Reviews

Two years after Heresie, Univers Zero returned to the music scene. Roger Trigaux was no longer with them. By then he had founded Present (where Denis also helped out on drums). Trigaux wanted to make more electric music, while Denis wasn't…

The Australian band Baseball is made up of members who play in all sorts of other lineups besides this one, and the music that Thick Passage (vocals, violin), Monika Fikerle (bass, vocals), Evelyn Morris (drums, vocals) and Ben Butcher…

BAST is without a doubt one of the most unusual and shape-shifting bands in Slovenia. On their previous record The Secret Life of the Next Door Neighbour they leaned heavily electronic, even though numerous

Black Sabbath or Heaven & Hell? I don't think Black Sabbath need introducing to anyone, since they're one of those late-sixties bands that founded heavy metal and embodied the NWOBHM before the term even exis

Zmajev rep are four young musicians from Bistrica ob Sotli, and with their third album "Sanje podob" they deliver (especially by Slovenian standards) a thoroughly solid and unabashedly ambitious record for all lovers of quality

"Could the impossible actually happen, and we'll soon hear Ozzy and Dio together in Black Sabbath??? That would probably be asking too much, but hey, even bigger battle axes have been buried."

A (way too) loooong five years have passed since The Odyssey, the last release from American progressive metal masters Symphony X. The follow-up has seen so many delays and postponements that I was slowly starting to worry we were getting…

"On The Road 1972" is a real historical relic for fans of Camel, the still hugely overlooked masters of British symphonic prog, because it captures one of their very first shows, before their debut "Camel" even came out

Prince of Darknes? Black Sabbath? The Osbournes? A new record – why??? Michael Douglas starred in the movie Black Rain, a great crime thriller tied to the Japanese mafia cartels. Ozzy Osbourne has recorded a brand-new album called Black…

Anyone else think something's wrong with the world?! Linkin Park have grown up and figured out that these days records sell great when you either trash Bush or preach that something's wrong with the world and it needs to change. Even…

What separates bad from even worse? In Bon Jovi's case, it's definitely their latest contribution to the world of rock cuisine, fittingly called Lost Highway. Lost? Definitely, but I think the guys got lost long before

Every now and then a band comes along that's impossible to pin down across the many genres of metal. Bands often choose that path just for the sake of standing out, being different, wanting to distinguish themselves from the crowd of bands…

Veronica is an instrumental band from Celje, formed in the 1990s. The band's name may have come from Veronika Deseniška, a Celje noblewoman and the first woman accused of witchcraft in Slovenia

Label: Bloodfish MusicRelease date: June 21, 2007Production: Gabriel MoffatAlbum length: 66.59 minGenre: Progressive RockRating: 9.5/10 Whenever Rudi the foxy little devil has naughty brats like Hansel and Gretel firmly under his…

Get Your Wings is the second album from the famous Boston hard-rock craftsmen, and unlike their lukewarmly received debut, it marks a more decisive shift toward clearer, and therefore more homogeneous, musical frameworks

It took a (way too) long three years to get a follow-up to the excellent debut Battle Metal (2004) from Finland's Turisas, who wowed fans and critics alike with their first album. Many called Battle Metal the best debut album of the year at…

Sometimes even the greatest masters seriously drop the ball and turn out a half-baked product that, even after the test of time, still doesn't make them proud and sounds like the fruit of their worst nightmare or a side prod

461 Ocean Boulevard marks Clapton's first serious maturity test, catching the legendary guitarist at a crucial crossroads on his turbulent, unpredictable musical path. After a long stretch of drug abuse,

In the early '70s, when British progressive rock was entering its most fertile period and so-called space rock, born in its most primitive form out of Pink Floyd and their psychedelic-absurd

With Iced Earth, Jon Schaffer built one of the biggest metal bands around over 22 years, and their career has spawned some excellent records that earned a place in the metal encyclopedia. Probably the highest spot under the Iced Earth name…

Univers Zero's second album continues down the path laid out by the first. Co-founders Roger Trigaux and Daniel Denis created an original take on chamber rock that draws heavily on the European classical tradition. At times it feels like

Unbelievable! What is there even left to say about Dream Theater? Every two years, like clockwork, we get a new studio album from them. Good boys, I'm speechless. "Systematic Chaos" is the name of the new one. The title doesn't exactly fit…

Label: Roadrunner RecordsRelease date: 04.06.2007Production: John Petrucci & Mike PortnoyAlbum length: 78.45 minGenre: Progressive Metal Unbelievable! What is there even left to say about Dream Theater? Every two years like…

The opening of the first part of this sweeping retrospective collection from the famous "Metal God" screamer is a fairly surprising one, considering that outside Judas Priest, Halford never built up a body of work worth making a fuss about.…

They were even here in Slovenia recently. To be exact: you could catch them in Laško, and I doubt any of it made sense to you. The label pitches them very convincingly, something like this: imagine the worst

Van Morrison, the Belfast-born legend of Irish and world music royalty (way back in 1945), is today one of the last "survivors" of the old school. And in the truest sense of the word! It's hard to believe that the man set out on his first…

It's been a full 10 years since the release of Manson's mega-successful album Antichrist Superstar, and in all that time the prince of darkness has served us up characters ranging from a cartoonish freak out to shock the widest possible…

After just two albums, Virgin, the label that had taken the Chicago crew Smashing Pumpkins under its wing, had figured out pretty thoroughly that the Pumpkins were more than a flash in the pan. Alternative had become a seriously lucrative…

It was 1997 when drummer Ian Watkins and guitarist Mike Lewis founded Lostprophets. Soon they were joined by guitarist Mike Chiplin, who quickly swapped his guitar for the drums, while Ian traded the drums for the mic, plus another guitar

Unstoppable Norwegians Vreid are back with a new release, I Krig (In War), just over a year after their last one, Pitch Black Brigade (2006). The young band rose from the ashes of the cult Norwegian outfit Wi

Moore's latest contribution to blues rock is an extremely lukewarm effort, or, if you like, almost a straight-up farce. In 2007, the old Irish fast-fingered maestro returns with yet another thoroughly average release, si

Who would've thought that the bands who entertained us in the second half of the eighties with their tropically sculpted hairdos would be having such a hard time today. Surely a very interesting observation. If you just glance around for a…

»Angling Feelings« is the ninth studio album from Sweden's cult symphonic prog heroes Kaipa and the fourth from their second era, which kicked off after 2002. It's also their third album in total without Roine Stolt, the guitar

Magma is one of the few bands in progressive rock that truly matters. When their first album came out, listeners and critics were in shock, because Magma had made music the world had never heard before. The music had

The ancient saying "money rules the world" crept back into the folds of my brain after I laid eyes on the latest version of "Turn It On Again – The Hits", this time in eye-catching silver and a double-disc format that noticeably expands the…

Even though Ian Anderson stares out at us from the album cover with a cynical grin, like some kind of winged, sword-wielding elf warrior while a Viking longship tosses on choppy waves behind him, on "The Br

The Black Crowes are a fascinating band, especially for anyone who loves American rock soaked in blues, soul and even funk, the kind made by Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead and a few others.

It was hard to believe the Canadian growlers could top the record that set the course for their whole musical identity, The Healing Process (2005), but they've pulled it off without a doubt. Despised Icon so po vnovične

After the "Stormwatch" (1979) tour wrapped up, Ian Anderson, a distant descendant of the rowdy Greek god Pan and the cunning Pied Piper of Hamelin, decided to record his first solo album, with which he wanted to prove to certain inconsol

British art rock oddballs It Bites, who first made a name for themselves in the late eighties with albums like »The Big Lad In The Windmill« (1987), »Once Aorund The World« (1988) and »Eat Me In St. Louis« (1989

The Fratellis is a Scottish trio of Fratelli brothers (or maybe not, since the guys cunningly pulled the old Ramones trick and spiced it up with a fun Spielberg movie?), and they stand way apart from the Brit sound that's so popular today…

Label: Chrysalis RecordsRelease date: 8/29/1980Produced by: Ian Anderson & Robin BlackAlbum length: 42:30 minGenre: Progressive RockRating: 8.5/10 After the end of the »Stormwatch« (1979) tour, Ian Anderson, a distant descendant…

Rock legend Neil Young has treated his fans over the past few months with not one but two live releases from the early seventies – one with his backing band Crazy Horse and the other a solo set. N

A cold wind has blown in from the North Sea toward the Scottish Hebrides, heralding creatively darker times for the folk rock crew Jethro Tull, unsinkable until then, and their captain Ian Anderson, who was slowly

"We're just trying to bring back masculine. We're trying to take the sensitive guy out and bring the bad boy back." (David Bunton) The American South is a hatchery for well-known bands and plenty more lesser-known ones that shape the rock…

The Silent Knight, armed with a genius brain, sailed in on his cybernetic wings for the third time and announced an invasion of cybernetic grasshoppers just like him, sent to save a world that modern man, sick of life

»Worlds Apart« was the big commercial breakthrough for Canadian art rock oddballs Saga, catapulting them completely out of nowhere into the ranks of the most sought-after prog bands of the day, and from there on out, for most of their later

Alongside Metallica's Master of Puppets, The Number of the Beast is probably the best-known metal record of all time. There's no critic or chart that wouldn't slot it into the top spots. The Number of the Beast is also the first record…

Once upon a time, they were a young and very promising band. In 1999 they released the album ID and opened the gates to heaven, won over a huge number of fans, and their rise just kept going. Who doesn't remember the hits Pot v

"With "The Number of the Beast," Iron Maiden reaped worldwide fame and crowned themselves the kings of heavy metal. "The Number of the Beast" is an immortal record that, 25 years after its release, still sounds as fresh as if it had been…

Če so bili nekoč čikaški The Ponys ožigosani z garažno glasbo sedemdestih in poznih šestdesetih let prejšnjega stoletja, ki se je spogledovala tudi z bolj psihedeličnimi temami, so s svojim tretjim albumo

As the great cover art of "Images At Twilight", the second album from the witty Canadian art rockers Saga, suggests, the cybernetic grasshoppers led by a queen with Einstein's brain have finally had enough. So, following yet another

In the early eighties, Iommi clearly felt very much at home among Ritchie Blackmore's old buddies. First came Ronnie James Dio, good old Elf/Rainbow pixie, Tony's killer combo that freed Black S

"My grandmother told me about one of the most important events of her life. Lillian Gish once rode a train through the town where my grandmother lived, and since it was a place in the middle of nowhere, it was without doubt one of the…

What happened to TNT, and what's going on with them? Have they lost it? All of them, right down to the last man? Let's rewind about six months to see what the band has been up to. TNT have a new singer in the ranks. His name is Tony Mill

Imagine opening the morning paper and finding a shocking story under a fat headline: cybernetic locusts have launched their merciless plundering spree, seized most of the world's nuclear arsenal and flown off with it to

Thin Lizzy march into the eighties with a revamped look. Gary Moore, the incorrigible guitar-slinging hero who played a big part in the success of Black Rose, calls it quits one last time, citing "oversensitivity" to Phil's and Gorham's…

One of the most anticipated hard rock albums of the year and Night Ranger's first studio album in 10 years, has come through with some interesting answers to all the speculation that came before it. "Hole In The Sun&laqu

The Ladder is a band that, with the names of former members of the famous British AOR rockers FM (Steve Overland, Pete Jupp and Bob Skeat), at first promised a classic FM reunion. Well, that never happened. The guys decided to form

We've waited (way too) long for the new Tinkara Kovač record, and right now it feels like the wait wasn't worth it. Aqa is a split-personality album – roughly half of it is super radio-friendly, the other

By the time their first (double) live album "Bursting Out" came out, Jethro Tull were at the peak of their creative output in the world of progressive folk rock, and still riding the fresh wave of the tour for the unforgettable masterpiece

So much has already been said about the magic Thin Lizzy conjured up on stage in the second half of the seventies. Live And Dangerous is a gorgeous showcase of that devastating force. Recorded in 1976/77 on the Johnny The Fox and Bad…

A Weekend in the City is the second studio album from English band Bloc Party., produced by Jacknife Lee. Thematically it's a lot darker than their debut, Silent Alarm, from 2005. This time around, Kele turned his lyrics toward

After the crowds gave their debut "Nosferatu" such a warm reception, the album helped Bloodbound a great deal in sharing stages last year with Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, Evergrey, Pretty Maids and Sabaton (s

Germany's white-clad hard rockers Mad Max belong to that merry German gang of bands like Frontline, Fair Warning, Pink Cream 69 of course, and even the Swiss acts Gotthard or Krokus. All of that comes into play when you dig into Mad Max, if…

Before we kick off the review, go put the coffee on first. And make it quick, you've only got five minutes! Make it as good as humanly possible, for the love of God... Done? Phew, you just saved Earth from total destruction. Five miles…

Much has been said about Paradise Lost's many sound changes, their endless experimenting out of fear of stagnation, and their "betrayal" of their metal fans. Very few bands have a history this colorful. Paradise Lost

These days anything goes, so Siddharta, Hladno Pivo, Edo Maajka, TBF, Atomik Harmonik and Turbo Angels all end up under the roof of the same label, Natalija Verboten, Trkaj and Melodrom under another, and Tinkara Kovač,

Decoy is a project born from the union of two driving forces: songwriter and Danish guitarist Torben Enevoldsen (Section A, Fatal Force) and singer Peter Sundell, who in May 2005 left rockers Grand Illusion after 20 years of loyalty,

There's probably no progressive metal fan who hasn't heard the name Derek Sherinian. Derek is a brilliant keyboardist who lent his magic fingers to progressive metal champions Dream Theater from 1994, when he replaced Kevin Moore, until…

This time of year (spring, 2007) has brought a good few excellent offerings in the AOR rock genre. Yes, you read that right. A thing that's supposedly dead and forgotten today, but that was thriving commercially 20 years ago, has delivered…

Let me say right off the bat that Sonata Arctica used to be one of my absolute favorite power metal bands. The excellent debut Ecliptica (1999) and its follow-up, maybe even better, Silence (2001)

What do you get if you start compressing the sound of today's Porcupine Tree? Say, strip away the long arrangements and the complexity, and focus only on hammering home the core motifs? Short tracks. On top of that, you push the keyboards…

Nocturnal Rites have come a long way. The Swedes started out as a death metal band, recorded a demo and a promo record, then waded into power metal waters with their debut In A Time of Blood and Power. Luckily, Nocturnal Rites never sank to

This is a textbook case of hard rock that teases, teases and teases, and never lets you get to the finish line! Given the lineup operating under the Razorback banner, you'd expect a whole lot more. The crew brings together German

Holy moly! WildKard! Unbelievable! What kind of rock oddity is this now? Three members of the long-defunct AOR rockers Kick, who raised hell in the eighties. Textbook representatives of the British school! "Megalomania" is a record

Budgie's second album, "Squawk", from the famed rock'n'roll "budgies" out of Wales, already gave a sharper outline and a clearer picture of a band on the rise, one that was carving out its own little corner under the open sun

Thin Lizzy have always been known first and foremost as a killer live band, studio triumphs be damned. The guys simply had it all: great music, spiked with a heaping dose of venomous guitar dialogues. But their biggest trump card

""Operation: Mindcrime" is progressive in the purest sense of the word. Especially in its concept, its poetry, and the unique, one-of-a-kind identity Queensryche managed to develop at this point in their evolution. So I can once again call…

It doesn't get much worse than this! Meldrum, a trio of bored young women who kill time by hammering out tasteless, utterly empty, already-heard-a-hundred-times guitar riffs, and on top of that, with their forced act as angry chicks with no…

The backbone of "Operation:Mindcrime" is its concept. A first-rate chiller, a concept thriller on the road to personal Armageddon. It tells the story of a "junkie" who joins an underground organization, where under hypnosis and heavy doses…

Where are the days when Simply Red effortlessly topped the charts with hits like "Money's Too Tight To Mention", "If You Don't Know Me By Know", "Holding Back The Years" and later also with &raqu

Night In The Ruts could easily be called the album that split Aerosmith in two. Recorded under rough circumstances, it's probably the rawest face of the Boston outfit up to that point, and with it Tyler and company, despite all the bad

Artist: QueensrÿcheLabel: EMI RecordsReleased: 1990 Lineup Geoff Tate - vocals, keyboardsMichael Wilton - guitar, backing vocals Chris DeGarmo - guitar, backing vocals, keyboardsEddie Jackson - bass guitar, vocals Scott Rockenfield -…

""Rage For Order" is one seriously important album. It's the predecessor to "Operation: Mindcrime". Stylistically it's already closer to its successor, and on it Queensryche seriously flexed the extensors and flexors of their progressive…

""The Warning" marks the end of Queensrÿche's evolution in classic heavy metal."

"Queensrÿche", the famous EP by the famous Queensrÿche! The EP that sealed the fate of these superb American metallers from Seattle, and of plenty of fans who love perfectly hammered-out sonic thrill rides built on a distorted foundation!

Heads up! Warning! Alarm! It's coming from another galaxy, from another world, a new race is on the march, a new dominant species, a new beginning, a new world, welcome to Armageddon! With a cover made to the liking of all the sincere and…

After the excellent »Discipline« (1981), the newly (re)born King Crimson pushed ahead with their vision of progressive rock, which at that point mixed elements of avant-garde, minimalism and world music with

"Rage for Order", the follow-up to "The Warning" (1984), thoroughly broke with the classic approach Queensryche had grown up on. The second half of the eighties had kicked off, hair glam metal rock was on the march,&h

Two years have passed since a hurricane of technically polished progressive death metal from Atlanta swept across the metal scene. Two years since we were first introduced to the quartet Becoming The Archetype, who with their debut…

Label: EMI RecordsRelease year: 1983Production: Neil Kernon & QueensrycheLength: 21.22 minGenre: Heavy Metal "Queensrÿche", the famous EP by the famous Queensrÿche! The EP that sealed the fate of these splendid American…

According to Lemmy, 1986 will go down in the history books as the year of big events. Three stand out: the American attack on Libya, Maradona's famous "Hand of God" that carried Argentina to the final of the World Cup in Mexico, and, most…

As usual, every new album from the Canadian holy trio of art rock (and beyond) spheres, the creators of some of the most innovative and advanced works in the history of progressive rock, is a special anniversary that all fans of…

The first time I stuck this album into the CD player, I just collapsed, started staring into space and couldn't snap out of the shock. So fresh, so alive, so layered and boldly brazen in its experimenting

Starbreaker is an international project made up of killer musicians. I'll say it right off the bat: their self-titled debut is a standout in today's hard rock, in a market buried under a hailstorm of albums that are faceless

After the success of their debut "The Battle" (2005), it's more than obvious that you strike while the iron is hot! Following in the footsteps of old hands Joe Lynn Turner and Glenn Hughes and their Hughes Turner Project (2000 –…

Two Of A Kind is a brand-new band from the Netherlands, founded by bassist Fred Hendrix, who is also the singer of the better-known melodic rockers Terra Nova. Over his career, the guy has also lent his skills to two albums by the pop…

MULTIBALL, the punk-rock band from Celje (or emo core too, depending on which definition or review you go by), formed around 2001. At first, the current and former Multiball members played and cut their teeth

Two years have passed since the band's last record, Harnessing Ruin, and it's time for New York death metal wreckers Immolation to make their return. And they're coming back in triumph, doing what they've always done best – ignoring and…