A rainy Friday evening in deepest, darkest Manchester, to see a man renowned for his dark music – sounds like the perfect build up to an alternative gig! Well aware it’s a sell-out show, our resident gigaholic down early to try and get close to the front, to properly absorb in the performance of a man renowned for how well he performs live.
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The Dark Queen enters the ‘Valley Of Shadows’ as she reviews the debut album from Northern Ireland metallians Conjuring Fate.
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The brainchild of Frontiers Records’ boss Serafino Perugino – who not only has a knack for putting together such “superstar” combos (to varying degrees of success, it has to be admitted) but also, it could be argued, has been almost single-handedly responsible for re-establishing AOR and melodic rock in general on the musical map – Revolution Saints (for those who are unfamiliar with the name) brings together three of the most respected musicians in the field: drummer Deen Castronovo from Journey, Night Ranger frontman Jack Blades and guitarist Doug Aldrich. The main difference is that this particular project enables Castronovo to step out from behind his kit and take over lead vocal duties.
Read MoreDom Daley reviews the debut album from Stiv Cantarelli And The Silent Strangers.
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The ‘official’ historical records claim that Carrickfergus Castle – an imposing edifice on the northern shore of Belfast Lough – was built by the Norman conqueror John DeCourcy on a rock known for the healing powers of its fresh spring (and also its badass location)… however, the locals – and those of us you used to live there – know better! The legend goes that the rock upon which the castle stands (the town was originally named after the Dalriadan king Fergus Mór mac Eirc, who claimed that aforesaid spring had cured his leprosy) is actually a protective cloak for an alien spacecraft which crashlanded there millennia agom, and that one day its owners would return to reclaim it! Well, fast forward to 2014 and enter five mysterious figures collectively known as the Assassins: led by a mysterious white-coated, mad-eyed character known only as ‘The Watcher’, with the rest dressed all in black and bearing the enigmatic code ‘NASA’ emblazoned on their arms, lore stipulates that they are using music as a force by which to re-energise their craft and thus return to whence they came…
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