Cardinal Black have found a way to make that difficult second album seem easy. Midnight at the Velencia is simple, sultry and sublime and the stepping stone to greatness.

In August, 1994, I was sitting on a mate’s bed, along with a load of other raucous and rowdy teenagers.  Music, played on a cassette deck, varied that day from Metallica and Megadeth

It’s almost unbelievable that 34 years of Behemoth has existed - looking back on their catalogue and evolvement, the Polish rulers of Black Metal aided in bringing a whole generation into the realms of blackned genres.

Since their 2023 debut, King Kraken have been working incredibly hard by gigging around the UK and promoting themselves on social media.

King Rocker is back and his ninth studio album sees his most personal work yet. Told in chronological order, 'Dream Into It' is a reflection on his life so far and musically pushes into some different areas, each song having its own distinctive feel as a separate chapter of his story.

As Record Store releases go this one is a banger. Not just your typical re release, exorbitantly priced single, picture disc or rather iffy live recording this is an album of two sides, the first the studio tracks, made up of bonus tracks, B sides and covers with the second side dealing with the live tracks.

There must be something in the glacial water in Sweden that allows the country to produce so many great melodic rock bands! Falling firmly in this category is H.E.A.T.

I’ve often said that one of the joys of being a reviewer for Metal Planet is that occasionally one gets sent an album by an artist that one has no prior experience of and that opportunity to discover new and high quality music really is a joy. 

It was probably around 20-22 years, something like that, when I was bombing down the M3 (that’s a motorway in the UK), towards Southampton.  

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being about as interested as picking up a poo by the clean end, and 10 being delirious with joy and elation, I’m somewhere around a 200 right now.  Imagine, just a couple of weeks ago, the most awesome performing band in the world right now, Ghost, announced the release date of their latest album, Skeleta.

I saw this tour in Belfast and Yngwie was on fire that night so let's see if this live album can live up to what I witnessed in front of me!

Back with a vengeance after 2022 saw the explosive DeathWestern album and a string of killer shows and festivals, Las Vegas’ Western Metal troopers SpiritWorld round up and set loose another rager. Only this time, Helldorado has ingredients that don’t leave the listener with just elements of Western themes. No sirey, this time, you got the WHOLE DAMN CAKE.

AOR/Melodic Rock legends Giant exploded onto the scene in 1989 with the mega-classic Last of the Runaways album, a body of work so good that it defies description.

The space warriors continue to build on their legacy with a monumental new studio album. 

US rocks Alter Bridge burst on to the scene twenty years ago with their debut album, `One Day Remains’.

The boyos from Bridgend are back and seem utterly unstoppable now, their relentless rise to the very top one of the most heartening stories in rock.