In the noughties, Norwegian hard rock band Winter Parade released two albums for two different independent hard rock labels: while ‘Midnight Paradise’ [MTM Records, 2002] and ‘Two’ [Perris Records, 2008] were a huge commercial success, both found a cult audience. Following the band’s demise, bassist PB Riise teamed up with guitarist Tore Meli and Coldspell [...]
Coming almost ten years after Gluecifer’s swansong ‘Automatic Thrill’, this third album from guitarist Captain Poon’s Bloodlights is a record which could match his previous outfit’s claim to be the kings of rock. Not in a stadium filling, household name way, you understand; more in a bringing it back to the sweaty clubs sense. Far [...]
There have been some great bands exported from Australisia over the decades. Crowded House have blessed us with near-perfect and often very thoughtful pop; Cold Chisel raised the bar for no-nonsense rock ‘n’ roll; Peter Garrett and Midnight Oil proved – perhaps more than any of their American counterparts – that hard rock and politics [...]
Fahran was born from the ashes of Toxic Federation, a band whom already had a couple of DIY releases under their collective belts, despite having an average age of under twenty years old. Following the departure of Toxic’s vocalist and guitarist, a name change also bought the arrival of new band members, including vocalist Nick [...]
When Pink Cream 69 first appeared in the 80s, their brand of Germanic hard rock found an instant audience in Europe. Over the years, working through various line-up changes, the band have soldiered on, intermittently issuing albums in the melodic rock/melodic metal vein, but in the UK and US, never really gained more than a [...]
Although still a relatively new band by the end of 2012, BlackWolf had already been busy on the live circuit, having played the Bulldog Bash biker’s festival (twice) and trodden the boards with many other rock bands, including Jettblack (a band who seemed to tour endlessly). With an old-school rock sound that’s tailor made for [...]
When a press release uses a phrase like “[we] play music that’s as ridiculous as it is awesome”, it’s enough to strike dread in the heart of the potential listener. After all, if it’s not awesome, then it’s just ridiculous…and if it’s just ridiculous, it’s then bordering on being a novelty – and novelty is [...]
Lover Under Cover is a Swedish hard rock project formed around vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Mikael Carlsson. This debut album – released on Escape Music – has a distinct Scandinavian slant, the songs sticking rigidly to the confines of some very European sounding hard rock. To help bring his band to life, he has enlisted the help of [...]
Headed by JK Impera, this eponymously named band brings together a few familiar melodic rock talents on their debut record. Joining the sometime Graham Bonnet/Brian Robertson drummer is Grand Design bassist Mats Vassfjord, ex-Jagged Edge vocalist Matti Alfonzetti and – perhaps of most interest to melodic rock afficionados – top session guitarist Tommy Denander. Anything [...]
Eight years is a long time between albums, especially for a band that is less than established, but that’s how long it took Bonrud to follow up their self-titled record from 2004. While it is unlikely Paul Bonrud and his chosen band spent all of the intervening years working on this sophomore release, the end [...]
