Category: Album Reviews
Gary Moore – ‘Old New Ballads Blues’/‘Close As You Get’/‘Bad For You Baby’/‘Live at Bush Hall’ Reissues (BMG)
Fifteen years after the Belfast guitarist’s untimely death, this week sees another four reissues from the legendary Gary Moore catalogue, concentrating on the final chapter of his illustrious career. Studio albums ’Old, New, Ballads, Blues’ (2006), ‘Close As You Get’ (2007), and ‘Bad For You Baby’ (2008), along with the live album ‘Live at Bush Hall’ (released in 2014, three years after Moore’s passing, but recorded in 2007) are all rooted firmly in the blues and get a CD and double vinyl revamp.
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Gypsy Pistoleros ‘Dark Faerie Tales’ (The New Church Records)
Worcester’s self-styled “Glam Punk Goth ‘n’ Roll Outlaws” Gypsy Pistoleros this week will unleash their most ambitious brew yet when they take us deep into their world of their ‘Dark Faerie Tales’. Building on the swagger of 2025’s ‘Church of the Pistoleros’, this 10-track epic – produced by Dave Draper (known for his work with the likes of Michael Monroe and The Wildhearts) – dives deeper into haunted punk mythology, blending sleazy riffs, gothic drama, and flamenco sparks into a feverish, genre-defying ride.
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Interrobang?! ‘Rethink Everything’ (FOAD Musick)
Featuring Dunstan Bruce, coming from the anarcho-cabaret roots of Chumbawamba, and Stephen Griffin previously of the London outfit Regular Fries, Interrobang?! have made a decisive move away from the previous guitar-led confrontational agit-punk sound of their 2018 debut album. Ten years since they started work on that album, their sophomore release sees them embrace synths, samplers, loops and electronic production for a radical re-invention in a mission to ‘Rethink Everything’.
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IGNESCENT ‘ETERNAL’ (FRONTIERS MUSIC)
Ignescent’s latest album, ‘Eternal’, delivers a potent mix of heavy riffs, catchy hooks, and Jennifer Benson’s soaring vocals that could light up both Christian metal and mainstream rock stages. The Chicago band’s follow-up to ‘Fight In Me’ builds on their dynamic sound, blending downtuned guitars from Andre Leon, muscular bass by Mikey Green and Kohl Coryell’s driving drums with pop-infused songcraft that’s radio-ready yet headbang-worthy.
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The Sideshows ‘The Sideshows’ (European Phonographic)
Take acclaimed songwriter Rich Ragany (Role Models, Rich Ragany & The Digressions, The Loyalties), add legendary musician Sami Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks, New York Dolls, Jesse Malin, Michael Monroe), and finally powerhouse ÜK drummer Simon Maxwell (Yo Yos, The Loyalties, Role Models) – on paper you have a pretty lethal combination there. That combination comprises brand new project The Sideshows, who are about to release their self-titled debut album. So is the end result equal to the sum of its parts?
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IRON HEART ‘WELCOME TO THE MADNESS’ (SELF-RELEASED)
Over the course of the 40 years Monk has been working in the Northern Ireland music business, Monk can probably count the number of power metal bands who tickled his eardrums on the fingers of one hand, and still have a couple of digits to spare! With one perhaps very obvious exception, it is an area of the rock ‘n’ roll arena into which few gladiators have dared to step… Now, a decade after they last did so, a brave band of warriors have re-emerged from the darkness of hibernation into the light of the battle’s dawen, raised their swords high and issued a clarion call which demands to be heard – and answered.
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FOREIGNWOLF ‘MERELY MORTAL’ (SELF-RELEASED)
Monk first came across these Belfast alt-groove metallers about five years ago, when they arose from the ashes from a number of previous projects. Unfortunately, due to one thing or another,he managed to lose track of them for much of the intervening period, although their name did remain on the periphery of his radar due to gig posters, etc. Now, however, they are now defiantly front and centre of the boss’ focus, thanks to this, what by his reckoning is their third (?) EP.
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SAMURAI PIZZA CATS ‘PRESS START’ (CENTURY MEDIA)
While the world of rock and metal is often focused around the massive names of North America, Australia and the Nordics, one country is quietly brimming with incredible bands right now and that’s Germany. Deeper still though, German bands that are turning established norms on their heads and injecting a sense of absurdist humour into the mix such as We Butter The Bread With Butter, The Butcher Sisters or, in this case, Samurai Pizza Cats.
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ANGINE DE POITRINE ‘VOL II’ (SPECTACLES BONZAI)
In the new era of virality, some bands suddenly break through to the rest of the world in spectacular fashion but rarely in such an egregious fashion as Angine De Poitrine who’ve exploded across screens around the world with their mix of eye catching polkadot visuals, unusual outfits and similarly bizarre approach to math rock with microtones.
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Evil Blizzard ‘Death Songs and Lullabies’ (Crackedankles Records)
Famed for having multiple bass players (at one point eight of them) and an array of rubber masks that give both children and adults nightmares, Preston’s Evil Blizzard are now onto their fifth studio album ‘Death Songs and Lullabies’, the follow up to 2023‘s outstanding ‘Rotting In The Belly Of The Whale’.
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NIHILANTH ‘DETRITUS OF RUIN’ (SELF-RELEASED)
Like quite a few of their counterparts on the Northern Ireland metal scene – one which, despite the continued ignorance of the local mainstream media, is perhaps even more vibrant and vital than at any time in its history – these death groovers have undergone something of a traumatic period in their existence, with the usual story of line-up changes threatening to stymie their initial momentum. But, there is one thing which is consistent in this particular corner of the Überverse, and that is the ability of those concerned to emerge from periods of challenge stronger and more defiant than ever, and that is exactly what Nihilanth have done with this declarative second EP.
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MOLARBEAR ‘COGNITIVE DISSIDENT’ (CURSED MONK RECORDS)
This Belfast five piece has been combining sludginess thicker than the sleech beds of the rivers that run through the heart of our mutual native city with razor-sharp punkiness and shit tonnes of positive attitude for around a decade now. A demonstration of how they believe in taking their time in doing things their own way, this new EP has been something like 18 months in the making, with the first tasters having been served up to us in the latter half of 2024.
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