Mad About Rock

Check out the new Stencil Mag which includes my feature of The Used & my reviews of Skunk Anansie, Last Chance City, Waterparks, Twitching Tongues, SECRETS, Bad Pollyanna, Outright Resistance & Perfect Hero. Plus loads of awesome interviews, such as cover band, Simple Plan, Bloc Party, Sylosis, American Head Charges & other reviews! https://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue35/1?e=0 Direct Links to my reviews/features inside:  Badpollyanna, Secrets, Outright Resistance, Perfect Hero Reviews  http://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue35/167?e=1780949/33146877 Twitching Tongues Review  http://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue35/169?e=1780949/33146877  Waterparks & Last Chance City Review  http://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue35/173?e=1780949/33146877 Skunk Anansie Review  http://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue35/175?e=1780949/33146877 My Used Feature http://issuu.com/stencilmag/docs/issue35/193?e=1780949/33146877

SKUNK ANANSIE RELEASE SECOND SINGLE ‘DEATH TO THE LOVERS’ FROM CURRENT STUDIO ALBUM ‘ANARCHYTECTURE’, OUT NOW ON SPINEFARM RECORDS IN THE UK EUROPEAN HEADLINE TOUR, INCLUDING 2 UK SHOWS, SET FOR FEB 2016 Skunk Anansie have released a second track from their sixth studio album, ‘Anarchytecture’, out now via Spinefarm Records. The single, ‘Death To The Lovers’, is a revealing and deeply emotional track, Skin’s genuine delivery will pierce your heart… “‘Death To The Lovers’ is about the loss of intimacy in a relationship,” says Skin, “that grey area between love and hate you fall into just before it's truly over. There is desperation, there is the realisation that it can't last, but there's still hope. Musically, it’s another electronic experiment from us, something fresh and contemporary, but very Skunk.” A music video for ‘Death To The Lovers’ will be revealed shortly. ‘Anarchytecture’ was released on January 15th to much critical acclaim and impressive official char...

It Came From Beneath are a Deathcore Metal five piece from Lyon, France who formed in 2010. They released their debut album, When No Light Remains in 2013, following their first self-titled EP in 2010. Now with a mix of new material, a cover song and some remasters of previous material, they are back with  The Last Sun EP. The opening title track, is suspenseful and eerie with a sonic ambience, with mighty demonic raw vocals to accompany the catchy chugging riffs and crashing furious drums. The guitar work however goes beyond your typical death metal, being complex and having a evil presence. This is doing the Deathcore genre proud, and should be repeated many times to fully appreciate it! Up next we have 'The Burden', again bringing with it a dark resonance, flowing perfectly from the opener. This is a deeply belligerent offering, where they stampede and blast through with all they have got, with the harmonious layers of the guitars, making it stand out further. We are...

When The Clock Strikes are a 3 piece alt punk rock band from Muskogee, Oklahoma. They haven't been around long, only debuting with their Glowing In The Dark EP in November 2014, and now they are back with their follow up, The Better Friends EP, to make some noise and 'strike' with their video game inspired upbeat sounds!... 'Too Many Cooks' gets things off to an explosive exciting start, especially with highly melodic riffs, fast drums, and flawless fun punk rock vocals, which maintains great energy and tones throughout. The dominant unexpected effects and rhythms take this to another level! This isn't your typical pop punk, that's for sure! The title song, 'Better Friends' (From A Distance) is a emotionally driven, cruel yet honest offering, which is upbeat, with lots of electrifying twists. It has brilliant structure and melodies, with strong raw vocals and well written lyrics. Unlike their 'friends', make sure this song is readi...

Chicago heavy rock outfit SOiL have just released a lyric video for the song "Way Gone". The video can be seen here: https://youtu.be/jkO1drNxAnM "Way Gone" comes from SOiL's 6th full length album "Whole" which is the first release to feature original vocalist Ryan McCombs since 2004's "Re.de.fine". The band have been on an extensive 2 year plus touring cycle promoting the album. "In this day and age you have to work an album for a long time in order for it to soak into people's heads" states bassist Tim King. "Everyone is bombarded with so much content through media these days that we still find out many fans are still just discovering the "Whole" album for the first time". According to vocalist Ryan McCombs, "The song "Way Gone" was one of those tunes that came together after the twelfth hour. From the first time that I heard the song in the writing process, I was a fan of the trac...

Catalina Shortwave, are a diverse Rock 'N' Roll five piece band, that started in 2013, releasing their debut, 'Repeater' in 2014. Then they hit again with their sophomore release,  'Radio Voodoo: Songs From The Dark End Of The Dial' in 2015. 'Your Old Letters' is a true and solid bluesy rock number, showcasing vocalist, David Rizzo's smooth yet fierce demanding authoritative vocals. We are graced with some serious impressive guitar work and solo from Marty Stauffer and Keith Morey. The whole song is dripping with style and is a great way to start and introduce their sound. 'Here Today, Gone Tomorrow' picks up the pace, with some interesting melodies and rhythms, which are all as slick as hell, featuring catchy riffs and crashing drums. This has a chilled sexy laid back feel at times, especially in the cool straight talking stripped down section, with some unexpected punk inspired riffs for good measure. 'Breakaway' slows thin...

Red Martian from Seattle, Washington as their name may suggest, are trying to be out of the ordinary, and their neue shoegazer genre certainly achieves this..if you haven't yet had the pleasure of hearing this band, you are in for a real surprise, in what is arguable their best material yet.. To open we have the title track, 'Slow Motion Samurai' which has an hopeful instrumental sound, before taking a downbeat approach with sombre vocals and bouncy airy riffs, making an interesting and intriguing contrast which works well, and more importantly showcases their unique style immediately.. 'Emeraldas' shakes things up more-so, by taking a big leap from the opener, with memorable and discombobulating guitars, this one is laced with a raw punk sound and enthralling unusual demanding vocals. The strangely titled,  秘密の旋律 (I have no idea what this means!) has a dream like vibe with great drony grunge like guitars and distant vocals, creating a huge atmosphere, li...

Happy Year New Everyone! Updated regularly with new 2016 releases - 7/2/16! So 2015 has come to an end! It brought with it some brilliant rock/metal releases, and sadly the year saw the tragic departure of some of the finest rock legends. Obviously everyone's favourite albums/releases are subject to opinion, but some notable mentions for me include: Disturbed - Immortalized Acoda - Truth Seeker Conquer Divide - Self Titled Papa Roach - F.E.A.R Parkway Drive - Ire Atreyu - Long Live Bullet For My Valentine - Venom Trivium - Silence In The Snow The Echo & The Always - And After That The Dark Weesp - The Void Coldrain - VENA Straight Line Stitch - Transparency King Leviathan - The Shrine Meta-Stasis - The Paradox Of Metanoia WEAK13 - They Live I have probably missed some, but these ones mentioned are worth checking out if you haven't already! 2015 has been a strange year musically for me, as some of the albums that I thought would be in this list, did...