Archive for September 2020
Ex Ømerta- The Second Take Sessions Review
Imagine the rumbling alt-rock of Royal Blood, the stonery fuzz of Queens Of The Stone Age, a few dabblings of Jack White neo-garage and numerous other influences mixed together and made louder, more chaotic and more cocksure. That’s the essence of what Winnipeg trio Ex Ømerta has concocted and perfected into what they call bastard…
Read MoreDerek Sherinian- The Phoenix Review
Derek Sherinian has carved out a place for himself over the years as one of the most distinguished keyboardists in rock and metal, easily identifiable by his guitar-like approach to the ivories. After playing for the likes of Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Bonamassa and Steve Vai, Sherinian currently has a fitting, well-earned…
Read MoreMatt’s Picks: The ’70s
The golden age of vinyl, the golden age of albums. The decade that saw all sorts of rock subgenres blossom and guide the transitional flow from ‘60s hippie psychedelia and folk through to the singer-songwriter age and progressive and art rock, the proto-heavy metal of the late ‘60s and earlier half of the ‘70s into…
Read MoreDerrick Gardner And The Big Dig! Band- Still I Rise Review
Derrick Gardner has made a distinguished name for himself over the decades as one of the finest trumpeters in North America, playing with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Harry Connick Jr, George Benson and the Count Basie Orchestra just to name a few. In 2011, he relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba where he accepted a professorial…
Read MoreRising Steel- Fight Them All Review
Much like Firewind, France’s Rising Steel are on a mission to keep the core of power metal/heavy metal/etc. alive for generations to come. Their latest release Fight Them All fully reflects this objective, executed in an even stronger way than their debut Return Of The Warlord in 2016. The opener “Mystic Voices” makes for a…
Read MoreAri Herstand- How To Make It In The New Music Business Review
It’s pretty well understood at this point that the music industry of yesteryear when physical units were king is no more. Since the peak of CD sales at the turn of the millennium and the legal shutdown of Napster, the industry has undergone a long slide in revenue over a span of 15 years and…
Read MoreMetallica- S&M2 Review
21 years ago, the biggest of the big four did a live album with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra entitled S&M, a record that would earn its place in metal history and go on to sell 6 million records in the United States alone. Now with S&M2 they sequel that achievement, obviously not to the…
Read MoreSeether- Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum Review
South Africa is an underrated country as far as musical exports go, and post-grunge staples Seether are one such example. Having achieved recognition alongside other Wind-Up Records luminaries in the 2000s, Seether now find themselves eight albums in with Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum, their last one having been 2017’s Poison The Parish. In a…
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