed it more! The singles from the album are definite highlights, but I managed to listen through this whole thing without getting bored, which is rare for me! 5/10

Carpenter Brut: Leather Terror

I had never heard darksynth before today but came across this album when I was doing my research for this article. It’s pretty fucking heavy. Like, surprisingly so. And I kinda love it. Whenever the guest vocalists come in it feels like it takes away the heaviness a little, but it only drops down to around a BMTH level. If you are into industrial or techno influenced music or not I’d recommend checking this out anyway, it’s a completely different approach to heavy music and is interesting if nothing else. However, I found it damn enjoyable, with highlights including ‘Straight Outta Hell’ and ‘Night Prowler’. 7/10

Satan: Earth Infernal

The Geordie heavy metal band were around during the first surge of NWOBHM and have been on and off again ever since. Their fourth album since their 2011 reunion, Earth Infernal continues the band’s legacy pretty well. Some tracks, like ‘Twelve Infernal Lords’ and ‘Poison Elegy’ were enjoyable and highlights, but as I stated when it came to Wolf, I’ve simply gotten a tad bored of NWOBHM recently. At least new tracks in it, anyway. It’s not a bad album and it’s not like I’d skip a track if it came on or anything, it’s just not something I’d go out of my way to listen to. 5.5/10

Evil Invaders: Shattering Reflection

And finally we end this week on some thrash/heavy metal. The Belgian band have been around since 2007 but this third album may be their best yet. The riffs are fantastic, the vocals powerful, high and impressive and the song writing top notch. ‘In Deepest Black’ is one of the best ballads I’ve heard this year and ‘Eternal Darkness’ is a masterclass in old-school thrash metal the kind I haven’t heard in a long time. It reminds me a lot of Judas Priest’s Painkiller album, and it’s right up my street! Check this out! 8/10

And there we have it! What a week for metal music! As usual join us again next week, this time for nu-metal legends Papa Roach!

new music mondays

New Music Mondays: Skillet, Underoath and More!

The second full week of the year brought with it a few more albums than the first. Four, to be exact, from four very different bands. From pop-metal to alt-rock to the earliest form of NWOBHM, we have it all for you this week. Let’s jump right into the new music, shall we?

Skillet: Dominion

Skillet’s Official Facebook

Somehow on their 11th studio album now, Christian pop-metal band Skillet have been pumping out a steady stream of great music for over a decade now. Despite the stigma around being a Christian rock band, I have always been a fan of them, since I first hear ‘Monster’ back in the day.

For those of you who are familiar with the band, it’s no Awake, but it’s also an improvement on Victorious. For fans of the band, it is exactly what you would expect. catchy duelling vocals from John Cooper and Jen Ledger, steady verses and huge, soaring choruses. Highlights include the opener, both singles (‘Standing in the Storm’ and piano ballad ‘Refuge’) and ‘Beyond Incredible’. It’s US radio-rock through and through, but it’s damn catchy and I’ll find myself jamming with this for mobths to come. 7.5/10

Underoath: Voyeurist

Genre-hoppers Underoath are back with their ninth studio album and first since 2018. I have to admit that I’ve never quite ‘got’ them. This album definitely changed my opinion. The opening track, ‘Cycle’ (featuring the ever confusing Ghostmane), and ‘Take a Breath’ are all definitely highlights to me. Heck, even tracks like ‘Thorn’ appear to embrace the changes to the scene Spiritbox are bringing in. There are lesser quality tracks too, like the boring ‘(No Oasis)’ and the overly long-titled third track, but the good definitely outweighs the bad. A heavy, alt/industrial metal album from a band I have clearly slept on until now. It won’t be for everyone, but damn do the heavy parts go in HARD and it’s overall a great listen. 8.5/10

Blood Red Shoes: GHOSTS ON TAPE

The English alt-rock duo have made quite the name for themselves over the last decade, with their last three albums all charting around the 50 mark in the UK. I haven’t heard much of their previous stuff, but the quality of this should push them to even greater heights.

From the awesome slow-build of the opener (though it didn’t go anywhere) through wonderfully 80s tracks like ‘MURDER ME’ and ‘I AM NOT YOU’ to the suitably epic closer, it’s a great alt/indie album. Not all of it is perfect, but overall it’s a damn enjoyable 40 minutes of music! 7/10

Magnum: The Monster Roars

You should check out our Iron Maiden Review. You know you want to!

22 studio albums across nearly four and a half decades. Clearly Magnum are doing something right. A band that I respect the hell out of without listening to a great deal of their stuff. This album once again proves that I should listen to them more.

While not nearly as heavy as I imagine they were considered in their day, the album is old-school metal through and through. It all has a very epic feel to it thanks to the keys being so prevalent, and it makes every chorus when the distortion kicks in feel that much bigger and heavier. Highlights include ‘Remember’, ‘No Steppin’ Stones’ and ‘Your Blood is Violence’. 8/10

And there we have it, another week of fantastic rock music! As always you can keep up to date on all of our work from our Facebook here. Until next week!

News

Iron maiden surprise release new single: Writing on the Wall

No, this is not a drill guys, it’s time to get excited!

Iron Maiden tour 2021 / 2022 – how to get tickets

After weeks of teasing something, as well as Bruce himself inviting everyone (not your mum though) to ‘Belshazzar’s feast’ earlier today, a livestream of their brand new song ‘Writing on the Wall’ was finally out.

As the band’s first new music since 2015’s critically acclaimed Book of Souls, it is definitely different to their previous work. They have spent the last few years revisiting their older music on their Legacy of the Beast tour, playing mainly songs from their first decade of music, so having new music drop out of nowhere was quite the shock.

It’s a fairly steady tempo and features more acoustic guitar and groove than a lot of their back catalogue. It still has all the hallmarks of classic Maiden too though, from the soaring vocals, blistering guitar solos, an incredible video and, best of all, a new Eddie!

Check out the new song and video in all of its glory down below and keep your fingers as crossed as ours for a release date for the new album!

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