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Tag Archives: alternative

Album of the Year 2016 – number 20

It’s getting a little more serious now as I enter the Top 20 of my ‘Albums of the Year 2016’ top 30 countdown. Can you feel the tension start to increase? Your nerves jangling? Biting your nails?… What do you mean ‘no’? You heathens! Anyway, here we are over a third of the way through  Continue Reading »

Album of the Year 2016 – number 21

I can’t quite believe it, but welcome to day 10 of my annual labour of love, otherwise known as my ‘Album of the Year 2016’ top 30 countdown. I’ve hit the one-third mark already and I’m delighted with the response I’ve had so far to this slightly epic endeavour – it makes the effort thoroughly  Continue Reading »

Seven Impale – Contrapasso – Album Review

Artist: Seven Impale Album Title: Contrapasso Label: Karisma Records Date Of Release: 16 September 2016 I’ve been writing reviews about rock and metal of all types for over ten years now and over that time, I’ve learned a lot. One of the more powerful lessons I’ve learned is that often, you can admire an album  Continue Reading »

Dream The Electric Sleep – Beneath The Dark Wide Sky – Album Review

Artist: Dream The Electric Sleep Album Title: Beneath The Dark Wide Sky Label: Mutiny Records Date Of Release: 22 July 2016 Dream The Electric Sleep are a difficult band to review for numerous reasons. Firstly there’s the headache of trying to adequately pinpoint and understand the music. Secondly, once sufficient enlightenment has been reached, the  Continue Reading »

Essential rock & metal releases still to come in 2016 – Part 2

Welcome to the second instalment of my series looking ahead to some of the music that is still scheduled to come our way in the remainder of 2016. If you missed Part 1, it can be accessed via the following link: Essential rock & metal releases still to come in 2016 – Part 1 However,  Continue Reading »

Katatonia – The Fall Of Hearts – Album Review

Artist: Katatonia Album Title: The Fall Of Hearts Label: Peaceville Records Date of Release: 20 May 2016 How does one remain objective and dispassionate when reviewing a band as special as Katatonia? As long-term readers will know all-too well, the Swedish masters of dark metal are one of my all-time favourite bands. Just take a  Continue Reading »

Long Distance Calling – Trips – Album Review

Artist: Long Distance Calling Album Title: Trips Label: Superball Music Date Of Release: 29 April 2016 Normally I deride press releases for being full of vacuous nonsense, soaring on a thermal created by its own hot air and gushing superlatives. So when the press release to accompany the new album from Long Distance Calling reached  Continue Reading »

Album Of The Year 2015 – Number 6

Welcome to Day 25 of my ‘Album Of The Year 2015’ Top 30 countdown. No long intro today, just a thanks for sticking with me through this mammoth undertaking and for any new readers, a reminder to check out my picks from 30 down to 7 via the links at the bottom of this post.  Continue Reading »

Bauda – Sporelights – Album Review

Artist: Bauda Album Title: Sporelights Label: Temple Of Torturous Year Of Release: 2015 Despite releasing two albums previously, I was unaware of the name of Bauda before this review. The quartet from Santiago, Chile create some really lovely music and I’m really pleased to be given the chance to write a few words about them  Continue Reading »

Caligula’s Horse – Bloom – Album Review

Artist: Caligula’s Horse Album Title: Bloom Label: InsideOut Music Year Of Release: 2015 When I recently wrote about the strength of the Australian heavy metal scene, one of the bands that I used to illustrate my point was Caligula’s Horse. The progressive rock/metal band from Brisbane had not long before released the magnificent ‘The Tide,  Continue Reading »


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