Archive for July 2021

The man who popularized neoclassical shred guitar well beyond Randy Rhoads’ contributions with Ozzy Osbourne continues to make albums to this day. You heard that right, Yngwie’s still at it and he’s back with another record entitled Parabellum. In contrast to the past where he would have vocalists like Tim “Ripper” Owens and Jeff Scott…

Having endured over 20 years, Tantric is probably one of the most clear-cut examples of pure post-grunge in 2021. Rooting back to the band’s acoustic beginnings with Days Of The New, they’ve continuously stuck to a formula in keeping with the industry with just enough idiosyncrasy to give them a bit of distinguishability at the…

Formed in the early 2010s, Vandor originated in Sweden with two brothers who had a dream of making metal and sharing it with the world. From there they put a band together and released their debut album In The Land Of Vandor in 2019, jam-packed full of classic power metal laced with fantastical lyrics. Their…

Melodic, ‘80s-style metal lives on in many corners of the world, and Scandinavia is one of them. Did you ever hear about the hair metal revival scene in Helsinki that revolves around Hanoi Rocks’ Michael Monroe? Ok, that’s kind of a dated find so how about this: Ever heard of Big City from Norway? They’re…

It’s never not the season for jazz. That’s the mentality of many-a-jazz-listener, and it’s almost certainly the attitude that British composer Benjamin Croft applies to his work. Croft has an extensive and impressive resume, playing alongside artists of the likes of Leslie Garrett, The Temptations and The Platters and making himself a fixture at several…

There’s a popular saying that you’re never too old to rock and roll, as clearly evidenced by the number of megastars in the genre that are still recording and touring as septuagenarians or older. Of course that means you can never be too young either; the Australian grungers Silverchair were just scratching driving age when…

Hiatus Kaiyote spent the 2010s carving out a unique space in music with their distinctive jazz/funk/soul cocktail. After their second album Choose Your Weapon in 2015, a number of notable rappers started to sample their songs and, in the case of Nai Palm, collaborate with them; Palm put out her solo debut Needle Paw in…