Category: Album Reviews

The Night Flight Orchestra ‘Give Us The Moon’ (Napalm Records)

The Night Flight Orchestra ‘Give Us The Moon’ (Napalm Records)

,

Before every festival that he goes to, Jonny B tries to find the time to listen to every band on the lineup to make sure he hasn’t missed any hidden gems. This really paid off before Bloodstock 2021 and JBI spent the run up to the festival hyping The Night Flight Orchestra to anyone who would listen… unfortunately they ultimately had to pull out and it wasn’t until 2022 that we got to see them at the festival but it was definitely worth the wait!

Read More
Pentagram ‘Lightning In A Bottle’ (Heavy Psych Sounds)

Pentagram ‘Lightning In A Bottle’ (Heavy Psych Sounds)

,

When it comes to doom metal, they don’t come much more legendary and influential than pioneers Pentagram. Led by the infamous Bobby Liebling, Pentagram has been around in one form or another for over fifty years now, enchanting new sets of fans as each new generation comes along. Now Liebling is back with a new line-up and some ‘Lightning In A Bottle’, the first new album from Pentagram since 2015’s ‘Curious Volume’ ten years ago.

Read More
Time Rift ‘In Flight’ (Dying Victims Productions)

Time Rift ‘In Flight’ (Dying Victims Productions)

,

It’s crazy to think that some of the great songs on classic rock are approaching the age where they would be picking up their bus pass and heading down to the post office to draw out the week’s pension. Yet somehow these songs still excite generations of rock music fans, with kids still finding the likes of Zeppelin and Motörhead in their parents (or grandparents) music collections and rocking out! Hell, the stuff that makes classic rock so special is still present in modern music, with new bands cropping up dedicating themselves to the stylings of ’60s and ’70s greats – a “new wave of classic rock”, if you will. It seems that the aptly named Time Rift are one such band, who emerged in the dark times of 2020 to bring us life and comfort with their debut album ‘Eternal Rock’ and are here again with the much anticipated follow up, ‘In Flight’. The seatbelt light is lit, so it’s time for me to buckle up and experience this Time Rift Sensation!

Read More
Dunes ‘Land Of The Blind’ (Ripple Music)

Dunes ‘Land Of The Blind’ (Ripple Music)

,

It may appear that there would be little, if any, commonality between the dank, grey-skied post-industrial cityscapes of the north-east of England and the broiling, skyline-shimmering heat of the Mojave Desert, but there obviously is some sort of deep inner, almost psychological connection as this album exhales the fumes of the former and spits the grit of the latter in equal proportions.

Read More
The Hornets ‘Another Place To Stay’ (Peones Records)

The Hornets ‘Another Place To Stay’ (Peones Records)

,

These Italian classic garage rockers don’t exactly display the same work ethic as the insect from which they take their name. It took them five long years to deliver their debut album (reviewed in these very pages back in July 2021). Back then, Monk defiantly declared that he was looking forward to hearing more from the Etruscan band: well, it’s just as well he didn’t hold his breath as it has taken them another three and a half years to get around to following it up…

Read More
Magnum ‘Live At KK’s Steel Mill’ (Steamhammer / SPV) 

Magnum ‘Live At KK’s Steel Mill’ (Steamhammer / SPV) 

,

It was almost exactly a year ago that we heard the sad news of the passing of the great Tony Clarkin, founder and songwriter of Magnum, one of the most enduring and consistently great British rock bands of the last 50 years, just days before the release of his final Magnum album ‘Here Comes The Rain’. A fitting tribute to the man is this new live album ‘Live At KK’s Steel Mill’, the last official live recording of Magnum to feature Clarkin.

Read More
Early James ‘Medium Raw’ (Easy Eye Sound)

Early James ‘Medium Raw’ (Easy Eye Sound)

,

The title of this album is just how Monk likes his steak, with the blood still pumping through its veins and enough meat and gristle on the bone to keep him chewing rather than just biting in and gulping it down.  In this regard, this is also an album that lives up to its name, as it is vibrant and visceral and so raw you can suck the very marrow off its bones and chew on the accompanying gristle until you’re ready to let it slide pleasingly into your audio digestive system.

Read More
Ex Deo ‘Year Of The Four Emperors’ (Reigning Phoenix Music)

Ex Deo ‘Year Of The Four Emperors’ (Reigning Phoenix Music)

,

Rarely had Monk thought that, an entire lifetime after gaining an A level in classical history, he would ever have to dig out my well-thumbed, almost disintegrating 50-year old Penguin Classics edition of Tacitus in order to discuss the merits of a heavy metal album; but time has a weird way of turning its wheel back on itself, and so here we are… cogitating upon the most turbulent year in the annals of the empire once known as Rome and this musical recreation and recollection some two millennia later.

Read More
Loading