Jeff Scott Soto has long been one of my favourite singers, and here we have an interesting concept as this album is a retrospective of sorts, as it contains re-recordings of favourite songs from throughout his […]

It is not unusual for bands to go through line-up changes, but there is no doubt that what has happened with Massacre is a little unusual in that no-one in this line-up played on the last album, while vocalist Kam […]

I am currently reading Richard Thompson’s excellent memoirs ‘Beeswing’, and in that he talks about how they had to let Iain Matthews go from Fairport Convention as he wanted to follow a different musical path, […]

Last weekend I was at Whammy Bar in Auckland to see the album release show for Xile’s ‘I Am Your God’. Thanks to a certain pandemic this album almost slipped out with people not realising, as it was released in Ma […]

This is a somewhat unusual approach to an album, as multi-instrumentalist Ashley Davies has composed 10 instrumental tracks which fit in with the 10 Lasseter series of paintings by his uncle Len. Harold Lasseter […]

This album is the third from Delay Tactics, with the line-up of Walter Whitney (keyboards, synths), Carl Weingarten (electric and slide guitars) and David Udell (acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards) who all […]

Peavy Wagner (vocals, bass) and his band of merry men are back with a special EP release for fans to celebrate their co-headlining tour with Brainstorm that is taking place over the next few months. There are few […]

It is not often that I am asked to review reggae, as it is an area which is very much a strange land to me, so I am coming at this as a straightforward listener as opposed to having any knowledge in the genre. […]

Alt rockers Old Salts hail from the shores of Bream Bay, Northland, and features John Buckle (lead vocals, guitar) Scott Brown (lead guitar, BV) Marcus Jones (bass, BV), and Lucas Hargreaves (drums, BV). This […]

Just the opening few bars of their new single lets the listener know that Dead Favours are back, and yet again they mean business. Charlie sets up an intricate backbeat, Kyle and Jared have their guitars in sync, […]

Here we have the latest single from Auckland trio Imposter Syndrome, which is based strongly on a riffed acoustic guitar (the sound of which is superb, congrats whoever engineered this), with vocals over the top. […]

I’ve always had a soft spot for punk, ever since it exploded in the UK and my dad told me he would kick me out if he ever found any of that music in my collection. I was just 14 when the Pistols were due to play i […]

These guys are new to me, and when I checked them out, I realised they are from Dunedin which is why I have not come across them yet on the Auckland circuit, but I do hope they can make it up here at some point as […]

The latest EP from Trepidations follows a rather unusual format in that we have one vocal track which was recorded in a studio, and then three instrumental tracks which were played live which are quite different […]

I was very impressed with the last single I heard of Gabriel’s, 2021’s Lights Burn Low, so when I asked to review this, I was looking forward to it. As I noticed last time, this is full of class with very high pro […]

Back with their tenth studio album in 20 years are Norwegian death metal act Blood Red Throne. I do wonder how this material will come across at gigs as it has been a while since I heard a DM album quite this […]

There are few bands over the years who have generated so many as extreme reactions as Cradle of Filth, from being arrested by armed police at the Vatican in Rome for wearing ‘I Love Satan’ T-shirts in the Holy Cit […]

One of the (dis)advantages of being around the scene for way too many years, is that my brain tends to fill up with musical garbage, and I can recall a debate taking place in the Kerrang offices over whether the […]

I have long been a fan of Soilwork, and was very much looking forward to this album, but the untimely death of guitarist David Andersson (who was also in The Night Flight Orchestra) less than a month after its […]

I clearly remember when Sepultura broke onto the international stage, and when Roadrunner sent me ‘Roots’ to review I was clear that it was one of the most important metal albums ever released, and no-one cou […]