Mick Birchall Reviews

I’ll tell you what. Ever since I saw them live at the tail-end of last year ( full blog here ), I have become a pretty fan of Robert Jon and The Wreck . Their Southern rock style is something that spoke to me on a personal level. Growing up loving country and rock music and developing a love for any band that mixes the two genres, it’s no wonder that the Californian rockers have grabbed my imagination as much as they have. It’s honestly a wonder why I didn’t know about them until late 2023. Anyway, I’ve had the opportunity to listen to their new album Red Moon Rising and, well, it’s damn good. It has fantastic production, stellar songwriting, poetic lyrics and an overall joy to listen to. This album is a slight departure from their normal sound, though it is still recognisably theirs. I would say this is more of an evolution of their sound than an actual deviation. Their blues-infused rock ‘n’ roll styling still shines through on this one and has a healthy dose of countrified energy t...

It’s funny how far the Japanese metal band Bridear have come in the last few years. Ever since they exploded onto the scene in 2016 they have been by far one of the most consistent and electrifying bands that I've had the pleasure of listening to. Granted, I didn’t get on this hype train until their 2021 album Bloody Bride , yet ever since I have been a firm fan of their work. Their mix of power metal and classic metal stylings has gripped me so intensely. As a British metal fan, I’ve grown up with many of the classic standards for heavy metal. So I can tell you that Bridear fits quite well into the category of bands that remind me of; older metal bands but somehow are a new take on the genre at the same time! This album Born Again is their follow-up to the highly acclaimed Age of Athena and this one is another notch in the proverbial bed-post. It's a rip-roaring album that hits all its high points with energy and commands the metal world’s attention.  The album opens with th...

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...