Music Reviews

48 years and 20 records later, Cheap Trick is still going. Enduring that long without fading into obscurity is a remarkable feat, and throughout their nearly half a century together Rockford’s own have remained largely consistent, easily identifiable and greatly influential. Their latest release In Another World reflects this continuing freshness, a 13-track collection of…

Headbanger’s law: If a country, region or city exists, there’s a metal band there. Greece isn’t a place you hear about much in terms of mainstream music, but it does have metal, doom outfit Acid Mammoth being one of the most prominent examples. They’re a fairly new act, having formed in 2015 and released their…

It’s been 5 years since Kings Of Leon put out Walls, but that hasn’t kept them from pushing forward and exploring new avenues. When it comes to their latest album When You See Yourself, that statement doesn’t exclusively pertain to the compositional merits of the record; it’s also the second album in history to be…

If you haven’t heard of Anneke van Giersbergen on her own, you’ve more than likely heard her on one of Devin Townsend’s solo cuts (“Grace”, “Hear Me”, “Kingdom”, etc.) or alongside fellow Netherlander Arjen Anthony Lucassen of prog metal outfit Ayreon. While van Giersbergen adds a beautiful element to Lucassen’s ongoing conceptual odyssey and Townsend’s…

Since 2006, Architects have built a prestigious career for themselves. Sitting now at the top of the metalcore pile, their spin on the genre can in no way be lumped in with the rank and file and every release provides more innovative material to push it forward with. That’s not to say there haven’t been…

You’ve heard black metal at least once in your life. Have you heard post-black metal though? How about post-post-black metal? All kidding aside, there’s always some  infectious brand of metal brewing over in Europe, and PBM-ers Harakiri For The Sky demonstrate that clearly. Their fifth record, Mӕre, showcases the ongoing evolution of their soaring black…

Ricky Warwick is a man with a storied history and a great storytelling ability, a talent highly attributable to his Northern Irish upbringing. He originally made his bones with The Almighty in the ‘90s, going on to form (sic) after their first split then kickstart his solo career after their second. Since then, he’s dropped…

Despite being hailed as an epicentre of all things alternative, Seattle does have a subtler hard rock undercurrent, mainly thanks to Duff McKagan who became a massive figure on the city’s punk circuit before moving down the coast and blowing up with Guns N’ Roses. Besides Loaded, one of the projects he’s been linked to…

In a world where rock is seemingly making a comeback, the continued output of the Foo Fighters is a huge boost to the argument that it never left. From their beginnings with the self-titled debut Dave Grohl put together himself and the full band debut with The Colour And The Shape up to the 2020s,…

2020 was supposed to be the year of Van Weezer. Of course, coronavirus restrictions threw a wrench in those efforts and pushed that record back to May 7 of this year, almost a full 365 since the original release date. In its place for now is OK Human, a record cut not from the cloth…