Back catalogue: Metal

Review: Originally released in 1996, Ear Candy would serve as the sixth full-length from often unfairly slept on progressive metal-oriented hard rock titans King's X. Following on from the commercial success of their 1994 predecessor Dogman, the album would be the band's last for Atlantic Records as it failed to hit the same numbers, yet that blessing in disguise would eventually give them a new lease on life with Metal Blade. Long out of print, the wonderful people over at Music On Vinyl have given the record its overdue flowers with their reliable numbered 180-gram audiophile treatment on lush purple wax, restoring the highly technical yet accessible fluidity of bangers such as 'Sometime' and 'Picture', with the latter being an updated version complete with new lyrics of an older cut titled 'The Door' originally written under their previous moniker Sneak Preview, while 'A Box' features guest vocals by Glen Phillips of California jangly alt rockers Toad The Wet Sprocket.

Review: Originally released in 2005 and celebrating its 20th anniversary, Ghost Reveries would serve as the eighth full-length from Swedish progressive metal legends Opeth. Following the 2002/2003 two-part project which showcased their most malevolent form on Deliverance and then a resolutely pleasant prog rock opus with Damnation, this follow up sought to rectify one side with the other; coalescing into a masterwork which simultaneously was regarded by longtime fans as a career height, whilst the expanded distribution from signing with major label Roadrunner opened them up to an entire new wave of unsuspecting ears. Marking their first album since 1999's Still Life to not be produced by Porcupine Tree's Steve Wilson, instead duties fell to Jens Bogren (Katatonia, At The Gates, Dimmu Borgir) who helped Mikael Akerfeldt and his cohorts to rediscover their death metal origins yet channelled through their more melancholic sensibilities. Boasting some of their most vital pieces from the epic 10-minute opener 'Ghost Of Perdition', to the even lengthier fan favourite 'Reverie/Harlequin Forest', as well as the equally adored 'The Grand Conjuration', the album has long since been held aloft as the perfect modern entry point to the world of Opeth. The project would also be the first to include keyboardist Per Wiberg as a "permanent" member while serving as their final endeavour to feature both drummer Martin Lopez and long-time guitarist Peter Lindgren.

Review: If you've ever heard Rob Zombie's account of why his parents left their life with a travelling carnival, taking their two young sons with them, then his obsession with gore and visceral horror begins to make sense. Shots fired, people's faces being smashed apart with hammers. A full blown riot complete with burning tents. A cinema-worthy redneck vision of a hyperlocal apocalypse. Of course, his love of blood and guts and the undead has evolved since then, with a slew of cult movies behind him, not to mention all those huge album successes that came beforehand, both with and without the band that catapulted him into the spotlight, White Zombie. Hillbilly Deluxe 2 is his fourth solo LP, and the first to be recorded with his full touring band, as oppose to session musicians. It's loud. It's heavy. It's unequivocally Rob Zombie.

Review: Huge guitar solos, a not-so-subtle hint of seduction and romance, rousing choruses and an attitude that screams: "I'm gonna make that heavy metal hand signal every five or six minutes." Warrant may not be the first name on everyone's lips when it comes to the heyday big room, sexually charged glam metal, but when all is said and done they did pretty well during their seven years in the game.
Emerging from the Los Angeles scene of the mid-late-1980s, a city that has a lot to answer for in these musical ends, by the time they packed up their Fenders and called time more than 10million albums had been sold, with the double-platinum Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich the real gem of the lot. Dog Eat Dog came along a little later, in 1992, and by this point the group had really got into gear. Don't expect the same tangible hunger and impact as the inaugural effort, then, but in many ways this is far more complete example of what they were gunning for.

Review: Worlds Collide Tour is the sixth live album from Dutch symphonic metal legends Within Temptation, taken from their largest home-country show to date on November 29, 2022 at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, marking the band's first time headlining the iconic venue. A co-headline tour with Evanescence, the run would be delayed four times due to COVID before finally taking flight across 2022, with the incomparable Amy Lee even joining Sharon den Adel for a powerhouse performance of 'The Reckoning' each night. Boasting a career-spanning catalogue up to and including 'Entertain You' taken from last year's latest full-length Bleed Out before the album had even been announced.

Review: The third full-length from one of the UK's "big four" thrash metal acts, Xentrix, was quite the controversial project upon its initial release in 1992. Leaning into a more progressive metal influence saw the band abandon some of their metallic potency in search of more texture and artistry. They've since gone on to refer to the work as the biggest mistake of their career, while it also led to the departure of vocalist/guitarist, Chris Astley, until his 2006 return after the band reformed. Like most albums steeped in artistic self-deprecation and early fan backlash, 'Kin', has gone on to find its audience, with expectation and anticipation now removed from the conversation, the group's attempt to strive for material beyond their integral make up is as refreshing as it is forward thinking for an early nineties thrash record.