In some ways I have always felt a little sorry for Olzon, as she was the filler in the sandwich between Tarja Turunen and Floor Jansen, and people tend to forget that her two albums with Nightwish, ‘Dark Passion Play’ and ‘Imaginaerum’, are very fine indeed. But since...

I was more than a little surprised when I came across this release, as I remember Stray from years ago and had not realised they were still going. I did wonder if Del Bromham was still at the helm given he originally formed the band all the way back in 1966, but he is...

I must confess to have never seen an album so universally slammed as this one, and while I do understand where the reviewers are coming from, I do believe it has been somewhat over the top. Encyclopaedia Metallum has had 11 reviews for this album, average rating 0%. I...

Back in 1973, one programme I would never miss was Top of the Pops, as it was the best way to discover music at the time (at least through TV), and this was where I first came across the duo of John Fiddler (vocals, guitar, piano, drums) and Peter Hope-Evans...

Nigel contacted me via email recently and of course we started reminiscing about music and how long we had known each other (30 years), and it was only then that I discovered he had released an album of very different styles back in 2007. I always think of Nigel as...

Originally formed in 1999, the still features guitarist Giulio Moschini who joined in time for their second album, 2004’s ‘Pageantry of Martyrs’, while Paolo Pieri (vocals & guitars) joined in 2010 and bassist Marco Mastrobuono (bass) in 2013, and they have now...

Originally brought together by music svengali Kim Fowley in 1973, The Hollywood Stars recorded three albums during the 1970’s, although only one was released during that decade. The original line-up broke up in 1974, at which point Fowley offered two songs to producer...

Formed in 2004, Finnish melodic doom/gothic outfit Hanging Garden released their eighth studio album, ‘The Garden’, in 2023 and have now followed that with a mini album containing five rearranged songs from that set. Recorded during an intimate live performance at the...

OK, so I am having a few issues getting my head around this album, and I will explain why. Back in 1980 I attended my first ever metal gig, Saxon supported by Tygers of Pan Tang. When the boys burst onto the stage with “Motorcycle Man” I knew my life would never be...

Four years on from their debut, ‘Death Meditation’, funeral doom outfit Funeral Leech are back with their second, with five songs coming in at just over 43 minutes in length. They have managed to keep the same line-up, so it is still Kevin Kalb (bass), Lucas Anderson...