Deaf Havana – Old Souls

Merry Christmas all, while I’m waiting for Dr Who to come on I decided to write up a review. In case anyone is wondering I will actually be doing all my end of year lists in 2014… I’m weird like that.

If you had asked me which of the albums on my big list of those I want to review before the end of this year that I was most likely to dislike, I would have pointed towards Deaf Havana’s Old Souls. Somewhere down the line this band got filed away in my brain as being in with all the alternative kids with their tight green jeans and stupid hats. Now don’t get me wrong, I like a lot of bands those kids have adopted, but my sub-consciousness has at some point decided that Deaf Havana were not worth checking out. Therefore I know absolutely nothing about them, but Wikipedia informs me that Old Souls is their third album.

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25/12/2013 0

Devildriver – Winter Kills

Despite Dez Fafara’s return to the well that made him famous in the first place, with the reuniting of Coal Chamber, it hasn’t spelt the end of groove metal heavyweights Devildriver, who are back with their sixth album, Winter Kills. With previous release Beast having been received well, but not lasting long in the memory of most, this album came out without much fanfare, which may not have been helped by Dez’s continued dalliances with his old band mates. It also see’s Chris Towning take up bass duties on record for the first time, having been touring with the band since 2012.

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22/12/2013 0

Nine Inch Nails – Hesitation Marks

Nine Inch Nails return to our world was always going to happen, but that’s not a fact that made it any less sweet when it finally did. The return of Trent Reznor and co was always going to be a big event and because of that any album they released is destined to be picked over with a fine tooth comb. Thankfully, Mr Reznor is a man used to pressure and having done quite well for himself in his time off, even picking up an Oscar, he was obviously willing to take on the task and rebirth his baby with the release of Hesitation Marks.

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18/12/2013 1

Download Announcement 4

So Download are not going to get my money this year, apart from a possible day ticket if one day shapes up in a particularly pleasing way. Despite that, they are continuing as a festival! Who’d have thought it? Anyway the most recent announcement was actually quite an exciting one and I am, as usual, going to give you a quick round-up of my thoughts.

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18/12/2013 0

Sonisphere Announcement 2

So the final headliner is out and it’s another solid booking, that completes a good year for Sonisphere. This is a very short post as there is not much to say but the final act is rock/dance crossover legends The Prodigy. Now I personally don’t really do the whole electro, dance, whatever it is bands like The Prodigy are, thing but I’m happy with this one (as someone who has bought a ticket). They were at Download 2012 but I was watching Slash so this will actually be my first time seeing them and I have never heard of anyone failing to have a good time at a Prodigy show.

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17/12/2013 0

Carcass – Surgical Steel

Carcass, their very name screams pure bloody metal. The British grindcore legends were favourites of the brilliant John Peel and reigned supreme in their original run between 1985 and 1995. Their return in 2007 was therefore greeted with glee while the announcement they were to write and record an album, which was released earlier this year. induced full blown delirium. With Daniel Wildling (Trigger the Bloodshed) coming in on drums and Ben Ash (Pig Iron) on guitar to join original original members Jeff Walker and Bill Steer Surgical Steel was created.

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14/12/2013 1

Dream Theater – Dream Theater

Dream Theater used to be so ingrained with the idea of Mike Portnoy that to have an album that doesn’t incorporate any of his ideas seems strange. However, that’s exactly what they’ve done and they’ve only gone and made it a self-titled release. With Mike Mangini in from the start this is the album that will represent exactly where a Portnoyless Dream Theater will be going in the future and their fans will be desperate for them to smash it out of the park.

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05/12/2013 0

Children of Bodom – Halo of Blood

It wasn’t that long ago that Children of Bodom were one of the next big things in heavy metal. They perfected a melodic death metal sound that was winning them fans left right and centre. Sadly things begun to go a bit pear shaped, as personal problems and a few dud albums left quite a lot of people scratching their heads wondering what had happened to the Finnish maestro’s. With that in mind latest release Halo of Blood has a lot of pressure on it’s shoulders as it seeks to prove that Alexi Lahio and co still have it.

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02/12/2013 0

Hactivist w/ The Algorithm and Incyte at Electric Circus Edinburgh, 30/11/13

Hacktivist at Electric Circus. Credit: Stuart Iversen

Hacktivist are a band that have thrown themselves into the metal worlds conscience in the last couple of years and made one hell of a bang. Combining the down-tuned eight string guitars of the djent movement with grime and hip hop vocals is something that will make many traditional metal heads grind their teeth in anger and the truth is it appears to either inspire hatred or love from most that hear it.

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02/12/2013 0

Sonisphere announcement

So Sonisphere is back after their forced leave of absence in the last two years. It’s forty years since rock and roll first came to Knebworth and they are obviously pulling out all the stops to make sure this time they stick around. A very average Download line up might help them a little bit too.

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02/12/2013 0