_{Swedish metal band Manimal released their second full length album, entitled “Trapped In The Shadows”, on 20th November through AFM Records. I must admit that they’re a band that I didn’t know that much about, though they’ve been around since 2001. However, when I took a quick listen to the album there was a lot that I liked and it was an easy decision to take more time to check out all of the tracks. The press release from AFM describes Manimal as an “intelligent mixture of powerful melodic metal and progressive elements” – a blend of Judas Priest and Queensryche at their best. I guess that’s a fair description.}

_{“End Game” is the debut album from Scandinavia based band Naked and it was released through Escape Music on 20th November. The label “melodic rock” has been applied to the band. However, to be honest, whilst there are a couple of tamer, more mellow tracks on the album, probably the majority; or at least all my favourites, are from the heavier end of the “melodic rock” spectrum. The “melodic rock” label is probably one of the most expansive of the rock music genres and it is little wonder that so many bands seem to attract that label. In an era when all music seems to need a label other than simply “rock” maybe that is just the safest option for all those that don’t fit at the heavier end of the spectrum. The track “Blood of My Blood” is included on the Friday NI Rocks Show broadcast on 27th November.}

Swedish classic / doom rock masters WITCHCRAFT have released a brand new song entitled ‘The Outcast’, from their eagerly anticipated new album Nucleus. Listen the track here:     Nucleus is scheduled for a January 15, 2016 release worldwide via Nuclear Blast and will be available as CD, lavish digipack (also as a t-shirt bundle), vinyl (black, clear, splatter, gold) and ...