Reviews archive

September 2024

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52 articles

September 30
- “Just because the lazy, the jaded, and the professionally blinkered have given up on rock music doesn't mean the rest of us have to.” Swami & The Bed Of Nails deliver emphatic proof of the eternal power of “troglodyte” rock'n'roll thrills
- "Absolute Elsewhere is a mind-blowing masterpiece." Blood Incantation's new album is two songs long. It's also pure prog-death perfection and one of the best metal albums of 2024
- “It’s like The Eras Tour except not at all”: Cannibal Corpse condense three decades of violence into 75 minutes at rabid London show
September 27
- “There are two experiences on offer here – jam band or practitioners of exquisitely-arranged songs”: Curved Air’s Rarities Series box set
- "So chaotic you feel like you’re having your noggin walloped about by an entire gang of Mike Tysons." Servitude is the best tribute to Trevor Strnad Black Dahlia Murder fans could have asked for
- "A nice package, as the actress probably said to the bass player": Thin Lizzy's big year revisited, remixed and thoroughly expanded
- "No worlds are changed here, but a few will be enhanced": Richie Kotzen showcases metal, funk and fusion on solo album Nomad
- "Although synth lines were the starting point, this remains a guitarist's album at heart": Steve Howe ranges far and wide on Guitarscape
- "An unexpected and very welcome surprise": The Hot Damn! bring the party on the dazzling Dancing On The Milky Way
- "More richly orchestrated girl-group razzle-dazzle and a little less dive-bar valve-amp sleaze": The Courettes ramp up the melody on The Soul Of The Fabulous Courettes
- "The record that proved they really were going somewhere": Therapy?'s Troublegum, 30 years on
September 26
- Doom trap? Trap metal? Nu gen? Whatever: Mimi Bark's debut album proves she's a star
- "At their heaviest, they feel genuinely dangerous." Heriot live up to their potential as Britain's best new metal band on Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell
- “A cornucopia… Most impressive of all are the alternative monitor mixes”: Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe (’) 50th anniversary edition
September 25
- Linkin Park's London O2 show is a celebration of one of 21st century metal's most impactful and important bands
- “Lavish yet controlled angst… for what was then considered regular pop music, it’s fearlessly miserable”: Ultravox’s 40th anniversary edition of Lament
September 24
- "This is no night for naysayers." The Last Dinner Party's Glasgow show proves Gen Z hasn’t given up on rock bands quite yet
September 23
- “The moshpit may take breaks, but the singalongs seldom do”: Zeal & Ardor go avant-garde without hindering their hooks at electric London gig
- “After 2022’s step into traditional prog territory, they aim much more squarely for the arena rock jugular from the outset”: Lesoir’s Push Back The Horizon
- "Pompous, sexually charged, straight-ahead 4/4 rock, replete with cliches and cheesy power ballads": Poison's Look What the Cat Dragged In, 39 years on
September 20
- "No offence Oasis, but that's how it's done." Moby's Manchester show is a cheeky, gorgeous and ultimately triumphant celebration of dance music
- “Occasionally downbeat and introspective – but there’s also an excitement that’s genuinely uplifting”: Stuckfish’s IV is another winner
- "Treasured songs suffer repeated acts of vandalism": Bob Dylan and The Band create both towering art and frat-party havoc on The 1974 Live Recordings
- "Even by Nightwish's standards, the album is sonically huge": Much-imitated symphonic metal giants Nightwish go even bigger than ever on Yesterwynde
- "Chunky, boogie-infused glam-rock tunes are in vanishingly short supply": Glam survivors Sweet bow out in a blaze of AOR
- Co-starring Axl, Slash and other heavy friends, Michael Schenker's My Years With UFO finds the mad axeman in phenomenal form
September 19
- “Stupefying seat-of-the-pants stuff nicely served by a crisp, revelatory sound mix… and ripe for reappraisal”: King Crimson’s Sheltering Skies
- “Fidlar have come a long way from their 'Wake! Bake! Skate!' years.” Clean and sober LA party punks face up to life's stark realities on Surviving The Dream
- "An auspicious and metallicised spin on her dark fairytale aesthetic." The Obsession reunites Charlotte Wessels with former Delain bandmates and the stylings that made her a symphonic metal star
September 18
- "Plenty of evidence to suggest a future exists beyond the shadow of their family tree." Vended's self-titled debut finally goes some way to shaking off that Slipknot tag
- “It works because of the unlikely mix of people involved – and he takes a similarly maverick approach to its songs”: Jordan Rudess’ Permission To Fly
September 17
- “The most melodic, hook-filled and engaging record of their career.” Crows dazzle in the darkness on excellent third album Reason Enough
- "Nightwish sound heavier and livelier than they’ve been for years." Yesterwynde proves Nightwish remain the undisputed heavyweight champs of symphonic metal
September 16
- "A lot of squawking that overshadows everything else": Sir Lord Baltimore conjure up the right sounds on Kingdom Come, but about those vocals...
- "Rapturously received souvenirs of an ever-evolving journey": Big Big Train hit the right notes on A Flare On The Lens
September 15
- "Even the most fervent of believers can run out of divine inspiration": Stryper's songwriting falls short on When We Were Kings
- "His liveliest album for decades": Nick Lowe hooks up with Mexican wrestler-faced surf rockers Los Straitjackets on Indoor Safari
September 13
- “Raw and confessional – but their musical approach soothes the barbs of the subject matter”: Pure Reason Revolution’s Coming Up To Consciousness
- “No pale rehash of former glories, but a genuine triumph in a state-of-the-art setting”: Jon Anderson And The Band Geeks’ True
September 12
- "Dissonant, angular and blearily psychedelic, it absolutely reeks of madness." Black metal icon Gaahl has made one of this year's weirdest extreme metal albums with Trelldom's ...By The Shadows
- "Rack is an incendiary device of an album": The Jesus Lizard shine as brightly as ever on the irresistible, fascinating Rack
September 11
- "Top-shelf Pete Steele, sans any Playgirl spreads." Unto Others have crafted the goth rock album of the year with Never, Neverland
September 9
- “An exceptional, cathartic album that showcases Delilah Bon as a welcome disruptor on the UK alternative scene.” Evil, Hate Filled Female gives new meaning to the phrase ‘Slay, queen!’
- New Oceans Of Slumber album Where Gods Fear To Speak is a vengeful prog metal monster that needs to be heard
- Zetra's debut album sounds like a black metal band swapped screams and blastbeats for croons and synthesisers, then rehearsed on the set of a 70s Doctor Who episode. And it's not bad!
September 6
- "Reminiscent of a deeper, darker version of UFO": Phil Mogg ponders his own mortality on the brilliant Moggs Motel
- “One can spot a steely glint in his eye – despite the subject matter, he’s hardly feeling sorry for himself here”: David Gilmour’s Luck And Strange
- "Southern rock, blues rock, what does it matter what you tag it when the tracks are this good?": The Cold Stares prepare for a big future on The Southern
- "A case of what might have been": The Dead Daisies revert to meat-and-potatoes type on Light Em Up
- "A tightly convoluted blend of NY postpunk, art-rock and fusion": 80s' King Crimson shine brightly on Sheltering Skies
- "Imbued with tropical, fado or flamenco vibes, as if recorded in a hammock on a private beach somewhere": Luck And Strange finds David Gilmour in relaxed, reflective form
September 2
- "If the world was a fair place, everyone's Greta Van Fleet records would spontaneously turn into Great Western Valkyrie": Rival Sons' fourth album finds them on top of their game