Reviews archive

October 2024

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78 articles

October 31
- "Like being at a party where you’ll probably die and get thrown into a dumpster at 3am, but you won’t care": The Quireboys nail it again on Wardour Street
October 30
- "Backcombed head and sloped shoulders above the dreck of indie/goth rock revivalists": Robert Smith charts his own grief and anxiety on The Cure's sombre Songs Of A Lost World
October 29
- "There are definite flashes of brilliance to be found here." Prog metallers Vola evolve in (mostly) the right ways on fourth album Friend Of A Phantom
- Soccer Mommy's fourth album Evergreen is raw, relatable, and real – but lacks the musical innovation it needs to make it a true classic
October 28
- Lankum's Hammersmith Apollo show is spellbinding and dread-drenched. What a shame the crowd can't shut the hell up
- "While the romps through Bon Jovi territory won’t be to everyone’s taste, Brothers Of Metal pull it off." Somehow, Sweden's most flamboyant power metallers have got even more ludicrous with Fimbulvinter
- Goat deliver a "primal, free-flow of noise" for "a night of dizzying dance-filled fun" at their sold-out Troxy show
- "Much of Sub Rosa In Æternum is music to imbibe bedecked in a ruff and cape...and it's delicious." Tribulation's sixth album is the perfect goth rock digestif to wrap up spooky season
- "This is a fired-up performance - a man determined to prove everyone wrong": Paul McCartney rails against the critics, John Lennon, Fela Kuti and muggers on Wings' classic Band On The Run
October 27
- "A marketing masterstroke in a handsome box": Motörhead CD singles turned into delicious vinyl souvenirs on We Take No Prisoners: Singles 95-06
- "Assuredly switching through the gears as if they're all second nature to her": Beth Hart proves she's far more than a blues siren on You Still Got Me
- "Leslie West's sparky and inventive improvisations mesh neatly with Corky Laing’s instinct for power and groove": Mountain's noughties' incarnation celebrated across six live discs of varying quality
- "Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks effortlessly recreate Duane Allman and Dickey Betts' searing guitar lines": The Allman Brothers Band's final show, officially preserved for all time
October 26
- "Divided between acoustic and electric sets, this is a joy from start to finish": Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are still in thrall to each other on Fillmore East 1969
- "All of his solo work is worth owning, but this collection is a mighty big entry point": The best of Bryan Ferry collected on the epic Retrospective 1973-2023
- "Too much effort has been put into reinterpreting other artists' material instead of writing their own": The long wait for a new Lone Justice album may not have been worth it
October 25
- "A Stockholm syndrome love-letter to Hollywood." Halsey's The Great Impersonator is ambitious, vulnerable and utterly, utterly Halsey
- "Tidal waves of sound and immaculate vocal harmonies": Von Hertzen Brothers rise above the gloom on In Murmuration
- "It hits with the kind of brilliant melodic punch he hasn’t delivered in years": Devin Townsend conjures up unexpected greatness on PowerNerd
- "They create a mash-up that conveys the spirit of the 70s without ever getting too specific": Cats In Space wear their classic rock influences as a badge of honour on Time Machine
- "It's the visceral attitude that has carried this band to the vanguard of modern punk": Amyl And The Sniffers refuse to let up on Cartoon Darkness
- "A thing of beauty on a musical, physical and historical level": Queen plunder the archive for Queen I, a lavish 50th anniversary celebration of their debut album
- "This album drops its bombs with honed precision": Pixies prove that class is permanent on The Night The Zombies Came
- Mr Big finish big on live album The Big Finish
October 24
- “Lacuna Coil only seem to grow bolder and more extreme with age." Triumphs, setbacks and singalongs as goth metal heroes celebrate a three-decade career in Wolverhampton
- "Even more melodic and intricate, while still packing more punch than Muhammed Ali in his prime." Fit For An Autopsy continue to transcend deathcore on The Nothing That Is
October 23
- "Maybe this was the catharsis he needed to propel his next chapter." Devin Townsend's PowerNerd isn't the all-out burst of Heavy Devy we expected, but it's still pretty damn good
- "When they put their cloaked heads down, Gaerea indubitably deliver the goods." Portugal's mysterious masked black metallers strive for greatness on Coma, but aren't quite there yet
October 22
- "Highly Irresponsible is the sound of five cult stars clinging to the characteristics that made them cult stars." Better Lovers' debut album is exactly what you'd expect from Dillinger Escape Plan and Every Time I Die alumni
October 21
- "It feels like Black Sabbath decided to couple with Santana. Then raise their child as a rock musical": Lucifer's Friend mix it up on fourth album Banquet
October 19
- "Perhaps just a little too perfunctory." Sophie Lloyd's debut headline show is entertaining in moments, but isn't quite the nostalgic party some may have hoped for
October 18
- "A neon-flecked, messy, makeup-smeared stumble through 90s and 00s club culture." Confidence Man's 3AM (LA LA LA) is a trashy, joyous instant classic
- “They’ve dialed back the abrasiveness in favour of a smoother sound while still retaining their progressive edges”: Swallow The Sun’s Shining
- “Not a revolutionary narrative framework, perhaps… but a Frost* double concept album – who could possibly quibble?” There’s plenty that’s unpredictable about Life In The Wires
- "Crunching riffs and monster grooves that evoke the early 1970s": Fantastic Negrito's raw and confessional Son Of A Broken Man is his best work yet
- "An exercise in restrained elegance": Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' Long After Dark, perhaps as it was always meant to be
- "An illuminating opportunity to get up close with two blues maestros": Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan trade licks and stories on the deluxe edition of In Session
- "Like a starving lion in a chicken coop": The Yardbirds stretch out on the raw and thrilling The Ultimate Live At The BBC
- Mick Fleetwood and Jake Shimabukuro share a broad definition of the blues on collaborative album
- "Flawless and unflinching classic rock for a cruel modern world": Jerry Cantrell goes back to black for I Want Blood
- "Wind-in-the-hair heavy metal thrust that keeps the pulses racing": Grand Magus serve up a chest-beating triumph on Sunraven
- "These performances retain the essential raging-rebel attitude that fired the Detroit firebrands' original incarnation": The MC5's final album Heavy Lifting is a vibrant joint epitaph
October 14
- Gloomy melodic doom metal veterans Swallow The Sun sneak some welcome optimism into new album Shining - but not too much
- "I just can’t dig those vocals, especially so soon after eating": Muse polarise opinion on third album Absolution, even if everyone seems to like the guitars
October 13
- "Bruce Dickinson is like a time-traveling general from a dystopian future." Iron Maiden bring the Future Past tour to Aftershock - and it's spectacular
- "Fifty years in, they still set the bar." Judas Priest bring heavy metal heaven to Aftershock with a set that's all killer, no filler
October 12
- "What lingers long after the final note is the enduring emotional connection that Evanescence have with their fans." Amy Lee's crew give Aftershock one of the most powerful sets of the weekend
- "Architects remain one of the most dynamic bands in modern metalcore." Brighton's finest show Aftershock why they're one of UK metal's greatest success stories
- "The message is clear: this is Poppy’s coronation." Alternative music's chameleonic princess lights up Aftershock day two
- “This is the Slipknot of old - no frills, just brute force." Iowa's metal legends eviscerate Aftershock with one of the heaviest festival headline sets in history
October 11
- "Get these boys in a bigger room with a full orchestra." Violin-wielding Swedish metalcore crew Imminence work wonders in London's Electric Ballroom
- "I just turned 41 and I still don’t know what the hell I’m doing." It's Lzzy Hale's birthday, but Halestorm's riotous Aftershock set is a present for all
- “There’s a laugh-out-loud moment involving a Bruce Forsyth impression onstage during a King Crimson gig”: Two life stories intertwine in Jakko M Jakszyk’s memoir Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair?
- "This isn’t just a return; it’s a resurrection." Slayer just showed Aftershock festival why they're still the undisputed kings of thrash metal with a devastating headline set for the ages
- "This blistering set of old and new material deserves to be heard": Def Leppard's homecoming captured on the slick One Night Only Live at The Leadmill
- "A rugged sense of musicality that doesn’t skimp on texture": Gorilla Riot make the right noises but ultimately fall short on second album Salvation
- "Gallagher delivers electrifying performances of his heavier numbers": Rory Gallagher's BBC Collection showcases the very best of the real deal
- "Deconstructing classic rock and psychedelia and resurrecting it as something vital and alive": Goat's culture-spanning idealism continues on mystical self-titled album
- Supercharged shows that The Offspring are still smashing it in their 40th year. How many bands can say the same?
October 10
- "Just as pumped up with relentlessly positive energy as ever": The Offspring are pumped-up and loveable on the joyous Supercharged
- "Unquestionably the most extreme entity that Shavo has put his name to". System Of A Down bassist ditches quirky nu metal for brutal, blistering deathcore with Seven Hours After Violet
October 9
- "This album is a riff-filled inferno, the work of a master craftsman": Myles Kennedy is at the top of his game on colossal solo album The Art Of Letting Go
- “Curiously retro, reminiscent of Vangelis… these tunes are mostly short and to the point”: Steve Howe’s Guitarscape
- "A veritable Traveling Wilburys of Nordic melodeath." Musicians from Dark Tranquillity, Amorphis, Sentenced, Omnium Gathium and Dimmu Borgir go goth on stunning Cemetery Skyline debut album
October 8
- Touche Amore team up with Ross Robinson to make post-hardcore perfection on Spiral In A Straight Line
- “Another declaration that this band are UK metal’s uncrowned kings”: Sylosis reaffirm themselves as overlooked greats on surprise EP The Path
October 7
- "Like being unexpectedly dragged down into cold depths and finding yourself surrounded by blind, carnivorous eels." Oranssi Pazuzu's Muuntautuja is the weirdest and most wonderful black metal record you'll hear this year
- "A true celebration of heavy metal greatness." Arch Enemy, In Flames and Soilwork bring melodeath magic to the Hammersmith Apollo
- "It's amusing to hear Geddy Lee sing about something as mortal as being horny": Rush successfully cover the basics on straightforward debut album
October 6
- “Every day a new war crime, every day a flower bloom.” Godspeed You! Black Emperor's No Title As of 13 February 2024, 28,340 Dead is a powerful, emotional eulogy for the unspeakable, shameful horrors inflicted upon the people of Gaza
October 4
- "A celebration of humanity in all its contrasting, confusing beauty": AURORA brings her wicked fairytale magic to London's Royal Albert Hall
- "A pathway to achieve their potential, but they're not there yet." With a new lineup and a new direction, Fever 333 aren't the finished article on Darker White, but it's a good (re)start
- “An album that aims for both head and heart”: Public Service Broadcasting’s The Last Flight is an inspiring tribute to air pioneer Amelia Earhart, with stunning contributions from guest vocalists
- "Glenn Hughes might just have saved Iommi from terminal creative frustration": Tony Iommi unveils new skills on Fused and The DEP Sessions
- "A joyous piece of vinyl": Rick Wakeman looks back over his career with the glittering, limited edition Yessonata
October 3
- Californian hardcore trailblazers Touché Amoré embrace life’s chaos on dynamic sixth album, Spiral In A Straight Line
October 2
- "An absolute masterclass in heavy metal maximalism." Sabaton throw down the gauntlet as the world's biggest power metal band with The Tour To End All Tours movie
October 1
- "If ever there were a live album where the crowd function as an additional instrument, this is it": B.B. King rips it up on Live At The Regal