Author: admin

By Andrew Bansal

Primal Fear have always been one of my favorite power metal bands, and through their previous eight studio albums, they have proved themselves as excellent musicians. Their music has always had strong riffs and great melodies in it, and on top of it, Ralf Scheepers is a hugely talented and expressive vocalist, and I rate him as one of the best in metal. Now the band is ready to release their ninth studio album “Unbreakable”, and this might just be their best work yet. Continue reading “Album Review: Primal Fear – Unbreakable [9 out of 10]”

By Andrew Bansal

2011 has been a great year for heavy music, and was largely full of killer albums and brutal touring line-ups. As amazing as 2011 was, I’m already looking ahead at what 2012 has to offer, and it promises to be an even better year for our favorite kind of music, which is a very exciting prospect, to say the least. Continue reading “Looking Ahead To 2012: Fantastic New Albums & Tours In The Offing”

By Andrew Bansal

Yes, I know I said that the list of top 20 songs was going to be my final look back at 2011, but I can’t help it. For a variety of reasons, these days I find myself sitting at home a lot longer than usual, as a result of which I’ve had the time to make these lists. So, if you’re already sick of my lists, I’m truly sorry to bother you with another one, but bear with me, because this will be worth your time. On the other hand, if you happened to enjoy my other lists, thank you for coming back, and consider this an encore. This time I’ve decided to focus on the first thing you see when you check out an album at your favorite record store: its cover artwork. Continue reading “Top 20 Album Covers Of 2011”

By Andrew Bansal

Although I’m pretty much done with my look back at 2011, there is one final list I needed to make, to talk about the best songs of the year. As you would expect, most of these songs are from albums that feature in my top 20 albums list, but I realized that for me certain songs create more of an impact when listened to as part of an album, whereas some songs are instant classics, can be listened on their own, and compel you to hit that ‘Repeat’ button. This list is about the latter type. Just to clarify, I have not considered covers and re-releases. Without further ado, here’s my picks for best songs of 2011, in order from #20 to #1. Continue reading “Top 20 Songs Of 2011”

By Andrew Bansal

Having garnered a cult following locally and internationally through hometown shows and a 2010 tour of Japan, Brooklyn-based hardcore trio Vise Massacre are now ready to take it to the next level with their debut full-length album “Expendable Humans”, set to release on January 10th 2012 on their own label Gorilla The Horse Records, in collaboration with Earsplit PR. I am on the constant lookout for good new hardcore bands, because the more I get exposed to this style of music, the more I grow fond of it. During one of these exploration sessions, I stumbled upon this particular release, and listened to it with a great amount of eagerness and expectation. After a few listens, I must say I’m quite pleased with what’s on offer here. Continue reading “Album Review: Vise Massacre – Expendable Humans [9 out of 10]”

By Andrew Bansal

Two great hardcore acts, San Francisco’s Skin Like Iron and LA’s Nails have come together to bring you this limited edition, self-released split EP. It will be released on January 31st 2012. To be honest, I familiarized myself with these two bands only recently, but since then I’ve had huge amounts of respect and admiration for what they’ve done musically in their careers, always keeping it real, and more specifically, keeping it brutal. Just like their previous work, this short, concise and high-intensity release does not disappoint me even one bit. Continue reading “Review: Skin Like Iron/Nails Split EP [10 out of 10]”