Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews

NOVACROW – Criminal Mastermind EP

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In 2016, Liverpool’s Novacrow released their debut EP ‘Black Syrup’, a melting pot of goth, grunge and funk with horror overtones that really captured a great sound. The riffs were often weighty, but most impressive of all were the vocals. It was immediately obvious that Kitty S. possessed a voice that really stood out above the heaviness; her clean vocal style made everything incredibly accessible and melodic, no matter how deep or intensive the riffs. Throughout the release, she sounded like a star in the making.

The following year came and went and things seemed to go rather quiet in the Novacrow camp. Finally, after what felt like forever, they returned with five new songs in the autumn of 2018. The resultant EP, ‘Criminal Mastermind’ isn’t as consistent as its predecessor and takes longer to get into, but when it really hits the mark, it presents a Novacrow that sounds as good as ever.

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IN TENEBRIZ – Winternight Poetry

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In Tenebriz is one of Russia’s more adventurous extreme metal bands. Rather than just settle for plain old black or death metal, their previous releases have fused black metal elements with bits of drone rock and post-metal, lending an almost cinematic feel to their work. Their 2018 release ‘Winternight Poetry’ is arguably their most adventurous, presenting a seven chapter half hour suite telling the story of Kai, whom upon visiting the kingdom of the Snow Queen, is taken prisoner and forever trapped in a world of permafrost. You wouldn’t know that unless you were told, since – as always with things from a black/extreme metal perspective – the lyrics are hard to grasp without the aid of the written word. For most listeners, it’ll be down to the music to do the talking…and luckily, this release features some great sounds and arrangements, befitting of such a brave piece of conceptual and progressive metal.

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AUTUMNWIND – Endless Fear

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Autumnwind isn’t really a band; it’s a huge musical vision where its founder, Abdulrahman Abu Lail writes and plays everything. He uses this one man band as a vehicle for emotional outpouring, in his own words, as a way of “mind-describing” his own feelings through intensive music. This third album makes that theory even clearer by giving its five pieces of music titles which reflect emotive states. The results, as expected, are very heavy, though never so confrontational you’d struggle to listen or, indeed, want to shut off the feelings that Abdulrahman is keen to share.

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SALVATION JAYNE – Salvation Jayne EP

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In 2017, Salvation Jayne released ‘Moves That Make The Record Skip‘, an EP that captured a selection of enjoyable (if not particularly original) hard rock tunes with a bluesy slant. Between some smart slide playing and a solid lead vocal from Chess Smith, Salvation Jayne appeared to be one of the better blues-inflected hard rock bands on the UK circuit.

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CONTESSA & THE SQUIRES – Horrorama EP

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In April 2016, Contessa & The Squires released ‘Stomp The Bomb‘ [retitled ‘Stomp The Bomp’ at some outlets], an enjoyable – if brief – voyage into rockabilly sounds with a European accent. It was one of those recordings that deserved more attention; between the short, punchy songs and a feel-good attitude, the band sounded very professional and as if the recording process had been fun. At the end of October that same year, they made an unexpectedly hurried return with ‘Horrorama’ which, as its title suggests, tied in with Halloween.

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