Tag Archives: album review

Album Review : Kris Barras Band – Death Valley Paradise

Review by Pete Coates – facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

KRIS BARRAS BAND  –  DEATH VALLEY PARADISE
Mascot Records
Release Date 4th March 2022

Steamrolling out of the end of 2021, the Kris Barras Band have announced their brand-new album, Death Valley Paradise, along with their most anthemic, call-to-arms song to date, My Parade.  The new album produced this time by Dean Weller (Enter Shikari, Bury Tomorrow, SiKth) will be released on 4th March 2022 via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group (Black Stone Cherry, Fozzy, Crobot).

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Album Review : The Karma Effect

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

THE KARMA EFFECT
Released – 18th March 2022
TMR Rock Records

Debut albums are always really interesting to review, and while this one only has 8 songs on it, it delivers a solid punch.  Closer to home for me is that the band are from my home town of Oxted in the UK, and are launching the album at one of my early watering holes – where us cocky 16 year olds could always get served!

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EP Review : NAKED GYPSY QUEENS – Georgiana

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

NAKED GYPSY QUEENSGeorgiana EP
Released – Feb 11th
MASCOT LABEL GROUP

I heard the first release from this EP a few months ago and started raving about the band then – loving the vintage classic rock sound, heavily amplified blues, rock solid drums and a twin-guitar assault steeped in the likes of MC5, Free, Deep Purple, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bad Company – all brought up to date with some supercharged hooks that combines that true classic rock sound with a modern southern-rock swagger!

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Album Review : Wille and the Bandits – When The World Stood Still

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

WILLE & THE BANDITS – WHEN THE WORLD STOOD STILL
Release: 28th Jan 2022
FAT TOAD RECORDS

Wille and the Bandits are a British-based band from Cornwall who play a mix of different genres spanning across the Blues, Rock, Roots and Folk rock styles, with a somewhat epic overall effect that channels the monstrous riffs of Led Zeppelin and the atmospheric warmth and depth of Pink Floyd, but all the time seeing the band push the boundaries of sound and rhythm to create a dynamic and unique sonic experience that should appeal to a broad range of classic and contemporary rock music fans.   

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Album Review : Jack J Hutchinson – The Hammer Falls

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

JACK J HUTCHINSONTHE HAMMER FALLS
Release – 4th Feb 2022

London-based guitarist / vocalist Jack J Hutchinson has been one of the busiest musicians out there during the COVID-19 pandemic, doing live streams, special edition recordings, cover versions (including an epic version of War Pigs) and released his last studio album – Who Feeds The Wolf – in Oct 2019, along with a “Live” album Who Feeds The Lockdown in 2020.  

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Album Review : SCARLET REBELS – See Through Blue

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

SCARLET REBELSSee Through Blue
Released – 28 Jan 2022
Earache Records

I have been fortunate enough to get access to a whole host of albums in the past 18 months from the vibrant and booming rock scene in the UK in particular – whether NWOCR or otherwise, and as we roll into 2022, one of the first of the New Year releases has hit my in-box thanks to PK at TMR PR and Media.

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Album Review : Devil Electric – Godless

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

DEVIL ELECTRICGodless
Released – 12/11/21

Melbourne fuzz-rock band Devil Electric have just released their highly anticipated new album, Godless. The record is a collection of ideas and experiences that can simply be described as “the next evolution” of their sound.  While keeping true to the band’s DNA, you’ll still find the heavy grooves and tones of 70’s inspired hard rock as Godless takes it one step further by peeling back to a rather more LoFi sound, a credit to producer Julian Schweitzer who worked with the band on the album.

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Album Review : L.A. GUNS – Checkered Past

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

L.A. GUNSCheckered Past
Released – 12/11/21
Frontiers Music

Long running hard rockers L.A. Guns have announced the release of their new studio album, Checkered Past.  Written and recorded while the world was still in the grips of the coronavirus pandemic, the new studio album sees Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis, and company continuing with the darker lyrical tone of the preceding studio albums, The Devil You Know and The Missing Peace, while incorporating their classic rock influences into the mix.

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Album Review : Groundbreaker – Soul To Soul

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

GROUNDBREAKERSoul To Soul
Released – 12/11/21
Frontiers Music

I will never apologise for any inherent bias in a review, but I am happy to admit that Steve Overland has been able to do no wrong in my eyes, from the early days of Wildlife in 1980, through to FM who have been one my all-time favourite bands to the present day, and are still recording and playing live.

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Album Review : Smoking Martha – Universe

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

SMOKING MARTHAUNIVERSE
Xelon Entertainment
Released – 3rd December 2021

The rising diverse Brisbane alt-rock group Smoking Martha is set to release its new full-length studio album, Universe, this December via Xelon Entertainment. The official music video for the album’s second powerful single, Liquid Sunshine, is out now following the release of lead track, the fun and fiery Good Girls.

The Brisbanites have built up a strong cult following across the UK, Europe and Australia with their high energy performances. 

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Album Review : The Screaming Jets – All For One (30th Anniversary)

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

SCREAMING JETS – ALL FOR ONE
(30th Anniversary)

In 1990 five blokes from Newcastle called The Screaming Jets took the Aussie music scene by the scruff of the neck and gave a red-hot shake.

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Album Review : PLUSH – Self-titled album

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

PLUSHSelf-titled album
Released – Oct 29th 2021
Pavement Entertainment

The Press Release and the photo give a pretty immediate impression of what to expect from this upcoming release, and while one might think that the band is a modern-day creation of some A&R Svengali thinking we need another Runaways or Donnas – one listen to the opening track from Plush smashes those preconceptions pretty comprehensively.

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Album Review : TRIDENT WATERS – Opus Armada

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

TRIDENT WATERSOpus Armada
Release Date – 15th October

I have always had a thing for hard rock trios, from the earlier days of Rush and their excellent Canadian compatriots Triumph, through the likes of Motorhead and Budgie to ZZ Top, Everclear, Tracer, The Winery Dogs, The Cadillac Three and California Breed to name a diverse selection of powerful rock trios.

London Blues-Rock band Trident Waters released their third EP back in June 2019 which included 5 tracks to provide a real taste of bluesy hard rock, with that extra groove and energy that you often get from a three-piece.

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Album Review : VEGA – Anarchy & Unity

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

VEGA – ANARCHY & UNITY
Album Release 17th Sept 2021
Frontiers Music

VEGA have been a favourite of mine for a while now, having picked up their first album Kiss of Life around 10 years ago, and also having known singer Nick Workman from his previous band Kick.  Always melodic, with a touch of nu-metal edge that set them a little apart from the crowd, Anarchy & Unity is their seventh album release following up from Grit Your Teeth from early 2020, and the new record is very much in the same vein, but perhaps with an added maturity and bite.  

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EP Review : James McNair (self-titled)

Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography

JAMES McNAIRS/T EP
Released – 10 Sept 2021

James McNair is a hit country songwriter from Aiken, South Carolina.  He’s probably one of those names you have never heard, but if you like your country music, then you will have heard a whole heap of his songs.

At age 7 with a Sears catalog electric guitar found in his grandmother’s attic, James learned his first chords. His father, Jim, let him pick through old boxes of records and started him on the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd and more. James learned to play along with the songs and developed a deep appreciation for well-crafted lyrics and melodies. 

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