RITCHIE BLACKMORE’S RAINBOW – MEMORIES IN ROCK II – MINSTREL HALL
1981 was a big year for me. I finished grammar school at a small west country seaside town and then moved to do my degree in Wolverhampton, living in a city for the very first time (to say it was a shock to the system is something of an understatement). Between these...
TOXIC SMILE – M.A.D. (MADESS AND DESPAIR) – PROGRESSIVE PROMOTION
by Kev Rowland I have been having quite a few conversations with keyboard/sax player Marek Arnold about his various musical outlets, and he recently provided me with access to virtually everything that has been released by Toxic Smile. Prior to this, I had only heard...
THERION- PRESENTS BELOVED ANTICHRIST – NUCLEAR BLAST
by Kev Rowland There have been many attempts to blend rock with operatic styles over the years, with ‘Tommy’ being widely regarded as one of the most successful, but in truth that was much more of a rock musical than a real opera. Here Therion, or more accurately...
TEMPEST – THIRTY LITTLE TURNS – MAGNA CARTA
by Kev Rowland When I discovered that this album had been released I was somewhat surprised, as it was so long since I had last heard from the band that I actually thought that they had stopped. The last album I reviewed of theirs was back in 1996, but here in 2018,...
SLIVOVITZ – ALL YOU CAN EAT – MOONJUNE RECORDS
Some four years on from their second album ‘Bani Ahead’, this the Italian masters of progressive gypsy electro-eclectic jazz returned in 2015 with ‘All You Can Eat’. As with their previous album. this is again fully instrumental, primarily because there is just no...
BOMBER GOGGLES – GYRELAND – MELODIC REVOLUTION RECORDS
By Kev Rowland Peter Matuchniak has been around the progressive scene for nearly forty years now, firstly with Janysium, and then with Mach One when he and Simon Strevens were both asked to join. They became a popular band in the Eighties, with various releases and...
SUBSIGNAL – LA MUERTE – GENTLE ART OF MUSIC
By Kev Rowland Back with their fifth studio album, it has been a while since I last heard this German band that morphed out of Sieges Even, as there have been two other albums between this and 2011’s ‘Touchstones’. I would have classified their last album as solid...
TAKAAKI – NEW KID IN TOWN – TROY 1689
by Kev Rowland Born and raised in Kobe, Japan, Takaaki Otomo started learning classical piano at the age of five, moving onto jazz when he was fifteen, inspired particularly by Oscar Peterson. He has released a number of CDs as a leader and sideman, and then in 2014...
TAX THE HEAT – CHANGE YOUR POSITION – NUCLEAR BLAST
By Kev Rowland Here we have the follow-up to the Bristol band’s debut album, 2016’s ‘Fed To The Lions’. That album established them as one of the most electrifying new bands around, and with ‘Change Your Position’ being released on Nuclear Blast Records, that...
VALHALLA LIGHTS – MY GRACIOUS HIGHWAY – INDEPENDENT
By Kev Rowland The very first time I played this I asked myself why on earth had this album been self-released? This is crying out for major label support as it is just so damn good! Possibly I need to take a step back a bit. Valhalla Lights … are Ange Saul (vocals),...
