To commemorate their 25th anniversary as a band, Swedish black metal collective Watain released this live album, recorded in Stockholm in October 2022, which is why it is subtitled ‘Agony And Ecstasy Over Stockholm’. The band have been incredibly stable over the...

Tom Portman is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, recording artist and composer based in the west of Ireland. He specializes in guitar, Dobro®, lap steel and other strings. Although he has released multiple other albums, this is the first time I have come across...

New Zealand’s answer to Testament are back with the second single from their forthcoming ‘Submit or Death’ EP, something which I am definitely looking forward to with bated breath. I have been fortunate enough to see these guys play a few times over the years and...

This 2016 album is another care of Jerry and Dave, with this album featuring the former only. From what I can ascertain, this was either a side project of The Lizardz or an attempt to break through using a different name as it includes all the members of that band in...

Due to being massively overloaded with material it has been quite some time since I have taken anything from Imperative PR, and I had forgotten just how much I enjoy their press releases. This one starts, “I am faceless and I am empty. You could fall into the hollow...

George Gee has been leading his own swing orchestra since 1980, and after returning to New York in the early Nineties secured a residency at Times Square’s SWING46 Jazz Club which is now in its 26th year. This album features ten Christmas songs which have been...

It is strange to think it is now 20 years since Freya burst onto the scene with ‘As The Light Drains’, but now they are back with their seventh full-length album, the first since 2016. Only singer Karl Buechner is still there from those early days, but Erick Edwards...

There has been just one change in personnel since the 2022 debut ‘Gethenian Suite’, as double bassist Tove Brandt has been replaced by Viktor Reuter. Erik Dahl (piano, electronics) has again been joined by Anna Cochrane (violin, viola), Andreas Thurfjell...

With a line-up which has been a constant since 2007, and a recording history which goes back 30 years to their first debut, there are no surprises when it comes to Dying Fetus who have long been straddling the death metal genre in their own distinct style. “We put our...

I know I speak for all reviewers in saying we get flooded with requests on a daily basis, and we can only take a small percentage of what we are offered, which means many “new” bands often get overlooked due to time. I saw the email come through, didn’t recognise the...

As soon as one starts listening to this album the time machine kicks in as what we have here is something which does not belong in the current music scene but instead takes us back to the early Sixties when British instrumental guitar groups were all the rage. Being...

Back in 2013 I was trawling the web one night and came across an album called ‘Celestial’ by Darrel Treece-Birch which seemed interesting, so I grabbed it and gave it a positive review. What I did not know was that Darrel at the time was not only keyboard player with...

Subtitled ‘Devoted to Devils Music’, this free sampler contains fifteen tracks from across the Odium Records roster to provide listeners with some insight into what the label owner likes to play when relaxing. Yes, this is black metal, and of all sub-genres it is one...

Here we have the debut album from jazz quintet Bowmanville, who comprise Ethan Adelsman (violin), Graham Nelson (vocals, harmonica), Mason Jiller (guitar) and Noah Plotkin (drums) along with bassists Oliver Horton and Ethan Philion who play on different tracks. Any...

Sadistic Force describe themselves as a blackened speed metal band who hail from Austin, Texas. Formed in 2020 by lead vocalist and guitarist, James Oliver, the band is completed by bassist Blaine Dismukes and drummer Jose Alcaraz. They say combine the subgenres of...

Looking over at my music DVDs I can see Autopsy’s ‘Dark Crusades’, a rough and raw set of cuts dating all the way back to 1988. Back when this was released in 2006, Autopsy were a band who had been replaced by Abscess, no-one ever daring to believe that one of the...

Imperial Slave was formed by vocalist and former Sinate and 8 Foot Sativa drummer Sam Sheppard in 2020, with local Palmerston North musicians Anthony Hati (guitar), Isaac Lundy (guitar) and Achillies Manley (bass). Sam is well-known in Aotearoa, renowned for his...