Tag Archives: Welsh music

King Kraken – March of the Gods Album Review

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King Kraken – March of the Gods 

Self-released 

Release date: 18/04/2025 

Running time: 40 mins approx 

Review by: Alun Jones 

9.75/10 

Ahoy there, shipmates!  Look lively with that cargo, we’re ready to set sail on these treacherous seas.  Be wary, for there are many tales in these waters of fearsome beasties, rising from the depths to swipe a man from the deck and carry him to a watery grave.  Here are ten such omens from the murky waves, tales of King Kraken! 

Sorry folks, I got a little carried away there.  We’re taking a considered view of the latest album from the mighty band known as King Kraken, though this is pretty exciting news.  Their last album, MCLXXX, was a bona fide banger, and I’ve been looking forward to hooking this new release for quite a while.   

From the opening track, it’s anchors away as the boys unleash ten tracks of compelling rock/metal that’s loaded with powerful riffs and greater depth than before.  ‘Scream’ blazes out of the speakers and it’s obvious right away that the Kraken boys have been focussed on creating adrenaline spiking music, wasting not a second of listening time.  ‘El Giganto’ is another sonic smasher, big sing-along choruses and relentless, skyscraper crushing enegy. 

The guitars of Pete Rose and Adam Healey are constantly ingenious, throwing out titanic riff and lethal lead like they’ve discovered a sunken treasure chest of hidden invention.  See ‘Berzerker’ as a prime example.  Title track ‘March of the Gods’ deals out more mayhem, this time with a galloping, martial feel.  Get in step and march along, or be bowled out of the way! 

The track ‘Hero’ adds different textures to the Kraken sound, with bluesy leads embellishing a plaintive atmosphere.  Mark Donoghue’s astounding vocals shine thoughout this album, but never more so than here.  It ain’t exactly a ballad, it’s too damn heavy – but ‘Hero’ is an excellent emotional counterpoint. 

After that, ‘Vigilante’ steers us into more familiar, Clutch-like waters: it’s a proper groove rocker with a crunchy middle section.  ‘Preacher’ resonates on a grinding, Alice in Chains style rhythm, whilst ‘Magnum Opus’ ups the pace with a full-on, diesel-powered Mad Max urgency.  Both tracks demonstrate the feel and sheer talent of the rhythm section, Karl Meyer on bass and Richard Lee Mears on drums. 

‘Chainsaw Saviour’ is another stand out track, with a menacing, pummelling riff.  No prizes for guessing who inspired that lyric!  The final song, ‘Under the Sun’, has yet another pulverising pace, tempered with mellower verses that remind me of the epic song writing of classic Soundgarden. 

So is it any good, then??!!  Well yeah – “March of the Gods” promised a huge amount and it delivers in spades.  King Kraken have obviously worked hard here, striving to push their musicianship and their song writing to a higher level than ever before.  It’s a gripping listen, with new ideas and dynamics aplenty.  We’re only a third of the way through the year, and we could have a contender for Best Album of 2025. 

But don’t just heed this old seadog’s tall tales, go and catch this monster yourself. 

Visit King Kraken here. You can also check them out on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Spotify and YouTube.

This review is brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal.

N.E.W. Metal Productions All Dayer Oct 25

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N.E.W. Metal Productions All Dayer

18th October 2025

Mcleans Pub, Pentre, Deeside North Wales

Halloween is over, so time for yours truly to get back to being the legendary Rock Journo that I was born to be. Spooky month is a big deal chez moi, so we’re taking a trip back a couple of weeks here for a fairly recent All Dayer at Mcleans, Pentre, which was organised by our good friends North East Wales Metal Productions.

As usual, there was a great selection of bands playing throughout the late afternoon and evening, though sadly there’s always some last minute shuffling of the line up where someone can’t make it. No matter, there was more than enough to get your fangs stuck into.

First up, all the way from North Yorkshire way, were Alt Rock trio Kath and The Kicks. I was most excited to see this band, as they’d been unable to make a previous appearance here. A really solid, professional set with a machine-like drummer, powerhouse bass and Kath herself on super compelling guitar and voice. A bit like Joan Jett fronting Soundgarden but much more fun, it was loud, intense and grungy and a great start to the day. I loved them, and hope they come back soon!

Kath and The Kicks

Syntara were next, a young group who took to the stage with supreme confidence. Their music is best described as “Modern Metalcore”, which is not really my scene, man – but their performance was captivating. They owned the stage like they’d been born behind the drum kit. My only advice would be they need a live bass player to fill out the sound. Oh, and they need to get rid of the utterly vile looking, funny shaped, headless guitars. Other than that, very impressive.

Syntara

Travelling up to Pentre from Leicester, Voidwalker brought the Technical Death Metal along with them to bedazzle us all. Another ultra confident band, Voidwalker unleashed a Tsunami of sonic venom, a dual guitar attack driven by a relentless rhythm section. Their front man prowled the room and growled and roared above the thunder. Powerful and performed with obvious fervour, Voidwalker’s set was brutal but unmissable.

Voidwalker

When a bloke stands on stage wielding a huge medieval broad sword, you kinda sit up and take notice. This was how Hiraeth began their set, and though the sword soon disappeared I stuck around anyway, ‘cos they were great. Playing black metal inspired by Welsh folklore, history and culture, the band are excellent performers and obviously have a passionate message to get across. They’re also a lovely bunch of people. BENDIGEDIG!

Hiraeth

Deified were our final band of the evening, and they were very worthy headliners. A five piece band from Merseyside, they’ve been around a few years now and have developed a confident presence to deliver their mighty Metal. They didn’t bring any merch, but they did bring a set of huge, aggressive and uncompromising Metal that devastated the entire building. Here’s hoping we get a new Deified album soon.

Deified

And that’s your lot, kids! Another successful N.E.W. Metal Productions event showcasing some fine musical talent. More soon!

KASP – Gig Review

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KASP

Friday 11th July 2025

The Crown & Liver, Ewloe

The good old Crown & Liver in Ewloe used to be my home from home for many years. In fact, it was utilised as a club house of sorts not just by myself, but the members of KASP and a large chunk of tonight’s audience. Quite apt, then, to see these guys crank out some tunes that effortlessly recreated the sounds of the 1990s in this venue. The Crown may have been jazzed up over the decades, but it’s the same old boozer at heart.

KASP are four mates who got themselves together and formed a band, performing well known and appreciated cover songs. They’ve been gigging in the local area for a while, but this was the first time I’d caught up with them. It was a nice reunion of sorts with several welcome faces and a good atmosphere.

Wouldn’t you just know it, things didn’t get off to a stellar start: the set opener was ‘Rock’n’Roll Star’ by Oasis, and I’m not a big fan! To be fair, it’s one of the better Gallagher brothers songs, and KASP rattled the song out in confident fashion. Simon on lead vocals and guitar slotted right into the role with ease. Next up was ‘You Stole the Sun From My Heart’, a killer Manics cover where Adam ably took over lead vocals from Si and still delivered a formidable guitar part. Now we were starting to get bouncing!

Solid musicianship all round to be fair, meaning that a couple songs I’m not a fan of (that James monstrosity, ‘Sit Down’, being a prime offender) were superbly delivered with self assured style. Of course, this means that the quality songs in the rest of the set couldn’t really go wrong – especially with genuine energisers from Green Day, Stereophonics and even Steppenwolf’s old evergreen, ‘Born to be Wild’!

A special shout out to the closing song of the first set, a devastatingly great rendition of ‘Hate to Say I Told You So’ by The Hives. Classic track, rendered brilliantly by KASP. Kev’s nimble bass playing was particularly impressive, shining in that solo middle section; and Pete’s drums managing to keep everyone on track with all cylinders firing .

The band returned for part 2 after a short break, though I have to admit that my memories of the second set started to get a bit fuzzy…

I do remember a rousing version of Lenny Kravitz’s ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’ getting the crowd moving. And a nice dedication for yours truly from Si in his introduction for Foo Fighters’ ‘Times Like These’ (thanks!). There was more dancing for this set as the audience started to really warm up. More first rate tunes by White Stripes, Kings of Leon and Stereophonics kept the mood high and feet moving as everyone sang along.

KASP at the Crown turned out to be a fun night of solid musicianship and camaraderie. A great band who possess some real skills, delivering a non-stop run of hit songs for all to enjoy. It was kind of cool to have that gig with that band in that pub, too. The evening wasn’t just about nostalgia, though. It was about good times with good people, and that’s what live music’s all about, right?

Check out KASP on Facebook.

Celavi – Anima EP Review

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Celavi – Anima EP 

Meraki Records 

Release date: 31.10.20024 

Running time: 20 minutes approx 

Review by: Alun Jones 

8.5/10 

Celavi are a Goth, Industrial Nu-Metal project created by Sarah and Gwion, two spirited individuals from Bangor in North Wales.  I picked up a copy of their new EP, “Anima”, which is a surprisingly fresh and fierce attack on all of the above genres, not to mention a whole load more. 

The first track is ‘lowercase’ which opens with an Electro Rock flourish and hammers the listener with a mix of danceable beats and aggro power chords.  The rest of the EP follows in a similar vein, with satisfyingly crushing Metal guitar melded to infectious Electro and embellished with glorious female vocals that run from sweet to tormented. 

‘Bite My Tongue’ features whispered vocals over a restrained, pulsing beat before an enormous chorus crashes out of the speakers.  ‘Iodine’ is a fast paced, punch the air rocker with a relentlessly infectious chorus and ‘Eyeliner’ is the most uncompromising track here.  The catchiest song though is probably ‘Lullaby’, an Industrial Pop Metal confection that’s equal parts magnificent melodies and brutal guitar riff.   

“Anima” wasn’t on my radar, but thanks to being in the right place at the right time, I’ve been able to absorb this work and enjoy it immensely.  Anyone who’s a fan of Nine Inch Nails, Linkin Park, Lacuna Coil or Rammstein should be able to find something to get stuck into here.  Ideal music for an unhinged time in a vampire night club, Celavi are ones to watch. 

Check out the Celavi website here. Or find them on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or X (that’s Twitter, folks).

This review is brought to you by Platinum Al in association with Ever Metal. 

Platinum Al’s Top 10 Rock/Metal Albums of 2019

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2019 has been an exceptional year for new music.  It started off slowly, but by the end of the year I was struggling to keep up.

As per last year, Ever Metal asked me to produce a Top Ten of my favourite rock and metal albums of the year.  So here we go:

  1. Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – Yn Ol I Annwn
  2. Speedealer – Blue Days Black Nights
  3. Obey – Swallow The Sun
  4. Acid Reign – The Age of Entitlement
  5. Sunn O))) – Life Metal
  6. Earth – Full Upon Her Burning Lips
  7. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel – Very Uncertain Times
  8. Giant Dwarf – Giant Dwarf
  9. Monolord – No Comfort
  10. Crobot – Motherbrain

All fantastic records.  Honorable mentions this time to Kadavar, Firebreather, L7, Wizard Rifle and Duel.

For more rock reviews, interviews and top tens, head over to Ever Metal.

Happy New Year everybody – wishing you a very healthy and prosperous 2020!

And thanks for vising Platinum Al’s Virtual Hot Tub!  Make sure you come back next year, and if you’ve got any requests or suggestions, please get in touch.

Sweet – Gig Review

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Sweet + Novatines

Wednesday 11th December 2019

Buckley Tivoli

What could be better at this time of year than a bit of proper, 1970’s glam rock?  Sweet never had a world conquering Crimbo hit like Slade, but they did have a ton of mega singles that are totally inextricable from the days of seventies glam.  After missing the band when they played Buckley Tivoli last year, I wanted to make sure I was there this time around.

Support band The Novatines seemed like a decent hard rock proposition, however I arrived late and missed the bulk of their set.  Worthwhile checking out another time though.

Andy Scott is the only remaining member from this version of Sweet’s classic line-up.  He’s a local lad – well, Wrexham is just a few miles away – so it’s nice to see him and the band on near enough home ground.  Andy Scott is also a bona fide rock god: his guitar playing is exceptional; the trademark high pitched backing vocals are ball-squeezingly present and correct; his banter funny and his charisma epic.  He’s the real deal.

The rest of the band are a fine bunch of musicians, and together they smash out both the bubblegum pop hits and the rockier tracks.  It’s this combination of pop sensibilities and rock skills that have made Sweet inspirational for generations of music fans.

Starting off with one of my absolute favourite tracks, “Action”, it’s clear that this is going to be a night of delivering the goods.  The set features all the obvious gems: “Hellraiser”, “The Six Teens”, “Sweet F.A.”, “Wig Wam Bam” and “Little Willy” before closing with another personal fave, “Fox on the Run”.

Everything is performed brilliantly, and the audience clearly love every second.  It’s also nice to note that I’m in the younger age range at this particular gig!

Finally, the band return for an encore of “Blockbuster” and “Ballroom Blitz” – two songs that are really no surprise, but could not be left out.  No way, Jose – there’s have been a blitz at the Tivoli Ballrooms had they been omitted.

So a rare Wednesday night out at a gig for me, but well worth the effort.  Some may find Sweet too lightweight in an era that gave us Alice Cooper and Bowie; I thoroughly enjoyed it.  A solid band of fantastic musicians performing well loved (and under rated) songs.

This is one Sweet I’d like a second helping of.  I’ve definitely got a Sweet tooth.  And so on.

Bring Your Own Vinyl Night #13

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Bring Your Own Vinyl Night

The Queen’s Head, Mold

Friday 29th September 2017

It’s Vinyl Night!  Once again, Halcyon Dreams hosted the Bring Your Own Vinyl Night at the Queen’s Head in Mold, North Wales.  An evening of beer, good company and – of course – spinning tunes!

You know the drill by now, so I’ll fast forward straight to my set.

There was a theme this time, which I stumbled on whilst playing these records over the previous months.  I decided to play songs that weren’t performed in the English language, which produced a few interesting ideas.  Here are the ones that made the cut:

Anhrefn – Molly Melys/Rhedeg I Paris

As I was in Mold, how could I not kick things off with something Welsh?  Anhrefn were a superb Welsh language punk band that I saw several times back in the early 90s.  I had a cassette of their album “Dragon’s Revenge” from those days, and successfully tracked down a vinyl copy not long ago.  This is actually two tracks – sorry, a bit sneaky: “Molly Melys” is a traditional folk song evoking Celtic tradition.  It’s a short, mellow introduction before it suddenly erupts into “Rhedeg I Paris”, a fast paced, energetic, melodic rocker in the vein of the Clash.  Fantastic!

Cypress Hill – Loco En El Coco

This is, of course, the Cypress Hill track “Insane in the Brain” but performed with Spanish lyrics.  Taken from “Los Grandes Exitos en Espanol” – their Greatest Hits in Spanish – and for some reason these versions just sound even funkier in Spanish.  I love the whole album for that reason.  Check it out, I recommend it.

Anhrefn
Cypress Hill

Faith No More – Evidence (Italian Version)

This isn’t the “funk metal” Faith No More you may know.  Rather, this is a kind of smooth jazz-funk hybrid from the album “King for a Day… Fool for a Lifetime”, here performed in Italian.  Apparently singer Mike Patton is multi lingual and there are versions of this track in several other languages too.  It’s a great song, showing FNM stretching out and writing something across musical boundaries: and it really works. 

Plastic Bertrand – Ca Plane Pour Moi

And finally, I went with this French language pop punk/faux punk/new wave confection.  It’s a fun little treat that bounces along with a life of it’s own.  Loads of fun to end the set.

That was it, set over.  All songs in different languages.  I could have chosen a few others (I have a record by Kvelertak in Norwegian) but I figured that would do.

A great night again – thanks all!  Who knows if there’ll be a theme next time.  I’m just looking forward to another Vinyl Night!

The Halcyon Dreams blogspot is here.

The Halcyon Dreams mixcloud page is here.

The Halcyon Dreams Facebook page is here.

The VOD music website is here.

Pentre Fest 2017

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Pentre Fest

Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th June 2017

McLean’s Pub, Deeside

Three days of the heaviest of metal, featuring underground, unsigned bands from across the UK, walking distance from my house.  How could I resist?

I’ve been to McLean’s pub in Pentre, Deeside several times over the years – usually for functions such as birthdays.  I had no idea, though, that they were regularly hosting gigs of the rock/metal variety.  Pentre Fest came out of the blue, but I managed to make it down for Saturday evening.

Pentre is a small area within Deeside, North Wales – and McLeans a fairly well known pub/function place.  Take it from me, the fact that Pentre Fest existed was a surprise at first.

As I was late arriving, I missed the first few bands, including the excellent Bad Earth.  I’ve seen them a while ago supporting Karma to Burn and they were excellent.  A bad start for me, I fully intend to see Bad Earth again sometime.

The first band I witnessed were Pelugion – they were a great introduction to the festival.  A metal band with a healthy element of stoner/doom, Pelugion rocked out in a Judas Priest or Megadeth vein.  They also excelled when they got into a slower, Sabbath like groove – bringing to mind Alice in Chains or Soundgarden.  Really impressive.

Outside the actual venue was a marque hosting acoustics acts.  This was proved handy between bands, especially on a sunny day like this when you could sip a beer outside with some live entertainment.

I saw Pelugion again performing a great acoustic set, which culminated in a heartbreakingly good version of Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”.  Serious hairs standing up on back of the neck time.  Wonderful stuff – the Pelugion singer has pipes indeed.

The names of other acts in the acoustic tent escaped me (sorry everyone), but I did see a fantastic one-man rendition of Tenacious D’s “Tribute”, and a band doing some classic rock covers.  And I do love me some classic rock.

Back inside, next up were Impavidus from Manchester way.  Their set consisted of some incredibly locked in, expertly performed and aggressive metal.  With a sound not too far away from Carcass, the pleasant surprise with this band is the amazing singer, who happens to be female.  There just aren’t enough girls in rock/metal, but Michelle impressed with a vocal ranging from slinky Siouxsie Sioux to a commanding metal growl.  Excellent show from all of the band, across the board – and a decent bunch of folks, too.

Up next on the indoor main stage were thrash titans Incinery.  Their scorching hot set of purest thrash metal glistened with speed and precision.  Obvious comparisons would be Slayer at their fastest, with the riffs of Testament or even Sepultura.  Absolutely no fucking about delivery and really gripping viewing, Incinery bring back the best of old school thrash and drag it with them into the future.

Amusingly, in a very Phoenix Nights kind of way, whilst all this blistering metal was being unleashed on the main stage, there was 60th birthday party in the next room.  Absolutely bloody hilarious!  I wonder what Granny made of it…?

But back to the music, and next on the bill were Haerken (apologies for the spelling, I can’t find the right symbol on my keyboard).  A different tale altogether from what we’ve experienced so far, Haerken introduced some Medieval themed mayhem with a killer presentation.  Dressed like knights or druids etc, their Olde Worlde death fest was brilliantly presented and featured some intricate musicianship.  Sharp as a gleaming sword and just as lethal.

Finally, headlining Saturday night, were the exquisitely named Sodomized Cadaver, from good old South Wales.  With a band name and song titles in the classic controversy baiting death metal style, it was obvious what we would be getting.  The heaviest band of the day, with a brutal rip-your-face-off  musical attack, these boys mercilessly slaughtered the gathered metal hordes.  Vastly entertaining, their savage yet brilliantly played Metel Angau* was murderously superb.

And that was it.  At least for me, as I could only attend Saturday.  Next year, I’m attending all three days and YOU’RE COMING TOO.

Awesome live music from the metal underground, Pentre Fest also delivered a great atmosphere and camaraderie amongst some very cool people.  Let’s have another!

The Facebook page for Pentre Fest is here.  There are links to all the bands over the full weekend – do the research, it’s worth it.

The McLeans Pub Live FB page is here.

* I am reliably informed that this is Welsh for Death Metal.

St. David’s Day Playlist

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Happy St. David’s Day!

To celebrate, here’s my Wales themed playlist, featuring some of the great Welsh artists from over the years.

  1. Tom Jones – “Green, Green Grass of Home”
  2. Manic Street Preachers – “A Design for Life”
  3. Catatonia – “International Velvet”
  4. Feeder – “Buck Rogers”
  5. Goldie Lookin Chain – “Guns Don’t Kill People, Rappers Do”
  6. Budgie – “Breadfan”
  7. Duffy – “Mercy”
  8. Super Furry Animals – “Ice Hockey Hair”
  9. Stereophonics – “Local Boy in the Photograph”
  10. Charlotte Church – “Call My Name”
  11. The Alarm – “68 Guns”
  12. The Joy Formidable – “Whirring”
  13. Bullet For My Valentine – “Fever”
  14. Shakin’ Stevens & Bonnie Tyler – “A Rockin’ Good Way (To Mess Around and Fall in Love)”
  15. Propellerheads ft. Miss Shirley Bassey – “History Repeating”
  16. Bryn Terfel – “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau”

A mix of genres there, with some absolute legends in attendance.  Shakey and Bonnie on one song, together?  Awesome.  I chose a less obvious Shirley Bassey number also.  From classic pop, to metal, to indie pop to rap; Wales has it covered.

Can you think of any more Welsh artists to add to this list?  Leave a comment and let me know.