Author: Steve Earles
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Orange Goblin – The Wolf Bites Back
As the Elder Gods of Metal die or retire, we need new legends to fill the void left in their sonic wake: Orange Goblin are one such band. They’ve earned it, putting in the hard work live and on vinyl. Indeed their headlining performance at last year’s Siege of Limerick is itself becoming legendary. The…
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BOOK REVIEW: David Bowie in Darkness
A Study of 1. Outside and the Late Career Written by Nicholas P. Greco There are probably more books written about David Bowie covering the period from Space Oddity to Ashes to Ashes than the later stages of his career, as these were so long considered his ‘Golden Years’. Yet Bowie always created interesting music, none more…
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Ivar Bjørnson and Einar Selvik – Hugsjá
The previous collaboration from Ivar Bjørnson of Enslaved and Einar Selvik of Wardruna, Skuggsjá, was both an achievement and a success (though you would expect nothing less from such individuals). Follow-up Hugsjá is, simply put, a beautiful piece of music, one that works perfectly well as a body of work. The word Hugsjá means to see…
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BlackLab – Under The Strawberry Moon
On the surface of it, BlackLab are a doom metal band, and yet not completely so. Hailing from Japan, BlackLab are two Japanese women: Chia Shiraishi on drums, and Yuko Morino on guitar and vocals. A bass-less two piece, but they are (dark) light years removed from the generic boredom of the likes of Royal…
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Sense of Fear – As The Ages Passing By…
So much metal is marred by a lack of dynamics, but that is certainly not the case with Sense of Fear. Time changes abound on As The Ages Passing By…, giving Sense of Fear a real sense of drama. The first thing that struck me about Sense of Fear was their strong songwriting and musicality.…
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The Raz – The Raz
Good music is always timeless music and such is the case with the music made by the splendidly named The Raz. Their self-titled debut could have been recorded at any time in the last fifty years (which I mean as the highest compliment). Their musicianship is very strong and the band gel together well, giving them…
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Greystone Canyon – While The Wheels Still Turn
Australia has a great track record for producing classic rock acts like Rose Tattoo and AC/DC, so it is no surprise that Greystone Canyon, hailing from Australia, have those bands in their musical DNA. The very name Greystone Canyon sums up images of cowboys on a vast empty landscape. It’s a very cool name for…
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Shadygrove – In The Heart of the Scarlet Woods
As we see with the surprising and pleasing success of artists like Myrkur, our beloved metal genre is becoming ever more diverse. More and more artists are returning to the past, like aural archaeologists, to the primordial musical wellspring for inspiration. Shadygrove have an acoustic heaviness that can only come from the heart and soul:…
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Unshine – Astrala
Epic is an understatement to describe this fine album. Imagine Ritchie Blackmoor’s Rainbow (Dio era) with a brilliant singer in the shape of Susanna Vesilahti, and you’re only halfway there. The melodies are reminiscent of Within Temptation or Nightwish but with a harder edge. The music courtesy of Harri Hautala is excellent, and again, epic! Another band…
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Grave Lines – Fed Into The Nihilist Engine
Like Mogwai meeting Black Sabbath, this is music that mines dark inner depths. The music is given a chance to breathe, to surge and fall, like a painting composed of monochrome darkness. I felt ‘the Nihilist Engine’ the album refers to could be the modern world we live in, a world that crushes hope if…