The image we have of Italy is one of, food, wine, art, siesta, romance and yet it is also the home to some of the speediest metal bands that ever stalked the earth. Arthemis is one such band. The opening track ‘Apocalyptic Nightmare’ is a statement of intent; solid, riffy, strong and then, wow, Arthemis sure as hell put the pedal to the metal. I’m not sure I’ve heard such fast double bass drums, it’s not so ...

Manchester based kooky rockers Fantasist are back with their second album, also called Fantasist. Whilst there are sprinklings of Smashing Pumpkins and Primus lurking in the depths of Fantasist’s music, they really have carved out their own unique sound which is rare these days. Whilst there are no real weak tracks on this album, some definitely stand out more than others. “Grim Fandango” takes me back to m ...

Civil War are a Swedish band rising from Daniel Myhr, Daniel Mullback, Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, former members of Sabaton, their former backline tech, Stefan "Pizza" Eriksson (yes, dreams can come true) and Patrick Johnasson (Astral Doors and Lionshare) ‘King of the Sun’ opens with a quiet intro and bursts forth like an army coming over the hill, and once Patrik Johansson vox launch into the fray ...

44 Fires and the Sunday Service on TBFM Internet Radio have been closely linked since the show started, Brian sent me over a few tracks when we announced we were going live and both Corporate Lies & Propaganda Master were aired on our second ever show on Sunday 17th June 2012. These two tracks as well as Wake have been aired regularly on my shows ever since and when Brian contacted me recently to tell m ...

This is one for the Melvins fanatics! Not sure what Buzz et all had for breakfast one morning, but this really is an eclectic mix of covers. Each is pretty much done in the trad Melvins manner and you really won't know what to expect right? Isn't this what we want from our Melvins albums, that element of what next? Songs are taken from a variety of genres / eras and will certainly take you through a journey ...

Plying their trade for a dozen years or so, Coventry based Black Star Bullet (formerly Loophole) are another hard rock outfit raising the bar when it comes to unsigned bands in the UK. Their latest self-titled album has been a long-time coming since their name change in 2010 - with the whole album having to be re-recorded due to a 'technical failure'. Citing the likes of Foo Fighters, The Rolling Stones and ...

It’s hard to believe that the Maryland four had been together for 20 years and that Earth Rocker is the 10th studio album. This is the first studio album for four years but they haven't been complacent in that time with DVDs and re-releases filling their time. It's hard to label Clutch, they just don't want to be pigeonholed. Possible genres are Blues Rock, Stoner and Doom but Earth Rocker is a return to Ha ...

The internet is a strange beast that often randomly does something beyond comprehension. In this particular instance I received an email from Twitter saying that the intriguingly named Trev Kill of Negative Earth was now following me. I’ve never heard of Trev but as I shoot pictures of lighting and PA for touring industry magazines and Negative Earth is a lighting company I assumed this is who it is. A quic ...

Here we have the seventh full offering from German post/progressive metal band The Ocean, who have resurfaced (sorry) after completing 2 years of extensive touring across the US and Europe. They decided to return to Berlin to work on Pelagia, and having retained the same lineup for the last 3 albums, you can hear their progression as a unit now; the band have never sounded tighter or more focused. Pelagial ...

So, it’s the warmest, sunniest day we’ve had for 6 months, a day to throw open the windows and let in the Spring. Except I have all of mine firmly shut. Why? The new album from Trucker Diablo crashed into my inbox this morning and 11 is definitely going to be required on the dial. Some things make you happy, seeing a track list boasting 14 songs from the Truckers makes me positively ecstatic. Kicking off wi ...