PIAS

It took me a few tracks and some minor attitude adjustments to get on the same page as Jackson Firebird, but after careful deliberation, I found myself liking the band. Jackson Firebird is good bluesy rock'n'roll about fast women, fast cars and fast music. If you like down to earth, kick-ass down under  rock'n'roll that sounds best played live at your local titties bar, then this is right up your crotch. The high energy of Cock rockin’ that may not be big on originality is cool, infectious, raunchy and hand- clappingly in every other way.

Killer Be Killed is an American superband founded by The Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato and Soulfly/ex-Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera in early 2011. The lineup also features Mastodon bassist Troy Sanders and former The Mars Volta drummer Dave Elitch. The band had slowly been working on material before announcing its name in October 2013.

Carnifex is an American deathcore band from San Diego, California. Formed in 2005, they are currently signed to Nuclear Blast after having been signed to Victory Records and have released four full-length albums and one EP. The name of the band is derived from the Old English Latin word äúexecutioner; literally meaning, "executioner".

A new Vanden Plas album is always something to look forward to. They’ve never failed to amaze me with their fantastic albums.  Four years have passed since their last album ‘The Seraphic Clockwork’.  But it has definitely been worth the waiting .

This New Jersey three-piece engage in stoner, grunge and seventies rock passages. They do show some hints of talent and rhythm during some of these bits, but they lack direction and they rarely flesh out any of their ideas. At best they sound like second rate Alice In Chains for a few moments or like Soundgarden without the depth or sense of direction. At worst they sound flat and clueless. Somewhere below the surface I think that Driven Rise generate some interesting tones, but just not enough of them and no real blueprint to go by.

Yet another great release from Danish band Pretty Maids.  They’ve kept on releasing good album after good album since 2010’s Pandemonium album.

However mind you, this is not a totally new album.  It consists of 12 tracks, 8 of whom are re-recordings of tracks they did in their period with Massacre records, and 4 are new tracks.  But it’s the four new tracks that steal the show.  Two of them are straight forward heavy metal songs, and the other two are very good ballads.

When Dutch band MaYan were formed, they drew the attention of the worldwide press immediately. Reason: the great line-up. MaYan were formed by Mark Jansen, the guy behind Dutch top-acts such as After Forever, Sahara Dust / Epica or Les Faidits, and After Forever-colleague Jack Driessen.

This band, or is it just a project, consists of some very well known musicians.  On vocals we have none other than Tommy La Verdi (21 Guns), Josh Ramos (The Storm, Hardline) on guitars and Michael Shotton (Von Groove, Airtime) on drums.  The intention of this project was I guess to resurrect the career of Tommy La Verdi, whom we’d not heard of in a long time.  There’s also fair contribution of Alessadro Del Vecchio (

In spite of my rather varied experience as a music listener, I keep coming along occasional surprises, usually of the pleasant nature!

If I'm reading my info sources correctly, this Chicago based Blackened Sludge-Noise act was founded in 2003 by the trio of singer/ guitarist Dylan O'Toole, bassist Ron Devries, and drummer Brian Lynn, and in that line-up not only self-released their 3-track 11-minute debut EP God Slave, but also their (11-track, 54-minute) debut album The Unquiet Sky, issued in May 2005 on the Seventh Rule Recordings label.