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Sacred Reich – “Awakening” (Review)

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Sacred Reich – “Awakening”   (Metal Blade) Out Now I recently reviewed the new Tool album “Fear Inoculum” in these very pages and i thought 13 years and 2 months between Tool albums was a considerable chunk of time! Turns out that was a mere blinking of the eye compared with Sacred Reich! The band’s last album, “Heal”, was released WAY back in 1996!! So that’s 23 years between releases!  Drummer Dave McLain spent ALL of those years behind the kit with Machine Head. When Robb Flynn disbanded Machine Head last year to go back to the original line up, enter Phil Rind asking Dave if he would like to return to Sacred Reich. Turns out that question was a no brainer. Phil, Dave and long time Reich guitarist Wiley Arnett called young hotshot guitarist Jerry Radziwill and into the studio they went.  According to Rind, recording “Awakening” was an emotional time for him as they hadn’t recorded for so long. They had played sporadic gigs during the previous 23 years, but
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Volbeat – "Rewind, Replay, Rebound" (Review)

Volbeat – "Rewind, Replay, Rebound"   (Vertigo) Out Now Danish rockers return with album number seven and their first studio outing with bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. What, at first listen, seems yet another generic rockabilly meets metal Volbeat album, soon turns into a rather splendid album. Things kick off nicely with the INXS inspired funky riff of ‘Last Day Under The Sun’ and you’re automatic thought (well MY automatic thought) was “thank God they’re actually doing something new”.  Now don’t get me wrong, their Johnny Cash meets Metallica signature sound is VERY good indeed BUT it does get a bit tiresome when you hear the same riffs and vocal melodies over and over again. Sadly there are a few tracks on ‘Rewind, Replay, Rebound’ that fall into that category. ‘Pelvis On Fire’ for example is nothing more than a mix of ’16 Dollars’ and ‘Sad Man’s Tongue’ which is quite lazy in my opinion. ’16 Dollars’ and ‘Sad Man’s Tongue’ are both GREAT songs in their own ri
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Tool - “Fear Inoculum” (Review)

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Tool “Fear Inoculum” (Volcano/RCA) Release Date - Friday 30th August 2019 No dear reader, your eyes AREN’T deceiving you! This is a NEW Tool album!! Not quite hitting the “10,000 Days” target set by their last studio album of the same name, it’s been 4869 days since a new Tool album was released. That’s thirteen years and 2 months.  Tool actually make Rammstein look prolific. So what does a  thirteen  year wait get us?  The numbers are worrying at first glance – seven new tracks (ten if you get the digital download, although the extra three are instrumental interludes), and a running time of just shy of eighty minutes which is the maximum time a single CD can hold. So far so “WHAT?” Take a deep breath and relax, this is Tool we’re talking about here. A quick word of advice before i go any further – if “Fear Inoculum” is your first  foray into Tool land, DO NOT PRESS PLAY! I am deadly serious here. Go back and work your way through their catalogue, that way you will appreciate
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Sons Of Apollo – “Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony” (Review)

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Sons Of Apollo – “Live With The Plovdiv Psychotic Symphony” (Inside Out) Release Date - Friday 30th August 2019   First of all, this ISN’T your usual contract obligation live album! This fact is important as we progress. With only one studio album to their name, Sons Of Apollo decided to document their first world tour with this rather splendid live album and DVD.  Utilising the same venue and orchestra that label mates Devin Townsend Project used for their farewell live album from last year, this show is a bit special. It comes as no surprise that they play pretty much all of their debut “Psychotic Symphony” album. Then there’s the cover versions! It’s quite a daunting mix of covers for vocalist Jeff Scott Soto to attempt, but he takes the challenge like a trooper and does a very admirable job. Granted, they are all not note perfect vocal renditions BUT he’s not too far off the mark and i doff my imaginary cap to him for having the stones to even attempt these co
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Tesla - ‘Shock’ (Review)

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Tesla - ‘Shock’ (UMC) Out Now Sacramento veterans Tesla release one of their finest albums, but only if you’re a fan of Def Leppard! If you, dear reader, are sitting at home gagging for a new album from Def Leppard, may I make this suggestion? Take yourself down to your local music emporium or online store and throw your cash at the retailer with these words - “Please may i have a copy of “Shock” by Tesla?” Ah, but does it REALLY sound like Def Leppard, or are you just saying that? Okay, if Tesla had delivered this album anonymously to Leppard’s management or record label, the Leppard boys would’ve received a call congratulating them on delivering yet another fine album! The reason for the Tesla/Leppard love-in becomes crystal clear when you hear that “Shock” was co-written and produced by Def Leppard guitarist and six pack shaker Phil Collen. It’s not even just a wee bit like Def Leppard, right from the first track “You Won’t Take Me Alive” there’s that instant
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Thunder – The Greatest Hits (Review)

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Thunder – The Greatest Hits (earMUSIC) Release Date - Friday 6 th September 2019 Formed from the wreckage of Terraplane in 1989, Thunder was founded by front man Danny Bowes, guitarist Luke Morley and drummer/all round lunatic Gary "Harry" James (drums) who were joined on the trip by multi-instrumentalist Ben Matthews who fired out hit albums such as ‘Backstreet Symphony’ (1990), ‘Laughing on Judgement Day’ (1992), ‘Giving The Game Away’ as well as the critically acclaimed ‘Wonder Days’ (2015) and ‘Rip It Up’ (2017) releases. What better way to celebrate thirty years of the band (give or take a few years when they were on hiatus) than to release an “all killer, no filler” greatest hits collection containing nearly thirty tracks from across their career and even chucking in a previously unreleased track for good measure! With twelve studio albums of material, the band have made sure that there’s at least one song from each of the band's studio albums
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Status Quo – 'Backbone' (Review)

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Status Quo – 'Backbone' (earMUSIC) Release Date - Friday 6th September 2019 Earlier this year, (the mighty) Status Quo announced the release of ‘Backbone’, their first new studio album since 2016’s ‘Aquostic II: That's a Fact!’ and their 33rd studio album in their long career.   There’s no denying that ‘Backbone’ is an important release because it’s the first studio album from the group since the untimely death of rhythm guitarist Rick Parfitt in December 2016 and the first studio album to feature his successor, Richie Malone. Recorded at Francis’ home studio in the late 2018 with some recordings conducted in early 2019, the album spans some eleven track s and comes in at around 40 minutes in length.   Two tracks,’ Cut Me Some Slack’ and ‘Liberty Lane’, have already made their debut in the Quo live set and they’ve received a mostly positive reaction from Quo’s army of fans whilst the title track itself was released with a promo video in early July, again to
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