Helen Money – “Arriving Angels” (2013)

Label : Profound Lore Records

Review by Matteo Bussotti

“What the Hell is this?” Is probably going to be your first thought listening to this album. Unless you’re familiar with the genre. Even though I can’t find a proper genre for this “Arriving Angels”. Basically, the album consists of 8 tracks played entirely by Helen herself on her cello…no, sorry, on her highly distorted cello, along with occasional drums.

These are not “songs” in their classic definition, there’s no precise verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus scheme. You won’t find “musicality” in any of these songs. This doesn’t mean you can’t like them, absolutely. Continue reading »

Serpent Omega – “Serpent Omega” (2013)

Label : Mordgrimm Records

Review by Matteo Bussotti

The first release of Serpent Omega is an extremely powerful album, which combines doom, sludge and stoner metal with a taste of…grunge. Before insulting me, I just want to say that Pia‘s way of singing reminds me of those rusty, angry vocals typical of grunge music. Serpent Omega is a solid release, extremely powerful and very consistent. All the songs provide some devastating rhythms…and what could you expect from an album which has tracks called “Warmachine” and “Hammer” among the others?

“Serpent Omega” is great for some headbanging, alone or with some friends. Unfortunately, its solidity hinders its variety. The songs tend to be too similar one to each other; the resulting experience is a very exalting one, but you won’t feel many differences between one song and the other. Continue reading »

Orianthi – “Heaven in This Hell” (2013)

Label : Robo Records

Review by Tony Cannella

Orianthi Panagaris is a 28 year old singer-songwriter guitarist from Australia. Previously she had been best known as the lead guitarist for Michael Jackson on his “This Is It” tour, a tour that never materialized due to his untimely death. From one legend to another she can be seen as the lead guitarist for shock-rock icon Alice Cooper on his current tour. In 2010 she won the award for “Breakthrough guitarist of the year” from Guitar International Magazine. In 2007 she released her debut album “Violet Journey” and followed that up in 2009 with “Believe”. Now Orianthi returns with her 3rd solo album entitled, “Heaven In This Hell”. Continue reading »

Pamela Moore – “Resurrect Me” (2013)

Label : RatPak Records

Review by Tony Cannella

Even before Pamela Moore gained notoriety playing the part of Sister Mary on the Queensryche albums “Operation: Mindcrime”, she had a career in music which began in 1981. Aside from appearing on the aforementioned Queensryche albums, she has released a handful of solo albums and an infectious hard rock record with her band Radar. Now she has returned with her heaviest and best solo album to date entitled, “Resurrect Me”.

For “Resurrect Me” Pamela Moore has surrounded herself with some great musicians. Nine out of the ten songs were co-written with talented multi-instrumentalist Michael Posch who also co-produced the album along with Pamela, Chuck Macak and Mark Alano. In addition, Michael Posch provided Guitars, Drums, Keys and orchestration so his contributions should not be underestimated. Continue reading »

HUNTRESS & GOLD @ 013, Tilburg, THE NETHERLANDS 08/06/2013

Live Report & Photos by Erwin van Dijk

Huntress and Gold are two bands which qualify the describtion “Female Fronted Metal” but are worlds apart musicwise. The two bands did share the stage at the 013 venue in Netherlands on a hot saturday night. The 013 is one of the larger venues in the Netherlands. Bands like Therion, Kamelot and Dragonforce visited the venue in the past. In fact, Huntress was the opener for Dragonforce some time ago. The Stage1 is of course not as big as the main hall of the 013 (the Stage1 would fit on the stage of the main hall) but as Milton said it’s “Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven” and a headliner gig is more fun than a couple of songs in front of an audience who are waiting for the headliner. It’s also the second gig for Gold at the 013. The band did a gig at the very prestigious Roadburn Festival.

Gold (from the city of Rotterdam) decribes themselves as a “comtemporary rock band that’s heavy because of the songs, not the sound”. The band has only time for 6 songs (see setlist) from the “Interbellum” album. Continue reading »