WHERE the hell have this band been hiding? Okay, they may be from a mix of Italy and USA but c'mon, this is the digital age… somebody, somewhere should have been grabbing me by the scruff of the neck and shouting in my ear "Sit down now, and listen to this band!"

I missed last years Prong tour, where I would have found them all that sooner as support, but at least I now have my sweaty mitts and grateful ears fully focused on this.

AS a form of music the extreme ends of metal - and death metal in particular has the power to frighten the pets and mystify the uninitiated. But aficionados in Belfast at the April 18th Warzone Centre bash saw Yank rockers Skinned roar, ably supported by The Crawling, Wardomizedand Zombified.

_{“Heroes And Villains” is the latest album from FM and was released via Frontiers Records on 20th April. Normally the “NI Rocks Recommends” feature relates to albums that have been sent to the station for airplay / review, but this is another of those rare occasions where I’ve decided to write a recommendation for an album that wasn’t. I’d interviewed singer Steve Overland just over a year ago, before FM’s appearance in the Waterfront Hall in Belfast - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/1454-ni-rocks-interview-with-steve-overland-of-fm.html - and was looking forward to hearing the new album. After celebrating their 30th anniversary last year, FM has definitely delivered the goods with “Heroes And Villains”. The new album is being promoted by a tour through England and Scotland during May; accompanied by Romeo’s Daughter (who’ve just released their album “Spin”) and Northern Ireland’s No Hot Ashes.}