_{Mark Slaughter hadn’t released a new album for 15 years prior to the release of his solo album “Reflections in a Rear View Mirror” in 2015. Thankfully we’ve only had to wait two years for a follow up! “Halfway There” was released through the EMP Label Group on 26th May and the Slaughter frontman has delivered another excellent album. I included the track “Hey You” on the Friday NI Rocks Show uploaded on 11th May and “Devoted” on the Show uploaded on 24th May.}

_{“Poison The Parish” is the seventh studio album from South African rockers Seether and it was released on 12th May via Spinefarm Records. An earlier studio album was released in 2000 under their original name of Saron Gas. There was a pre-recorded interview with founding member, guitarist and vocalist Shaun Morgan, on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 5th May (uploaded 3rd May). That interview was interspersed between the tracks “Let You Down” and “Nothing Left”. The track “Stoke The Fire” was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 26th May (uploaded 24th May). Both Shows are currently available via the On Demand Player - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/hosts/ni-rocks-friday-rock-show.html}

_{FM frontman Steve Overland is involved in a number of other bands and when I recorded an interview with him to coincide with the release of a new Overland album back in February 2014 he mentioned that the songs were written for the next Shadowman album and that he just needed to get the band members together to record them. Over three years later, that fifth Shadowman album is finally available and definitely one to check out! “Secrets and Lies” was released via Escape Music on 19th May. I played the title track on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 12th May and “Be True To Yourself” on the Show this week.}

_{The Dead Daisies gig in Limelight 1 in July last year was an awesome performance and really enjoyable night. Add to that the fact that the album “Make Some Noise” released last year was, in my opinion, the best yet from The Dead Daisies. The release of a live album / DVD on the back of such a well-received European tour and studio album therefore makes a whole lot of sense. That album is called “Live and Louder” and it was released on 19th May via Spitfire Music / SPV. I played the track “Lock n Load” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 21st April and “Song And A Prayer” is included on the Show this week.}

_{Warrant are of course a band that will always be synonymous with the name of their former vocalist, the late Jani Lane, even though his last album with the band was back in 2001. The band however has moved on and the release of the second album with singer Robert Mason underlines that. The album “Louder Harder Faster” was released through Frontiers Music on 12th May.  The title track from the album was included on the playlist for the Friday NI Rocks Show for 19th May.}

_{Canadian band Harem Scarem recently released their second studio album since their reunion in 2013. “United” was released through Frontiers Music on 12th May. Just prior to its release I had recorded an interview with singer Harry Hess and this was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show for 19th May. This Show also features 4 tracks from the new album and it is currently available via the On Demand Player or as a podcast on iTunes - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/3129-ni-rocks-interview-with-harry-hess-from-harem-scarem.html}

_{“Second Skin” is, appropriately, the second album from Snakecharmer, a band that was originally founded by former Whitesnake players Micky Moody and Neil Murray in 2011. It was released on 12th May through Frontiers Music. The band has moved on a little since their debut release in 2013 and Moody has been replaced by local guitarist Simon McBride.  The influence and sound is still very much the blues rock era of the late 70’s and bands such as Whtesnake and Bad Company. I included the track “Sounds Like A Plan” on the Friday NI Rocks Show for 19th May.}

_{The name Harry Hess is one that appears regularly when I’m checking out melodic rock albums that have been sent into the station – either for his involvement in mixing or producing the record or for contributing vocals. He is of course also the frontman of Canadian band Harem Scarem. The band released their latest album “United” through Frontiers Music on 12th May and I arranged to record an interview with Harry via Skype on 4th May to talk about the album and his other work. You can hear that interview on the Friday NI Rocks Show that was originally uploaded for 19th May and which is now available on our MixCloud site. We also play 4 tracks from the new Harem Scarem album.}

_{https://www.mixcloud.com/NIRocks/interview-with-harry-hess-on-the-friday-ni-rocks-show-19th-may-2017/}

_{Dissonance Productions (Plastic Head Music Distribution) have certainly been doing their bit recently to re-invigorate the 80’s NWOBHM movement. Last year saw the release of new albums from Diamond Head and Grim Reaper and over recent months there has been a stream of classic albums being re-released, including the first three Girlschool albums (http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/back-stage/music-reviews/3101-ni-rocks-recommends-the-first-three-albums-by-girlschool.html ). This month (26th May) sees the re-release of 3 albums by Samson as well as albums from Blitzkrieg, Jaguar and Cloven Hoof. And in early June we get 3 re-releases from Raven.}

_{Canadian band Kobra and the Lotus released their new album “Prevail 1” through Napalm Records on 12th May. I’ve been a fan of the band since the release of their self-titled album in 2012 and when they announced a PledgeMusic campaign in late 2015 for the record that was to become “Prevail I” and “Prevail II”, I was quick to get on board. Kobra and the Lotus subsequently signed with Napalm and over the past few months a number of tracks from the album have been released and all have featured prominently on the NI Rocks Shows. Most recently “You Don’t Know” on the Friday NI Rocks Show for 5th May and “Gotham” on 12th May. I’ve been waiting about 18 months for this release and it definitely lives up to expectations!}