Rightly or wrongly, Olzon will probably always be viewed as the singer for Nightwish between Tarja Turunen and Floor Jansen, which in many ways unfair as she cannot be compared to either of them. She has always been much more a commercial rock singer, and while I have...

When it comes to the bossa nova style of music there is no doubt that Antonio Carlos Jobim was one of the most influential and important performers. Over the years I have reviewed a few different musicians providing their own take on some of that material, and here we...

Formed in 1996, Polish death metal act Decapitated have made quite a name for themselves over the years and now we are able to hear what they sounded like back in the very beginning with the CD release of their first two demo tapes. For some strange reason the order...

Back with their eighth full-length album, Decapitated show no sign whatsoever of slowing down. Guitarist Vogg has of course been there since the very beginning back in 1996, while singer Rasta has also been there for more than ten years, but since their last album...

There is a time in many music lover’s lives when they finally fall into the caress of the blues. Everyone has their own genre they prefer, but the best blues is that which really calls to the listener on an emotional level, and for me that means two very different...

Although I have reviewed this Ukrainian band previously, I must confess to not knowing who plays on this one as I cannot find it listed anywhere, and the photo on the rear of the digipak shows a trio so there must have been a line-up change since the release of...

Remote were formed in 2011 in Kaluga, Russia, by Pavel Stasev (guitars), Evgeniy Kravchenko (bass, vocals) and drummer Roman Makushev in 2011, initially as a doom outfit before moving more into a stoner/sludge direction. Roman was replace by Nikita Goryachev in 2013,...

Slightly Stoopid drummer Rymo (Ryan Moran) has contributed to over 40 albums playing drums primarily, but also vibraphone, piano, didgeridoo, and world percussion. This album finds him providing all these (it does seem somewhat strange to hear a didgeridoo in this...

It is difficult for anyone living outside New Zealand to understand just how important Shihad are to the scene here, and they are rightfully treated as rock royalty. When this album was released in 2014 it was their ninth, and their fifth to get to #1 in the charts....

Formed in 2009 as The Moon Mistress, this Moscow trio changed their name in 2014 to Destruktor, but the line-up has been consistent throughout, with Garish (guitar, vocals), Memphis (bass) and Mitya DHS (drums). This 2012 album was their debut full-length and is now...

This 2013 album was released in a flat heavy-duty sleeve, which is certainly different and ensures it will be laying flat on my CD shelves as otherwise it won’t fit! Released in 2013, this album came about after the demise of hardcore outfit Broken Fist, while The...

TFATD are back with the second single from their upcoming fourth album, ‘News From The Invisible World’, and again it features vocals from bassist Kevin Feazey. Given that the band have not had vocals on their songs until the last single this is still quite a shock in...

Here we have a song which every parent can totally relate to, as it is Leigh’s song to her 4-month-old son, although it took 4 years to come up with the final version. She sings about the changes taking place and how much she loves him, and it reminded me of sitting...

The Knids are back with their second album, which has one of the coolest covers ever! I was a big fan of their debut, One Small Step for Man, One Giant Leap for Manknid, and I am glad to report that this one continues exactly where that one left off. The...

Auckland death metal outfit Silent Torture have been playing some well-received gigs recently, and now here they are back with their first new material since 2018’s Phallic Self Mastication EP. Formed in 2015, Ross Curtain (drums), Aidan McGorry (guitars) and Liam...

At the beginning of 2021 I was fortunate enough to attend one of the most incredible festivals I have been lucky enough to go to, Auckland Folk. I came away with friendships and a wealth of new musical discoveries, one of which was this young lady from Gore. She was...

When I started work on my first book some eight years ago, I decided I was not going to listen to anything I was supposed to be reviewing during this period, and instead threw myself into the world of pre-war acoustic blues and Sixties electric blues. I made some...