Reviews

With "Resistance," IQ have made another masterpiece and a leading contender for the best progressive rock album of 2019.

Opeth have once again crafted a masterpiece full of standout moments: in the songwriting, the lyrics and the atmosphere alike, and in two different languages at that. For anyone who knows the life and work of Mikael Åkerfeldt and his…

"Frankly, and no beating around the bush: there's not a single artistic stumble on this album. An excellent new studio effort from an incredibly seasoned and experienced band."

"The Ghost Experiment – Awakening is exactly what you'd expect from a progressive metal band as good as Vanden Plas."

"Wembley Or Bust" sounds like it was recorded in 1977, right at the peak of ELO mania, not forty years later. That's probably the best way to sum up how good this live document is, because at times it sounds like a musical time machine.

"Over 66 minutes, the new album has Flying Colors serving up top-notch musical rhetoric, without a single solitary moment that steals the listener's time"

"From Out of Nowhere" is like a time-machine trip back to the golden days of Lynne's ELO, which means the seasoned musician has once again made an album that's totally to the taste of the longtime faithful.

Most longtime fans will surely think, while listening to "All Aboard the Skylark," that the best creative days of these English space rock legends are back.

"Old-school thrash metal strikes back!"

"It's a step into new musical territory, where Moore discovers new dimensions in his search for the best he can deliver right now. "Soul Shifter" may well be the most mature solo studio album from this artist."

"The new album is exactly what its two predecessors delivered. It keeps every one of their qualities. For the occasion, Moratti kept the same crew of musicians in the studio who already worked on »Transcendence«."

"With »II«, CoreLeoni deliver exactly what everyone expected: a second helping of fun, freshly reworked Gotthard classics!"

"If you know Karlsson, Romero and Terrana, you already know what to expect from the album “A New Evil”."

Label: Frontiers Music Srl.Release date: 13.09.2019Album length: 43.00 minProduction: Martin Sweet, Eric Bazilian (track 5) and Chris Laney (track 7)Genre: Sleaze / Glam metalRating: 9.5 / 10 You know that feeling when you press…

"Let him keep teasing Anderson this effectively."

»II« is a brilliant follow-up to the cult debut. From the first spin, when it kicks off with the excellent Don't Say You Love Me, it grabs you by the ears and won't let go. If it had come out (to exaggerate) in 1986, that verdict wouldn't…

" Put on "Winds Of Change" and you'll wish the eighties had never ended. Better still, for a good 55 minutes, you're right back in them. "

With "Behold Electric Guitar", we can say that this is Gilbert's most defined and accomplished fusion of classic rock, blues and jazz to date.

With the closing chapter of their concept about France's most famous national heroine, Eloy have proven that, despite the respectable ages of most of the band's members, they still have plenty of energy left to make great music.

With T. Rex's thoroughly excellent final effort “Dandy in the Underworld,” the life of one of the biggest rock icons of the seventies was cut far too short.

"With this album, Rock 'N' Roll got yet another proper affirmation of its mission. Long before Christmas, The Darkness have moved it to Friday, October 4, 2019, and, like we said, cancelled Easter without a shred of respect!"

"So what we've got here is an incredibly strong, emotional and masterfully composed piece of work, the final artistic statement from Tony Mills, a perfect vocalist whose far too early departure leaves a very real hole in the modern melodic…

"“Hold On” is Kirk Fletcher's fourth studio album overall. It's his first to be fully self-written and, frankly, the one where Kirk finally nails down his own musical label and the trademarks of his guitar playing. A brilliant piece of…

»Grand Tour« is noticeably less gloomy and melancholic in that quintessentially English way, but it's still unmistakably a Big Big Train achievement. Thanks to its remarkable variety and sheer epic scale, it'll delight every longtime fan of…

"The album is once again good, solid and quality. But with no standout moments whatsoever. So, nothing special. Despite the detours Mat Sinner took with a female vocalist, extra guests and a more varied genre styling on some of the tracks."

"In every respect, »48 Seconds« is the very definition of artistic brilliance, a record you can't add a thing to or take a thing away from. A perfect, flawless piece of work. "

"Another smooth, loud landing for the legends of metal!"

"Futuristic Dragon" was a welcome sign that Bolan's T. Rex had managed to pull themselves out of a slump and storm back onto the glam rock scene with one of their best and most eclectic efforts.

"On »Wings«, Picture sound like a dinosaur waking up from a hundred-million-year sleep. Ten tracks follow everything we know and understand under the name Picture. It sounds ancient, ossified, primal, jagged, and in every way it can, it…

“Dream Hunting” is a very solid, mostly ambient, 'still-life' and personal folk/pop rock album that mainly reflects Ziblat's versatility as a songwriter and his genre-free approach.

"The quintet crowned its excellence, and we can safely call it performance-wise perfection, with this show too, and 'Live In Japan 2018' captures it down to the last detail."

Label: earMUSICRelease date: 17.05.2019Length: 99.18 min (2CD)Genre: Heavy Metal / Hard RockRating: 8.5 / 10 A few more words on the new live document from the mighty Loudness, one of the most recognized hard rock and heavy metal…

"HammerFall didn't let us down this time either. The masters stick to their tried-and-true formula, which has always lit up the room and which they've got down cold. "

With the 'American'-sounding (by T. Rex standards) and below-par "Bolan's Zip Gun", it became clear that Bolan's crew had slid into an all-too-obvious creative crisis.

With »The Universe Also Collapses«, Gong prove once again that they remain a prog rock powerhouse even without Daevid Allen. Their latest studio treat stands shoulder to shoulder with their best work from the »Radio Gnome Invisible« trilogy…

With their ninth studio album, Coheed And Cambria return to the sprawling concept they kicked off with their debut. The record has every trait the band has shown so far, so fans won't be able to skip it.

"Swedish metal Vikings Amon Amarth are back with a new album! The band stays firmly rooted in their lyrical themes and musical identity, but this time they're playing around with some new elements." Label: Metal Blade / SonyRelease…

By the time »Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow« came out, it was clear that Bolan's 'creative muse' had started to desert him and that much rougher times were ahead for T. Rex. The album wasn't without the odd great moment where…

"Tanx" was the last classic T. Rex album, the one where Bolan hit his artistic and commercial peak. The influence of soul and funk gave their traditional glam rock sound a fresh coat of paint.

»Black Moon« comes remarkably close to what Lucifer's Friend were putting out in their prime, and it's a worthy follow-up to the previous record, which already made it clear that this band was going to be a force to reckon with after the…

»The Slider« cemented the status of Marc Bolan and T. Rex as the leading glam rock heroes and pioneers, driving the youth of the day wild with their glamorous glaze over rock 'n' roll, pop rock and boogie.

With the masterpiece "Electric Warrior," the first glam rock album in music history and one that sparked a genuine revolution, Marc Bolan and his T. Rex finally struck gold.

With »T. Rex«, one of the more important achievements of his prematurely ended musical career, Bolan was reborn, going from a reclusive psychedelic dreamer to a showman of a glam rock guru. As he gradually molted into an electric guitarist,…

"A Beard of Stars," the most interesting record of Bolan's psychedelic folk era, was already starting to show signs, through its gradual 'electrification,' that a big stylistic shift was on the way.

On the predictably eclectic "Pop Sided," Mr. Belew captures the more accessible side of his creative voice in his trademark energetic, witty way, though fans of more experimental sounds will find plenty to chew on here too.

On »Unicorn«, amid the psychedelic daydreaming, Bolan and Took still kept to acoustic-leaning waters and clung to the mystique of obscure psychedelic folk, even though a handful of tracks already hinted that this wouldn't last forever.

With their insistence on strange, often abstract and metaphysical lyrics, fully acoustic and obscure song structures, exotic percussion and Bolan's idiosyncratic vocal approach, Tyrannosaurus Rex were an odd sight even in the experimentally…

The (almost) classic Gong lineup returning on the super-eclectic "2032", which proved to be one of their finest achievements and a worthy successor to the 'Radio Gnome Invisible' trilogy, must have been a pleasant surprise for many a…

Moerlen's farewell, “Pentanine”, was recorded with three Russian musicians who were a complete enigma to most people before this album. Even so, it ranks among the best moments of his colorful, fascinating career. It was also a dignified…

"Acid Motherhood," born from the fusion of three different but kindred bands under Allen's genius-slash-eccentric leadership, was a one-of-a-kind experiment in Gong's long and thrilling history.

With »Zero to Infinity«, Gong, under Allen's brilliant leadership, pulled off one of the most interesting achievements of their rich and varied career.

»Shapeshiter« was a surprisingly strong return of the 'real' Gong under Allen, who successfully blended their classic space rock approach with some more modern sonic touches and slick modern production.

For "Contribution To the Common Mandess", his fourth solo album overall, Aleksander Arsov transformed into his alter ego Unhappy and poured out an electronic record of remarkably alluring avant-garde provocation and genre fusion."

"Šinobusi could have pulled off a fully retro-sounding prog rock album, but they'd rather stick to shorter, tightly arranged little tunes that pack in absolutely everything."

"A band with character, a fully formed vision and a potent creative drive that isn't afraid to flirt with "otherness" and try the untried, so it would be no surprise if the third album turned out significantly different again, from both the…

Alkaloid don't disappoint the second time around, either. Liquid Anatomy was crafted by exceptionally skilled and seasoned musicians who could soon be leading the pack in the extreme metal scene if they keep heading in this direction.

“I Loved You At Your Darkest” is without a doubt a record that newer fans will see as a career peak, but older fans will probably find it no better than average.

"A new Prekmurje quintet of seasoned musicians is devoted to crossing traditional folk songs from Prekmurje and Porabje, which in their musical vision they dress up into a fresh musical conglomerate, delivering a new, hugely interesting and…

“Svetilnik” is an album you need to spend real time with, because it's packed with vivid arranging and sonic fullness. Although it's blessed with big musical appeal, Čedahuči pulled quite a few sonic-experiment moves on it, which for the…

"Welcome to the vivid, one-of-a-kind, timeless and utterly unique mantra of seven wonderful bards, who will move you, wake you and stir you up when you meet them together on the night of “Prvi krajec”."

"Stik is a gorgeous proof that Jernej Zoran is becoming a great artistic aesthete, and one more confirmation of his flexible, expressive knack for blending the lightness of pop with bold, playful, even lucid, but always full-blooded,…

"An album signed in sweat and blood. With the pedigree to grow into a classic of Slovenian hard rock, that's Mary Rose on "Resničen svet"! Thirteen years after the release of "Feniks", they're happily back among the living!"

With its occasional dance and house touches, "Gongmaison" was an unusual experiment in Allen's already wildly varied musical career, but the album is still stylistically diverse enough to deserve a more respected spot in the Gong…

Compared with its more synthetic predecessor "Breakthrough," »Second Wind« was a noticeable step up, but it still ranked among the less exciting efforts from Moerlen's Gong, especially when set next to Pierre's albums from the seventies.

"The EP "Sinner" in one word? It drives. With the character this EP shows off, Fed Horses are absolutely on the right track. Not just in a burst of perfectionism, but in wholeheartedly developing and enriching their own homegrown character…

Even though "Unhalfbricking" was born in a grueling, traumatic stretch for the English folk rock titans, it turned out to be one of their finest achievements and gave them fresh energy to carry on with their career.

"“Flesh And Blood” is, generally speaking, a very good hard rock album, written, composed and produced just the way it should be for the Whitesnake name in 2019"

“Empath” takes us on a fun, thrilling ride through every corner of Devin's restless soul and all his many musical mutations, then wraps it all up with an epic masterpiece that's exactly what you'd expect from a musical genius like him.

“The Seeds of Love” was one of the artistic peaks and the next sonic evolution in the career of the unforgettable masters of new wave romanticism and art pop rock perfectionism.

"»Conundrum« is everything we want from Alex Skolnick and his trio. This seven-year cycle between the trio's album releases works out great."

" Up N' Downs, as heralds of a new generation, use this album to build a bridge between old and new and hold up a mirror to their generational peers, showing where Slovenian hard rock is headed, so we don't have to worry about the genre…

"»Alkimija« is its own album with its own story. Its strength, despite being highly predictable and trivially easy to crack, lies precisely in the fact that it's generationally lost in time and space, or rather that its release is showing…

" The Slovenian craftsmen of modern "musical prose" in gypsy swing, Teo Collori in Momento Cigano, haven't just matched their wildly bold and fun predecessor with »Kamerato Muzikante« — they've topped it, and that's the record they stepped…

"The band's big win is that on the new album they've found an expressive niche that, in the crowded field of Slovenia's alternative rock acts, is still unclaimed."

"»Attitude« is, and we say this with zero modesty, already one of the highlights of 2019 for AOR/melodic rock albums! "

»Life« is a quality new album from Hardline, packed with righteous rock slaps in the face, with three average ballads wedged in between. That doesn't take away from the essence of the record, which is its credibility.

With "The Secret", Mr. Parsons has made a very likable album that turned out almost exactly as most of his fans wished and expected. Even though it mostly doesn't reach the high standards of The Alan Parson Project's golden years, it's one…

On their solid debut, Steeleye Span were still learning the ropes of British folk rock and slowly shaping their own recognizable sound.

“Breakthrough” had a few interesting ideas, but it was light-years away from Moerlen's Gong at their best.

I can't remember a band that has climbed into the ranks of the more prominent names in the Slovenian metal scene as fast as Ljubljana heavy metallers SkyEye. Last November they crowned their journey so far, which began with the EP Run For…

"The whole confessional "circus" served up by this devilishly titled album could be a sublime answer to the band's hidden pact with the devil. The artistic growth in the punch of its message is plain to hear."

"Agora" is the debut studio album from seasoned, battle-tested musicians, the Slovenian jazz and blues rock sextet Emil And The Detectives, and it sounds like the seventies never ended."

"»Strip« hits its target. We couldn't have expected anything less. After six Kočevje špila compilations, even we've gotten a little spoiled, and the seventh one gratefully keeps on spoiling us."

If you've been following modern-day Focus and liked their previous three studio outings, you'll find plenty to enjoy on "Focus 11."

On "Strange Times," The Moody Blues finally showed their age as songwriters and arrangers.

"All in all, an exceptionally beautiful jazz album, and really an elegant culmination of the maturity of all the knowledge, experience and skill picked up along the musical road of one of the greatest drum masters in Slovenian jazz."

"Home Invasion", also out on Blu-ray/DVD, is a real live treat for anyone who loves everything about the one-of-a-kind Steven Wilson, who was in great spirits at the Royal Albert Hall and served up a near-perfect selection from his colorful…

"After two excellent albums, “Hymns for the Broken” (2014) and “The Storm Within” (2016), both truly top-notch, the question was whether Evergrey could hold on to that incredible creative streak and carry it over to a new record. The…

"Knjiga pohval in pritožb is the expanded edition of the album "Milo za drago", and the moment Dan D keep taking successful steps down the road of artistic self-evolution and individuality."

"With this much talent among young Slovenian jazz musicians, as radiated by the third generation of Zlatko's protégés on the album »Petelin iz Noznega«, there's really no need to worry about the future of good jazz in Slovenia."

Phideaux Xavier and his crew of seasoned musical aces, who are also people he grew up with and has known almost his whole life, remain masters of modern progressive rock on "Snowtorch" too, and on every new album, his take on the genre…

"Keys of the Kingdom" is one of those 'late-period' The Moody Blues albums that prog rock fans can pretty much write off, with only rare flashes of the old atmospheric magic that once made them one of rock's most innovative bands.

"Leave It Open" wasn't the most groundbreaking chapter in the Moerlen's Gong story, but thanks mainly to its title-track masterpiece, it's remembered fondly by fans of Pierre's musical legacy.

"Musicmagic," the final studio outing from the cult jazz fusionists, faded into obscurity fast, thanks to its thoroughly commercial feel and a complete lack of experimental playfulness, even though all six tracks on the album were once…

"While in every way a worthy successor to the last four Overkill albums, “The Wings Of War” isn't among the hardest, sonically sharpest and most possessed Overkill releases that remain burned into the minds of the band's longtime devotees.…

"With »Nouvi sad«, ŠKM Banda have soared straight to the zenith of their creativity, delivering an album we can already call one of the best Slovenian rock releases that 2019 has given us or ever will!"

Label: ZARŠRelease date: September 18, 2018 It's a curious story, how this compilation showed up in my hands totally unexpectedly, long after its official release date. On top of that, you wait for the right reviewing moment,…

" "Kill Or Get Killed" is a true-blue, hardened shrapnel shell that hands fans of Iron Savior, as well as fans of the whole Euro power metal genre, immodestly put, a true heavenly manna of fresh, boundless delights from the classic metal…

"However "Shock" ends up splitting the band's fanbase, one thing is clear. It's a different Tesla album. Different from everything Tesla have recorded so far. That was the band's wish, and they pulled it off. At what cost, though? We'll…

"For fans of Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell and Crush 40, adding the album »One Voice« to your CD collection is an absolute must."