Latest Rock News - Album & Live Reviews

Reviewed by Claire Thomson

Heavy metal legends Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. and K.K. Downing of KK’s Priest and have joined forces to deliver an unmissable live experience on their massive 42-date tour across the U.S. and Canada. Highlighting the sheer momentum of the run, Lawless called it "one of the best tours you will ever see" and promised fans a true "quality show," while Downing declared the trek "on fire" as the band barrels through cities nationwide following a standout stop in Boston. With full details and ticket availability hosted on their official websites, both bands urge fans not to miss out as this high-octane tour hits towns across North America. W.A.S.P. is again offering fans VIP tickets that give fans a chance to meet Blackie Lawless, get a personal photo with Blackie, autographs, tour the stage and take part in a very personal Q&A with Blackie. VIP tickets can be purchased at https://waspnation.myshopify.com “W.A.S.P. -1984 TO HEADLESS” Tour Dates 10-09 - Des Plaines, IL Des Plaines Theater 10-10 - St Charles, IL Arcada Theater 10-11 - St Charles, IL Arcada Theater 10-13 - Glenside, PA Keswick Theatre 10-14 - Harrisburg, PA Capitol City Music Hall 10-15 - Cleveland, OH Agoura Theater 10-16 - Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theater 10-17 - Green Bay, WI EPIC Event Center 10-19 - Winnipeg, MB Burton Cummings Theatre 10-21 - Edmonton, AB Midway Music Hall 10-22 - Calgary, AB The Palace Theater 10-23 - Coquitlam, BC Great Canadian Casino Vancouver - SOLD OUT 10-24 - Coquitlam, BC Great Canadian Casino Vancouver 10-25 - Seattle, WA Moore Theater 10-27 - San Jose, CA San Jose Civic 10-29 - Rancho Mirage, CA The Show @ Agua Caliente 10-30 - Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues 10-31 - Anaheim, CA The Grove Tickets and VIP: www.WASPnation.com About W.A.S.P. Few Bands in the history of Rock N’ Roll have ever incited the love, the hate, the raw emotional effect this Band has had on the world. From the very beginning, in the small venues of Los Angeles California, and later to the numerous countries worldwide that banned these Winged Assassins from performing live, the Band’s unique style of Shock and Rock caused Religious organizations, Local City Councils, Parliaments, and the Washington D.C. Senate to hold hearings in an effort to bar this group from selling records and trashing stages everywhere they played. The band’s founding member, frontman Blackie Lawless, has led the group as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold out shows across the globe for 4 decades. About KK’s Priest You can’t keep a heavy metal legend down... Although it’s been over a dozen years since guitarist and songwriter K.K. Downing departed Judas Priest, the iconic band he co-founded and played with for 40 years, he was never really going to retire. It was only a matter of time before he reclaimed the spotlight. As his new album title proclaims, The Sinner Rides Again. K.K. Downing has had metal coursing through his veins from the beginning, starting in the Midlands region of England where Judas Priest was born. He compellingly chronicled his life odyssey in his 2018 autobiography, and his recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame further secures his legacy as a pioneering musician, songwriter and guitarist. As a founding member of the classic Judas Priest line-up, Downing helped lay the foundation for the heavy metal genre as a whole. His distinct style of playing is easily identifiable, he was part of a six-string duo that complemented and contrasted each other, and they would progress to new levels of excitement. He has taken that ethos and applied it to KK’s Priest with impassioned results. Fans already excited by KK's return, will also be elated that KK’s Priest are gearing up for another round of touring in the US and Canada in the fall of 2026 with fellow metal legends W.A.S.P. For Downing, KK’s Priest is not just a statement of intent. It is a statement of being. His lifelong heavy metal saga continues. https://www.waspnation.com https://www.facebook.com/W.A.S.P.Nation https://www.facebook.com/groups/waspnationofficialgroup/ https://twitter.com/waspofficial https://instagram.com/waspnationofficial https://youtube.com/@WASPNationOfficial https://www.tiktok.com/@waspnationofficial https://www.threads.net/@waspnationofficial https://www.bandsintown.com/a/7553

Reviewed by Claire Thomson

Zeal & Ardor release "Devil Is Fine x Carpenter Brut" via MVKA, a defining moment in the band's history reimagined with brutal precision as Carpenter Brut unleashes his trademark nightmare fuel on their most iconic anthem. It's a collision of two of extreme music's most fearless minds, pushing the song into territory it has never touched before. "Devil Is Fine" is the title track of Zeal & Ardor's breakthrough 2016 record, the release that first fused black metal aggression with the rhythms and history of African American spirituals and work songs, introducing Manuel Gagneux's project to a global audience. Carpenter Brut, the French producer whose synth driven, horror soaked sound has become a genre unto itself, has now taken the track apart and rebuilt it. Manuel Gagneux of Zeal & Ardor says, “Imagine if one of the most capable electronic musicians out there remixed a song of ours. Imagine if that would result in a track that might eclipse the original. Imagine if you could listen to such a thing right now. We give you Devil Is Fine x Carpenter Brut."  Carpenter Brut adds, “Zeal & Ardor have such a distinctive sound so it was a real pleasure to take ‘Devil Is Fine’ into my own world while keeping the spirit of the original.“

Released November 20th through Roadrunner Records

UK EVENTS TO BE HELD AT HELGIS, LONDON & SCRUFFY MURPHY’S, BIRMINGHAM

Reviewed by Gareth Griffiths 

DELUXE EDITION OF ACCLAIMED ALBUM REFLECTIONS SET FOR RELEASE ON NOVEMBER 13th 2026

Welsh ragga metal band Skindred release the video for their new single ‘Big Em Up’, taken from their recent Number 1 hit album You Got This, which opens with a simple but strong message of support for anyone suffering from mental health conditions, anxiety or depression. The message behind the song is a simple call for everyone to make sure your friends and the people around you are alright and to pick them up when they are feeling low. Skindred singer Benji Webbe says, “It’s so easy to get overwhelmed by life and everything it throws at you, from your gas bill to a family tragedy or people just being negative and your timeline filling up with hate and negativity on social media. ‘Big Em Up’ is a simple message for everyone to check on their friends and to pick ‘em up and to try and encourage some positivity back into the world. It’s a message me and my brothers in Skindred try and share in the music we play, so all we ask is for our fans and listeners to enjoy the single and to also share that message of positivity too. Please check on those around you. Big Em Up!!”

Essex natives BEYOND EXTINCTION are one of the most exciting bands in UK deathcore right now and are continuing to contribute to a flourishing heavy music scene with the release of new single "The Estuary" . Taken from their recently announced upcoming EP, Three Swords , the track continues in the vein of unveiling Essex's dark history, this time giving exposure to the serene yet deadly bodies of water throughout Essex that've been responsible for multiple disappearances and violent deaths across the centuries, including the Blackwater Estuary, River Thames, River Colne, River Crouch and more. Tidal and coastal locations have never been more haunting than they are on "The Estuary" . Due 23rd October 2026, the Three Swords EP encompasses the essence of what it means to have Essex blood running through your veins, retelling the dark history of Essex's streets. BEYOND EXTINCTION , much like the plague retold in previous single "A Dark Sickness (Three Swords)", will be sweeping down on crowds during their busy touring schedule from October 2026 into March next year. Down-tuned and crawling out from the sludge, this is Essex Death.

Reviewed by Laura DQ

Collector’s edition is set for release on November 27 th , via Silver Lining Music

Available globally from 23rd October 2026

Reviewed by Laura DQ

Reviewed by Laura DQ

Review and Photographs by Andrew West When Tony Clarkin sadly passed away in January 2024 nobody would have complained if Bob Catley had said that it and called it a day, indeed that was his initial thoughts on one of the most moving videos I have watched. Then after a period of no doubt intense grief and reflection Bob decided the best way to pay tribute to his best friends and musical partner for 50 odd years was to continue to take his music to the audiences that he loved to entertain, and they loved to listen. So with Tony's old guitar tech taking the undoubtedly nerve racking step from the side of the stage to the stage itself the band hit the road for a small series of tribute shows. These were a massive success and the fans of the band were delighted with the concept of honoring their hero, So we are back in Glasgow tonight as another clutch of shows take some of the finest classic rock music ever written back to the people who adored it. Opening the show tonight are Grand Slam the band formed in 1984 by Phil Lynott and former Magnum keyboard player Mark Stanway and who were shortly thereafter joined by guitarist Laurence Archer. Tonight only Archer remains and he is joined by Mike Dyer on vocals, Rocky Newton on bass and Benjy Reid behind the kit. The band were short lived back in the day lasting around a year but with no record deal they went their separate ways leaving a collection of songs some of which would appear elsewhere over the years, We open tonight with Nineteen a song released by Lynott as a solo project. Gone are the Days comes from the 2019 album Hit The Ground recorded after the band reunited and then we have Dedication instantly recognizable as a Thin Lizzy number but indeed a Grand Slam song written by Archer and Lynott. The sound is a hard rocking sound not to far to the sound of Lizzy. One of the highlights of the 8 song set is Military Man, Another Archer Lynott collaboration and found on the Gary Moore Run For Cover album a real blast from the past that switches from hard rocker to slow storyteller and back to a rocking end. We finish with a reworked version of Whiskey In The Jar recorded by the band as a tribute to Lynott on what would have been his 75 th birthday. An excellent set that brought back some great memories and songs I had not heard in a while. And so to Magnum, the lights dimmed and the intro to Days of No Trust rung out as the band take the stage joined lastly by the enigmatic Catley, at 79 years of age a lot of people would be resting at home enjoying a well earned retirement, but not Catley, he puts many much younger than him to shame with his energy, all the hand gestures and poses are still there and more important than anything the voice is still most definitely there as he incredibly never misses a note. Lost on The Road to Eternity follows, a song originally recorded with Catley's good friend from Avantasia Tobias Sammet, This song just about sums up Magnum and Clarkin's talent as a song writer, classic Magnum sound from beginning to end, rocking, soaring vocals, melody driving beat and a chorus that demands to be sung along with. Wild Swan follows, a full on rocker from the classic Wings of Heaven album that saw the band in their peak years and memorable sold out gigs at the Edinburgh Playhouse. Many will look upon When We Were Younger as a newer song in the Magnum cataloger yet unbelievably it is almost 20 years old now coming from the 2007 Princess Alice album. Indeed with somewhere in the region of 250 songs recorded over those 50 years it would be an impossible task to please everyone with a set list as every individual will have his own favorites from that vast collection of material, Nobody though will be dissapointed with what we get, Run Into The Shadows comes next and is from the last album recorded by the band before Clarkins untimely passing, This run of shows marks the first time any songs from that disc are being played live as the band never had the chance to play following its release and Clarkins passing. Up next is a first trip back to the album that ranks as number one with the majority of the bands fans On A Storytellers Night, How Far Jerusalem is always a crowd pleaser and is sure to get them dancing in the aisles. Even Catley still manages his trademark bouncing as he sings the chorus back by around 700 backing singers. Soldier Of The Line takes us right back to 1982 and my first connection to the band when as a fresh faced long haired 14 year old I picked up the Chase the Dragon album and brought it home with me. The pace slows down for a little acoustic rendition of The Tall Ships from the often overlooked Rock Art album that was the last recorded before the bands hiatus. The Glasgow choir were by now well warmed up and as On A Storytellers Night kicked in Catley could well have continued to sit on his stool and enjoy a break as not a word was missed by his adoring public. The run in to the end of the night was classic after classic, Midnight and Vigilante from the Vigilante album, All England's Eyes from Storytellers night and finishing on what else but Kingdom Of Madness. Of course we all know the band would take their applause and return and Rick Benton's keyboards kick in with the unmistakable intro to Sacred Hour, “I hear the voice of the crowd It will last forever Locked in my heart, kept away Like a stolen treasure I can hear them calling Hear the crowd applauding If it's real I like the feeling” Its been a bit more than a Sacred Hour but the voice of the crowd will last forever and so will the music created by the one and only Tony Clarkin, To this day I still feel the hairs on my neck stand when Bob sings these songs, memories flood back. Magnum had always been there since my musical journey began and when Clarkin passed a part of all of us went as well, But he left a legacy of some of the finest music of my life and I am honestly glad that Bob has carried on bringing it to us at its best, live on stage. We end with When The World Comes Down and Glasgow does not disappoint. We sway to a man (and women) back and forth and soak in every word. Its emotional, I am sure I saw some tears being shed. And with that we make our way into the Glasgow night with the last words ringing in our heads. “May all your dreams come true, Dreams come true for you, I want them to”

Reviewed by GMcA

Reviewed by Richie Adams

Review - Allister Spence, Photos - MB Photography Scotland