Recorded over three days in May 2023, drummer and bandleader Joe Syrian brought together his band to record a series of well-known numbers such as Ray Henderson’s “Bye, Bye Blackbird” and Cole Porter’s “Night and Day” to pop/rock classics like the Beatles’ “Here,...

Here we have yet another black metal act from Ukraine, the second I have reviewed this week, but while the album by Deus Sabaoth was their debut, this is the eighth from the veterans who have been around for more than 20 years. The rhythm section of Khorus (bass) and...

It never ceases to amaze me that there is still a music scene in Ukraine and that music will always find a way to survive and flourish no matter what is going on in the world around them. Here we have the debut album by melodic black metal outfit Deus Sabaoth who...

I did not recognise the name of this band when it came into my emails, but the cover art fascinated me, so I started reading the press release and when I saw the name Mutt Lange, I did a doubletake, as he has been retired for quite some time. What could possess him to...

Pianist Cliff Korman has spent his career playing both high-quality jazz and Brazilian music, often combining the two, and here he has brought in bassist Harvie S and drummer Rafael Barat as they work through composers as diverse as Benny Golson and Caetano Veloso....

A year after the second album, the exact same line-up returned for the third Brazen Abbot release, with only a slight change in the number of songs for each singer as this time we had Joe Lynn Turner with four, Thomas Vikström with three and Göran Edman with four....

‘Eye of the Storm’ was the second album from Brazen Abbot. Released originally in 1996 on the Japanese label Zero/JVC and shortly after by the German label USG Records, it has now been reissued by Frontiers. Originally conceived as a studio project by Bulgarian...

I must confess it was the artwork which initially attracted my attention, followed by reading the press release and discovering that the band have been around since 1994 and is basically just one person, J.R. Preston. The man is obviously a workaholic as not only did...

Here we have the debut album from Toronto thrash/hardcore/punk crossover outfit The Slime, with 11 tracks clocking in at just over 15 minutes. I confess I loved the cover which is why I grabbed this when it was available, and you know what? I am glad I did. With a...

Apart from being able to tell you that the singer and songwriter for the band is called Coroner, they were formed in 2007 in Sweden, and this is their first release since their third album, ‘The Author’s Curse’ was released in 2019, I know virtually nothing about...

Steve Smith has been leading different line-ups of Vital Information for more than 40 years now, but I will always think of him as spending seven years as the drummer with Journey (1978–85), plus a few later stints. The current line-up of the band is completed by...

Hungarian extreme metallers Sin of God are back with their third album, but there has been a considerable gap since 2016’s ‘Aenigmata’ as there are almost shades of Napalm Death in that the only survivor from that line-up is drummer Botyánszki Balázs and instead of a...

Here we have the six-track 42-minute-long debut from Canberra-based symphonic blackened death metallers Project: Ultimate Satan. The band photo shows five members, and that is what is listed in the press release, but there are three others involved on this album and...

I first came across Pat Fulgoni years ago as singer with Kava Kava, and these days he can be found fronting his own blues band which includes Jacob Beckwith (guitar), Rory Wells (bass), Zebedee Sylvester (drums) and Sam Bolt (piano). I must confess to not listening to...

Noitasapatti were formed in spring 2017 in Pori, Finland by Erakko (vocals), Liekkiö (guitars, keyboards), Mielivalta (guitars) and Rampa (bass), with drummer Rienaaja joining soon afterwards. They released their debut album, ‘Kuolemattomille maille’, in 2022 and have...

I discovered hard rock in 1974 when I went to grammar school and was soon deep inside the world of Status Quo. There was something about their boogie 8-bar which was infectious, and they kept getting onto Top of the Pops with hit single after hit single. I think the...

It may have taken 50 years, but at long last here is the first official release of the final Badfinger album, ‘Head First, which was recorded in December 1974. Pete Ham had left the band after the previous album, being replaced by Bob Jackson in time for the...