Latest Reviews

»Live At Hammersmith« is the concert document from British rock outfit The Darkness. You have to wonder what the lads were up to all these years that it took so long to get it out. It's an outstanding record, taken from the band's show in…

"Live At Rockpalast" is a stunning live recording that catches the maestro Hammill and his three bandmates in unbelievable live form, right in the short-lived window just after the reunion.

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

"Elegant Gypsy & More" could easily have been recorded in the seventies, eighties, nineties or at the start of this century, because Al Di Meola is still as much of a master on electric guitar as he was more than four decades ago, while…

Primal Fear have never nailed the right balance of power metal riff punch, epic scale, bombast, musical openness and compositional ingenuity as consistently as they do on "Apocalypse".

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

The album "Utrip" counts as one of the best releases, or full-length studio achievements, to come out in Slovenia this year.

An album that will seduce you, then completely win you over with the eerie tenderness of a gorgeous, borderline brilliant confessional vocal character.

"The biggest strength of “Somewhere to Elsewhere” is that the compositions lodge themselves in your ear incredibly well, and the album as a whole flies by in a blink. There are no potentially boring moments on it, although no composition…

Label: Celinka RecordsRelease year: 2018Album length: 13:35Rating: 8.0 / 10 Taja Božič is a Slovenian musician, composer and arranger who, together with her backing band The Kirkwaalds, put out an "extended play" (EP) this May called…

"»Got Rhythm?« reflects the layered musical polish and sharp instincts of musicians who, in the distinctly stimulating language of string chamber music, deftly trade and wheel and deal across different genres as well as rhythmic textures."

"Melting several genre blends in one pot, the band has woven a musical ID card all its own, one that bridges those genres effectively and brings them together in an open, deeply conciliatory dialogue. "

"No shortage of self-irony, sarcasm and mockery once again! Boh remains a razor-sharp provocateur, a master of twisting turns of phrase and a smith of clever quips. It's precisely this barbed streak of Boh's imagination that keeps Nula…

Label: Clean Feed RecordsRelease year: 2018Production: Samo ŠalamonAlbum length: 58:29Rating: 9.0 / 10 So what's our Samo Šalamon up to these days? Revelling in fresh musical challenges, one after another. The man, regarded as one of…

"'Family' was a sort of little blues lexicon of the band, an important work of affirmation. 'Wacky Blues Professors' feels a touch groovier and funkier, and its musical vision is stylistically more focused and chiseled."

"Šlajn is a new Slovenian outfit that swears by forging little tunes, cobbled together the typical way, straight from the sunny side of the Alps. What makes them special is that they flirt openly with country and country rock sounds. Given…

"“Buh” is a different kind of art rock story, with its own musical direction, its own energetic vibe and a recognizable musical character. "

"Dubzilla are becoming grand masters of their art craft, of pure instrumental dub naturism. Their third album, "Post Dub Impressions", is a chiseled, instantly recognizable musical dossier that deepens, nurtures and builds on everything…

"The band is nowhere near losing its compass, and Pojdiva tja is a gorgeous addition next to its older studio siblings in the group's rich discography."

"Outrage of Modesty" brings a whole fistful of dynamite sticks, perfect for giving your scalp a proper combing and cleaning out your ear canals. "

"Real Life Version is a band that absolutely has to make some noise abroad. Absolutely. The new album drives that home once again. If an Offspring ever swings through here, we know who the opener will be."

"After nearly 50 years in the game, you'd expect a good album from musical elders, a decent album, maybe a solid one. Modest and respectful, in other words: no miracles required. But for an album to be as damn good as "Firepower" is a hefty…

"The charge this album gives off doesn't fade until the very last second of playing time. A bottomless well of energy transformed into musical magic. Unique in every respect, one of a kind, unrepeatable and singular."

"A tale of sub-Alpine "Ej'ga" blues that long ago swapped the carefree cheer of the national hero and his famous (Kekec) songs for something far grimmer. "

"An album that will make even those music lovers who normally run a mile from the word jazz fall for the genre. An album whose perfection lets it go toe to toe with its contemporaries on the international stage without breaking a sweat.…

"Katalena needed an artistic about-face after their previous album, and with that move they've once again delivered a one-of-a-kind record that is, head to toe, 100% Katalena"

"The album has a dash of eclecticism, and that's exactly what we've been missing for the last four years. Grega Habič Band from head to toe. A brilliant piece of work in every respect, one of the highlights of Slovenian music for 2018."

"Expect the unexpected." »Sintur« will cast a spell on you, just like džeZZva enchanted us with their 2014 debut. But »Sintur« is a different kind of record, one that keeps the band's trademark daring, adventurous, exploratory jazz spirit…

"Šalamon and Levy have reached for a one-of-a-kind fusion of two musical worlds, one that reflects the equal expression of both instruments as well as of the two musical geniuses whose names are on this album. At the same time, »Peaks Of…

"Every time you spin it in the CD player, Lanzon's perfectionism and his layered musical polish will keep you busy, gratefully, and suck you right back in."

With »Rise to Glory«, Loudness keep the quality high and the creative fire burning, while holding on to the unmistakable character that put them on the metal pedestal back in the eighties.

Label: Sony MusicRelease date: 12.01.2018Production: Mike FraserAlbum length: 51.16 minGenre: Instrumental Rock / Art RockRating: 8.5 / 10 Joe Satriani is a legend of the genre-coined "instrumental guitar rock" variety. The man who…

"Everything on "Reforged - Riding On Fire" is exactly where it should be, and at times even better than on the originals. Piet Sielck knows, can, understands and, of course, delivers."

"With the EP »Gotcha!«, Jernej now steps onto the international music scene under the moniker Ivansson. He picked six instrumental tracks, tweaked their titles a bit, packaged them up skillfully and offered them to the music crowd, and the…

Label: Clean Feed RecordsRelease year: 2017Production: Samo ŠalamonAlbum length: 54.29Rating: 9.0 / 10 A promise is a debt. I've been promising Samo this write-up for half a year now. Jazz is jazz. Jazz is "weird." Quirky, and that's…

"Anyone who swears by epic, manly and smart power metal will be more than thrilled with »The Deviant Chord«. It's a thoroughly classic album with just the right dose of modern songwriting and production touches, which means it's exactly…

"Cabaret chanson with a female voice front and center, where different genres deftly pass the baton to one another, ends up as a blend of them all and a real eclecticism. That was also the core aim of the album 'Nemi film'."

"The man sticks to his signature musical premise with the new album, too. As always, what jumps out most is his mastery of the guitar-exposé craft and his classical polish. "

Label: K-Scope Year of release: 2017 Production: Steven Wilson & Paul Stacey Album length: 59.46 Genre: Progressive Rock / Art Rock Steven Wilson, the leading patron of modern progressive rock, returns with his latest studio album,…

"There's no shortage of authenticity in everything that went down in Brno, and this document proves it. The concert energy and atmosphere are superbly captured and transferred to both audio and visual media."

"Anyone who knows the studio original of the cult ‘Awaken the Guardian’ well will be blown away by how evergreen it is and how incredibly expressive and punchy this album still is after thirty years. The same goes for the stage performance,…

"Divje jezero play with the passion of unbridled emotion and a sparkling, wholehearted devotion to the musical magic their hearts beat for. And with their second album, the excellent »Pobeg iz blodnjaka«, Divje jezero stay firmly in the…

Label: High Roller RecordsRelease date: 28.04.2017Production: Cloven HoofAlbum length: 44.43 minGenre: Heavy Metal (N.W.O.B.H.M.)Rating: 9.0 / 10 These days Cloven Hoof are considered heavy metal legends. They emerged during the…

"With their new album, All Strings Detached stay firmly in the saddle of authorial, creative artistry, a space they handle with serious skill and where they feel most at home."

Label: ZKP RTV SlovenijaRelease date: July 1, 2016Production: Igor MatkovičGenre: JazzRating: 10/10 Composer, producer, pianist, but first and foremost the established Slovenian jazz trumpeter Igor Matkovič is back with a new album,…

"»Križanke – Live« is a gorgeous document in every respect, and a must-have souvenir for everyone who was at this concert, which was historic for the band in many ways."

Label: Ear Music RecordsRelease date: 2017Production: Bob EzrinAlbum length: 45.47 minGenre: Heavy Rock/Hard RockRating: 8.0/10 After a four-year break from the studio, Deep Purple are back with "Infinite", their twentieth studio…

"After Drevored's album "Na zahod," Jernej Zoran's new album is another exceptionally strong original achievement on the Slovenian rock'n'roll front, and both came out at the very dawn of 2017."

Label: Sony MusicRelease date: February 3, 2017Produced by: Tom AllomAlbum length: 40.58 minBonus live (2CD) album length: 101.45 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 9.5/10 At the end of last year, thirty years after its original release,…

"»Lykaia« is yet another gorgeous album, full of polished melodies that are ambitiously, experimentally loosened up with the exploratory value of progressively and technically complex musical figures. "

Album length: 38:33 Production: Maras Tomaž Mot & Mike Poole Release date: 2017 Label: Nika Records Click to buyRating: 9.0/10 Drevored are a rock band from the Dolenjska region, based in Novo mesto. Seven years after their…

Listening to the sensational piano improvisations on the album "Fluid" will leave you hungry to dig deeper into the original music of Dejan Berden. He remains an uncut diamond and one of the best-kept secrets of the Slovenian music…

"The duo's new studio album, “Španabije,” keeps that vision alive from start to finish. But with one important difference. Bakalina have been hit by the “composer's rays” of layered musical arranging. In that sense, the album title…

" So Up N'Downs have dropped their studio debut, which counts as one of the nicest rock surprises ever to come out of Slovenia, and we can safely call it one of the best rock albums to hit the Slovenian music scene this year."

"Live From The Hidden Courtyard" is an excellent live document that shows remarkable courage and confirms the adventurous, homegrown jazz-art rhetoric of one of the more interesting instrumental bands in Slovenia.

"“Stoletni ples” is a magnificent album from a mature band. It took a good while to make, but the payoff is an exceptional level of polish and refinement. In these songs you can feel the band's real power and their by now “folk-classic”,…

Label: AFM RecordsRelease date: 11/18/2016Production: Charlie BauerfiendAlbum length: 52.05 minGenre: Heavy Metal Herman Frank is a renowned and highly respected German guitarist. His name has been written into the book of metal in…

"In many ways it's an even more aggressive and faster version of its excellent predecessor "Dark Roots of Earth", packed with some seriously fun surprises, and it keeps its pissed-off, totally vampiric nature from start to finish, so it's…

"If you haven't caught Dirkschneider on stage yet, this fall is your last chance. Given the huge success that took Udo and the crew completely by surprise, Dirkschneider have extended their stay with one more tour. This one will deliver…

"»Tygers Of Pan Tang« is a record that will go down best with fans of heavy rock heroes like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy, yet it also has plenty of moments that bring back the 'good old days' of the…

"When the sounds of »Curious Voiume« kick in, the best part is realizing that the band can still pull off an album with the charisma of thirty years ago. Immodestly put, it's up there with the debut »Rellentless«."

Label: earMUSIC Records Release date: 22-09.2016 Production: Marillion & Michael Hunter Genre: Neo Progressive Rock / Art Rock Album length: 68:10 English prog rock champions Marillion have made their eighteenth studio album, "Fuck…

"With »The Prelude Implicit,« Kansas rose from the ashes like the mythological phoenix pictured on the not exactly aesthetically successful cover, and made a much better album than most would have expected, given that Walsh and Livgren,…

"From the first track to the last, the album »Daleč« simply has to be listened to as a whole. It unfolds in the glow of the great artistic brilliance of seasoned, experienced masters."

"The album has just one flaw. It's at least fifteen minutes too long. Still, you can't ignore the delightful fact that (immodestly put) "Nosferatu" has been reborn after 27 years!"

"From mechanical resonance to a mechanical renaissance!"

"Paradox don't surprise anymore with 'Pangea', but it's an immense pleasure to see Steinhauer sticking to the proven artistry of his own metal-craft specifics in his musical vision, exploring, nurturing and deepening them, all while deftly…

"'Theories of Flight' is the album that caught Fates Warning fans off guard. Not because the band couldn't have made it, but because nobody could really have expected this kind of artistic masterpiece after 34 long years of holding their…

Label: Frontiers Music Srl. Release date: 22.01.2016 Production: Eric Martensson Album length: 44.01 Genre: Melodic Rock / Hard Rock It's been five months since this album officially dropped, but it's still well worth a spotlight,…

Label: CelinkaRelease year: 2016Production: Dejan RadičevićAlbum length: 26.22 minGenre: Rock / Blues El Kachon are a hard-working, enterprising bunch. The dust from their second studio album "Permanently Lubricated Nuts" had barely…

"Throughout the material, the three musicians develop an extraordinary, almost intuitive sense of each other as they come together in this seamless and utterly unique musical picture book."

"»Titancraft« is a somewhat friendlier album on the ears than its predecessors. Even "cheerful" (Freedom Call even come to mind), bright and bubbling with positivity. It sticks to the tried-and-tested formula."

"Not to be immodest on their behalf, but Prismojeni profesorji bluesa are a band born to rule the stages of the international scene and win over the rest of the world with their music."

"Kdo bo pil iz bistrega studenca?" is an incredibly bold and brave move and one of the most beautiful documents out there, one that will irreversibly seduce and enchant even the true folk purist, in a free-spirited reworking of folk music's…

Label: Roadrunnner RecordsRelease date: 01/29/2016Producer: John PetrucciAlbum length: 130.23 minGenre: Progressive Metal The double concept album »The Astonishing« is the most ambitious project in the history of American prog-metal…

"The workaholic patron saint of modern prog rock isn't slowing down. With "4 ½", his fans will definitely find it a lot easier to wait for the maestro's next studio album."

Label: RCARelease date: April 13, 1973Production: Ken Scott & David BowieAlbum length: 40.47 minGenre: Glam Rock / Hard RockRating: 9.0/10 After the phenomenal success of the cult concept album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy…

Label: RCARelease date: June 16, 1972Production: Ken Scott & David BowieAlbum length: 38:29Genre: Glam Rock / Hard RockRating: 10/10 In 1972, the single "Starman" hit the music scene like a bolt from the blue, suddenly became a…

Label: RCARelease date: December 17, 1971Production: Ken Scott & David BowieAlbum length: 41.50 minGenre: Art pop / Pop rockRating: 9.0/10 The art-rock gem “Hunky Dory” may well be the most important achievement in the career of…

Label: Mercury RecordsRelease date: November 4, 1970 (US) / April 10, 1971 (UK)Producer: Tony ViscontiAlbum length: 40:29 minGenre: Hard Rock / Folk Rock / Glam RockRating: 8.5/10This review is dedicated to the memory of David Bowie…

Label: PhilipsRelease date: 11/14/1969Production: Tony Visconti & Gus Dudgeon (Space Oddity)Album length: 45.13 minGenre: Psychadelic Rock / Folk RockRating: 8.0/10 Bowie's self-titled second solo album, reissued in 1972 for the…

Label: DeramRelease date: June 1, 1967Production: Mike VernonAlbum length: 37.07 minGenre: Psychadelic Pop / Singer / SongwritterRating: 7.0/10 In 1967, with the British psychedelic scene at its peak, a talented twenty-year-old kid…

"Slapping Jean “Django” Reinhardt's name on any moment of the album would make sense, though Collori deserves congratulations for putting together a record without a single cover, which among similar gypsy swing albums is more the exception…

"El Kachon don't surprise anymore with »Permanently Lubricated Nuts«. With the new album they're cementing their recognizable spot on the Slovenian music landscape."

"Stara šula remain their own story. They go at it with serious authenticity, garage-raw and live. Feelingful, passionate and as heartfelt as it gets"

"»Transcience« is a rare double LP that gathers some of the most vivid moments of Steven's career between 2002 and 2015."

Label: Century Media RecordsProduction: Chris "Zeuss" HarrisRelease date: October 2, 2015Album length: 64.23 minGenre: Art Metal Queensryche are back with their second studio album since the band's shipwreck during the messy split…

"In a healthy musical climate, »Ujemi val« could be a nice addition to the Slovenian middle-of-the-road music scene, though on our turf it unfortunately doesn't yet have a well-defined character of its own."

"»Four of a Kind« is a classic Goblin album that keeps the magnificent »Roller« legacy alive and carries it forward, so you can safely rank it right now among the highlights of their long and turbulent career. "

“Love, Fear And The Time Machine” is a new top-shelf album confirming that Riverside keep reaching, very successfully, for fresh challenges, which they masterfully work, in a melting pot of absorbed big ideas, into a format of absolute…

Label: Parlophone Records / BMGRelease date: September 4, 2015Production: Kevin ShirleyAlbum length: 92.11 min (2CD)Genre: Heavy Metal / N.W.O.B.H.M.Rating: 8.0/10 "The Book of Souls" is the sixteenth studio album from heavy metal…

" 'Live at the Final Frontier' is an excellent live document that fans of this sadly often overlooked but terrific German power metal band will be thrilled with and then some."

"The prog-leaning masterpiece »Seventh Son of a Seventh Son« was the finale of Iron Maiden's epic album trilogy, kicked off by »Powerslave« and »Somewhere in Time«, and it's a worthy successor to both of those triumphant predecessors, with…

Label: Sony MusicRelease date: 24.07.2015Album length: 64.01 min.Production: Joihn Cuniberti & Joe SatrianiGenre: Instrumental Rock / Art RockRating: 8.5 / 10 The man who more or less enthroned instrumental guitar rock in the…

"The Eternal Idol" was another major sonic rebirth for Black Sabbath and the start of their next evolutionary phase, with both Tonys in the lead roles.

"The basic premise of the band's calling card hasn't changed. It's a fresh ring match-up of AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, UFO and Queen. Blended, of course, according to The Darkness' one-of-a-kind recipe, which keeps cranking out a brand-new,…

"Waters' personal frustrations, which hit their peak on "The Final Cut", would surely have come across as more credible on a solo debut, instead of being projected through the Pink Floyd frame, with his longtime partners in misery reduced…

"Levak na Luni" is another outstanding record that's immense fun, yet also hits home and shakes the listener awake through Marko Boh's sparkling, razor-sharp lyrics. It's also a big teaser for the full-blown theatrical excess waiting for us…

Released by: Self-releasedProduction: Hannes Grossmann, V. SanturaRelease date: March 2015Album length: 73:01 These days we can probably say, no need to think twice, that extremity in metal has peaked. But every year some band turns up…

"“AkordeON” is an extremely ambitious album that puts accordion playing in a special corner of the musical universe, a far cry from the one we usually get in everyday encounters with the instrument, which in Slovenia has always come with a…