Mad About Rock

Check out the latest issue of Stencil Magazine featuring my interviews with Gallows & While She Sleeps, as well as my reviews of Billy Talent, While She Sleeps and main cover band, Circa Survive! Also check out all the other great reviews, interviews and more all for free! http://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue15ofstencilmagazine Be sure to check out the new issue which is live on 25th November! Cheers! Carina

Check out this Protest song presented by The Big Smuz and KC Sound about the imprisonment of three members of the Russian Punk band Pussy Riot. Proceeds from the ad support for the video of the song will be donated to the Pussy Riot Legal Defence Fund! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k25XeCoTfEA&feature=youtube_gdata_player http://www.freepussyriot.org https://www.facebook.com/mikesmuz https://www.facebook.com/KieganChristieSound Carina

Experimentalist Rock band from Minsk, Belarus latest single, "Our Own Gale" opens with spacey synth sounds, and throughout has a great mix of relaxing ambience and electricity through their energy and electronic effects, creating a strong and powerful single!..like that of a storm slowly and beautifully building up strength! You will find it hard not to get swept away by their interesting and infectious sound! Vocalist, Alexei (Lex) Falco has an unusual and expressive range that compliments their out of this world sound perfectly! I predict big things for Weesp! Check them out and visit their website! http://www.weespband.com/ Carina

This is the debut release from the quartet who only formed back in November 2011, as they haven't been together too long you might think can their sound 'cut' it?!... Opening track "Laying Here Waiting For The Lights To Take Me" has lots of interesting riffs and melodies, which make for a different and inventive sound. The effective dual vocals and varied combination of powerful clean and aggressive vocals are a definite highlight! "I Get My Strength By Fighting For The Right Reasons" has strong stand out riffs and rhythms that are coherent and fast, that dance around with the elegance of two samurai warriors dueling! Great vocals again; there's alot going on without deducting from the overall sound. This song certainly has many 'strengths' and 'for the right reasons' to quote them! "All I Know Is The Extent Of Everything I Don't Know" opens aggressively, in what is the heaviest offering so far. Again as see...

Check out the latest issue of Stencil Magazine out now here:  http://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue14 Featuring my interview with front man of Billy Talent, Random Hand & all my reviews, including Download Festival 2012, and CD reviews of Serj Tankian, Chad Gilbert, The Word Alive, Reel Big Fish, JOIA & The Afterparty! As well as all the other awesome interviews and reviews in there!

I interviewed frontman of Billy Talent, Ben Kowalewicz for Stencil Magazine, check it out along with my reviews of Download Festival 2012, Serj Tankian's new album, "Harakiri", Reel Big Fish's new album, "Candy Coated Fury", The Word Alive - "Life Cycles", Chad Gilberts solo project, What's Eating Gilbert - "Cheap Shots", Joia - "Match Light" and finally The Afterparty - "Restless"! New issue is out 22nd of July! Also check out the other brilliant band reviews and interviews featured!  http://issuu.com/stencilmag Carina

 Check out the latest issue of the awesome Stencil Magazine featuring Lostprophets interview with guitarist Mike Lewis who I done the phone interview with, as well as my reviews of Architects new album, "Daybreaker", Summerlin - "You Can't Burn Out If You're Not On Fire" and The King Blues last ever album, "Long Live The Struggle"! Also be sure to check out all the other great interviews and reviews in there! Here is the link: http://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue13 Carina

Under Blackened Skies are a five piece metal band that hail from Birmingham, UK. The band have an impressive array of accolades behind them, including playing at Bloodstock 2010, headlining BasementFest 2011 (which they are playing again this year supporting big headlining acts!), featuring in an international magazine,  and playing the 02 Academy in Birmingham supporting Road Runner band, Baptized In Blood.  They will also be supporting Beholder on the 1st of March 2012, and lastly vocalist Manu Patel provided lead vocals for Daniel Lioneye (HIM's side project) on their 2011 tour of America, Canada and Finland, where they supported Cradle Of Filth (all I must say I'm a big fan of!). So I think it's fair to say this band means businesss and have alot to be proud of!!..You must be intrigued by now as to what the fuss is all about, so I think its time we get down to unveiling their new EP, "Faceless Devastation"... There are only four tracks on the EP, but f...

Darkest Era are a celtic metal band from Northern Ireland, although not just strictly celtic metal as they have other genres mixed in to create their epic sound. The band signed with the mighty Metal Blade Records back in 2010 and released their first full length debut through the label, the brilliant, "The Last Caress Of Light". This band is one to look out for! They have recently just finished a 14 date tour with 'pirate metal' band, Alestorm and Australian folk metal band, Claim The Throne on the "Useless Drunken Bastards" UK and Ireland tour in February 2012. I was lucky enough to witness all 3 bands in action on the 14th of February in Brighton at The Haunt. If you haven't seen Darkest Era or heard their music, you best do it now! I asked guitarist, Ade Mulgrew about touring with Alestorm, live shows, signing with Metal Blade Records and what the future holds... So I saw you at The Haunt in Brighton on the February 14 th , and th...

Left For Red are a four piece metal band from Dudley, UK. Their sound is a mix of punk, metal and rock. They have played many gigs with some of the best bands in West Midlands..and now they will be playing alongside the mighty Chimaira and Revoker on the 17th of March at the Slade Rooms in Wolverhampton. I put some questions to bassist, Daniel Carter about opening for Chimaira, lives shows and the new EP due to be released this year.. Firstly thanks for your time. You must be pretty hectic right now, promoting and rehearsing, especially with the impending massive gig coming up?! Yeah we have a really busy year coming up, we are working mainly on festival dates during the summer, so far we have been confirmed for Basement Fest 2012 which is going to be amazing with Blaze Bayley and Beholder headlining. We are also busy booking gigs hopefully for a UK tour during or at the end of the year. I hear your working on a new set for the Chimaira show. How much are you going to c...

US four piece deliver 'all metal, no bullshit'! Like your metal heavy as?!..then this is a band for you! "A Beautiful Demise" is nice and heavy from the off! Great fierce vocals, with audible shouting is always good! Very clear and effective topped off with good lyrics, bold and strong like their music! Add in some headbang worthy riffs and beats and this track shows pure metal is still alive! "Butterfly Effect" to sum up is fast, and fucking heavy! This is a great heart pounding, headbanging slab of metal! I always admire any metal vocalists that can scream like hell whilst still being meticulous! This band have a solid cuthroat sound that should go down a treat with the metal masses and will make you go mental in the mosh pits! Speaking of mosh pits be sure to check out the band if your fortunate enough to be in the area supporting the very awesome Straight Line Stitch (not for the first time either!) who I'm a massive fan of!..If you haven...

Avalanche are a four piece Post Hardcore act from the South East of England. They released their 4 track EP on the 6th October, and released it true style, launching it at a gig in Crawley at Bar Med supporting the band, Never Means Maybe who along with Fei Comodo are currently supporting Exit Ten ! The title of EP, " Inora " is named after the Goddess of Mountain Snow, which the artwork depicts. You could say its a good EP for the cold winter! Check it out now and be "snowed" under by " Avalanche ", and when your barricaded in your homes by the snow (which I'm sure will soon by on its way!) take this opportunity to listen to these 4 awesome tracks! " Problems With Talking " has quite a mainstream feel to it, so I'm sure it will be very popular! The song has great lyrics, like the other 3 tracks, and doesn't stray from this through out. The song seamlessly flows and is very coherent, something which can be ha...

This 6 piece band are from Central Valley, CA. They have a great and interesting sound which they refer to as Jivecore . They released " The Roman Candle " late 2011..is it burning bright, or looking dim?.. Opening with " Severance 2.0 " which has great guitar licks, beats and melodic riffs. A good introduction to the band. Coming in at just under 2 minutes, this track keeps it short but sweet! " The Trip " consists of synths sounds, great guitar work, with a mix of clean and scream vocals and lots of dynamic tempo changes. Nothing not to like really! I especially like the creepy piano bit at the end... Very unexpected! The strangely titled, " Pachinko " again shows some great guitar licks, as shown throughout. I'm really digging their tones and production. Quite unique in places. " Brought To You By Cinco " - really loving the main riff in this song!.. Very memorable! Lots of twists and turns, great structure ...

Article written by me. Originally printed in Ryan's Gig Guide magazine: http://www.ryansgigguide.com/ Carina

Article by me originally printed in Ryan's Gig Guide Magazine: http://www.ryansgigguide.com/ Carina

Nick J Townsend is the "lunatic" behind WEAK13 he composed all the instruments (with some exceptions on all his tracks) however he wouldn't be able to perform them all on his own, so he is joined on stage by Neel Parmar (Drums) and Wesley Smith (Bass) so WEAK13 had a makeover and became a three piece live act. " LIVE AMMO is a live experimental album and a music experience, a test of a musician " - This is a very brave a bold move for any musicians! Did this experiment work?... There is nothing "weak" about this strong raw sound! Except maybe the emotions and vunerability displayed in songs such as, " Wakedown "! There's no tricks or fancy effects but that doesn't mean your not in for a treat! Its the sheer talent, individuality, effort and simplicity that makes it so appealing... WEAK13 has such as raw underground yet catchy sound! First track, " Lunatic " is a great raw, emotional, grunge song. Its very libera...

Our very own thrash Metallers, Reign Of Fear are hard at work..they have a new record which they are recording in September and will be headlining the first ever BasementFest on August 20 th. I asked them about their upcoming new release and their headlining show... . So your new record which your recording on September 10 th , is to be named, "Blinded By Progression", how did you come up with this title? The initial idea came from pete (drums) whos thinking was he doesn't want himself or the band to forget why we started out to be what we are today and to not become jaded or self absorbed and focus on the music and our personal relationships within the band instead of losing touch and becoming blinded by progression.   Is it to be a full length record? And how does the new material compare to that of your previous tracks? B.B.P is to be a full length record which is a new experience for us but at the same time we have been writing for this release for quit...

This 5 piece outfit from Southern England combine elements of Death Metal, Thrash and Melodic Metal, giving them a unique and truly great sound! They have released two albums, their debut, "Bleeding The Guility" (2007) and "The Root Of Affliction" (2010). They have done extremely well in particular with their latest release, featuring on a Terrorizer CD with the song, "For Freedon For Treason", as well as receiving great reviews from Kerrang and Rocksound! They also made a video for, "When The Dead Walk The Streets" which is taken from, "The Root Of Affliction". Which is a great video and is an fantastically addictive song..Its so catchy it may ressurect the 'dead' from their graves! They have also played nation-wide shows with big bands such as, Sylosis, Trigger The Bloodshed, The Defiled, Seven Year Kismet, OutCryFire and Speed Theory amongst others! And now they have landed another great slot..supporting Sylosis, ...

Fornost Arnor – “The Death Of A Rose” Progressive/Metal/Experimental From: Peterborough/Colchester This stunning progressive four piece is comprised of Greg Chivers (Vocals, Guiar Ebow and Acoustic Guitar), Will Hall (Lead Guitar), Sam Austen (Bass guitar and Clean Vocals) and 'lastly' quite appropriately, Drummer, James Last! The band released their debut album, “Escaping The Abyss” back in 2009 through their own label, Witch-King, and now two years later they are back with this beautiful release... First track, “Rogue” opens with female vocalist, Elle Tory  (The Meads of Asphodel, Worms of Sabnock, Imperial Vengeance) delivering beautiful and soothing vocals, then is soon accompanied by Sam Austen, who resembles Michael Akerfield (Opeth), and both Greg Chivers and Sam Austen too have an impressive array of capabilities in the vocal capacity!..From close to serenading to full on demonic screaming they deliver combined! Throw in some haunting and super...