_{Primal Fear has marked the twentieth anniversary of their formation this year with the release of two compilations. Back in June they released “Angels of Mercy – Live in Germany”. On 10th November, once again through Frontiers Music, they released “Best of Fear”, a double album featuring 23 tracks from the last ten years and a few new recordings. I don’t always write recommendations for live albums or ‘best of’ albums, but with this post I’ll now have done so for both Primal Fear albums this year! That’s a fair indication of how much I like the band! I included the new track “Predator” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 17th November.}

_{Sometimes you just know you’re going to love a band’s new album even before your hear it, and Shakra is one of those bands. From about ten seconds into their latest album “Snakes & Ladders” I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed. The eleventh studio album from the Swiss rockers was released through AFM Records on 10th November. “Snakes & Ladders” is the band’s second album since the return of lead vocalist Mark Fox in 2015. I included the single “Cassandra’s Curse” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 10th November and “The End of Days” is on the Show this week.}

_{The Dark Element is the new band featuring former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon and they released their self-titled debut album through Frontiers Music on 10th November. Anette has teamed up with Finnish guitarist Jani Liimatainen who was formerly with Sonata Arctica. With that artistic backbone, you get what you’d anticipate – a great symphonic metal album! I played the track “Dead To Me” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 3rd November.}