Author: UberAdmin

The Quireboys – ‘Amazing Disgrace’ (Off Yer Rocka Recordings)

Juan Pablo Mazzola – often featured in these pages as the driving force behind the brilliant Baby Scream – has always been a Quireboys fan. He remembers when he bought ‘A Bit Of What You Fancy’: it completely blew him away, in a way like The Faces, The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith always did. Now, stepping up to the reviewing plate and joining the ÜR reviewing team, he reveals how their new album, ‘Amazing Disgrace’, affected himin the same way… just like they did when he was 14 years old and had their posters on his wall.

Read More

Lord Dying – ‘Mysterium Tremendum’ (eOne)

Death and doom metal go hand in hand – it is pretty heavily implied in the genre’s name, after all. But, where so many bands within doom canon have explored the subject across their discographies, Lord Dying have upped the ante some on ‘Mysterium Tremendum’, basing the whole record around the concept of what comes after the big full stop. Their third record, ‘Mysterium Tremendum’ is double the difference in gaps between the release of their debut and 2015’s ‘Poisoned Alters’, the band using that time to hone their skills into an art form worth reckoning with, offering up a bigger smorgasbord of riffs than ever before whilst also diving deeper into death metal adjacent tendencies, a la Paradise Lost.

Read More

Black Tree Vultures – ‘Black Tree Vultures’ EP (BTV Records)

British four-piece Black Tree Vultures have returned with a follow up EP to 2018’s debut effort ‘Sanity Isn’t Perfect’. This new self-titled release sees the band expanding on their take on a classic metal sound, a sound which has earned them a healthy buzz amongst critics and metal fans alike. After numerous tour support slots and shows following their formation in 2017 and initial release, the band were keen to get more music out to a wider audience. The result is three new tracks recorded live in the studio in an attempt to harness their full power. Has it paid off?

Read More

Legion – ‘Rising’ (Rock Company)

When the Dutch label Rock Company sent their latest consignment of CDs to ÜRHQ, they made a number of what would normally be fatal mistakes in terms of us even considering the releases contained therein for review . First, there was only a simple cover note stating the names of the bands and the albums concerned, and their release dates: no biographical information or any other reference points, such as Facebook addresses or whatever. Secondly, by the time the envelope arrived, four of the five albums mentioned had already been released – one of them as far back as January. Nevertheless, Monk was looking something to listen to in the background while he took care of some admin work and so slipped this, the only one – at the time of writing… Click the link to find out how some CSI-style investigation paid handsome dividends for our boss man:

Read More

Spotlights – ‘Love & Decay’ (Ipecac Recordings)

‘Love & Decay’ isn’t just the title of Spotlights’ third full-length, but an apt description of the weighty emotional resonance they cause with their crushingly heavy yet oddly uplifting music. Difficult to categorise, the New York-based band push pop sensibilities through an incredible intense emotional filter, their music bridging the gaps between what can be done with a sense of unyielding melody and sheer sonic weight.

Read More