Dream Theater – A View From the Top of the World (Album Review)
The title of Dream Theater’s most recent studio album has proven premonitory. Although the album was released in 2019, we have certainly experienced some “Distance…
Author John Kokel
John Kokel
John L. Kokel has lived all over the eastern U.S., and even in Europe. Although he has dabbled in lead guitar wankery for almost 30 years, his real love is the gear itself. He has done plenty of work as a live guitar tech, but spending two years studying guitarcraft under the tutelage of a leading luthier was “instrumental” in taking the game to the next level. John’s lifetime music catalog is a blend of AOR, metal and prog, although 80s pop remains a guilty pleasure. His hobbies include writing, guitars, guns, and motorcycles. His goal is to finish and publish a viable novel someday. He resides in Charleston, South Carolina with his soulmate Jennifer. Both ride motorcycles, and enjoy seeing America and all the live music it has to offer.
Lords of Black – Alchemy of Souls, Part II (Album Review)
As 2021 prepares to curl up into itself like the equally unwanted demonic Bald Mountain of Fantasia, the Iberian Machine known as the Lords of…
Twelve Foot Ninja – Vengeance (Album Review)
The biggest perk of reviewing music is fairly obvious; one gets to hear all kinds of cool new material. The downside, sadly, is that one…
Iron Maiden – Senjutsu (Album Review)
Perhaps the oldest dilemma in the arts is the struggle between the desires of the artist’s patronage, and the desires of the artist himself. Many…
The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic II (Album Review)
Although it was barely a year and a half ago, it seems another lifetime when we reviewed Night Flight Orchestra’s “Aeromantic” album, a couple short…
Marty Friedman – Tokyo Jukebox 3 (Album Review)
Marty Friedman may stand alone in rock and heavy metal with the singular distinction as the foremost bridge between western metal and Japanese culture. While…
Heart Healer – The Metal Opera by Magnus Karlsson (Album Review)
The prodigious and productive powerhouse Magnus Karlsson remains as busy as ever. Perhaps best known as one of the two ferocious axe-slingers in power metal…
W.E.T. – Retransmission (Album Review)
Let’s just cut to the chase; the fourth release from W.E.T. will be one of the most important rock records of 2021. While the first…
Voodoo Circle – Locked & Loaded (Album Review)
Perhaps you have been fortunate enough to see a tribute band live to see them do a better service to their subject matter than the…
Palace – Rock and Roll Radio (Album Review)
Americans fortunate enough to have reached a certain age are familiar with a cherished and yet nigh-endangered lifestyle known as “cruising.” Arising in harmony with…
