by Joe Mis Staff Writer If imitation is the sincerest for of flattery then the boys in Bonafide certainly try to flatter AC/DC and Whitesnake. The Swedish quartet pays shameless homage to some of the great hard rock bands of the 1980s and is poised to release a 6 track EP to prove the point. Fill [...]
by Alissa Ordabai Staff Writer Impeccable instrumental virtuosity redeems this Swedish quintet’s occasional overuse of the old power metal cliché, but by the time the album ends you can’t escape the feeling that you’ve heard it all before. Manipulations of the old standards come easy to Mean [...]
by Alissa Ordabai Staff Writer Relentless in his output of groundbreaking material throughout his 25-year career, Joe Satriani is taking his game a notch higher on his new release Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards. Satriani’s formidable technique may have always been about conveying a sensation [...]
by Joe Mis Staff Writer Melodrome’s music is difficult to classify but easy to enjoy. This three piece from Massachusetts makes music that combines elements of classic rock, pop rock, alternative rock and blues, and presents it in a very simple, basic way that is easy on the ears. Filled with [...]
by Mark Allen Staff Writer The saying goes that everything is bigger in the Lone Star State and Texas Hippie Coalition aim to prove that axiom on their sophomore album Rollin’. The southern metal band is fronted by Big Dad Ritch, a giant, tattooed, cowboy hat-wearing goliath of a man, but even [...]
by Justin Gaines Staff Writer The 3-disc (two CDs and one DVD) collection Black Pearls is the first proper “greatest hits” package from long-running German gothic metal band Crematory. The band started out in 1992 with a sound that was mostly death metal with some gothic influences, and has [...]
by Erik Tweedy Staff Writer In 1991 Mr. Big stormed across the world with their hit single “To Be with You” which skyrocketed to #1 in 15 countries and has since become a staple on every hair band ballad collection being hocked on late night television. The original Mr. Big lineup never quite [...]
by Ron and Don Higgins Staff Writer Kiss of Life is the debut masterpiece by VEGA, which has been eagerly anticipated by lovers of AOR since the project was first announced this summer. It’s exactly what you would expect from a Frontiers Records release produced by John Greatwood and mastered by [...]
by Alissa Ordabai Staff Writer This Italian death / grindcore quartet’s debut album is a peculiar thing: on the one hand it shows the impeccable mastery of their chosen genre, but on the other betrays their talent for much more than solid, deep growling vocals, wall-of-sound texture and brutal [...]
by Justin Gaines Staff Writer North Carolina-based power/thrash band HellRazor is back with Soothsayer, the eagerly-anticipated (if all too brief) follow-up to their 2008 debut In the Wild. HellRazor’s sound is a vicious blend of thrash metal speed and intensity with the spirit and melodic [...]
