_{Monte Pittman is probably best known as being Madonna’s guitarist for almost twenty years, but he is also a very accomplished solo artist and on 31st August he released two new albums through Metal Blade Records. “Between The Space” is a heavy album, whilst “Better or Worse” is an acoustic album. Pittman provides the vocals and plays all the instruments on both albums. I included the track “Depth Perception” from “Better or Worse” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 31st August.}

_{To most rock or blues fans, certainly those on this island, the name Taste is synonymous with the late 60’s and the legendary Rory Gallagher (although the band did reform in the late 90’s). However, in this case, Taste are a Swedish band formed by two brothers in 2009 and “Moral Decay” is their second album, which was released on 31st August by AOR Heaven. The track “Alive” was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 31st August.}

_{“Steelfactory” is the latest album by U.D.O. the band formed by singer Udo Dirkschneider in 1987 following his departure from Accept. Over the past thirty years the band has now released sixteen studio albums with this latest one being released on 31st August by AFM Records. “Steelfactory” is the first U.D.O. album since 2015 as Udo has been touring widely as ‘Dirkschneider” for a few years, playing Accept songs. The track “Make The Move” was included on the 400th Friday NI Rocks Show on 24th August.}

_{Halestorm performed in The Telegraph Building in Belfast on 20th September. On this tour, to support the release of the album "Vicious", they’ve been mixing the set-lists up and including one rarely performed track each night. At the Belfast show we experienced a great performance of the track “Takes My Life” which has only ever been released on the live EP “One And Done” in 2006. I managed to get a recording of that track as well as two others - "I Am The Fire" from the album "Into The Wild Life" and "Killing Ourselves To Live" from the new album.}

Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site

_{Million $ Reload announce ‘Unfinished Business’ at The Belfast Empire on Saturday 09 February 2019.}

_{ONE MORE SHOW • ONE LAST TIME • ONE NIGHT ONLY}

_{Legendary Northern Irish rockers Million Dollar Reloadhave today announced they are reforming with their original line-up for‘Unfinished Business’for one last time and one night only at The Belfast Empire on Saturday 9th February 2019. Tickets go on sale this Monday from all usual outlets.}

_{The NI Rocks A-Z Show this week is a little different than usual in that it just features one band – Led Zeppelin! On 7th September the band’s iconic album / movie was re-released with newly remastered audio. Led Zeppelin, one of the greatest bands of all time, recorded these legendary shows when they were arguably at the height of their powers, in July 1973 at the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City. The reissue of “The Song Remains The Same” rounds off the deluxe reissue series of their classic albums.}

_{To commemorate the release the band's label have created a stunning hour long documentary style piece on the release which includes interview segments with the band members as well as music clips from the soundtrack. This documentary is featured in full on the NI Rocks A-Z Show this week - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/hosts/ni-rocks.html}

_{The full press release for the album is provided below.}

_{“Heart of the Hurricane” is the third album from German symphonic metal band Beyond The Black and it was released by Napalm Records on 31st August. Normally my recommendations are for albums that have been sent to us by the record labels or bands, but sometimes they are for albums that I’ve purchased myself and I just want to post something to acknowledge how good they are! That is definitely the case with “Heart of the Hurricane” as I bought the gold vinyl version as well as downloading it from iTunes.}

_{Spanish metal band Kilmara released their fourth album, “Across The Realm of Time”, through Rock of Angels Records (ROAR!) on 31st August. It is the first album from the band to feature new singer Dani Ponce; and also the first featuring a new guitarist and bass player as only two of the founding members remain from the line-up on the last album in 2014! I included the track “Out Fom The Darkness” on the NI Rocks A-Z Show on 14th August and “I Shall Rise Again” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 31st August.}

_{“Never Say Never” is the debut album from Germany based band DeVicious and it was released on 24th August via Pride & Joy Music. The band features musicians from Germany, Spain and Serbia who have all worked with other artists and bands over the years. In 2016 they formed the band DeVicious in Karlsruhe with the aim of playing 80’s inspired rock. I included the track “Everything” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 3rd August.}

_{“By Hook Or By Crook” is the second full length album from Norwegian metal band Shotgun Rodeo and it was released on 24th August by Mighty Music. It’s a little heavier than a lot of the other albums that I’ve posted recommendations for recently, but the band have a distinctive sound that appeals to me! I included the excellent track “Tony Iommi” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 20th July.}