Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime (1988) – Review

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At first, we got confused with Operation: Mindcrime of Queensrÿche. How come a record sounds so ’80s when the label says that it is made in 2003?

Okay, our bad, the researcher somehow did not connect the dots correctly. This was when the remaster happened. But the original record indeed dates back to 1988. So, all’s well in metal universe again.

Yet confusion does suit this band well. It snugly goes together with the hullabaloo around Geoff Tate in 2012, a time when the band fired him along with his wife and others of family and friends. They probably … [...] Click to raid more!

Ty Morn – Istor (2019) – Review

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Multi-talents. Masters of all trades, and jacks of none. There have been some real ones throughout the vast swathes of time. Leonardo da Vinci was one for instance, with all these paintings and inventions attributed to him. Mona Lisa still enigmatically greets us from many a publication – and the Louvre in France. But these inexplicable supermen and superwomen are very few and far between.

In music, you got them as well. Those lone warriors who want to go it alone and produce their very own records. Do it all, play it all, the self-made kind of guy. We covered [...] Click to raid more!

Valley of the Sun – Old Gods (2019) – Review

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There’s a new genre out there. Well, it is not new, at all. But it continues to gain momentum, importance, and – more importantly – general acceptance. One that is fun to listen to in a live environment. Famous for festivals and live venues in general. And it also gets you enough oomph to please in an earphone.

We’re talking about Heavy Rock and its many nuances out there. A style pretty much defined by its lava-like hotness and rough-hewn structure. Belted lyrics, boundless energy galore, and scratchy, loudly downturned guitars. Plus a frugal instrumental coverage of almost punk-ish proportions. [...] Click to raid more!

Sojourner – The Shadowed Road (2018) – Review

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Damn, the RMR deck crew is late again. So very late. Late to the game of catching the best albums of any one year. And sometimes, this is a pity.

Because some of those records might (just might) have made it onto the Top 10 of the year in question. I could now drone you to despair by making you listen to all these reasons why this happened or not. But, bugger it. Ain’t important no more.

The Shadowed Road of Sojourner would be one of those records. A record driven by a band with a purpose. And – I [...] Click to raid more!