Mick Birchall Reviews

Before the release of their second album, Ascending To Synergy I got to sit down with ELVELLON 's guitarist, Gilbert Gelsdorf and vocalist Nele Messerschmidt to discuss working on this new album and some other interesting tidbits. What was the first instrument Gilbert learned to play? What inspires the music of Elvellon? Find out in this interview.  Mick: What lessons do you feel you have learned from the 2018 album Until Dawn and 2015 EP Spellbound and applied to this album? Nele: That sounds like a great question for you Gilbert… Gilbert: Of course, things have changed, but only in that we did a lot of this ourselves this time. I borrowed some equipment so I could learn to get a solid studio quality at home. That was really nice because we had no time limits. We could just record hours after hours. Which was really good as we were able to pick and choose the takes we liked. If there was something that needed changing, we could. This is something, I think, that suffers when you...

As Pirate Queen aims to set sail with their debut album Ghosts, I got to sit down with guitarist Patri Grief to discuss the new album, her influences and some of her stories from her early career thus far.  This was a fun conversation as we talked about the influences that led Patri here today and we nerd out about the music world. Patri is clearly passionate. I can’t wait for what is to come from Pirate Queen as they’re locked and loaded to be the new stars of the metal world!  Thanks for talking with me today. I’m interested to know how the band got together? Well, we’ve known each other for 500 years back in our land of the Island of Lyxion . In the real world, it was a little bit harder. However, thanks to the technology you have on earth, it made it easier to find people who would want to be a part of this project. It was a challenge at first to find people that were good enough to compose songs and perform the music, but also free enough to commit to a band of this styl...

  It’s been a long time since we’ve heard the name Balance of Power . 2024 sees their return to the spotlight with their new album Fresh From The Abyss . A collection of songs well worthy of your attention. They couldn’t do it alone. They come armed with a new band and a whole new energy. I got to sit down with the core members Tony Ritchie and Lionel Hicks to talk about the new record and their years spent in the music industry. We discuss working with the legend that is Toby Jepson on the new record, finding their new members and their process of working on music. I also talk to them about their influences and surprisingly the name Dio appears more than a few times.  Mick: Fresh From The Abyss will be the first album with the Balance of Power name on it in nearly 20 years. How does it feel to have new music with that band's name on it again? Anthony: We started work on it, quite a long way back anyway. We had written some songs that were originally supposed to be on th...

It’s fair to say I’m walking into this review with the slightest amount of bias. I discovered Liverpool rockers, Attic Theory on one of the best nights of my fandom. They opened for my all-time favourite band, Tantric in Manchester so, in all honesty, they could have been the worst band in history and I still would’ve had a great night. Luckily, they’re pretty damn good and put on an absolute belter of a live show. So, naturally, I kept tabs on them and stayed in touch with them as they seemed to be an interesting group of people with a voice. I liked their 2020 EP The Sign of an Active Mind and I was eagerly awaiting their upcoming album. So, when I got an early copy of the record I knew it was one to go on my playlist and was going to be one to look out for! The new album What We Fear the Most has been an album is an absolute joy to listen to. As a lifelong fan of the genre, this was a real treat. If you’re into early 2000s post-grunge alt-rock, then I have the album for you, dear...