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I’ve heard the name about the place, a number have people have insisted I check them out, and the image I held of them suggested that I would enjoy their music. So without listening to a note of their work before hand, I went right ahead and made a swift purchase of Alarum’s 2004 release titled 'Eventuality'. One of the aforementioned indicators turned out correct, the other was simply misjudged in a good way! For the spruikers were right and on first ... Read More

The Butterfly Effect are one of Australias most popular rock bands. From 2001's debut self titled EP which hit the airaves of Triple J, to the epic sounds of 2003's Begins Here, to the hard rocking tried and tested 'Imago'. 'Final Conversations of Kings', the bands third album, has been quite divisive in the short time since its release. Its a fucking great album. Yet somehow there are people out there who struggle to see this! Some people just dont want bands to ... Read More

Cog recently re-released its 2 debut eps Just Visiting part 1, and part 2, as... Just Visiting. The initial pressings of these ep's was back in 2002, with part 1 being released in february, and part 2 in October of that year. Just Visiting has had a long history, with the music to feature on the ep's being written years before their release.. as at the time they didnt have a vocalist. Then bands guitarist, Flynn Gower, unimpressed by the demos sent in ... Read More

It's been out for about two months now. It's had time enough to breathe, stretch it's legs and run free with the buffalo. The time is right to review the new Metallica album! The last album that Metallica released prior to Death Magnetic was St. Anger, so on the plus side,  things could only go up from there. St. Anger was hated by pretty much everyone who heard it, as well as by those who hadn't. I liked the album for about the ... Read More

The Eternal are without a doubt one of Australia's most prominent bands. Signed to Firebox records in 2003, their previous two albums have shown them as important figures on the doom metal scene. They've made us wait three years for their third album, so the question remains, where have the Eternal decided to go now? You can tell from the first guitar note that they have moved somewhat away from the doom (and gloom) compared to their previous albums. No more 'one drum ... Read More

Unclechunk's EP “Join the Dots” could be summed up in three words: Energetic, fun and strange. But I’ll go into more detail than that! “Join the Dots” is not for people who like to take there music too seriously, indeed Unclechunk seem at times to go out of there way to make sure there music can’t be take seriously at all…. In a good way. Unclechunk clearly take influences from various Mike Patton projects as well as Primus but do a great job ... Read More

Paindivision hail from Sydney and are on the cutting edge of heavy metal in Australia. Influencing elements of grunge, thrash and all out balls metal, giving this package of a band quite a punch in their delivery. Formally named 20grams by lead guitarist and founder Stu Marshall, whom also played a big part in Dungeon, another great Australian metal act. Shortly after 20grams become of age they changed their name to what we know as Paindivsion, and the name suites them quite well. The ... Read More

Anybody who had the pleasure of witnessing Gamma Ray live on their Australian tour will agree with me in saying that they are a bloody fun live band. The band isn’t afraid to joke around and simply have a good time, and you can hear that on the band’s latest live album “Hell Yeah!!! The Awesome Foursome (and the Finnish keyboarder who didn’t want to wear his Donald Duck costume)”. If that title alone doesn’t tell you that these guys are an ... Read More

Wednesday 13’s first solo album, ‘Transylvania 90210’ was certainly a departure from the material of his former band, The Murderdolls. It was darker, featured songs much slower than anything before it, and had generally lost the punk influence. His second solo release, ‘Fang Bang’, brought that punk aspect back to the forefront; being chock full of upbeat, fun songs and some ridiculously catchy choruses, but all with that rough horror-punk edge. ‘Skeletons’, his third and latest solo album, mixes the best of ... Read More

I’ve given this album countless listens over the past few weeks, trying to think of something to write, but I’m still lost for words. And I don’t mean that in a “holy shit” way, it’s more in a “meh, it’s alright” way. Black Asylum have written a solid thrash album with hints of melodic death and metalcore, but that’s all it is – a solid album, nothing more. The album is a bit of a mixed bag. Tracks like “Black Insanity” and “This ... Read More

From an East Coast Australian perspective, the West Australian metal scene is quite mysterious. We hear of all these quality metal bands and great underground support from metal heads around the city. But what no one has ever told us that they have Vikings! Word about this Viking assembly, known under the guise of Claim the Throne, has made its way to me, and now an album too, so let’s find out what are they like… Musically what we have is unashamed inspiration ... Read More

The Australian metal scene isn’t somewhere you often find bands based around Norse mythology, nor bands who focus on nature-inspired atmospherics and long neofolk passages. That’s the main reason why Sydney’s Ironwood have shocked me so much here. This debut release has some of the most authentic sounding material I’ve heard from the genre. The basis of the band is nothing overly unique – a mixture of slow, folky acoustic passages and much harsher black metal sections. It’s the combination of the ... Read More

When the word Monolith comes to mind, you automatically think of a dominating mountainside which both intimidates and consumes the people below. The same context can also be used to describe the sound and velocity of the band with the same name, yet spelled Monoliyth. Monoliyth are a relatively new band to the local metal scene, yet have had pretty steady success with past EPs and local gigs throughout the Melbourne area, more so with the familiarity of former members being in the ... Read More

If you haven’t already figured it out from the band name and album cover, Sydney’s Buried In Verona are your standard blend of metalcore, hardcore and melodic metal. There’s nothing new or overly exciting here, but it’s not the worst around either. Everything is as you would expect from the genre tag, from the melodic breakdowns to the mix of screaming and clean vocals. There is no deviation from the usual formula here and I’m struggling to listen to more than a ... Read More

Eagles of Death Metal's latest offering, Heart On, gives us pretty much what you'd expect from the boys. You know its not something to listen to provoke thought.. its something you wanna listen to to increase your chances of getting laid. It helps if you have a lady near by mind you.. as this is the music you'll listen to to get in the mood for lovin. Josh Homme (Queens of the stone age) and his handlebar mustachioed friend Jesse Hughes have written ... Read More

One-way Mirror is yet another supergroup to come about, featuring members of Mnemic (singer: Guillaume Bideau), Soilwork (drummer: Dirk Verbeuren), Scarve (Bass: Loic Colin), and Lynzanxia (guitars: David and Franck Potvin). So from reading that first sentence you'll probably already have your mind set on what this band will sound like. Well, lets take a look to see just how right you are. First off, One-Way Mirror does sound like a mix of the bands the members have come from, but a slightly ... Read More

‘Hear No Evil’ is blatant proof that Sydney’s Lord are only getting better. It’s as simple as that. The band’s debut release ‘Ascendence’ (yes, ‘A Personal Journey’ may have the same band title, but it was a different band as far as I am concerned) was absolutely spectacular and more consistent than anything released under the Dungeon name, which is certainly saying something! I was sceptic but hopeful that the up and coming album is to be yet another step upwards, but ... Read More

When I first heard Yngwie J. Malmsteen was going to release another album after his last borderline attempt, 'Unleash the Fury' I wasn't that overly excited since it seemed he was losing his touch, then again many people would say he lost his touch after the initial hype of the 'Rising Force' days back in the 1980's. For the many people who don't know of Malmsteen's work, he is a pioneer of the guitar world who played a large role in the 1980's ... Read More