Hailed as Steve Harris from Iron Maiden’s favourite band, Stray really stand the test of time, and their anthems are a true legacy of incredible musicianship, songwriting and their charismatic frontman Del Bromham. Fresh from their huge EDDFEST gig at Knebworth with Iron Maiden, we know we are in for a mahoosive afternoon of rockness at The Half Moon.
Having met at school back in the swinging ’60s, these rockers really do have a tale to tell, and you can read all about it in frontman Del Bromham’s autobiography Rock And Roll Survivor. The band is now made up of Del Bromham, Pete Dyer on guitar/vox, drummer Karl Randall, bassist Colin Kempster and keyboardist Simon Rinaldo.
A who’s who of rock royalty are all in attendance, including Steve Harris at the Gravesend and Cart & Horses, for this highly anticipated gig, and we are all here to celebrate the latest album and, of course, some Stray classics.
Frontman Del Bromhan is the ultimate performer. His personality, singing chops and prowess on the guitar are unparalleled, and he is a bloody lovely fella too. As I mentioned earlier, Iron Maiden are huge fans, and it is no surprise why, as the excitement builds and the beers flow for this highly anticipated Sunday afternoon session.
As Stray walk onto the stage to rapturous applause, we always expect the usual Del cheeky Chappy quips. “I see there’s a few mature citizens ‘ere today,” he says. And then Pete Dyer spots me and says, “Alright darlin’”. That actually made my day.
Stray – The Half Moon, London – 4 October 2026. Photo: Xavier Russell
This band are consummate professionals, and the wall of sound this group make is second to none. One of the reasons us journos all love the Half Moon in Putney is that it is intimate, does a great roast and a cracking pint. I am happily enjoying my afternoon lady petrol and the band blowing our metaphorical socks off.
Bromham looks at us all and tells us he is “taking us back in our Time Machine,” and this is what they do. I wish I had half the energy this line-up produces. As I look to my left, fellow journo Andy Nathan (him of the famous mullet – it’s a lifestyle, not a hairstyle) is nodding his famed mullet of approval.
And this Hawkwindesque banger turns your mind around, featuring some of the best vocal harmonies and marvellous musicianship, as every member of this band delivers their parts into a stunning crescendo. The backline is immense on this tune and is a real goosebumps moment.
Bromham announces the next song, After The Storm and this and the next, Move that Wigwam, go down to rapturous applause and whoops.
“In 1976,” Del says, “we played with a band who liked a few fireworks, and that band was KISS.” They launch into Give A Little Bit.
Stray – The Half Moon, London – 4 October 2026. Photo: Xavier Russell
Then we go back to the Suicide album, which Del tells us was recorded in the Olympic Studios and that he got told off by Keith Richards for being too loud. Ha! This is a time for Simon Ronaldo to shine on his keys, and the sound he builds with military precision from the band is spot on. Simon quips that he was only five when this song came out.
An absolute favourite of mine is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and this is where Pete Dyer shines with his rock ‘n’ roll earring dangling and shining in the lights of the venue. With his cut-off jacket and crisp white trainers, Dyer is the epitome of ‘rock star’. Huge props to Rinaldo again for his vintage keys with that modern twist.
Then it is time for Living The Dream, and we are loving it, all augmented by killer keyboards and psychedelic geeeeeetar. This is when Bromham introduces the band to us. He is clearly proud of this version of Stray.
Black Sun is up next, another groove-filled belter of a song. It really is a tour de force of heavy rock blues with a strong lyrical message “Nobody’s going to live or breathe any more Black Sun.” This has to go down as one of the best Stray songs ever written.
Stray – The Half Moon, London – 4 October 2026. Photo: Xavier Russell
Now it was time for Bromham to step into the spotlight. I remember watching Del climb up the stage rigging like a loon, way ahead of O’Keefe from Airbourne. The solos that come out of his guitar are top banana, rising into sheer spine-tingling guitar work. Next level.
Percy The Pimp is a crowd favourite, and we are loving that backline rumble from the totally talented Colin Kempster and Karl Randall.
Then it was time for the audience to chip in as we all sang the ultimate Stray anthem together, I Believe It. At this stage, everyone was arm in arm. Me and my besties Xavier Russell, Sylvia and Singh Maiden were singing back the most outrageously catchy chorus ever. I was filled with emotion.
Stray – The Half Moon, London – 4 October 2026. Photo: Xavier Russell
The set ends with All in Your Mind, and Del has us all laughing. “Retirement’s a bastard,” he says. “I miss the bank holidays.”
We stomp, cheer and chant for more, and Stray deliver with Houdini.
Stray truly are up there with the best of British rock, and judging by the crowd (young and mature like us!!) at this packed ‘Alf Moon in Putne’, they have all clearly been on the same trip. We are all rock ‘n’ roll survivors.
One of the best gigs I’ve ever been to, and I cannot wait for the next outing from these absolute legends. Make sure you catch them in ‘Astings with my dear friend Dylan Gers.
Live Review: Europe With Gun & The Damn Truth Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, October 3rd Photographer / reviewer – Phil Honley This was always going to be a class affair with two choice support bands helping Europe to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the album that kick started the band’s career, their third studio album ‘The […]
I had hoped to be seen by you Unbroken gaze like a sweet arrow Could you ever feel my eyes on you Bathing you in my desire
Desire has a way of making the body speak before the mind has decided what to say: flushed cheeks, an aching chest, the unreasonable hope that somebody might feel a glance from across the room. In the video for Sacred Hearts, Gloria de Oliveira takes those private sensations onto the streets of Hamburg’s St. Pauli district, where barroom lamps, photo-booth portraits, and the company of women give longing somewhere to live. The song’s burning heart finds a fitting companion in the red lights overhead, while affection passes between its subjects through looks, laughter, and the small pleasure of being together.
The Berlin-based German-Brazilian musician and visual artist shares the video for the third single from her forthcoming album The Lying Swans, due October 30, 2026, through La Double Vie and Cargo Records. Produced by Randall Dunn, whose work includes records with Anna von Hausswolff and Marissa Nadler, Sacred Hearts considers the exhilaration and anxiety of giving yourself over to another person, particularly when the body seems to have made that decision ahead of you.
The opening guitar figures carry an almost medieval character, joined by bright, percussive tones with the delicacy of a hammered dulcimer. Matt Chamberlain’s drumming briefly suggests the forward motion of Kate Bush’s Running Up That Hill before settling into the song’s own gait. Deep resonant strings lend the arrangement weight, while synthesizers soften its edges and extend its peculiar, old-world atmosphere. The tones and melody evoke a folk ballad like Nick Cave’s The Weeping Song, with the spaciousness of a Western just beyond the song’s antique ornamentation.
De Oliveira sings into that space with a delicate quiver that evokes Elizabeth Fraser, with a classical poise softened by the intimacy of her delivery. Lennard Zander’s acoustic, electric, and 12-string guitars trace fine melodic lines without disturbing the vocal’s tenderness; Arjan Miranda anchors the arrangement on bass, while de Oliveira, Dunn, and Úlfur Hansson add layers of synthesizer. The music leaves her exposed yet almost weightless, as if every declaration of love might tip her toward losing her footing.
The lyrics measure desire through its physical symptoms, moving from fever and sleeplessness toward the hope contained in a hand’s touch. To be seen becomes as urgent as to be loved, and the repeated attempts to contain that feeling only reveal its scale.
Yet, the song’s title draws on an image de Oliveira has carried since childhood, joining religious devotion to the unruly sensations of romantic attachment.
“The Catholic image of Christ’s Sacred Heart – a heart literally engulfed in flames – has struck me since childhood.”
“Of course it’s meant to symbolise God’s boundless and passionate love for mankind – however, as John Keats once wrote, ‘I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the heart’s affections, and the truth of imagination’. And how does it feel to give yourself over to that affection and desire despite fear? With this song, I wanted to capture these seemingly contrasting sentiments.”
Shot and directed by award-winning Turkish filmmaker Seda Kaçak, and edited by de Oliveira, the video stars London actress Mona Najma alongside Eva Rogalla. Kaçak follows the women through St. Pauli in handheld close-ups, catching them sharing drinks, posing for photo-booth pictures, and moving between daylight streets and richly coloured interiors. Superimposed faces and starbursts around the lights give these ordinary pleasures an enchanted quality. Conceived as a homage to the bond between women, the film offers an affectionate counterpoint to the song’s solitary ache: companionship makes room for feelings that can otherwise become overwhelming.
Watch the video for Sacred Hearts below:
A classically trained singer whose acting work includes Babylon Berlin and Christian Petzold’s Undine, de Oliveira released music with the darkwave and synthpop duo lovespells before her 2020 debut album Fascination. Her 2022 collaboration with David Lynch’s longtime sound designer Dean Hurley, Oceans of Time, followed through Sacred Bones. Across those releases, she has explored dream pop, ethereal wave, ambient music, and the influence of her Brazilian roots, alongside work for theatre, film, and London Fashion Week.
Recorded in Iceland, New York, and Berlin, The Lying Swans extends those interests across nine songs concerned with trauma, perception, and the difficult return of trust. Its title invokes the myth of Leda, while its literary references include John Keats, Emily Brontë, Anne Sexton, and Milton’s Paradise Lost. Within that broader examination of love and illusion, Sacred Hearts holds open the possibility of affection despite fear.
Listen to Sacred Hearts below or via streaming services, and pre-order The Lying Swans here. The album is out October 30, 2026, on digital, vinyl, CD, and cassette.
How wild is that I’ve now been reviewing Parasites records over a period of thirty+ years? If you had told me, when I was a 24-year-old kid, that I’d be writing about a new Parasites EP in 2026, I would have declared you insane. But Dave is still going strong three decades later, and I still haven’t found a more appealing hobby than dancing about architecture. So here we are! Out on Something To Do Records, Parasites’ new self-titled EP is the band’s first release since 2023’s EP-Onymous and its first standalone EP comprised of new recordings since 1997! So yeah, this is kind of a big deal. In my admittedly biased opinion, Parasites are an all-time top ten pop-punk band, and the A-side of this release is totally in line with what you’d expect from a band that helped define the sound of ’90s pop-punk. If you could somehow go back in time and slip “Until You Go” and “The Day You’re Gonna Break My Heart” onto Punch Lines or Rat Ass Pie, no one would have been the wiser. When it comes to writing these gut-punch earworm love songs, Dave remains a master of his craft. 1996 me would have eaten these songs up.
So we’re talking vintage Parasites, right? Yes and no! Flip the record over, and you are in for some real surprises. “Drown” is the first time Dave has ever done a proper ballad (replete with strings and piano), and it’s all raw emotion and heartfelt sentiment without any heavy guitars or speedy tempos to lean on. I have to admit I heard those opening strains of acoustic guitars and thought Dave was about to go full-on Goo Goo Dolls. But you know what? Lyrically, this is pretty par for the course for a Parasites song. It’s genuinely moving and more than a little devastating. It should never be a stretch for a really good pop band to be able to pull off a song like this, and so the Parasites as legitimate balladeers is unexpected but perfectly logical. Dave’s vocal definitely has me feeling the song, and that melody has been slowly but surely lodging itself inside my brain. To finish the EP, “What Am I Gonna Do With You” finds the band further entering orchestral pop territory with a cover of an old Gerry Goffin/Russ Titelman composition. The song is most closely associated with The Chiffons, who recorded it first. But Dave’s inspiration here was Lesley Gore’s version from 1965. Those are some big shoes to fill! At the very least, I applaud the ambition
I imagine the second side of this EP will be highly divisive. Some longtime fans may be thrown for a loop and perhaps even feel ripped-off. Others might actually like Side 2 better! Certainly no songwriter should ever have to be limited to one musical style for life. Even Dave Parasite can only write so many textbook pop-punk songs before he gets a little tired of it. Whether this is a one-off thing or the start of his Brian Wilson phase remains to be seen. I will certainly be interested in hearing what people think of this departure from Parasites-as-usual. For now, I’ll say this: I don’t hate it.
Hit up Something To Do Records if you want to order this EP on 12″ vinyl or CD. First vinyl pressing is limited to 150 copies on glow-in-the-dark green vinyl and 150 on black vinyl. You can also order the vinyl and CDs from the Parasite’s Facebook page, Dave’s Facebook page, and the Waterslide Records web site. Dave is also selling t-shirts and his back catalog items from his Facebook page and the Parasites’ Facebook page. You can find all the links below!
Declan McKenna emerged from Hertfordshire as a teenage songwriter with an unusually sharp instinct for pairing bright, melodic indie rock with subjects that reached well beyond ordinary adolescent pop. Before his breakthrough, he uploaded a large body of self-recorded material to Bandcamp, including the 2014 projects TRIBES and I’ve Made It Further Than You (No, Not You). Those early recordings already showed the combination of humor, political observation, guitar pop and restless experimentation that would continue through his later work. McKenna’s international breakthrough came with “Brazil,” a song he wrote as a teenager about FIFA, inequality and the 2014 World
COPENHELL have revealed the first names for their 2027 line-up, and they are putting metal royalty right on top.
Headlining the event will be the returning Faith No More as well as Judas Priest, fresh off a 2026 headline slot at Bloodstock Festival.
And in addition, a whole host of other bands from across the heavy music sphere are also joining the party. They are Pierce The Veil, Motionless In White, I Prevail, GWAR, Clutch, Humanity’s Last Breath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Amon Amarth, Orbit Culture, Static-X, Brutus, Watain, Fu Manchu, Kanonenfieber, The Barbarians of California, Angel Du$t, Haywire, Ladrones, Pintglass, Babe Haven, Coulguns, King Yosef, Ondt Blod, Feral Nature, Bad Breeding, Tear Dungeon and Bloodstain.
COPENHELL will be taking place between June 23-26 at Refshaleøen in the heart of the beautiful Copenhagen, Denmark.
You may not know the name Brian Kehew, but you will almost certainly have heard his work. Born in 1961, the American producer, musician and engineer has played in The Moog Cookbook alongside former Jellyfish keyboardist Roger Joseph Manning Jr., guested on keys for The Who, and co-authored Recording The Beatles, an exhaustive study of the Liverpool legends’ studio craft.
His production and mixing credits read like a roll call of greats. Eels, Aimee Mann, Andrew Sandoval and Beck sit alongside archive and mixing work for Talking Heads, Black Sabbath, MC5, Yes and Alice Cooper. It is a rainy Welsh evening when I catch up with Brian Kehew in Los Angeles. Over there, he tells me, it is still very much summer.
The reason for the call is his latest UFO project, a new mix of the band’s 1982 Hammersmith Odeon show, recorded during the tour for their tenth studio album, Mechanix.
Released under the cheeky tagline Mechanix: It Will Tighten Your Nuts, the album followed The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent, long regarded as one of the finest records in the band’s catalogue. I’ve covered the album elsewhere in conversation with Phil Mogg. Here, the focus is on Brian Kehew’s work with the tapes, the band’s archive, and the enduring magic of UFO on stage.
UFO – Mechanix – Originally released in 1982
“I’ve always grown up with the radio on,” Kehew explains as I ask him about his background. “My family were not musicians so much as people who liked music. My mum and dad had a piano, and we all took lessons on piano, guitar and drums when we were young. I didn’t really follow the usual route of joining groups and playing in bands. I stayed at home, read every book I could find and started buying equipment. I was more interested in the technical side: music production, records, and trying to work out what sounded good.
“From there I moved into four-track recording, gradually bought better equipment, and eventually went to recording school in the ’80s to learn it properly. I went freelance, looking for projects, but the interesting twist was that, instead of making new records, I began being asked to work on old ones: Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath. Sabbath were my favourite group, so of course I said yes.
“That became another factor, because I loved analogue even when digital was supposed to be cooler, newer and better. I kept tape machines around, which seemed ridiculous at the time, but people still find me because they have old tapes.
“I didn’t even have a computer in my studio until 2009, when I bought a Pro Tools system for a Black Oak Arkansas reunion record. Since then, it’s become the way to work.”
Brian Kehew started the run of live mixes for UFO with Obsession, followed by No Place To Run and The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent. “Fourth one, I suppose, in sequence. And it’s ongoing, let’s put it that way,” he says, hinting at more to come.
“And we may go backwards as well as forward. I’m not quite sure, but I would love to connect with Chrysalis, which was probably my favourite label growing up. I loved UFO especially, but they had so many amazing acts on Chrysalis. The people that are now at the company get to work with that catalogue, which is really cool.”
Brian Kehew’s route into the UFO project came through James Batsford, the A&R figure now working with the band at Chrysalis. “It’s a little bit complex, but maybe interesting,” he says. “James connected us for all this. I had met him when he was very young. His father was a music friend from England, and they were visiting Los Angeles many years ago. I took them to the Rainbow Bar And Grill, which is a classic rock ‘n’ roll, especially Metal, place.
“Everyone knows it, but I still think it’s the best place to eat around here. I love the environment, and the food is exceptional. We had a very good time. And in the background, my UFO story is that they were the first group I ever saw when I was young.
“That was my first concert. Michael Schenker had gone away, probably permanently by 1979, and Paul Chapman was in. I didn’t care. I just wanted to see UFO. I loved it. It was a phenomenal concert, not knowing anything because I had never seen a show like that before.
“I kept going to see them, and I still love what they do if there’s any option to see them.
“For UFO fans, Strangers In The Night is ground zero. It’s the one. Over time, while working on projects for Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Aretha Franklin and Yes, I realised many classic live albums were assembled from different concerts. Yessongs, for example, was built from several 1972 shows, taking the best versions and presenting them as one concert.
“That’s the illusion we all get from records like Frampton Comes Alive! Most bands knew you were unlikely to capture magic on the one night the truck happened to be outside.
“I spent years looking for the Strangers In The Night tapes, knowing there must be more shows recorded. I eventually found them in a Los Angeles vault less than a mile from my home, but I could not touch them because I was nobody at that point.
“For ten years I wrote to management, the band, the label, everybody, saying the complete shows should come out, just as Deep Purple had done with Made In Japan.
“Eventually someone took that idea and ran with it, making a box set of all the Strangers In The Night shows. I bought it, with disappointment, but it was what it was.
“Soon after, James at Chrysalis found out I was a big UFO fan and asked if I would like to work on these projects. It came around to me just after the biggest dream project had passed, but then Obsession came up.
“I suggested remixing one of the shows so it could sound at least as good as the original live album, and we got to do that. It has the flaws any one night will have, but it sounds incredible. I love it. And then we continued with each subsequent record, as we’re doing at the moment.”
We both laugh about that first remix. It is from the Aragon Ballroom in Cleveland and has the immortal phrase that every rock fan now knows. “That’s part of it,” Brian Kehew laughs.” That is the way it opens. They come out and say, ‘Hello, Cleveland,’ about four years before Spinal Tap existed, which is great.”
UFO frontman Phil Mogg looks back on Mechanix, the album he jokes he may still be paying for. Photo: Ross Halfin
From an engineer’s point of view, how does mixing a club show like the Marquee compare with a larger venue such as Hammersmith? “One thing we always have to face is that the iconic live record was done by Ron Nevison, who is a producer-engineer. He is one of those unusual people, like Glyn Johns, who was also the engineer getting the drum sounds.
“Having spent years in the studio with UFO, he knew the bass sound, Andy Parker’s tom-toms, everything. So the recordings captured for Strangers In The Night were better than almost everything we have had since. Not exclusively, but mostly.
“It isn’t simply a question of club versus theatre. If a microphone is close to a snare drum, or right up against a Marshall cabinet, the room almost disappears.
“But there are still challenges. In a club, the PA bounces off the walls and affects the drums and vocal spill. In a big room, the spill may be more distant and echoey, and the voice clearer. Each night is different, and each truck engineer is dealing with that night as it happens.
“The Marquee isn’t specifically great or bad sounding, whereas Hammersmith is still a really good-sounding room, pleasant, musical and workable. The bigger thing for me is preserving the character of the show.
“Phil is always funny and charming with an audience. It’s not usual show-business patter. On the original live record, he says, ‘I just got a message. They’re changing the mics. Can I fill in?’ They probably could have cut it, but it shows his informal nature, and it became part of the history.
“So I try to find those moments and leave them in rather than polish everything too much.
“You say the studio recordings, because one of the things I like about UFO, and this is true for their performances, is that they do not vary too far off the map. Later in the day, they would take Doctor Doctor into a long jam and things. They were probably tired of playing it or maybe wanted to stretch a good song longer.
“But if you hear a song, Love To Love or Only You Can Rock Me, it’s like the record. You are going to hear the parts you know and sing along, whereas some bands take it too jazzy or just do not want to play the old songs.
“I think they deliver for the audience very consistently what you do want to hear. Plus, there’s always going to be an element of new material. They were pretty good about bringing out good records with at least two or three strong tracks on every one, and then putting those into the show, which I didn’t mind at all.”
UFO – Obsession – in 1978. Photo: Jim Summaria
I ask Brian Kehew about the origin of the Hammersmith shows used on The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent and now Mechanix. “It’s unclear, the source,” he says. “I think they must be BBC. And we didn’t have both nights.
“There seems to be some kind of curse on UFO’s career. They should be more popular. Everyone says it, including the band and people like Iron Maiden and Slash. I do not think it is a curse, exactly. It is personalities, timing, record labels, all those things. They could deliver the goods with records, singles and performances. It was all there for them, but it never quite clicked.
“The same thing happens with their tapes. Sometimes we were struggling to find the sources, or a whole show would be missing reels right in the middle. There are a lot of complications, so we do what we can. If it isn’t a complete show from the opening tuning to the final applause, everything we could possibly use is still in there. I would always love it to be longer, but sometimes the tape simply runs out in the middle of Rock Bottom.
“Once in a while, you have to make the smallest repair. On one Rock Bottom, the final chord cut out completely, so I stole the last E chord from another show. That’s not something we commonly do, but otherwise the end of the show was a whimper.
“Then there are recording problems, feedback, monitor issues, things that can nearly ruin a show. Phil says at one point, ‘I’m really upset with the monitor man, and I’m going to throw him at you very soon.’ In the days of analogue tape, that was very hard to fix. Now I can go in surgically and filter out things that would once have made a recording unusable.”
We move on to the differences between the Schenker and Chapman eras. “I actually think Paul Chapman is more consistent,” Brian Kehew says, “and that’s nothing to do with Michael Schenker, who’s still my favourite musician.
“Paul Chapman has a perfect guitar tone always. In those days, pedals and big systems were not common. It was down to your Marshall amp sitting on top of that stack, and Chapman must have had a magic one. Whether it was natural or modified, it always sounded so good. Rhythm or lead, up or down the neck, it sounds perfect, so it’s very easy to work with what he’s doing.
“He always plays so well. Most UFO fans appreciate that the band is a combination of people, so the difference between those guitarists comes down to tone and the parts they play. But the other changes in that period matter too.”
Paul Raymond – UFO – London. Photo: Steve Ritchie/MetalTalk
“Paul Raymond was incredibly hard to replace,” Brian Kehew says, “because he played guitar and keyboards, and sang those consistent harmony vocals. Then Neil Carter comes in and adds another dimension, even saxophone now and then.
“The keyboards are really what make UFO different from Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy or early Iron Maiden. They give the songs range, whether it’s Try Me, Profession Of Violence or Love To Love. You don’t always think of UFO that way, but those parts are essential. In this period, with Neil Carter coming in, they don’t really lose anything.
“Having mixed Sabbath, Yes, and all these groups, the only band I have found as tight on stage is ELP. The next best, or almost as good, is UFO.
“When they play together, they are like a machine. When they start Lights Out, it is absolutely locked together on a big stage or a small stage.
“I wonder if part of that is Phil? As a singer, I think he is highly underrated. He should be mentioned alongside someone like Paul Rodgers. Singers who do not scream or show off, but sing the right parts. I prefer that, and it records very well. That clear, thick mid-range always comes through. With a hard rock band, it sounds perfect every time he sings.”
Phil Mogg – UFO, London. Photo: Steve Ritchie/MetalTalk
Sadly, Brian Kehew has not yet had the opportunity to chat with Phil, but he tells me of his first meeting with the UFO singer. “We haven’t since I started working,” he says. “But at that very first concert, when I was a lad, we walked around behind the venue afterwards.
“I grew up in San Bernardino, California, which is a bit like Detroit or Birmingham. A tough rock ‘n’ roll town. UFO were big headliners there in the ’70s. Phil came out and sat and talked to us for a while. Years later, around the Misdemeanour tour, I saw him in Los Angeles, and he did the same thing, chatting with everybody out back. He’s just that kind of bloke, accessible and grounded.”
Although this is a job, Brian Kehew is clearly enjoying mixing one of his favourite bands. “In the ’80s Chapman era, I love Diesel In The Dust,” he says. “No Place to Run is often better live than on the record, and Making Moves is a strong, stomping classic rock burner. There are quite a few in there. The records usually had two or three tracks I would call classics.
“Profession Of Violence is one people always talk about, though I do not think they played it live. It is such a different but strong song. And they could certainly write ballads. Try Me is another one that still stands up.
“A mate of mine, who had seen them from ’74 onwards, once said after the split with Michael Schenker, ‘I think Michael needs them more than they need him.’
“Michael made great records, but they were more about guitar solos. UFO had more consistent songwriting, the kind that could have sat on any record from any period. You cannot always tell who wrote what, Paul Raymond, Phil, Pete Way, Chapman or Schenker, and I love that.”
The expanded edition of Mechanix – Out on 4 December 2026
Originally released in 1982, Mechanix marked a pivotal chapter in UFO’s evolution, capturing the band as they transitioned into a new era. This definitive reissue has been newly remastered at AIR Mastering, bringing renewed clarity and punch to the original recordings.
The package is enriched with previously unreleased photographs, offering a visual snapshot of the band during this period. New liner notes by David Hann provide fresh insight into the album’s creation and legacy, drawing on exclusive interviews with key band members, including Phil Mogg, Andy Parker, and Neil Carter.
A major highlight of this edition is the inclusion of a newly mixed live recording from Hammersmith Odeon on 28 January 1982, restored by renowned producer Brian Kehew.
Capturing UFO onstage at London’s legendary Hammersmith Odeon, this performance showcases the band’s raw energy and musical firepower on the eve of the release of Mechanix.
This expanded edition of Mechanix stands as both a historical document and a compelling reminder of UFO’s enduring place in hard rock history. Released on 4 December 2026 via Chrysalis, pre-orders are available from ufo.lnk.to/MCHX.
Wage War have shared a new track from their fast-approaching full-length ‘Landfall’; and it is a bit of a bruiser, to say the least.
Titled ‘God Complex’, it finds the band channelling their heaviness into a new pulsating form. Littered with insatiable grooves and audacious builds, before going for the jugular like a coiled snake time and time again, it feels like the band are really playing around with tension and tenacity with this record. Patience pays off, and it makes the lunge forward all the sweeter.
‘Landfall’ will be released this Friday, October 09, via Fearless Records.
Here is the punishing title track:
Wage War will be making their way back to the UK and Europe for a headline tour at the start of 2027, with support coming from Invent Animate and Windwaker. Here are the dates:
JANUARY 2027
15 – CARDIFF Y Plas / Cardiff University Students’ Union 16 – LONDON O2 Forum Kentish Town 17 – MANCHESTER O2 Ritz Manchester 19 – GLASGOW SWG3 Galvanizers 20 – BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute Birmingham 22 – PARIS Le Trabendo 23 – ANTWERP Trix 24 – AMSTERDAMMelkweg 28 – COLOGNE Carlswerk Victoria 29 – MUNICH Technikum 30 – BERLIN Columbia Theater
