“Arrows” is the long awaited third album from local band A Little Bitter and it was released at the end of February 2018 – on 22nd digitally and on CD on 26th. The band has been widely recognised on the local rock scene as one of the tightest, top quality rock bands in the country. Tracks from the band’s previous two albums have featured regularly on the NI Rocks Shows on Rock Radio NI and the track “Feathers” was the first from the “Arrows” to be featured on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 23rd February.
“The Great Divine” is the excellent new album from Swedish band Reach and it was released on 23rd February through Sun Hill Production. (I decided to avoid the obvious cliché and won’t be referring to the album as great or divine ay any point!). The band’s debut album had been released back in 2015, but there have been some changes in the line-up and Reach is now a trio rather than a four-piece. The single “You Say” was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 2nd March.
“Under The Radar” is the debut album from English band Signal Red and it was released on 23rd February via Escape Music. The band was created by guitarist Steve Grocott and singer Lee Small in 2013 but work on their first album was delayed by other projects that the two were working on. A few years later the album is finally released and the end product is a great example of melodic rock at its best. The track “Defiant” was featured on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 23rd February.
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "Under The Radar" by SIGNAL RED
Chris Bay is the vocalist for German power metal band Freedom Call and on 23rd February he released his first solo album called “Chasing The Sun”, through Steamhammer/SPV. At first listen I wasn’t too sure about many of the songs on the album as they seemed a little “pop” influenced. However, there were also some that I liked instantly, such as “Bad Boyz”, which was included on the NI Rocks A-Z Show on 20th February. The more I listened to the album, the more that it grew on me and whilst there are still a few tracks that don’t tick my boxes, they may well do so for other listeners.
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "Chasing The Sun" by CHRIS BAY