Category: Metal

By Kirsty and Alastair Middlemist Having somehow eluded my radar for over two decades, Vreid arrive as a new discovery to me—which makes the fact that Skies Turn Black is their tenth studio album all the more remarkable. Formed in Norway and long established within the black metal scene, the band’s name [more…]

ARTIST – TAILGUNNER ALBUM – MIDNIGHT BLITZ REVIEWER – GRAEME WRIGHT I reviewed the debut Tailgunner album ‘Guns For Hire’ back in 2023, and I was hugely positive about it. Old-school metal but with a modern “joie de vivre” and high-quality production, it ultimately ended up as one of my albums of [more…]

Heavy Metal Pride And Joy Music Release Date – February 20th, 2026 Review By Smudge Smith Thanks to my partner in metal, Adrian Hextall, I have been subjected… er, I mean, introduced to all things power metal, and I have to say I am thoroughly enjoying the experience. It takes me back [more…]

By Lily O’Delia  If you’ve ever been at one of NYC-based metal band TOWER’s shows, you know the anticipation as they emerge on stage, feel the floor shake beneath you, and fall under their energetic spell. Their energy is raw and captivating. With the release of their latest album, Let There Be Dark, [more…]

Stoner Ripple Music Released – February 6th 2026 Review By Smudge Smith Here’s the next step of the Hermano legacy. Having attached a couple of tracks from their now legendary appearance at Hellfest in 2016 on last years ‘When The Moon Was High’ Ripple Music have got their weed-soaked mitts on the [more…]

Stoner Ripple Music Released – February 6th, 2026 Here’s the next step of the Hermano legacy. Having attached a couple of tracks from their now legendary appearance at Hellfest in 2016 on last year’s ‘When The Moon Was High’, Ripple Music have got their weed-soaked mitts on the full performance and are [more…]

Stoner/Sludge Heavy Psych Sounds Release Date – March 6th 2026 Review By Smudge Smith Oxfordshire’s Desert Storm bring us another mighty slab of stoner/doom on the heels of their fine 2023 effort ‘Death Rattle’ which saw them broaden their sounds. Looks they have another new bass player too with Andew Keyzor stepping [more…]

Review By Darren McIntyre  Maliant is a power metal project from Italy founded by Kyrah Aylin, Larry Ozen, Francesco Caputo & Valerio Edward de Rosa, whose vision was to blend powerful riffs and dark electronics with vocals that range from clean to scream to growl; the outcome was to create an intense [more…]

Power Metal Escape Music Release Date – January 23rd, 2026 Review By Smudge Smith -lengthI’m going to be honest – I have played this to absolute death because I enjoyed it so much. Stormzone were an AOR band back in the day but have since developed into a mighty metal monster and [more…]

Power Metal Steel Gallery Records Released – December 12th 2025 K.C.Forbidden Seed are another new name to me. Hailing from Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, they comprise the vocal and guitar talents of both Constantin Maris and Stefanos Zafeiropoulos. They are ably abetted by George Tsioutsias on keyboards, drummer K.C plus some guests here [more…]