It was some time ago when I saw Mema Wilda play a gig at The Tuning Fork, where she accompanied herself on an acoustic and was joined by just one other musician. I thoroughly enjoyed what I heard, and then the next time I heard her was when she performed on the single...

Pell is back with his 21st studio album from a career which has lasted for more than thirty years, and as with his last four studio albums the ARP band consists of singer Johnny Gioeli, bassist Volker Krawczak, keyboard player Ferdy Doernberg and drummer Bobby...

Put the name “Billy” into a New York hardcore context and it can only mean one man, Billy Graziadei, who is now back with the second album from his BillyBio project. Biohazard have not released an album since 2012’s ‘Reborn In Defiance’ but given they have not...

Corey Taylor is probably one of metal’s most under-rated actual singers, as while we all know him as the masked frontman of Slipknot, spitting venom, obscenities and growls, how many actually think of him as a singer? This is why he has other projects, which also led...

FM formed in 1984 when singer Steve Overland and his brother, guitarist Chris (both formerly of Wildlife), teamed up with drummer Pete Jupp (ex-Wildlife and Samson) and bassist Merv Goldsworthy (ex-Diamond Head and Samson). They were joined by Didge Digital on...

Týr are recognised as one of the most important bands of any genre ever to come out of the Faroe Islands, and for more than 20 years have been telling the tales of their Viking ancestry. This live album was recorded on February 8th, 2020, at The Nordic House in...

It is incredibly difficult to come up with a new sound, no matter the genre, so bands often find themselves being likened to others, but that was not the case when Mongolian band The Hu burst onto the scene with their video for “Wolf Totem” (85 million views)....

Last year I was fortunate enough to hear the CD reissue of Agony Street’s 1993 second album, ‘Songs For William’, which was recorded by just two people, multi-instrumentalist Klas Qvist playing most of the instruments and harmonizing together with his Agony Street...

I have come across Tim Hunter primarily for his work with Thierry Sportouche (of Acid Dragon fame) as half of Silver Hunter, but here we find him taking a different approach in a concept album which is firmly rooted in Eighties synth pop. Interestingly though, as well...

Chip Z’Nuff will always be associated with the band he formed nearly 40 years ago, Enuff Z’Nuff, with whom he has released more than 20 albums since their debut in 1989. These days he is not only the lead singer in that band, a role he only took on a few years back,...

Releasing a solo album towards the beginning of 2022 obviously was not enough for bassist/singer Chip Z’Nuff, as in November the band released their 17th studio album, ‘Finer Than Sin’. With the return of Tony Fennell (guitar, vocals) in 2021, we are back to the same...

In 2021, Dead Favours released the first half of their album to great acclaim, winning the Rock category at the Aotearoa Music Awards, and finally we now get the second half with another six songs – let us hope that at some point we get the two combined on vinyl as a...

Having only recently released their first single from the new album, here we have Written By Wolves back with a very different take on that song, which has been opening their live sets over the last year. Singer Michael Murphy explained it like this, “we wanted to...

Sabaton’s tenth studio album finds them again revisiting World War I, which was referred to as “the war to end all wars”, and the version I am listening to is the “History Edition” which has narrative at the beginning of each song. There are few metal bands who...

When I was 16, Scorpions released the album ‘Lovedrive’ and I immediately fell in love with their music, and not only sought out both ‘Animal Magnetism’ and ‘Blackout’ when they were released but went back to some of their earlier material and was especially a fan of...

I really enjoyed both Perfect Beings albums, so when I heard Jesse Nason (keyboards on all releases) and Dicki Fliszar (drums on ‘Perfect Beings’ and ‘Perfect Beings II’) had reunited with the first band they were in together I was somewhat intrigued. 20 years on from...

Released at the beginning of 2022, this is the final album to feature singer Reverend Jeyzus, who has since been replaced by Chronic Procrastinator , with the rest of the line-up being guitarist Piton, drummer Melissa Rable and bassist Kaptain. I have known Piton for...

Earlier this year I caught up with Kazia for the first time, a band which comprises people who are all involved in other outfits, so we have singer Phoebe Walsh ({Brown Sugar Factory}), drummer Oliver Prendegast ({Strangely Arousing}), bassist/flautist Michael...