Blog

Special Guests to the original Inglorious in Wolverhampton were rising quartet Kira Mac. Just shy of a year since they headlined this very venue, please see my review here. Now they return with an emphatically darker, weightier, more forceful sound.

Kira Mac – White Skies

KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton – 17 October 2026 

Words: Sophie James

Photography: John Inglis

From the intro, one sensed the intensity of what was to come would be greater than before. A thunderous rolling bass was joined by the staccato guitar attack of Hated, leaving many in the audience stunned. However, it did receive a warm reception.

“We’re gonna play you some songs no one’s ever heard before.”

Caught Between retained its predecessor’s intensity while unequivocally confirming that the collective was forging a new direction. Chemicals possessed more groove while losing none of the potency.

“Everyone’s looking dumbfounded.  Come on KK’s, it’s a Saturday night!”  

The bass intro of Magnetic led into a guitar sound that was redolent of that mid-eighties goth scene. By now the guitar pair of Joe and Vern were most animated.  

In spite of their earlier reticence, more in the crowd were warming to the new material during Haunt Me. With its refrain of “It’s not over yet”, it possesses the kind of hook that burrows deep inside.  

As Rhiannon explained to me, “This is just the working title. It may yet change. I’m not going to bore you with the details, but we’ve had a shit two years. We shelved a whole album and been back in the studio to record a whole new one.”

The penultimate Climbing had more of a swing to it and, to the unfamiliar listener, was more accessible as a result. This saw Rhiannon descend to the barrier to lead the audience in a prolonged chant of “Heys!”  

So, seven brand new songs, which Loyalty concluded. Kira Mac must be commended for having the courage to play a complete set of unfamiliar material, one that tested the audience as well as the reviewers present.  

Ideally, to review a gig, one would require prior exposure to material to appreciate the subtleties of an in-concert performance. That said, I admire their attitude to just go for it and expect constructive feedback.  

No one can fault their application and the level of musicianship, but such was the shift in soundscape, I imagine at this stage it may be challenging to integrate the older material into the set.  

The next time, I hope to be more acquainted, thus immersing myself to a greater degree. Expect the new album next spring.  

Once again, I will leave the final word to the artist. “Anything can happen in this band. Expect the unexpected.”

The Dynamic Melodic Excellence Of White Skies

Opening the Inglorious comeback show were Midlands’ very own melodic stormtroopers, White Skies.  Comprising Mick White (ex-Samson & First Strike) on vocals, ex-YaYa Ray Calcutt on guitar, ex-Blood Red Saint Rob Naylor on bass and Daz Lamberton (ex-Red White & Blues) on the skins, however, keyboard wizard/production genius Pete Lakin has now taken a step back from being out on the road.  

Having released the truly stellar Shouting At The Hurricane on Good Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the launch party within the intimate confines of the Giffard Arms the same evening.  

This, however, was my first opportunity to experience them on a large stage, a place I have always considered they could fully exploit the associated sound system.  

Opening with the urgent Righteous Zone from the new LP, a tale of romantic dissolution I described at the time as “It wouldn’t be a stretch to consider it to be White Skies’ Dirty Love.” What could possibly go wrong?  

As a four-piece, they have upped their attack. Ray and Rob’s rhythms have more meat, although Pete’s textures provide a subtle backdrop.  

With the limited time available, the band were going for it. The heavily airplayed 88 Crash followed. I feel I must adopt a Keith Richards tone and go “Man, what a riff!”  Here one could feel, as well as hear it, in all its majesty.  

New album opener If This Is It was relegated to third place and preceded the gargantuan title track Shouting At The Hurricane.  

With the truly stupendous tones of Nathan James due later, Mick demonstrated comparable ability as his voice soared across the void.  

An anthem for our time, it is a song one could never tire of.  “And I look into the storm and cry.”

“This song is about going out on a Saturday night and seeing your favourite band.”  The strutting hedonistic escapism of Money To Burn is an effervescent anthem to a big, big night out.  

Very first single and sole representative from debut Black Tide, What Do You Know About Love, a song that still gets better and better with every listen, closed this highly enjoyable set.  

For this concise support appearance, White Skies collated what could be considered their most dynamic and infectious selection, exhibiting a mastery of songwriting and consummate delivery, proving this is where they truly belong.

We need to see them more in such locations.  

The post Kira Mac Dare To Be Different As White Skies Deliver Melodic Excellence first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

Five months ago, we watched as Angine de Poitrine – microtonal sensations from Saguenay, Quebec’s fertile DIY rock scene via…I dunno, somewhere in space – sent a jam-packed Electric Ballroom into a state of feverish glee. Since then they’ve raked up millions more streams, made their US talk-show debut (The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon) and sold out increasingly massive spaces across the globe.

That London debut caught us by surprise, in the best way – a proper rock show and a thousand times more fun than we imagined such a fiendishly clever, angular duo could be. Do they pull off the same trick tonight? In a word: yes.

Support band/fellow Quebecois rockers Gros Mené kick things off with a pleasingly all-over-the-map melee of punk, psychedelic, blues, hardcore and alternative sensibilities. It all makes a weird, oomphy kind of sense. If All Them Witches came out of a garage in Detroit, instead of Nashville, they might have sounded like this.

Delighted cheers rise and spotty balloons fly over heads as the curtain rises to reveal our pyramid-saluting headliners – resplendent and slightly homemade-looking, like characters dreamt up by a primary school teacher (after a particularly hefty spliff). It’s an oddly wholesome backdrop for hard-stabbing opener Angor, its hypnotic math-rock, prog and ancient scales layered with dizzying dexterity.

Yor Zarad is their mad French-Canadian answer to Focus, intense but giddy, drummer Klek’s long nose flailing between beats, guitarist/bassist Khn stepping back and forth as if in a dance with his pedals. It’s like being suddenly thrust into a psychedelic, high-energy party at some kind of alien souk.

It’s pretty much the same setlist as the one we saw in May, but now with an expanded vocabulary of distorted “eryhjjhthturrrhgtuhh!” declarations between songs. You wonder if there’s a code in these garbled exchanges (two short “urrhgtdddttjtk!”s for “oh fuck my drumstick’s stuck!”, or somesuch thing), either way it unites the happy roomful gathered here.

It *is* a less boisterous crowd compared to the frenzied mob at the Ballroom – as you’d expect from tonight’s wider demographic and capacious, high-ceilinged setting. Still, everyone’s quite ready to bob along in unison on command, ADP’s non-verbal offbeat panto showmanship transcending language and culture boundaries.

Crowd-surfers start to flow around Mata Zyklek, ADP’s virtuosic chops and eastern sensibilities reaching banger-grade rockability. Intense but full of silly fun, frenetic then fluid repeat patterns with nods to Arabic, Greek, Turkish, Indian and other old world musical traditions.

Ababa Hotel is a jazzier funk affair – the band going a bit Dave Brubeck on us for a moment – leading into a gloriously bizarre call n’ response “EEEE!” “ARGGGHH!”, proof that even 333-year-old otherworldly beings can do hammy old-school theatre.

Much loved fan favourite Fabienk sees the room descend into full-scale alien disco boogie. Everyone bounces and sings along with the guitar hook. We lose count of the spotty outfits, headgear and hairdos around us, as Sherpa stirs up a heady cloud of eastern hoodoo and tight, twisted oomph for an all-out rock climax.

You do wonder if this’ll all turn out to be some feverish cheese dream that we wake up from in, say, 2028 and go “Hey, remember when we were nuts for these weird instrumental dudes with absurd oversized heads? What the hell was that??” But even if that did happen – whether Angine’s reign ends tomorrow, or years from now – we’d look back on it as a brilliantly eccentric moment in music history.

That said, they have got two London nights booked for next summer, so it’s not over just yet.

Well here comes Mr. Dependable again! When it comes to Nick Piunti, the one thing you can always count on is quality. The new EP Under the Wire finds this master craftsman of guitar pop in prime form on a six-song set that feels a little different from his albums. This release is, for the lack of a better term, more “singer/songwriter-ish.” 

Piunti often brings to mind Paul Westerberg with his flair for writing songs that are so sad and truthful that they hit you like a ton of bricks. That’s the vibe here. Under the Wire favors ballads and laidback, melancholy numbers. While not fully a concept record, it does explore recurring themes of people who are plagued by despair and struggling to find their way out of the darkness — sometimes due to circumstance and sometimes by choice. These songs play to all of Piunti’s strengths. He’s not just a skilled crafter of melodies but also a fine singer and superb storyteller. These six songs come together like a collection of short stories or a movie made of vignettes. It takes a special kind of talent to make sad songs something you look forward to, but Piunti possesses that skill set in abundance. “Hope You Got High” opens the EP in particularly devastating fashion, and from there it’s a veritable parade of stunning, gorgeously bittersweet gems. If you’ve heard a Nick Piunti record before, you know the kind of music to expect. But his act never wears thin, and every new song he turns out is a delight to behold. If you or people close to you are struggling or haunted by demons of various sorts, you will feel these songs deeply. 

Given the creative roll he’s been on now for a decade plus, getting two releases from Nick Piunti in a single year feels like a gift. He epitomizes class in the indie pop-rock universe, and Under the Wire captures him at his absolute best.

Echoid, the outstanding new alliance of musicians from the ranks of bands such as Noveria, Alicate, Burning Black, Order of Minerva and the Vivaldi Metal Project, have unveiled a brilliant new lyric video – ‘Break The Circuit‘! ‘Break The Circuit‘ is taken from Echoid’s incredible debut album, ‘The Silent Era‘. ‘The Silent Era‘ is an album […]

The post Echoid Release Lyric Video For ‘Break The Circuit’ appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.

[Cover Artwork by Julia Proszowska]

Something about the internet that only occurred to me recently is that it’s changed the way we think about death. Like just about everything else, the very notion of death has lost so much of its affective power as it has become another thing crowding the headlines bobbing in a clickbait sea. All day every day, notifications of the passing of beloved celebrities and folk heroes next to real stories about real people losing their real lives in heartbreaking ways. We click, share, lament, x out, and click something else. Consider how we process the deluge of news alerts pertaining to natural disaster, war and genocide, school shootings for fuck’s sake. Ubiquity inures.

I think that’s why I appreciate so very much how Norway’s Arabs In Aspic chose to handle the sad and unexpected passing in 2025 of their good friend Stig Arve Kvam-Jørgensen, whom the band called their “fantastic wizard of keys, vocals, composition, inspiration, improvisation and good vibes.” Aside from a brief announcement expressing shock and grief, there’s been virtually nothing from the band about it. Just some sadness and quiet respect for family. And then their 9th album (allowing for the debut EP and rerecording of Syndenes Magi), scheduled to release on what would have been Stig’s 50th birthday.

Sorgens Kapittel is a tribute to Stig, for sure, and feels like it must be a part of the grieving, as well. For one, he was active in the creation of the album just before his death, so this music is of him as much as it is for him. The cover art, by longtime collaborator Julia Proszowska, is dark and foreboding and depicts Stig(?) being tormented by demons in the hallowed halls of Fru Lundgreen, a rock and roll club in Trondheim where Arabs In Aspic played many shows over the years. There’s a lot happening in the art, including little Easter eggs that surely suggest some inside scoop on the lives of Stig and his pals in the band. The album title translates to “The Chapter Of Grief,” and the song titles suggest stories and characters and observations that must reflect intimate knowledge of Stig and his relationships. Sorgens Kapittel is the band’s farewell to their friend and celebration of his life.

At first blush, it’s tempting to call Sorgens Kapittel a return to roots for Arabs In Aspic, both because of its role as a memorial and because it’s very dark and heavy. Arabs began as a Sabbath tribute band so of course their earliest albums were heavy and loaded with stonerisms, but they also showed just that little bit of weirdness and restlessness that opens the door to prog and, sure enough, they’ve folded more and more progressive rock into their sound with each release. It’s remarkable, then, that Sorgens Kapittel is the heaviest thing they’ve done since the 2003 debut EP, Progeria.

And yet, this is not a mere return to roots, because these songs are absolutely progressive, reflecting all that growth as brightly as they rumble with that early inspiration. Like all great bands, there’s an undeniable celebration of the greats of the subgenre, especially those that thrived in the intersection of Heavy Metal and Progressive Rock before those terms were being capitalized. Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Frank Zappa, Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant. Arabs In Aspic first and foremost, loudest and proudest, because they’ve never forgotten who they are. This is probably more important to them than ever on the album remembering their good friend.

Knowing this, Stig’s contributions take on deeper meaning, but so too do several recording and production decisions that might not make much sense otherwise. The lone single, for example, titled, “Siste Dans” (“The Last Dance”) is warm and nostalgic, clearly a fond remembrance and farewell.

But the full version of “Siste Dans” included on the album is over four minutes longer than the single cut shared above. The extra time is rehearsal sounds capturing the essence of Arabs In Aspic, the band, with Stig’s place among them preserved forever.

What a wonderful way to share their love and grief with fans of the band and the man, and a perfect encapsulation of the energy coursing through this record.

So fittingly, the album begins with Stig breaking the silence, burly Hammond tones shaking the air. “Avgrunnen Kaller” (“The Abyss Calls”) opens with darkness and anger but courses through an emotional maelstrom, so there’s joy and sadness and some ambiguity, too. This is a story about remembering their friend, who features prominently and makes his presence felt throughout the Sorgens Kapittel. The opening track runs a full range of sounds from heavy metal to lively Scandinavian prog across its nine-and-a-half minutes. Both the contrast and smoothness of transitions between those vibes is facilitated so nicely by the presence of both a standard rock and roll drummer and more broadly defined percussionist, the presence of which are felt consistently, contributing without dominating.

The songs following are similar in their structure except that they are presented as briefer components rather than an assembled whole, even as they play that way, smooth and integrated. Tracks two through five, for example, essentially function as a song with all the eclectic energy and fun of the opener running across tracks rather than within one: wistful melody and mariachi in “Local Legends and Mutiny,” sludgy doom in “The Satanist,” FM radio rock smiles on “The Buddy,” and certified zaniness à la Zappa on “The Nudist,” because of course. It’s a strange way to go about it, generally speaking, but consistent with this band’s proclivity for just being a little bit (or a lot) weird about things.

To the point: it works. One of prog rock’s more persistent foibles is its tendency to include everything at the expense of cohesive songwriting. Sorgens Kapittel excels in this regard as it flows smoothly in and out of countless twists and turns through time and tempo changes, shuttling between styles, moods, and intensities, and holding true to its thematic core as songs recall various motifs through assorted morphs and modulations. Even if there’s no mention of a concept per se, it is surely safe to say that this story is so convincingly told because the unifying theme is the band’s love for Stig.

Faced with the loss of their friend and musical companion, the human beings in Arabs In Aspic focused inward, channeling grief and all its intersecting emotions through their creative energies, much the same way they would have channeled life’s more mundane energies if he were still in the room. In the process, they made a wonderful dark and heavy progressive rock album that remembers the band as it was with him in it and turned out as great on its own as it is special in its memorial love. There may not be a better way to honor the life of a loved one lost.

 

The post Arabs In Aspic – Sorgens Kapittel Review appeared first on Last Rites.

Jon Pardi emerged as one of the most recognizable voices in modern traditional country music by keeping fiddles, steel guitar, and honky-tonk energy at the center of his recordings. Born in Dixon, California, in 1985, he developed his musical interests through country music and performed long before his records became country radio staples. He moved to Nashville as a young adult and signed with Capitol Nashville, making his early singles the starting point for a career that brought the sound of California dance halls to a national audience. His first full-length album, Write You a Song, appeared in 2014, following

The post Complete List Of Jon Pardi Songs From A to Z appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

Let’s be real for a second: we all need some good alternative rock music every once in a

A rebirth is born of bold new ambition.

Contrary to the opinions of some, thrash has always been a subgenre of heavy metal focused on innovation and progression since it came roaring out of the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, and several other areas inside and outside the United States. Of the former contingent, the late 80s would bring an impressive array of late-comers that stretched the very meaning of thrash metal, culminating in what would be the turn of the decade vanguard.

Alongside the likes of Heathen and Testament, Hayward natives Forbidden brought a more nuanced and forward-looking take on the marriage of metal and hardcore, exploring an eclectic blend of influences that could be construed as progressive, though still firmly rooted in the stylistic template originally established by Metallica, Megadeth, Exodus and other forefathers of the Bay Area sound. Now following over a decade of silence in the studio, this former powerhouse has struck back with a titanic eponymous LP and new lineup that proves a classic never dies nor does it settle for living in the past.

Of the original membership that comprised this mighty quintet, only the songwriting and riffing chops of guitarist/founder Craig Locicero and the steady foundation of bassist Matt Camacho remain, but one would not know it based on the sonic results. The acquisition of former Attitude Adjustment drummer Chris Kontos, also known for his past work with Bay Area heavy-hitters Machine Head and Testament, establishes an immediate level of gravitas to the rhythm section that translates into a pummeling yet also adaptive framework that plays perfectly to Forbidden’s signature blend of contrasting stylistic elements.

San Jose native and guitarist Jeremy Von Epp also proves a valuable pick up despite packing a resume of lesser known bands, working well alongside Locicero in formulating a merciless riffing attack and playing equally competently off of his elder axe-wielding compatriot in trading technical lead segments. Yet the most consequential change is the introduction of former Imagika vocalist Norman Skinner, whom seamlessly fills the shoes of former singer Russ Anderson and effectively navigates the eclectic blend of vocalizations required of this outfit’s signature style and adding his own unique USPM flair on top.

In relation to their rich yet now distant past accomplishments in the studio, Forbidden has effectively crossed into the modernity of the mid-2020s with a balance of traditional and newer auditory tricks that is comparable to how Testament has navigated the changing times since the beginning of the previous decade. The production work of Zack Ohren (Immolation, Machine Head) serves the blend of neck-destroying aggression and haunting atmospheric go-betweens well with a colossal wall of sound that is as dynamic as it is forceful.

Pummeling thrash entries like “Single Point Failure”, “Burning The Lungs Of Earth” and “Divided By Zero” are case studies in how infusing a multifaceted blend of raw thrashing fury and a consonant melodic edge can be amplified to a state of sheer glory with present-day studio magic, to speak nothing of managing to be pure earworm fodder despite all of the mad technical high-jinks and sectional twists and turns. Pile on top a similar mold of calculated ferocity in “The Burden”, as well as more long-winded and involved cousins like “Mutually Assured Dysfunction” and slow-growing technical showcase “Sol Grave”, and roughly half of this album’s 62-minute duration is spent bringing the kinetic vintage sound of 1990s Twisted In Form into the 2020s.

Naturally, all that occurs under the sun with the Forbidden moniker stamped on it is not focused on high octane thrashing with a technical twist, and the eponymous addition to their discography is no exception. Among the less conventional fair to emerge from pool of Bay Area rage is a slower paced, almost doom-like creep in “DCLXVI” that is the first to incorporate a haunting foil to all of the carnage, emerging both in a generally dense atmosphere and a more pronounced level of clean vocalizations out of Skinner, forming a sort of ghostly choir around this usual blend of rage-filled shouts and growls.

“Jisei” takes things even further into left field by going head first into full on balladry, yet amid what is generally a meditative affair of clean singing and guitars is a looming sense of sorrow and dread that blends well with the album’s overall tone of discontent. The bass heavy and mid-paced grooving stomp of “Psyclops” and the rapid fire yet static and industrial-toned “Sycophantasy”, also featuring a prominent guest voice slot by Mastodon’s own Brann Dailor, land a little closer to something that Machine Head might have done but pull no punches in the technical department. Topping it all off is a near 10 minute epic slough that throws everything in Forbidden’s arsenal but the kitchen sink and somehow comes out coherent at the other end in “Flower Of Life”, arguably the most original concoction in this quintet’s more than 40 year career.

If at first they were regarded as one of the most unconventional players in the 80s Bay Area explosion, Forbidden has definitely maintained that identity all but to a fault on the album that also carries their name. It’s often stipulated that an album that comes late in any band’s career with an eponymous title arises from having something to prove, and whether that was the mentality that Craig Locicero and the rest of the gang carried into the studio with them or not, the result speaks to a band that is bent on re-conquering former heights and establishing a lasting presence in a scene that has definitely not stood still in their absence. It is yet to be seen if they will ever match the insane level of greatness that they achieved early on with their adrenaline packed 1988 debut Forbidden Evil or its progressive juggernaut of a follow up Twisted Into Form, but in a scene that has become heavily saturated with bands looking to recapture the 80s, Forbidden is one that is firmly rooted in the present and well poised to meet the future with a closed fist.

Release Date: October 23, 2026
Record Label: BLKIIBLK Records
Genre: Thrash Metal

Musicians:

• Craig Locicero / Guitars
• Matt Camacho / Bass
• Chris Kontos / Drums
• Norman Skinner / Vocals
• Jeremy Von Epp / Guitars

Forbidden Tracklist:

1. Single Point Failure
2. Burning the Lungs of Earth
3. Divided by Zero
4. DCLXVI
5. Psyclops
6. Jisei
7. Mutually Assured Dysfunction
8. Sycophantasy
9. The Burden
10. Sol Grave
11. Flower of Life (Chaos by Design)

Order the album here.

The post FORBIDDEN – Forbidden (Album Review) appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

After five straight years of sold-out devastation, MELBOURNE DETHFEST returns in 2027 with its most colossal edition yet. Australia’s premier extreme metal festival will descend upon The Croxton, Thornbury for the first time, transforming the venue into a two-stage, all-day celebration of everything heavy, brutal and uncompromising. Leading the charge are none other than Swedish […]

If – like HEAVY – you like your tunes dark, theatrical, and packed with an absolute mountain of sonic intensity, then you have no doubt heard of Pyrefly. HEAVY had the pleasure of sitting down with the band, one of the most mesmerizing and devastating acts currently tearing up the Australian underground scene. If you […]