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An album tailor-made for true Symphony X fans and for anything that, in terms of compositional expression, touches the refined, filigree fine mechanics of Michael Romeo's "godly hands."

»Crossing the Tracks« was a bold move and a thoroughly atypical album for Cross's solo career so far, one that, after some possible initial hesitation over a few unexpected turns, will probably win over most of his followers

If anyone stands by their deeds after more than 30 years in the game, we can say it without hesitation about the cult British N.W.O.B.H.M. heavyweights Satan! With »Cruel Magic« they've once again aced every test of time and creative…

At a time when fresh, quality releases in the prog folk rock realm are almost chronically missing, the new Gryphon album arrived right on cue, even though it took a whole forty-one years to get here.

In a sold-out Kino Šiška, HammerFall proved once again that they belong at the very top of power metal.

Primal Fear and Riot V on a joint tour! Salzburg, Ljubljana, Graz! For Slovenian fans of the bands, a perfectly convenient setup that was well worth taking advantage of. After the Ljubljana show on October 21, 2018, came a day off, then a…

Primal Fear and Riot V make a smart pairing of two hard-hitting institutions that build their musical vocabulary on heavy metal's old-school legacy. On this joint tour, they stopped in Slovenia too!

Big Big Train are in outstanding form at Cardogan Hall, with an extra brass section backing them up, and you can hear it all through “Merchants of Light”, which is stuffed with a colorful selection of some of their best moments from the…

Judging by our past run-ins with the band, we figured Vader would blow us away once again with their one-of-a-kind death metal cult. This time the meeting paid off even more, because we got a string of tracks from the band's early era, the…

Riverside have survived.

“The easiest way to describe »Groundbreaker« is as a Work Of Art-style album, just with the FM singer on vocals. “

With »The Living Dead«, Boltendahl hasn't handed fans yet another pig in a poke, but his 'gravediggers' still aren't in the kind of form that promises anything more than a solid-to-average effort, one that stays firmly in the shadow of…

The jam-packed Dom Sportova arena in Zagreb got a helping of eternal Jethro Tull classics, with a well-executed show and a nicely stitched-together setlist, but it never really hit any peaks.

No secret here. Over the past three years U.D.O. have well and truly hit the reset button and delivered a long-awaited album, played with unbelievable zeal and boiling fire. There isn't a single moment on it that invites discouragement.…

The cult is back!

»Tunguska« keeps all the compositional and arranging elegance and expressive maturity of its two splendid studio predecessors.

Nope, we just couldn't wait for Primal Fear and Riot V to hit Ljubljana's CUK Kino Šiška, where the two bands play on Sunday, 21.10.2018. Since the Salzburg show was on the tour schedule almost three weeks earlier, Salzburg is still close…

Last Friday, the traditional Metal med vodami went down at Jedro in Medvode, this time with SkyEye, Eruption and Cowboys From Hell on the bill.

»Live At Hammersmith« is a live document from British rockers The Darkness. You have to wonder what on earth the guys were up to all these years that we had to wait so long for it. A superb record, taken from the band's show in London on…

The packed room at Szene showed that after many years of hard work, The Pineapple Thief have become one of the more promising bands in today's progressive rock. The same goes for French oddballs Lizzard, of course.

The orchestra of orchids is back. And so is the magic!

Primal Fear have never pulled off anything as epic and bombastic, or as musically open-minded and inventive, as what "Apocalypse" delivers. It's honestly one of the best albums of their career to date.

The middle weekend of this September served up a gig at the C.M.A.K. club in Cerkno featuring two seriously interesting bands, especially since clear genre dividing lines run between them. This time around, there wasn't a whiff of metal.…

So September 8, 2018 rolled around, and the first night of this year's Cmakanje had to be pulled off. Metal and alternative rock all the way.

An hour and three quarters of show flew by in a flash. Mostly thanks to Justin Hawkins and his crazy antics. He filled the entire stage. With his one-man theater, the guy takes center stage even over the performance of the material itself.

Bottom line: in its second year, the festival passed yet another baptism by fire on its way to firmly establishing itself among the colorful lineup of festivals that graces the Tolmin confluence every year.

Day one of the second Motörcity Festival in Tolmin featured Sven Hammond, Stari pes, The New Roses, The Brew and Popa Chubby, who played the headliner.

Richard Thompson, who wowed us in Bled with regal renditions of newer and older gems from his rich musical treasure chest, is one of those guitar giants that every lover of good music should see at least once in their life.

Mr. Big delivered a very solid, professional show at Kino Šiška, with the two highlights coming in the solo spots of their two virtuosos, though plenty of the more devoted fans were hoping for at least one more song.

"Something Magic" was a seriously solid, dignified (temporary) farewell for the cult prog-rock pioneers, who stayed firmly true to their own sonic heritage.

»Nighfall in Middle-Earth« is still the brightest jewel in the crown of Germany's prog/power metal champions to this day.

The fifth and final day of the festival came way too fast, and to the sounds of Demonical, Goatwhore, Municipal Waste, Cannibal Corpse, Epica, Children of Bodom and Primordial, we said goodbye to one of the best editions of the festival…

On "Land of the Midnight Sun", an outstanding debut that once again showed just how well jazz fusion works on 'turbo drive', Di Meola set a high bar for the rest of his solo career and laid a solid foundation for his future solo projects.

With "Opus," Mr. Di Meola, who recently surprised everyone by saying that for the first time in his career he made an album while actually being in a good mood, has served up a gorgeous, suitably eclectic and mostly acoustic-leaning record.

At Metaldays 2018 we got the chance to sit down with one of the hottest young metal bands out there right now, New Zealand's Alien Weaponry.

Day four was D-Day for everyone who'd been dying to see the metal gods Judas Priest back on Slovenian soil for the first time since 1991.

»Sunsets On Empire« may well be the most overlooked achievement of Fish's solo career. Mostly thanks to Wilson's songwriting and production work, it has stood the test of time much better than some of his earlier solo albums.

Day three was defined above all by the excellent death metallers Gruesome, Japanese heavy metal veterans Loudness, the "quirky" experiment that is Igorrr, and Canadian giants Kataklysm.

The second day of this year's Metaldays served up a genre-hopping cross-section of acts, crowned by two outstanding sets from German heavy metal veterans Accept and Swedish black metal giants Watain.

The Sea Within have made a very likable, supremely listenable and 'flowing' debut, which is probably just the opening chapter of future studio projects from this ambitious international collective. Some of the compositions are a real feast…

Metaldays has put Slovenia on the map as a country with big metal festivals since 2004, and it's always a pleasure to go back. Over the years it has become exactly what its slogan promises, turning Tolmin into a proper metal holiday for a…

With Sonder, Tesseract kind of stitch together elements of their past albums. The band is still technical, atmospheric, melodic and unpredictable, but as a whole the album doesn't hit as hard as the first two.

The show we'd been sweating over for more than an hour, wondering whether it would be called off, finally happened. Myles Kennedy won everyone over from the opening moments with his incredible, wide-ranging stage charisma and an…

Three years later, another album followed. It's their eleventh studio record overall, called »Bound to the Witch«, and it picks up the story from its predecessor, with one important difference: it sounds way more convincing, more consistent…

New times, new drive. Fresh surges of testosterone in the veins of old tomcats! A thoroughly convincing document, sonically incredibly polished yet scuffed up and torn, with a punk-garage sheen, just dirty enough and just sharp enough.…

Last Tuesday, Iron Maiden looked as youthful in the middle of Trieste as if four decades of career weren't behind them, and played one of the best gigs we've ever had the chance to witness.

With »War Dance« Colosseum II hit their artistic peak, crafting eclectic jazz fusion on 'turbo drive', but even though it was their most mature effort, they once again failed to land the commercial response they were after.

With the Pretty Maids and Hexx sets, the most interesting part of the festival's third-day program was effectively over. For plenty of people, Pretty Maids played the headliner role, and that was before Powerwolf even showed up.

With »Seventeen«, Kayak have made a pretty catchy, likeable album stuffed with symphonic prog rock gems, and it's solid proof that even the new version of the band is working at a high level of arranging, songwriting and playing, worthy of…

Festival season is in full swing, and the capital has already hit its concert dead zone, which, with a few rare exceptions, lasts all the way until autumn. One of the louder exceptions this summer was definitely last Friday's grind double…

The headliner role on this day went to the legendary Accept, who cooked up something exclusive for the festival's 20th anniversary and promised a spectacular show. A bunch of other seriously tasty treats made the bill too, including…

'Tardigrades will inherit the Earth,' say The Mute Gods on their slow, boring and poorly produced effort, which does these musicians no credit at all.

Day one of the jubilee twentieth Bang Your Head!!! festival mostly rang out in hard rock tones. The high point came courtesy of the day's headliners, Sweden's Europe, but before them Black Diamonds, Burning Witches, Reckless Love, Eclipse,…

This year's edition of Bang Your Head!!! was, lineup-wise, a bit on the thrifty side. You could feel it on the warm-up day too, which served up acts with a permanent festival home in Balingen, and the evening was even closed out by a…

After a warm-up night like the one Iced Earth, Metalsteel and Eruption put on, counting down the days until we're back in T'mina gets a whole lot easier.

One of the most striking AOR records of the rock'n'roll era gets a new lease of life and fresh essence in its new version, while keeping all its exceptional charisma and grandeur. Even after the "refresh," it works perfectly well.

Jim Kerr glanced up at the sky a few times during the show and told the crowd it rains all the time in Glasgow anyway, trying to put everyone at ease, but nobody was losing sleep over it. Kerr had no trouble re-establishing that incredible…

The decorated bakery led by Miss Baker heads off to San Remo.

One of France's oldest and most revered progressive rock bands has pulled off a feat with "Heureux!" that stands up even against their best records from the seventies.

»Fly From Here - Return Trip« is a thoroughly superfluous project, and its one real standout is Horn's still remarkably well-preserved voice, which gives it a slight quality edge over the pretty average original.

Compared to a promising debut that hinted at the quintet's huge potential, Orkestrada have taken a clear step forward with the new album, in a self-evolving bloom of artistic expression.

The 27th edition of Pordenone Blues Festival literally snuck up on us. July is packed with gig adventures, and this trip to Pordenone wasn't even planned. We made the call at the last minute. The festival normally runs for a week, but we…

Last Friday, Laško, otherwise known mostly for Pivo in cvetje, hosted a much, much smaller but far more heartfelt festival tailor-made for heavy metal fans, and with its very first "open air" edition Metaljot raspaljot has already earned…

`The Perfect Poison`, as one of the songs on the new Lizzy Borden album puts it. And it's true. Brilliantly polished, and the most mature studio album of Lizzy Borden's whole career. The long wait was worth it.

On "The Shadow Theory," Kamelot once again stick faithfully to their long-running, tried-and-tested and successful symphonic metal recipe, not budging from it by a single millimeter. That will of course please most of the longtime fans,…

In an acoustic setting, the "brutal" truth of the concept gets magnified even more through subtle sensitivity and softness, and since the album is deeply personal, its emotional reach and the reach of the passions sung out are showcased to…

With its majestic arrangements and inviting atmosphere, "Five" will win over most fans of contemporary classical music and Banks's piano mastery. Anyone hoping for some kind of continuation of the mighty Genesis musical "story" won't find…

The wait for Alice in Chains was worth it, because on a sunny Saturday in Vienna the Americans delivered one of the finest concert experiences ever.

»Greatest Hits Part 1« is a big moment of release and studio fun for the tireless, restless Leoni. With CoreLeoni, it also opens the door to live stages while Gotthard take a well-earned rest.

It took a long time for this band, formed in the mid-eighties, to put out its debut. It's a strong-character album that was years in the making, and in terms of quality there's hardly anything you'd add or take away. Highly recommended…

After a somewhat limping predecessor that played it cautious above all and was out to win approval for the revamped lineup, its follow-up »The Road to Hell« is a far more confident and self-assured continuation.

Taja Božič is a Slovenian musician, composer and arranger who released an extended play (EP) called "Divji svet" this past May with her backing band The Kirkwaalds.

A varied, hugely infectious record that's pleasantly inviting from start to finish. Chamber music full of teasing genre flirtations, from classical, jazz and Latin rhythms to inspiration drawn from Slovenian folk melodies.

A varied, lively passion play of eleven original tracks, this record shows off a fully formed songwriting identity. It speaks in a relaxed, easygoing, soft voice, and thanks to that softness it's actually seriously tantalizing.

Every King Crimson gig is a story unto itself, and this dreamlike Vienna show by the cult octet was no exception, once again demonstrating in vivid fashion why they are the most important band in the history of prog rock, if not the…

It probably won't surprise many people following the modern prog-rock scene that Spock's Beard have created yet another masterpiece with "Noise Floor", which is also their most interesting achievement so far with Leonard on lead vocals.

»Only Human« is yet another dead-center bullseye for the band, their fifth, and fans of the group didn't think twice about slotting this album into their private CD collections the moment they could.

Christian has once again dodged the predictability trap with superb production, polished, finely crafted songs and his trademark, infectious singing, which keeps its exceptional, expressive vocal character even into his later years.

Just under 44 minutes of devilishly good music that keeps a wonderfully clever link to the classic Bonfire alive. It teases just the right amount in that respect. Only a little, but enough. With no Lessmann in the lineup that's hard to…

Under the baton of Fat Mike and the Punk Rock Holiday organizing crew, the Tolmin festival has now spawned a one-day city edition: the mini festival Punk in Drublic.

A new winning hand from a razor-sharp, one-of-a-kind musical mind! Ladies and gentlemen, the resident jokers of Nula Kelvina have a great new album out, packed with mocking, confessional tomfoolery!

Once again, the new album suffers from a lack of unified songwriting focus, so it doesn't bring a real leap in quality over its predecessor. The first half is promising again, then things veer a bit "off to the side".

Yep. Rage in the lineup of Peter Peavy Wagner (vocals, bass), Manni Schmidt (guitar) and Christos Efthimiadis (drums) are back together, with one difference: they're not called Rage, they're called Refuge.

So Don Airey is back, three years after his previous solo album "Keyed Up." "One Of A Kind" is kind of what you'd expect. Airey stays in the creative territory that feels most like home to him, the stuff he loves most and, of course, knows…

»Wuthering Nights-Live in Birmingham« is yet another superb live record from the guitar legend and his outstanding backing band, and it's sure to delight Steve's longtime fans most of all.

With »Different Stories«, Anubis have put together an exceptionally pleasant, easygoing collection of acoustically rearranged standards from their earlier albums. It's aimed first and foremost at their most devoted fans, though, because…

The Djabe show in St. Veit had a fantastic atmosphere, which is what you get whenever the great Steve Hackett takes the stage. He won us over once again with his guitar artistry and musical versatility.

Even in their golden years, Scorpions remain a treat, and their punchy rock comes alive most intensely on stage.

Mist from Ljubljana, the only doom metal act we've got here, want to break free of the sun's shackles on their debut. Free Me of the Sun, their long-awaited full-length first album, was born in darkness and dusk last Saturday at Metelkova…

In terms of the lineup, day one belonged to Šlajn, Buh and Nula Kelvina. All three bands presented new albums. Buh and Šlajn both dropped self-titled debuts, though each is built around a core of seasoned, battle-hardened musicians, while…

A bass-less trio of old friends and another wildly infectious, fun and thrilling addition to the discography of Samo Šalamon, the great guitar hero of modern jazz guitar.

Galahad so s »Seas of Change«, mojstrovino izjemnih ambinetalnih razsežnosti, ki slogovno izvrstno pluje med njihovim zgodnjim in sodobnim pristopom, vnovič opozorili, da že nekaj let sodijo v 'prvo ligo' neoprogresivnega rocka.

The fire, the sharp wit and the seething inspiration show no sign of dying down, and the new album is another utterly fascinating chapter from a band that in many ways is taking on the status of top dogs, not just of the current Slovenian…

Šlajn are a new Slovenian outfit sworn to forging little songs, typically welded together under the skies of the sunny side of the Alps. What sets them apart is that they flirt openly with country and country rock tunes. Given that this…

With the kind of fire Overkill show on »Live In Overhausen«, you wouldn't be all that surprised if Bobby and the gang were still at it thirty years from now, celebrating the 60th anniversary of their studio debut.

So the album »Buh«, the debut of Uroš Buh, or let's just call it the band Buh, is a very strong, tightly hewn piece of work, both in musical composition and in message (the poetry), packed with tangible substance.

Sure, »Gravitiy« follows the musical direction and guidelines of its predecessor, but it's no longer as sharp in freshness and ideas as »Legacy« was.

»Quiet Storms« is a release 'reserved' for Galahad's most loyal fans, who'll mostly be buying it for a handful of new tracks, none of which can seriously compete with their best work.

"Armor of Light" is an achievement tailor-made for all Riot fans and everyone who loves traditional heavy metal logic, old-school ossified, pioneering in spirit. A truly worthy successor to "Unleash the Fire".

Dubzilla are becoming the great masters of pure instrumental dub naturism. The new album »Post Dub Impressions« deepens, nurtures and builds on this chiseled musical dossier you can recognize from a mile away.