You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

There has to be a reason for the blues accolades heaped upon King King and from the first track of this third album – the stinging Hurricane – it’s immediately apparent: rock solid songcraft.

Radiating the smouldering soulfulness of Free and early Whitesnake, and awash with lush Hammond vibes, there’s nary a single blues lick deployed in vain.

The funky strut of Just A Little Lie, upbeat stomp of Waking Up and towering majesty of Rush Hour find the band at the height of their powers, the musicianship is effortlessly spot on, the playing tough but warm and intimate.

The sound of a band setting the bar for their next album very high indeed./o:p

Whether it’s magazines, books or online, Essi has been writing about rock ’n’ metal for around thirty years. He has been reviews editor for Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, rock reviews editor for lads mag Front and worked for Kerrang!. He has also written the Rough Guide to Heavy Metal and contributed to the Rough Guide to Rock and Rough Guide Book of Playlists, and the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles (13th edition). Most fun interview? Tenacious D – Jack Black and Kyle Gass – for The Pick of Destiny movie book. An avid record/CD/tape collector, he’s amassed more music than he could ever possibly listen to, which annoys his wife no end.