Pelican - Forever Becoming (Album Review)

For all their predictability, there’s no denying that Pelican remain one of the best bands in the world at what they do. There are hundreds of instrumental post-rock/metal bands around nowadays, but few have the assuredness of touch and quality control that the Chicagoans have demonstrated over the last decade and more. 

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Wednesday, 09 October 2013

Miley Cyrus - Bangerz (Album Review)

Miley Cyrus has commanded a large slice of the public’s attention for a while now, for reasons good, bad and weird. She’s undergone a remarkable transformation from twee Disney popstar to rebellious, largely naked, twerker and her exploits have recently earned candid, differing responses from Sinead O’Connor, Annie Lennox and Amanda Palmer.

Written by: Katie Vowles | Date: Tuesday, 08 October 2013

Eden's Curse - Symphony Of Sin

Following a biblical sized bust up with their former singer, Eden's Curse rise from the ashes with a cracking new vocalist and album that blows their previous releases out of the water. If this heavyweight collection of guitar driven anthems doesn't see them ascend to the major leagues then it's surely the end of days for quality rock music.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Friday, 04 October 2013

Vulture Industries - The Tower (Album Review)

Every once in a while a metal band pops out of nowhere, grabs the world by the bollocks and demands to be heard. Slipknot did it with their self-titled masterpiece and this year Crossfaith have been receiving obscene amounts of media attention off the back of their 'Zion' EP and latest opus, 'Apocalyze'. Hell, Avenged Sevenfold are headlining Wembley Arena in a few months.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Thursday, 03 October 2013

Fenech-Soler - Rituals (Album Review)

The time is now for Fenech-Soler. They’ve been knocking around for a while, with their profile slowly on the rise since the release of their self-titled debut three years ago. Likened to Friendly Fires and Delphic by the Guardian earlier this year, they’re packing that upbeat, electropop kind of sound that you know and love.

Written by: Emma Dodds | Date: Thursday, 03 October 2013

Drones - Free Marked Kid

Angry, loud, melodic and passionate - Camberley's Drones have all the ingredients for success when it comes to punk rock. Their new EP 'Free Marked Kid' pays serious homage to their influences, including Rise Against, Strike Anywhere and Anti-Flag, but manages to make an exciting dent of its own.

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Thursday, 03 October 2013

Soulfly - Savages (Album Review)

Right, let's get something out of the way right now. We're not going to be comparing this album to anything Sepultura have churned out post-’Roots’. Why? Well, because they're a completely different beast now and Soulfly are arguably a bigger draw in 2013.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Wednesday, 02 October 2013

Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2 (Album Review)

There’s nothing understated about the second instalment of Justin Timberlake’s ‘20/20 Experience’. It’s an unwieldy proposition, its bloated running time conspiring to overpower the few fresh, exciting ideas that made the cut.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Wednesday, 02 October 2013

A Storm Of Light - Nations To Flames (Album Review)

Josh Graham’s A Storm Of Light project will always remain in the shadow of Neurosis, the band with whom he collaborated on visuals for over a decade until the release of their ‘Honor Found In Decay’ album last year. But if any record in the Storm of Light discography is going to allow Graham and company (drummer Billy Graves and bassist Domenic Seita) to escape the Neurosis shadow, then it’s ‘Nations To Flames’.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 01 October 2013

Haim - Days Are Gone (Album Review)

Nostalgia is a powerful tool, and a dangerous one when wielded by the wrong band. Luckily, Haim have skirted the thorny divide between authenticity and parody on their debut album, turning in a batch of songs built for a golden age of radio.

Written by: Gavin Rees | Date: Monday, 30 September 2013

Drake - Nothing Was The Same (Album Review)

Drake’s an emotional guy, and he’s not your garden variety hip hop star either. ‘Nothing Was The Same’, his third full-length, finds him indulging this side of his persona again, while pushing his music in a few new directions.

Written by: Katie Vowles | Date: Monday, 30 September 2013

Nirvana - In Utero: 20th Anniversary Edition (Album Review)

If any record has new things to say 20 years after its initial bow, it’s Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’. Released at a time when Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl were chewing their way through the inevitable backlash that accompanied ‘Nevermind’, it has since become a prisoner of tragic circumstance, evoking time and place in a manner that wasn’t intended by its creators.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Friday, 27 September 2013

Dregen - Dregen (Album Review)

Of all the rock stars to have graced the planet in the last 20 years, few are as underappreciated as Dregen. Having spent time at the helm of Backyard Babies and the Hellacopters, the guitarist recently put out ‘Horns And Halos’ as part of Michael Monroe’s band, and here we find him solo and in fine form.

Written by: Gemma-Louise Johnson | Date: Friday, 27 September 2013

Kids In Glass Houses - Peace (Album Review)

‘Peace’ might just be the biggest statement in Kids In Glass Houses’ career to date. The quintet have built strong foundations over the last seven years and in that time they’ve turned in three full-lengths and a batch of well-received singles.

Written by: Katie Vowles | Date: Friday, 27 September 2013

Devin Townsend - The Retinal Circus

The world changed on October 27, 2012. The messiah wasn’t born, we didn’t stumble across the meaning of life, but on that hallowed day, Devin Townsend set foot on the stage of the Camden Roundhouse and unleashed something that had been meticulously planned and mulled over for the better part of a year. This was the biggest headline show of the man's entire career.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Thursday, 26 September 2013

Saves The Day - Saves The Day (Album Review)

It’s been a while since Chris Conley and Saves The Day sounded this vibrant. Maybe it’s the cover, in all its grapefruity glory, or maybe it’s the fact that the conceptual strings that bound ‘Sound The Alarm’, ‘Under The Boards’ and ‘Daybreak’ have been cut.

Written by: Huw Baines | Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2013

More Than Conquerors - Everything I've Learnt (Album Review)

Formed in 2009, More Than Conquerors are a dynamic, alternative punk outfit from Belfast.  Why it has taken them so long to release their debut album, ‘Everything I’ve Learnt’, is anyone’s guess, but it has definitely been worth the wait.  

Written by: Lee Johnston | Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Tonight Alive - The Other Side (Album Review)

On their debut, Aussie pop-rockers Tonight Alive asked, 'What Are You So Scared Of?'. Well, when you’ve made a dent with a solid debut, the idea of producing a successful follow up is pretty scary. The balance between developing your sound and ensuring that you please the fans is a fine one, but on 'The Other Side' Tonight Alive are in confident mood.

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2013

Dream Theater - Dream Theater (Album Review)

Releasing a self-titled album after almost 30 years as a band may seem strange, but this record is a roaring statement of intent that embodies and expands on every element of Dream Theater's unrivalled progressive metal sorcery. As such, it's the perfect fit.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Tuesday, 24 September 2013

Scar The Martyr - Scar The Martyr (Album Review)

“Slipknot have three drummers; that's why it's all so fast.” Many a time has this phrase been uttered by uneducated mouths. While Shawn Crahan may have been there right at the inception of the Iowan behemoth, his main job on stage is to dick about on top of a metal keg. Slipknot's inhuman BPM count is provided almost entirely by man-machine Joey Jordison. Since rising to fame as part of the masked nine, he's gone on to drum with Korn, Ministry, and Satyricon among others. To call the man a workaholic is a gross understatement.

Written by: Alec Chillingworth | Date: Tuesday, 24 September 2013