Category: Album Reviews

Orbit Culture – ‘The Forgotten’ EP (Seek And Strike)

Orbit Culture – ‘The Forgotten’ EP (Seek And Strike)

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Swedish quartet Orbit Culture follows hot on the heels of their latest album Descent with this blistering new three-song EP. The EP is at its core a thanks to their die-hard fans for the unwavering support across 2023, a year that saw them not only release the bold and unrelentingly heavy album Descent, but embark on tours with metal giants such as Meshuggah and Trivium. An experimental continuation of the album, As Georgia S now explains, ‘The Forgotten’ EP serves as a reminder of the prowess of Orbit Culture, and a short, sharp promise that this success will follow them into 2024. 

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Klark Kent – ‘Klark Kent’ (Kryptone Records/BMG)

Klark Kent – ‘Klark Kent’ (Kryptone Records/BMG)

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Between 1978 and 1980, Klark Kent wasn’t the alter-ego of Superman, but rather that of The Police drummer Stewart Copeland, who released a series of singles and an album under that name, making him the first member of The Police to release solo material. That material is now all bundled together on a new self-titled release, including several previously unreleased tracks too.

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Black 7 – ‘The Second Chapter’ (SODEH Records)

Black 7 – ‘The Second Chapter’ (SODEH Records)

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We first came across the monicker Black 7 almost exactly two years ago, when we were invited to ‘Look Inside’ the musical mind of German guitarist Lars Totzke with his debut solo album. At the time Monk admitted – and will freely do so again – that he’s not a massive fan of instrumental albums, not being the sort of thing he tends to sit down and listen to out of choice. Like classical music,he tends to view them as background soundtracks to other aspects of life, such as researching his forthcoming book, because your concentration on such matters is not interrupted by having to do the same in regard to lyrics and meanings. But, the boss had to admit that, for the 70 minutes of that debut opus, his life temporarily stood still…Will this, the second chapter in Totzke’s story have the same effect? There’s only one way to find out…

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Hinayana – ‘Shatter And Fall’ (Napalm Records)

Hinayana – ‘Shatter And Fall’ (Napalm Records)

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Texan melodeath dealers Hinayana first made an impression on the wider Überverse back in 2018, when their self-released debut album did enough to capture the attention of the ever discerning Napalm Records imprint. Unfortunately, fate subsequently intervened, as it did for so many of us, and the pandemic struck just as the quintet prepared to release their first offering for the label… But, they say that good things come to those who wait, and so here we are, almost four years later, with the band’s second album threatening to destroy the speaker stacks at ÜRHQ…

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Gong – ‘Unending Ascending’ (Kscope)

Gong – ‘Unending Ascending’ (Kscope)

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The current line-up of the legendary Gong, led by the inimitable Kavus Torabi, is now the longest running line up of the band since its original inception all the way back in 1969. ‘Unending Ascending’ is the third studio album to be released since the passing of founding member Daevid Allen, and promises another fascinating journey in the ongoing exploration of the planet Gong.

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Ozric Tentacles – ‘Lotus Unfolding’ (Kscope)

Ozric Tentacles – ‘Lotus Unfolding’ (Kscope)

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One of the most influential bands to emerge from the ÜK’s festival scene, Ozric Tentacles celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band this year, having formed during the solstice at Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983. And there’s no better way to celebrate than releasing a brand new album, ‘Lotus Unfolding’, that shows the band are still very much firing on all cylinders, as Jim R extrapolates…

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Bad Rain – ‘Room To Breathe’ (Fastball Music)

Bad Rain – ‘Room To Breathe’ (Fastball Music)

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The name of Dan Byrne should need no introduction to regular ÜR readers, as he is a regular visitor to these pages, albeit in various guises, be it as frontman of the wonderful Revival Black, providing lead vocals for the insanely talented Myke Gray or washing us off the top of a certain Welsh mountain this past summer with a showstopping solo set… well, what would you know but one of the hardest working dudes on the NWoCR is only back and kicking in our door again with this rather majestic little five-track EP…

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Seekers Are Lovers – ‘Nepenthes’ (Echozone)

Seekers Are Lovers – ‘Nepenthes’ (Echozone)

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Taking their name from one of Cocteau Twins’ more distinctive and obtusely magnificent tunes, it is not surprising that this debut album from German trio Seekers Are Lovers follows a similar breadcrumb trail of electronica-infused darkwave gothicism, albeit delivered with much more of a post-apocalyptic industrial DM groove and vibrancy, eschewing the melancholic laconism for one more approaching mayhemic dissonance.

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TAZ – ‘Wake Up & Sweat’/’Shipwrecked’ (Eönian Records)

TAZ – ‘Wake Up & Sweat’/’Shipwrecked’ (Eönian Records)

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The annals of rock ‘n’ roll are filled with the stories of hundreds, if not thousands, of could have, should have, would have beens, many of whom never really could, should have or would have really made it anyway, but an equal number of whom genuinely stood a chance of breaking out into the big time and making it large, as I believe the kids on the streets say these days… Most of these stories lie buried in the cold case files of the glam, hair and sleaze metal scene which dominated LA’s infamous Sunset Strip back in the late Eighties and early Nineties, when the pervading odour hanging in the air was that of cheap hairspray and even cheaper make-up…

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Solothurn – ‘Servitude’ (Self-Released)

Solothurn – ‘Servitude’ (Self-Released)

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There can be no doubt that the Northern Ireland rock and metal scene has exploded into the post-Covid era with a sense of re-invigoration and declaring its intent to prove that it is one of the most relevant and vibrant anywhere in the Überverse, with both established acts and new kids on the block emerging from that enforced hibernation with a sense of unsatiated hunger that has resulted in one of the most exciting and productive periods in the region’s musical history.

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