Venue - The Slade Rooms - Wolverhampton 6.7.2018 At a loss for what to do with a free Friday night I reached out to the friendly Facebook community group 'New Wave Of Classic Rock' to see what was on offer and the best recommendation for me was this gig. I was only vaguely aware of Vega so I checked a few songs and liked what I heard so I committed myself and bought a ticket that morning. Let me tell you I was not disappointed. I feel like I haven't been to a gig in a while and this was a good reminder that live music is always better. I was smiling throughout the whole thing.   First up we had Devilfire. Due to unexpected traffic I missed the first half of the set but what I did see I liked. If you're a fan of guyliner, straight long hair and melodic rock and roll then you will like them too. I would say it felt to me like the Scorpions with a touch of Nickleback. Did I buy a CD? yes I did. I've given it a quick spin and although it's good I th...

  Release date - 27th July 2018 Track listing 1. Dust Atlas 2. The Lady & the Devil 3. Mountain of Gold 4. The March Towards The Sun Urne (pronounced 'urn') are a brand new band featuring members from Hang the Bastard who I had  never heard of. I did a quick bit of research and I am not a fan of what I heard. What I am a fan of though is this new release 'The Mountains of Gold'. It may only be 4 track but they all clock in at around 5/6 minutes each so you get a good little metal session with it. I would say this band are for fans of Hatebreed, Slayer and Megadeth. It's production is super tight and crisp. The kind you might associate with Andy Sneap. I know for some in the metal community this is frowned upon as they much prefer a more raw sound but I love it. First track 'Dust Atlas' takes 2 minutes before you hear any vocals and in that time you are assaulted with riffs. Hardcore riffs, thrash riffs, doom riffs, black met...

Released - June 8th © 2018 Napalm Records Handels GmbH Track listing 1. Bringer Of War 2. From The Sky 3. A Dying Machine 4. Trust 5. Throw Them To The Lions 6. Make It Hurt 7. Traipse 8. The First The Last 9. A Lot Like Sin 10. The Day When Legions Burned 11. As The Silence Becomes Me 12. Take You With Me 13. Desolation 14. Found Mark Tremonti is a guitarist I've followed since the end of Creed (wasn't a massive fan of that). His work with Alter Bridge and his previous solo albums though have all been worthy of well more than a passing listen. His skills on the guitar improve with every release and in the case of the Tremonti albums, so have his vocals. After a slightly disappointing release from his Alter Bridge colleague earlier in the year I was quietly confident that the next Tremonti release (this one) would not let me down. Largely I'd say it hasn't. The steady increase in quality from his previous 3 albums reaching what appear...

Everyone Dies In Utah are a metalcore band from Texas U.S.A. Metalcore isn't a genre I'm overly familiar with and only really dip my toe in to if I'm honest. Always willing to give something a try, the new single 'X' from EDIU actually grabbed me from the first listen. For me it's similar to Atreyu and Killswitch Engage. That probably shows how much I know about the genre. What I can tell you that I do know is I enjoyed it. To my English ears the sound is very American. That's not a problem for me so if it is for you then maybe you should look elsewhere. Having looked back through a bit of their back catalogue It seems this track might be considered a ballad. It is also the most polished from the production side of things. If you don't like the sound of this track because it's not 'heavy' enough then check out their previous work because it isn't a great representation of their sound. For me it's actually better and I hope they...

Stand Alone - Never Stand Alone Stand Alone are a hard rock trio from Bradford. The easiest band to compare them to is Stone Broken with a slightly punkier edge. Whilst going through the bands that have been sent to me, I watched the video for the new single 'Never Stand Alone'. I had never heard of them before today and I'm guessing that you hadn't either. I listened to a handful of other bands that had obviously much more money to spend on videos and recording but I found myself going back to Stand Alone and listening a few more times.  I think I'm just a sucker for harmony vocals particularly if it's a minor third. This single has plenty of them and in the second verse there a tasty 3 part harmony that's like magic to my ears. Whilst many bands are going for technicality, intensity or obscurity, Stand Alone are keeping their eye firmly on melody and that's something I like. As I eluded to before it's not the most polished produc...

Release Date - 25.5.18 Record Label - Long Branch Records Track Listing My Favourite Stranger Burn Celebrity Summer Wires Blacklight Shadow Pray to the Creature Vertigo Mouth of the Wolf Pins and Needles Toru's Maze Years I first became aware of Black Orchid Empire catching them support InMe on their most recent tour. I liked them enough to buy the last album 'Archetype' from the merch stand. They told me they have a new one coming out soon and this is it. I'm not going to pretend like I knew what 'Yugen' meant and for those of you that would like to know, it's a Japanese word for 'Subtle yet profound beauty'. I think it's an ambitious title having listened to it a few times but there is a ring a truth to it. Black Orchid Empire are not your typical alt metal band. Whilst bringing the heavy syncopated riffs they never lose sight of melody. Combined with clean almost pop like vocals they tread a fine line that lands them in...

Release Date : 11.5.2018 Record label : Frontiers Track Listing  Hard Times Over and Over Spirit That Made Me Into the Light Bring It on Home Days Since I Saw the Sun Will You Wait Break You Come My Way Were You Ever Mine Too Far Left to Fall Now seems to be a good time for new underground hard rock bands pushing themselves to the forefront of the scene. Doomsday Outlaw are a good example of that. I was told the day after their Debut album 'Suffer More' was released Frontiers got into contact with them to hear it based on a review in Classic Rock magazine. I have a lot of respect for Frontiers because they are willing to takes chances on new music and usually they get it right. This is one of those times where they have. The three singles that were released 'Over and Over', 'Spirit That Made Me' and 'Bring It On Home' all carry on the same style as 'Suffer More' which is a sort of groove blues hard rock with a pinch of co...