Saviour – ‘Let Me Leave’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

In music as in life, perseverance is half the battle. With several struggle-filled years behind them, Saviour are intimately aware of this fact – and as Let Me Leave shows, they’re more than prepared to put in the 110% required to fight, survive, and ultimately win in a harsh and unforgiving world.

Let Me Leave is, in essence, music as martial art. It’s a finely Read more…

Posted on 08 January 2017

You Me At Six – ‘Night People’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

During the first week of each new year, we all start as we mean to go on. We make our resolutions, and do our best to stick to them. With consistent commercial gains behind them and a brand new album poised to punch listeners in the eardrums, it’s clear that You Me At Six have resolved to keep doing what they do best.

Kick ass, take names, and rock the fuck out Read more…

Posted on 04 January 2017

Marco Minnemann – ‘Schattenspiel’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Music is freedom. It has no limits bar the human imagination and a given musician’s physical ability – and over the course of history, many have challenged those limits to find still more territory to explore. If you’re looking for a contemporary example, look no further than Marco Minnemann.

True artists have their own voice, their own signature style. You can tell it’s them within a few bars at the most. In Marco Minnemann’s case, those bars are unlikely to fit some standardized 4/4 cookie cutter mould. Neither will his chords of choice be…shall we say…orthodox. The same, of course, goes for his melodies.

Schattenspiel – German for ‘shadow play’ – is an appropriately dark album that sees Read more…

Posted on 03 January 2017

Babymetal – ‘Live At Wembley’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Babymetal – the ultimate Marmite band – have been simultaneously embraced as an international phenomenon, and dismissed as a silly fad. At this point, though, it’s clear that one side have emerged the winners. Babymetal are here to stay, and there’s nothing their haters can do about it.

In the face of scepticism and hostility, you can Read more…

Posted on 29 November 2016

Metallica – ‘Hardwired To Self Destruct’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Metallica’s world is an odd one. Collectively, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, and Rob Trujillo have pioneered and evolved the sound that literally defines metal as a genre – and as a result, they’ve attracted and maintained the most die-hard of die-hard fanbases. At the same time, their proclivity for experimental creativity has seen Metallica torn apart in the past, metaphorically flayed alive by legions of gleeful haters.

Few bands have experienced the level of pressure that Metallica do. Even when not pushing the envelope, the Californian masters are expected to blow everyone away whenever they put something new out. Given that Hardwired To Self Destruct is not only Metallica’s first studio effort since Death Magnetic back in 2008 but also a double album running at an hour and seventeen minutes, it feels more like make or break than ever before Read more…

Posted on 18 November 2016

Wakrat – ‘Wakrat’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Everyone is angry right now. Not just angry, in fact – infuriated, livid, countless light years beyond merely “pissed off”. Whether you’re talking rejoicing extremists such as the KKK and Al Quaeda or the millions still compulsively facepalming themselves while trying to come to terms with the fact that Donald Trump, a minted and racist reality TV star, is now the world’s most powerful – and dangerous – man, everyone has anger in common no matter which side they’re on.

If there’s a bright side to one of the biggest political shitstorms in recent memory, it’s this: Read more…

Posted on 11 November 2016

Sirenia – ‘Dim Days Of Dolor’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

With Donald Trump’s unexpected ascension to the American presidency, this week has proven one of the most dramatic in recent memory. Emotionally intense times call for emotionally intense music – and Sirenia’s Dim Days Of Dolor perfectly captures the mood of the times.

Operatic, bombastic, and naturally heavy metal is the order of the day here. Theatrical, sky-scraping, and incredibly passionate, Dim Days Of Dolor is also run through with a tangible sense of mourning and melancholy. New Sirenia frontwoman Emmanuelle Zoldan wastes neither time nor melodic notes in establishing herself as a formidable powerhouse, completely owning every moment Read more…

Posted on 09 November 2016

Animals As Leaders – ‘The Madness Of Many’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Animals As Leaders represent that rarest breed of bands, so far ahead of their time that even their most visionary peers struggle to keep up. For fans of instrumental progressive metal, Tosin Abasi, Javier Reyes, and Matt Garstka need absolutely zero introduction, their names synonymous with music so intricate that the fact there are only three of them is still scarcely comprehensible. To those for whom djent is everything, Animals As Leaders are the leaders of the pack.

The Madness Of Many is not going to do anything to change that. The thought of Read more…

Posted on 04 November 2016

Thomas Giles – ‘Velcro Kid’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Thomas Giles has a pretty cool day job. As Tommy Rogers, he fronts American prog metal outfit Between The Buried And Me, adding idiosyncratic touches to albums like Colors and Coma Ecliptic. During downtime, Thomas Giles emerges with fresh music that is itself unique and compelling.

Velcro Kid begins with Immersion Highway – a song that sounds like a Muse remix until Thomas Giles’ vocal enters. From that point on there’s no doubt as to who you’re listening to, although Read more…

Posted on 04 November 2016

Hammerfall – ‘Built To Last’ [Review]

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

Click here to subscribe for free on YouTube!

Metal has gone through many changes over the years – but which decade is the best? Amongst the world’s headbangers, few questions are as emotionally volatile as that one. It all comes down to subjective opinions, the preferences of individuals afforded freedom of speech and expression.

Hammerfall’s allegiances have always been obvious. The Swedish legends have made their name by paying tribute to the legacy of the 80s, riddling their songs with chunky riffs, uplifting fantasy-themed lyrics, and instantly catchy melodies. Hammerfall are on a mission, pursuing their path with evangelical zeal over the course of two decades and counting Read more…

Posted on 01 November 2016