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.
Read more: NI ROCKS Interview with HARRY HESS from HAREM SCAREM
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.
Read more: NEWS UPDATE - Classic Album Re-Releases from DISSONANCE
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!
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "Prevail I" by KOBRA AND THE LOTUS
“The End is Nigh” is the debut album from Swedish band Apocalypse Orchestra and it was released by Despotz Records on 12th May. I’ll be the first to say that this album is a bit outside of the norm when it comes to my recommendations. Normally I’m fairly middle of the road – nothing too heavy and nothing too melodic. “The End is Nigh” is neither too heavy nor too melodic; it’s just a bit “out there”. However, there is something about it that intrigues me! It might be described as medieval metal if such a genre exists. If it doesn’t already, maybe Apocalypse Orchestra have just created it. I included the track “Theatre of War” on the Friday NI Rocks Show for 12th May.
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "The End is Nigh" by APOCALYPSE ORCHESTRA