Category: Albums

{mosimage}The first concept album by English metal gods Judas Priest is based on the peculiar character of Nostradamus.

The album takes a look at the life and the prophecies of the French Michel de Nostradame, better known as Nostradamus; a new and in a certain way risky step in the career if the legendary metal band, but was it needed? The album is featured in a double CD with almost 2 hours of duration, and well, maybe it can be a bit difficult to swallow the first times you listen to it. Halford´s voice masters the lyrics, and the band has been able to melt more orchestrated sounds and colorful intros with the classic Judas sound.

But well, maybe the extravagance can be a bit too hard to listen for not open minded fans. Nostradamus includes 23 tracks that fuss theatrical parts with other riffs 100% classic. It is praising that a band like Judas Priest still had time to experiment, but at the same time, the album can end up being a bit boring. Mention apart for the great artwork done by Mak Wilkinson, which makes by itself the CD worthy to pursue. If you approach this album without prejudices, it can certainly entertain you: if not, maybe you will prefer to stick back to their old stuff.

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}Stay Heavy Records have signed one of the most exotic bands to step into Finnish festivals last months: the Indonesian Noxa.

Noxa became known for some heavy metal Finnish bands after having the chance to play in last Tuska festival in Helsinki, as well as having other gig scheduled in Tampere. The story of the band is peculiar, since they were discovered in a previous edition of Tuska festival when they travelled all way from Indonesia just to assist to what they considered as the best metal festival in the world. No doubt that the chance to be a part of the fun and perform on stage must have been a milestone in the lives of these Indonesian.  

What you have here is their second album, and what we can say about it… if you see the tracklist you will be impressed cause it comprises no less than 31 tracks + 4 videos! A collection of fast and furious grindcore songs that last no more than 2 minutes. Listen to Brutally Murder or Sinetron Sucks and you will have an idea what to expect. Noxa just like to shoot straight to your brains killing riffs and brutal sounds. A good effort by the Asian fellows, and certainly an exotic note to include in your collection if you like grindcore.

Rating 3/5.

 {mosimage}From the very depths of hell Venom is back with a new album! 

Venom set a precedent in dark metal scene with their first two studio albums. Years later and after many changes in its formation, they are back on the track with the unmistakable voice of their singer Cronos, mastering the album from the initial track Straight to Hell and shouting like the devil itself in the fifth track Hell.  

Good drums work all around the album by Antony Lant like in The Power and the Glory or Hand of God, but sometimes the guitar riffs do not sound as brilliant as they should.

Die hard fans will be certainly pleased with Hell, although not the best album from Venom, a good effort. For others not so familiar with the band this will be simply a good album to add to their collection and a splendid way to discover and review older material from the Englishmen.  

Rating 3/5.

 {mosimage}Mick Box and company pull out a new studio album with an excellent CD artwork. 

One of the reference bands when talking about rock, prog and metal, Uriah Heep, is back with another studio album after one decade.

A rotund start with the heavy first track Wake the Sleeper that sounds powerful and sharp gets mixed with some other songs more in line with the classic sound of the band during the 70s, like Angles Walk Within or War Child, showing once more that Trevor, their bass player, has great songwriting skills, while Bernie´s vocals are standing out all over the album. And added to all this Ioannis ´artwork for the CD is classy and splendid.  

In summary, an album that ranks high in the long Uriah Heep´s career. Surely new and old fans will be pleased with the comeback.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}From Sweden comes one of the last sensations in experimental rock and black metal.

If you like dark sounds and experimental music, you are going to be happy with this new release of Cult of Luna. Their new work is just much more than a collection of songs, but a conceptual album with a very interesting background story: As Johannes Persson explains himself; the idea comes while they were rehearsing in an old mental institution and got in contact with a little book from and old patient called Holger Nilsson, sentenced for his wife´s murdered.

So here you find a personal representation of Nilsson´s paranoia in the hands of these talented Swedish musicians. Listen to tracks like Owlwood, The Great Migration or Following Betulas and get knocked by their power; although raw, their lyrics are pretty listenable, so Cult of Luna is definitely a band that can reach quite a wide range of potential followers.

Although I must confess I prefer usually more classic metal stuff, this Eternal Kingdom is a good album and Cult of Luna an interesting band that will surely add a lot of good things to the genre.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}Lovers of traveling and enjoying new cultures must be happy with the series of music rough guides, centered this one in Japan.

Japan: an amazing country that combines history with modernity. But also the cradle for a huge and often unknown music scene. Trying to shine a light and spreading some more knowledge of Japanese music, The Rough Guide has edited this year their musical guide to Japan. Far from genres like pop, rock or no theater, the 18 tracks that combine the album are predominantly focused on a pseudo-folk style. I could highlight as some of my favorite tracks Subayado Bushi by Nami Makiota or East of Kunashiri by OKI Dub Ainu Band.

The eclecticism of the album is good and bad at the same time, because you can pass instantly from listening to the saddest of the melodies to a new one full of joy. As in every compilation where many different bands are gathered, this probably will disappoint those of you who already have some knowledge about Japanese music and want to go deeper, but it will be an excellent first contact for the other many (me included) who still have to learn a lot about the fascinating Japanese music scene.

Rating 3/5 

{mosimage}The legendary Christian death metal band from Jyväskylä is back on the road with new album and new European Tour.

Formed in 1993, the guys of Deuteronomium have been around for quite a long time. After having a split of 6 years from 2000 to 2006, now they strike back after signing a new contract with Bullroser Records and feature this From the Midst of The Battle.

What you are going to find here are cutting riffs, a powerful work in the drums pushing the lyrics sang raw by Miika Partala, and in general good doses of old death metal for nostalgic and newcomers equally. Try to listen to the introductory Fields of War or to Defending the Faith (in the most pure Catholic death metal style).

Well, I was never a fan of mixing religion and metal music, but if the mix floats your boat, surely you will definitely enjoy with the comeback of this veteran band. And if you want to see them on live in Finland, you will have a chance soon because they will be playing the 23 of August in Tampere.

Rating 3/5

{mosimage}Finnish band that has been around since 1996 offering good doses of psychedelic trance music.

Not from Texas but from Finland comes this band led by Tim Thick and Pentti Slayer. Texas Faggot has been making tecno-trance music for more than one decade, playing not only inside the Finnish borders but also outside in countries like Japan, USA or Israel. Now they release a new album again with Exogenic Records, while at the same time they take care of their parallel projects Mandalavandalz and Flying Scorpions.

Not that I consider myself a great fan of trance music, but certainly the psychedelic atmosphere, far from the more hardcore bands in the genre, makes the album pretty easy to listen. Pretty recommendable to listen as background music when practicing some sport activity, Tim and Pentti certainly know how to put some high rhythm into your veins!

Rating 3/5.

{mosimage}If you like bands like Motörhead, surely Chrome Division will find fast a place in your musical collection.

From Norway comes this new band, but far away from being composed by inexperienced musicians. Just the opposite, they are led by Shagrath, famous from belonging to Black Metal legends Dimmu Borgir. Together with him Lex Icon (from The Kovenant), Luna (from Ashes to Ashes) and Eddie Guz on the vocals (from The Carburetors) consolidate a solid project that comes back to the smell of burnt leather, cold beer and smoke of cigarette in a lost bar in the middle of a highway.

Listen to ravaging sounds like Booze, Broads and Beelzebub or Raven Black Cadillac, and be ready to turn on your CD while driving fast from town to town. If you like the spirit and the dirty rock of bands like Black Label Society or Motörhead, surely you are going to adore Chrome Division. I do.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}Hydrogyn comes stronger than ever to show that in Kentucky there is not only fried chicken, but also good hard rock.

Guitarist Jeff Westlake and vocalist Julie Westlake formed the core group of Hydrogyn, an American band not afraid of crossing the Atlantic to tour relentlessly around Europe. Surely the title of the album is well chosen, being a good proof the introductory track Rejection followed up by a superb On and On. Guitar riffs are cutting and the beautiful voice of Julie gives an stunning performance.

A mix between Evanescence and Vixen, if you like hard rock bands with astonishing female voices, surely you won´t get disappointed with Hydrogyn. Good lyrics where you can surely feel identified. Who does not have a deadly passion from time to time?

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}Formed in 2005, English Crimes of Passion brings back some good guitar riffs and sleazy rock for nostalgic of the 80s!

Putting aside weird musical experiments from other rock bands, Crimes of Passion goes straight to the point that made hard rock great during the 80s, with the boom of so many great bands, many coming from USA. The formula is simple but not so easy to achieve: powerful and sharp guitar riffs, catchy melodies and a vocalist with charisma. The English band scores really a superb first studio album where all these elements are combined.  Dale Radcliffe´s voice is clean and powerful and Andy Lindsay´s guitar is constantly pushing the melodies to make you move your feet listening to every track.

As some highlights, try to listen the first breathtaking cut A Thousand Strong (maybe the best of the whole record), God Made Me Your Angel or Unbreakable. Added to this, the design of the album is really cool, with the members of the band pictured in the back cover in comic style with reminiscences of Frank Miller´s visual work, where the black and whites take a note of color with some bloody red.

The band was touring during 2008 in the great comeback tour of Great White, a good chance to enjoy good new and veteran rock bands playing music at its best!

Resuming, the band delivers a surprisingly good and fresh debut album. Let´s pay attention to what the guys will bring in the future!

Rating 4/5

{mosimage}Valtteri Virtanen and Matti Jasu feature their second studio album, full of positive energy and good vibes to have an unforgettable summer!

The guys from Turku started their musical career together in 2004 and after their debut album The Brain that Wouldn´t Die, here comes their second one. The record company behind them is the same one that takes care of pop-rock Finnish legends 22-Pistepirkko, Bone Voyage Recording Company, and you can certainly notice some similar features between both bands, such as the meticulous care for achieving a good musical experience, and the positive energy involving every composition.

From the initial track Black Labrador, followed by the catchy Hanging on to a Bad Dream, or the colorful guitar riffs of Keep me as a Secret, the entire album exhales a spirit of lightness in your heart. The title “Summer Challenge” could not have been chosen in a better way, since this is the perfect album you want to hear when driving your car and arriving to the place of your holiday destination. The feeling can be resumed similarly: this album is about relaxing, enjoying music and reminding us what is to have a good time. A positive attitude towards life that could be resumed in the 12th track: Better Times Comin´ Up.

If you are tired of too much melancholic spirit in Finnish music and you enjoy good pop-rock coming from the heart, surely Goodnight Monsters will be able to catch you instantly.

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}Mixing the voices of Campbell and Lanegan in one single album is like mixing heaven and hell, ice and fire that turns into a new musical limbo.

The soft voice of Isobel Campbell (former member of Belle and Sebastian) teams up for second time with the gutural one of Mark Lanegan (ex Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age) in their follow up album: Sunday at Devil Dirt.

It would have been difficult to imagine that these two so different personalities in the music scene could be able to collaborate together and launch an album, but after the first experiment with Ballad of the Broken Seas (2006), it was clear that the mix works more than fine. Here you can find a good collection of melodies, with the voice of Lanegan sometimes overacting in the poorest Johnny Cash´s style, to find its counterpart in the fresh breeze that Campbell is able to exhale every time that joins the duet.

An album to listen calmly enjoying the eclectic fusion in themes like Seafaring Song, The Flame that Burns or Trouble, while having a glass of some strong liquor to forget pities on one hand; pretty recommendable album for the lovers of strange musical delicatessens.

Rating 4/5. 

{mosimage}Dave Lindholm, one of the most legendary Finnish musician active, is back together with American Joe Vestich in this new project.

Talking about Dave Lindholm is talking about a live legend in Finnish music contemporary history. The man has collaborated and recorded with people such as Stanlingrad Cowboys, or Pelle Miljoona, apart from a long and notorious solo career.

Together with him, American musician Joe Vestich, who has collaborated with Lindholm for many years, starting at the 80s. The result of the new project is a new album with homonymous title for the band: Messengers. No doubt that the name goes straight to the point, since the album is a message for those lovers of good rock and bluesy melodies; a collection of new songs and covers in 10 explosive tracks. Try the introductory one: 1,Two, 3, Four and get caught in a musical experience with delicious cuts like Storm´s Catchin´Me Up, I Know What You´re Doin´ or C´Mon, Use Me.

Tunes about the old universal topics: love, sex, relations…  Songs that show once more that the old (Finnish) rockers never die!

Rating 4/5.

{mosimage}After half a decade, the English led by J. Spaceman are back on the road with a new studio album.

Not that Spiritualized is a band very fond of releasing studio albums; after 18 years of existence, this is their sixth one, a double reason to celebrate the comeback of a formation that for many bands has become an object of cult. Jason Pierce seems to be in excellent shape after having gone through a serious illness, and the album streams from one good song to another during the prolific list of 18 tracks that compose this Songs in A & E.

A well balanced introductory track: Harmony gives space to more kicking melodies such as I Gotta Fire or the bittersweet Sitting on Fire. An excellent orchestral tapestry to delight your ears. If you were one of the lucky ones to see the band on live together with Lenny Kravitz few days ago in Helsinki, surely you did not get disappointed. For the rest, there is always a joy of having a new Spiritualized´s studio album to listen to once and again.

Rating 4/5.