ALBUM REVIEWS
If you’re looking for aggregated album reviews from our seasoned music specialists, including our own score offering at a glance how the album fared, this is the right destination for you. Album reviews certainly still matter to artists, writers, and publicists, as they are the ones dealing with them every day, but does the average listener still pay attention? Well, we sincerely hope you do... Dive in!
CANDLEBOX – The Long Goodbye (Album Review)
30 years to come full circle. In the days when grunge ruled the airwaves and all roads led to Seattle, the latter-day adherent to the…
SOUTHERN EMPIRE – Another World (Album Review)
It’s been five long years since Southern Empire’s second album “Civilisation” hit the streets, an album which eventually brought them to great acclaim as fans…
SPIRIT ADRIFT – Ghost At The Gallows (Album Review)
Singing multi-instrumentalist songwriter Nate Garrett has much to say. Or so it would seem, given his industrious nature while evolving his mixed-metal project Spirit Adrift.…
OMNIUM GATHERUM – Slasher (EP Review)
Slashing metal and frosty melodies abound. Good things can and often do come in small packages, or at least that’s the conclusion one might reach…
DEVIN TOWNSEND – Devolution Series #3: Empath Live in America (Album Review)
I’m not sure what it is with prog metallers who bear the initials “D.T.” but they really do love flooding the market. That’s not necessarily…
NEAL MORSE – The Dreamer: Joseph, Part One (Album Review)
Having released Neal Morse’s rock opera “Jesus Christ The Exorcist” a few years ago, Frontiers Music came knocking again for a new concept album. They…
DEATH RAY VISION – No Mercy From Electric Eyes (Album Review)
It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. Often side-projects that function as de facto super groups can have a tendency of either sounding too…
VULTURE INDUSTRIES – Ghosts From The Past (Album Review)
Haunting odes pierce the evening gloom. Horror-themed sitcoms The Munsters and The Addams Family might amuse the typical spectator when projected from the television screen,…
SEVENDUST – Truth Killer (Album Review)
Fourteen times is definitely a charm. When a band has come within a stone’s throw of crossing the 30 year threshold of a career marked…
VOIVOD – Morgöth Tales (Album Review)
What would you do to celebrate your band’s 40th anniversary? A live album? Maybe release a compilation? Well, Voivod are not known for taking the…
PYRAMAZE – Bloodlines (Album Review)
The integrity of their sonic bloodline remains. Now more than 20 years into their career, it can be safely said that Denmark-born power metal meets…
NITA STRAUSS – The Call Of The Void (Album Review)
Since exploding onto the LA rock scene in 2014, and immediately becoming a significant chapter in the Book of Alice Cooper, Nita Strauss (yes, like…
ALCATRAZZ – Take No Prisoners (Album Review)
No quarter offered, none given. Conflict and schism have been frequent companions to rock and metal bands since time immemorial, but such occasions often present…
RAVEN – All Hell’s Breaking Loose (Album Review)
Hey, they weren’t kidding with this title! There are many versions of extreme that have cropped up in the metal realm over the decades, but…
GOV’T MULE – Peace… Like A River (Album Review)
Storms, rivers and the promise of peace drive the lyrical themes on Gov’t Mule’s 12th album. Just as the ocean is comprised of water from…
JAG PANZER – The Hallowed (Album Review)
Man and beast unite to overcome all. The mystique of heavy metal’s early days has enjoyed a rather massive renaissance over the past decade or…
VEXED – Negative Energy (Album Review)
Negativity distilled to its fundamental form. The tail end of the 2010s saw some interesting developments in the metal world, perhaps most notably in the…
STEVE LUKATHER – Bridges (Album Review)
Coming hot off the heels of playing to packed arenas opening for Journey, Steve Lukather continues to wrestle with the legal and perceptual problems that…
ROYAL THUNDER – Rebuilding The Mountain (Album Review)
A new, more impressive mountain of sound emerges. The 2020s may well be remembered as the decade that was put on hold for a couple…
AVKRVST – The Approbation (Album Review)
Considering that drummer Martin Utby and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Simon Bergseth vowed to start a band over two decades ago (when they were children), it’s surprising that…
LEGACY PILOTS – Helix (Album Review)
Looking for a fresh new discovery in the world of prog? Although “Helix” is their fourth album, chances are good that the vast majority of…
OTTTO – Life Is A Game (Album Review)
Because four T’s would be excessive. As the prime movers that brought the metal genre into prominence approach their golden years, the inevitable question of…
EINAR SOLBERG – 16 (Album Review)
As the leader of one of the most progressive bands out today, Einar Solberg has long held the potential for an impactful solo album. Indeed,…
GLORYHAMMER – Return To The Kingdom Of Fife (Album Review)
The union of fantasy and comedy prevail once again. Sudden and drastic changes in membership have been the death of many a band, and those…
RAY ALDER – II (Album Review)
I love so much of Ray Alder’s work that I sometimes doubt I’m qualified to critique it. But a quick listen of damn near anything…
METAL CHURCH – Congregation Of Annihilation (Album Review)
A new pastor leads the metal masses to salvation. When it comes to longevity, few can boast the degree of tenacity and dedication that has…
EXTREME – Six (Album Review)
Let’s get one thing straight. Extreme II, aka “Pornograffitti”, is one of the best rock records since 1990, hands-down. “Extreme III (Sides to Every Story)”…
SAMANTHA FISH AND JESSE DAYTON – Death Wish Blues (Album Review)
The cover photo says much about the album and artists. Samantha Fish and Jesse Dayton are decked out in ‘50s leather and hair – they…
GODSTICKS – This Is What a Winner Looks Like (Album Review)
Godsticks’ prior album, 2020’s “Inescapable,” found the celebrated English ensemble successfully introducing more inviting arrangements and welcoming melodies into their dynamic brand of heavy prog…
GHOST – Phantomime (EP Review)
Why? Why in God’s name is this necessary? I mean, coming on the heels of “Impera” — which I rated the top album of 2022…
ENFORCED – War Remains (Album Review)
No nonsense thrash that shows no mercy. The unrelenting beast that is thrash could be likened to the Greek myth of the hydra, for if…
BURNING WITCHES – The Dark Tower (Album Review)
Part throwback, part modern, all classic metal! The world at large will no doubt continue to be dumbfounded at how every prediction of metal’s oncoming…
YES – Mirror To The Sky (Album Review)
Wonders never cease. Left for dead as a recording entity after the abysmal “Heaven & Earth” in 2014, progressive rock patriarchs Yes returned in 2021…
NEAL SCHON – Journey Through Time (Album Review)
So color me skeptical. That’s what I thought when I first heard about the Neal Schon album. I mean, face it: a gathering of current…
SAVAGE EXISTENCE – Savage Existence (Album Review)
Savage, all too savage. With a history now spanning more than 30 years, the early 90s offshoot of heavy and thrash metal that has come…
ELVENKING – Reader of the Runes: Rapture (Album Review)
After devoting an entire musical career to exploring global pagan lore with impressive results, Italian metal band Elvenking began to be subtly besieged by a…