City And Colour - The Hurry And The Harm (Album Review)

There’s no doubt that Dallas Green’s vocals are some of the most consistently brilliant around. From Alexisonfire to his own solo project, City and Colour, he brings character and conviction to everything he touches and 'The Hurry and The Harm' is no exception. 

Written by: Katie Vowles | Date: Tuesday, 04 June 2013

Noah And The Whale - Heart Of Nowhere (Album Review)

It wasn’t until ‘L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.’ – the lead single from Noah And The Whale’s third studio album ‘Last Night On Earth’ – first hit the airwaves in 2011 that the mainstream took the folk-pop darlings to their hearts.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Monday, 03 June 2013

The Trade - FU-GO (Album Review)

The Trade, now something of a musical institution in Dundee, have released their second full album ‘Fu-Go.’ Following on from their 2010 debut ‘Lie in the Dark,’ it’s a much more varied and developed effort.

Written by: Daniel Lynch | Date: Sunday, 02 June 2013

Shining - One One One (Album Review)

It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to claim that, when they released ‘Blackjazz’ in 2010, the Norwegian Shining were one of the most exciting bands in the world. Their cocktail recipe of avant-garde jazz and industrial metal created incendiary heaviness out of two ingredients that had no place belonging together. Whilst the idea had already been utilised with far more extremity by the likes of Naked City, Shining pulled the mix together into territory that was brain-meltingly obtuse and astonishingly accessible. This was not the sound of a band solely focused on extremity and, as a result, something new was born.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Sunday, 02 June 2013

The National - Trouble Will Find Me (Album Review)

Consisting of two sets of brothers and a singer with a distinctive baritone, The National are not your normal run of the mill indie rock band; formed in 1999 in Cincinnati, Ohio, their album catalogue now reaches six - predominantly morose and dark affairs - with the release of ‘Trouble Will Find Me’.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Thursday, 23 May 2013

Dark Tranquility - Construct (Album Review)

‘Construct’ is Dark Tranquillity’s tenth album and it breathes with the confidence of a band nearly twenty-five years into their career. The true masters of the Gothenburg melodic death metal sound, Dark Tranquillity have never quite reached the level of popularity of their closest associates, In Flames, or the the level of acclaim afforded to At the Gates’ classic ‘Slaughter of the Soul’ either, but there are complicated reasons for that. In Flames drastically altered their sound to reach ever bigger audiences and At the Gates split up before they had a chance to damage their legacy. Dark Tranquillity have, in the meantime, knuckled down and got on with producing brilliant record after brilliant record, with only a couple of slip-ups in their discography to date.

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Thursday, 23 May 2013

Steak Number Eight - The Hutch (Album Review)

As a teenager, most of us considered trying our hand at being a band. For some - who would prefer to remain nameless - it involves cramming friends into your bedroom to attempt an all-female version of anything from Metallica to The Smiths in hope to find something that worked; nothing came of it, other than a lot of high pitched Hetfield 'Yeah's and something to cringe about in years to come. 

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Monster Truck - Furiosity (Album Review)

You know, Canada has been home to a lot of great music - Rush, Cancer Bats, Alexisonfire, Billy Talent, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young - and, after all of this, they just don't want to stop fuelling great music. And, luckily for rock fans, they've found another offering nestled within their borders. That band is Monster Truck. 

Written by: Heather McDaid | Date: Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Laura Marling - Once I Was An Eagle (Album Review)

Hype can be damaging when scrutinising the worth of an artist. Laura Marling is a young talented songwriter that I have not necessarily given the light of day. Maybe it was her association with the likes of Mumford & Sons and Noah and the Whale that affected my judgement, or perhaps I just struggled to identify her value in our dime a dozen industry – after all we already have Bat For Lashes, Martha Wainwright, Fiona Apple, Joanna Newsom...  

Written by: Jonny Rimmer | Date: Wednesday, 22 May 2013

Eluvium - Nightmare Ending (Album Review)

Matthew Robert Cooper has been making music under the Eluvium moniker for a decade now. In that time he has become, relatively speaking, something of a big name in the ambient music world but, for many, he is still yet to release a definitive record for his project. With the epic ‘Nightmare Ending’ it feels like Cooper is going for broke to a certain extent. Is this the definitive statement that listeners have been waiting for?

Written by: Ben Bland | Date: Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Beth Hart & Joe Bonamassa - Seesaw (Album Review)

There was a telling lyric on the first album of sweltering soul & blues covers from former wild child Beth Hart and omnipotent guitar god Joe Bonamassa; 'well, well...getting to know you so well'. Turns out, that's exactly what they were doing. For whilst 2011's 'Don't Explain' was a huge success, it's follow up is bigger, brassier and sassier on every level. By breathing a contemporary fire into classics from Etta James, Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin, alongside modern efforts courtesy of Slackwax, Lucinda Williams and Melody Gardot, they've created an album overflowing with passion, vitality and class. If 'Don't Explain' was the sound of a musical first date brimming with potential, 'Seesaw' is very much the head-over-heels-in-love honeymoon phase.

Written by: Simon Ramsay | Date: Monday, 20 May 2013

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

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