The depth of music coming out of Italy inspired by the Seventies never ceases to amaze me. They have had such an impact within progressive rock that they have their own sub-genre, RPI, and hearing an album in that style immediately tells us where they are from as...

Hamilton-based hardcore crew Drop Off Point have been making quite a name for themselves recently, playing with the likes of Comeback Kid, Evergreen Terrace, Bleeders and Antagonist A.D. and here they are with the first single from their forthcoming EP, Bridge City...

I first saw Ekko Park many years ago, but in the last year or so I have managed to see them a few times, and my only question to myself is why have I not been following them around? Drummer Nick Douch has a solid style, and he understand the importance of not playing,...

Melbourne-based melodic death quintet Be’Lakor (the name was taken from a character in the Warhammer franchise and was the first mortal to become a Daemon Prince of Chaos) have had an incredibly stable line-up, with John Richardson (bass), Shaun Sykes (lead guitar),...

There is no doubt whatsoever that the diversity in the British metal and punk scene in the late Seventies is what led to the genre fracturing into so many sub genres as bands started to push what people thought was possible and began influencing others. Discharge were...

This 2016 album by German band GWLT is, I think, their only album but for some reason it is difficult to find out much information about them and their Facebook site says the band status is “complicated”. They were/are a quintet, and although I do not know the...

This 2016 release was the debut album from Italian stoner/doom/drone quartet Messa, who comprised Mistyr (drums), Alberto (lead guitars), Mark Sade (bass, guitars) and singer Sara. They are still very much active, having released a few more studio albums with a live...

Here we have the latest release from husband-and-wife duo Charles (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Te Ata, Te Ati Awa) and Emily Looker (née Rice). Charles’ acoustic guitar is incredibly striking here, with the picked refrain having a hard strike which works incredibly well...

Norway (Pottittskiver Label) 44 mins https://kerrspink.com/ https://www.facebook.com/kerrspinkofficial Rating 85/100 Note: This CD reissue includes all tracks (1 to 7) from the second album Mellom Oss (Pottittskiver POT 03) 1981, and six bonus tracks, of which five...

I first came across the live monster which is Holloway at CrushFest last year at Tuning Fork when Lou Valentine (vocals, guitar), Max Long (guitar) and Taylor Criscuola (drums) ended the night. Since then, they have been making the trek north to Auckland fairly...

One never knows what quite to expect from Anderson Rocio, as she keeps changing her style, so while one can always be guaranteed a wonderful vocal performance and nice melodies, how will they be presented? I have seen her perform sitting at a grand piano accompanying...

From what I can gather, this Portland-based band released two albums, of which this was the second, in 2014 and 2015, and although they are no longer in existence, they have made both of these available on Bandcamp free of charge. At the time of recording they were a...

Blaze of Perdition are a Polish black metal outfit formed in 2004, originally as Perdition. This was their third full length release, from 2015, and was heavily influenced by the accident they suffered while on tour in Austria which resulted in bassist Wojciech...

For Today was an American Christian metalcore band from Sioux City, Iowa, formed in 2005. They released two EPs and six full-length albums, of which this was the final one in 2015 before they broke up the following year. It is unusual for Christian bands to really...

This is my first experience of Gentlemans Pistols, their 2015 release on Nuclear Blast, which I think is still their latest and I am not sure if they are still in existence. This was their first release on the label after a decade on Rise Above, and in many ways, they...

I was a big fan of this Swedish band’s previous album, 2012’s ‘Lights Out’, so was pleased to come across the next release, 2015’s ‘Innocence & Decadence’, which was the last they released before breaking up (they have since reformed and released ‘Peace’ in 2018)....

Back in 1993, the band Thundercross was formed by guitarist Luca Turilli and keyboard player Alex Staropoli, changing their name to Rhapsody in the early Nineties, before changing it to Rhapsody of Fire in 2006 due to copyright issues (I do hope you are paying...

While it is not uncommon for Black Metal bands to be duos, I cannot think of any others where both members are female, with this 2015 album comprising performances by Blitz (drums/vocals) and Vinterbarn (guitars/vocals) who are both also in Black Metal quartet Vae...