Airbourne - Black Dog Barking (Album Review)

It's been half a decade since these ageing Aussies released 'Black Ice', the 15th studio album of their hugely influential forty year career. And now.....the wait is over! Angus and the boys are finally back!! It's time to load your guns and board the boogie train for rock & roll central, as the all conquering AC/DC are ready to don schoolboy uniforms, fire canons and seduce vixens the world over following the release of their best new record in donkeys years. What's mightily impressive about 'Black Dog Barking' is it's sheer nuclear energy, as the boys serve up a spellbinding speedball of an album that drags back the clock in sizzling style, featuring ten raucous rockers shot through with so much youthful spunk you'd swear they were actually 30 years younger. Oh, hang on a minute.....

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 17 May 2013

Primal Scream - More Light (Album Review)

Remarkably, Primal Scream have been in existence since 1982 and ‘More Light’ becomes their 10th studio album some 5 years after its rather unheralded predecessor, ‘Beautiful Future’.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Friday, 17 May 2013

Black Star Riders - All Hell Breaks Loose (Album Review)

Nobody needs another history lesson on Black Star Riders. We know that they are an off-shoot of the latest incarnation of Thin Lizzy, and that they’re expected to sound like Thin Lizzy.

Written by: Daniel Lynch | Date: Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Savages - Silence Yourself (Album Review)

Sit up and pay attention appears to be the warning to listeners of all-female band Savages debut album 'Silence Yourself'. The post-punk outfit have grabbed people’s attention with their ferocious live shows and a spot on the BBC Sound of 2013 poll, but with this album you don’t have to believe the hype you have to embrace the gritty and powerful experience.

Written by: Ryan Crittenden | Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2013

TesseracT - Altered State (Album Review)

Rewind back a year and the state of things was unclear in the TesseracT camp. Having lost their second vocalist within a year, it looked like we might have lost yet another talented British rock group. The band’s debut LP One was a breath of fresh air in an overcrowded tech metal scene, whereas the experimental Perspective EP was met with mixed reviews. And so with the announcement that the band had procured their fourth official lead vocalist to let rip over polyrhythmic grooves and eerie guitar tones, there was a sense of both relief and trepidation. 

Written by: Jonny Rimmer | Date: Monday, 13 May 2013

Leprous - Coal (Album Review)

With ‘Coal’ Norwegian progressive metal troupe Leprous have boldly decided to ramp up the prog factor of previous releases to maximum. Don’t be frightened however, this quintet are actually relatively tasteful, so you can put images of horrible Rick Wakeman keyboard solos to the back of your mind and dive in.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 13 May 2013

Ben Marwood - Back Down (Album Review)

Ben Marwood is one of a number of Frank Turner associates currently floating about the circuit and, with his customary good grace, he seems to have accepted that he is unlikely to go stratospheric like his friend. In fact, ‘Back Down’ is an album largely built around Marwood’s own realisation that he isn’t going to be getting on the cover of NME any time soon.

Written by: Jon Stickler | Date: Monday, 13 May 2013

Mindless Self Indulgence - 'How I Learned...' (Album Review)

"You're only young once, but you can be immature forever," slurs Jimmy Urine on their new album. Perhaps the lyric that could best sum up Mindless Self Indulgence's entire career and success to date, and it's for that reason that their fans love them. With their fifth album funded by these very people via Kickstarter, 'How I Learned To Stop Giving A Shit and Love Mindless Self Indulgence' had more weight on its shoulders to be good, and - at the very least - proves to be quintessentially MSI. 

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Monday, 13 May 2013

Escape The Fate - Ungrateful (Album Review)

The Escape The Fate road hasn't been the smoothest of journeys over the years. Since Craig Mabbitt's arrival to take over vocal command, there's been a lot of change-ups, controversy and animosity to deal with and, in the midst of all that, they created two post-Radke studio albums. But trying to branch out the band past Ronnie's identifiable styling on their debut has divided the masses. It's now that Escape The Fate are set to drop their fourth album 'Ungrateful' - first post Max Green - and settle themselves firmly where they want to be. 

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Monday, 13 May 2013

These Monsters - Heroic Dose (Album Review)

The long awaited follow up to 2010’s bizarre, yet brilliant, ‘Call Me Dragon’, ‘Heroic Dose’ sees These Monsters take a different approach to their previous efforts. Don’t fear, this is still riotously noisy from beginning to end, and it’s no less weird than the last album either. What has changed is that These Monsters are now more direct in their noise-making, partly one suspects due to their number being whittled down to three and partly due to their own determination to make a record that is, to quote the title of one of ten tracks here, ‘Harder and Faster’.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Monday, 13 May 2013

Harry Keyworth - Flux (EP Review)

In recent times there’s been a noticeable increase in the number of talented musicians coming out of West Wales, with singer-songwriter Harry Keyworth the latest to come across Stereoboard’s radar with his debut EP ‘Flux’.

Written by: David Ball | Date: Friday, 10 May 2013

Joe Satriani - Unstoppable Momentum (Album Review)

Make no mistake, this is the sound of an artist completely at ease with himself and his muse, unconcerned by expectations and having an absolute blast. Following 2010's 'Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards' - a stylistically diverse journey through time and space - this fourteenth studio album finds guitar wielding deity Joe Satriani return to earth with a sparkling instrumental album that dissects the emotional traumas and triumphs caused by humanity's ceaseless forward motion. It sounds serious, but thanks to Satch delivering his most commercial collection of tunes since 1992's 'The Extremist', the overall feeling is one of unwavering positivity in the face of adversity. Whilst some may be disappointed by the lack of heavy rock numbers and increasingly mature aesthetic, 'Unstoppable Momentum' still boasts a great mixture of astonishing virtuosity, visceral melodies and genre bending passages that are vintage Satriani.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 10 May 2013

Lady Antebellum - Golden (Album Review)

Country is all the rage these days with the likes of Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons and Taylor Swift all championing the genre whilst also producing commercially friendly chart toppers. Lady Antebellum are no exception. Fronted by Nashville-born Hillary Scott, the country-pop trio have enjoyed huge success so far. In fact, since 2008, Lady Antebellum have won almost 50 awards – seven of which being Grammys. Will this success continue with new album 'Golden'? It’s a bit of a no-brainer, really.

Written by: Katie Vowels | Date: Thursday, 09 May 2013

Danny Bryant - Hurricane (Album Review)

Why do so many blues guitarists mistakenly believe they can sing? Whether down to ego, self delusion or a dearth of suitable vocalists, those pesky bits with the microphone are often poorly developed in comparison to their well honed six string prowess. On his latest studio effort, Danny Bryant exhibits the kind of impressive touch and feel that's seen him lauded as one of the best British blues players of his generation. However, whilst his song writing is solid enough with the occasional moment of excellence, the material is let down by his decidedly ropey vocals, demonstrating why so many talented players should leave the singing to someone who can match the quality of their fretwork.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Wednesday, 08 May 2013

Agrimonia - Rites Of Separation (Album Review)

It’s hard to adequately sum up Agrimonia. Suffice it to say that they are one of very few metal bands in the last, well, decade or more at least, who have not felt it necessary to act within particular stylistic confines. This Swedish mob utilise elements of crust, black metal and sludge most prominently, but there are also odd hints of more melodic tendencies that perhaps even relate to the sound their hometown of Gothenburg is best known for.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Wednesday, 08 May 2013

The Pigeon Detectives - We Met At Sea (Album Review)

Having sold over 500,000 albums since their formation in 2004, The Pigeon Detectives have accumulated a strong fanbase consisting of a (mainly) youth element, as their songs generally tackle issues that youngsters can easily relate to. New offering 'We Met At Sea', released on the Cooking Vinyl label, continues this trend, with claims of the band having abandoned their ‘polished indie-rock sound’ for something more unpredictable and real.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Wednesday, 08 May 2013

Benga - Chapter II (Album Review)

In a culture that’s teeming with wide eyed bedroom producers making it big purely off singles and free mix-tapes, it might be naive to assume that this notion of a “full length studio album” retains much significance. But if this is assumed correctly, then it’s at Benga’s loss that only now, five years since his breakthrough effort ‘Diary Of An Afro Warrior’ that he’s pitched his flag in pop’s battle field with this third release.

Written by: Owen Sheppard | Date: Tuesday, 07 May 2013

Hessian - Manegarmr (Album Review)

With ‘Manegarmr’ it is clear Hessian have worked on honing a formula rather than trying to rewrite the wheel. Their brand of metallic hardcore isn’t going to set the scene alight, but it’s more than decent enough. Hailing from Belgium (yes, there is an Amenra member involved; guitarist Levy Seynaeves plays bass in the country’s premier heavy act), Hessian have crafted an album here that plays as much to their strengths as songwriters as musicians.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 07 May 2013

Parlour Flames - Parlour Flames (Album Review)

When rhythm guitarist Paul Arthurs (AKA Bonehead) left Oasis in 1999 he cited family reasons for the departure. Initially Arthurs laid low in the public eye, until busking duties in Manchester for charity with ex-Smiths bassist Andy Rourke, along with various DJ performances gradually saw him make a return; he also had a stint in local band The Vortex and presented a BBC Radio Manchester show for good measure.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 02 May 2013

Jaga Jazzist - Live With Britten Sinfonia (Album Review)

The old cliché is that live albums are rarely essential and, to be fair, there is a certain degree of mileage in that. Does anyone really need Metallica to release another live DVD where they play the same setlist again, but this time in Peru? Didn’t think so. On the other side of the equation, however, some live albums really do act as valuable documentations of moments in a band’s career, whether the visual element is included or not, and ‘Live with Britten Sinfonia’ may just do that for Jaga Jazzist.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Thursday, 02 May 2013