_{A regular feature highlighting some of the best album releases each month. I don’t do album “reviews” – this is simply a personal recommendation to check out an album - just a few words about the albums that appeal to me and about the artists releasing them. These will also be albums from which I’ll have been playing tracks on the Friday NI Rocks Shows recently. This month it includes albums from Impellitteri, Lonerider, Sunstorm, Crossbone Skully, Storace and Voodoo Circle.}

 

_{IMPELLITTERI – “War Machine” – Frontiers 8^th Nov}

_{Impellitteri released their twelfth full studio album, “War Machine”, through Frontiers Music on 8^th November. The band, of course, features legendary guitarist Chris Impellitteri. The tracks “Out of Mind (Heavy Metal)” was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show in September, followed by “Power Grab” on 4^th October and “Wrath Child” on 25^th Oct.}

 

_{Impellitteri released their self-titled debut EP in 1987 and their debut album, “Stand In Line” in 1988 after Graham Bonnet joined the band. Original vocalist Rob Rock returned for the next five albums and then departed for 8 years, during which two more albums were released. Rock then returned in 2008 and has fronted the band for the past four albums. Bass player James Pulli has been with the band since 1992 and the newest member is drummer Paul Bostaph who joined in 2024.}

 

_{Chris was a guest on the Friday NI Rocks Show back in 2018 - https://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/3465-ni-rocks-interview-with-chris-impellitteri}

 

_{Website - https://impellitteri.net/}

 

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 _{LONERIDER – “Down in the Dust” – Escape Music 15^th Nov}

_{“Down In the Dust” is the third album from Lonerider, a band that features Steve Overland from FM on vocals and Simon Kirke from Bad Company and Free on drums. The album was released by Escape Music on 15^th November The track “Shiver” was featured on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 22^nd Nov.}

 

_{I had the yellow flame / sunset double vinyl version pre-ordered to add to the vinyl copies of “Attitude”, released in 2019, and “Sundown”, released in 2022.}

 

_{In addition to Overland and Kirke, Lonerider boasts a fantastic line-up that features Steve Morris from Heartland, Shadowman etc on guitars and keyboards, Chris Childs from Thunder and Tyketto on bass. The latest album also features Steve Mann from Lionheart and MSG on keyboards.}

 

_{Steve Overland had talked about the new album when he was a guest on the Friday NI Rocks Show in November 2023 - https://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/3890-ni-rocks-interview-with-steve-overland}

 

_{Escape Music shop - https://www.the-music-shop.net/}

 

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_{SUNSTORM – “Restless Fight” – Frontiers 22^nd Nov}

_{“Restless Fight” is the eighth album from Sunstorm and the third which features Ronnie Romero of vocals. It was released on 22^nd November by Frontiers Music. So far, three tracks have been included on the Friday NI Rocks Show – “I’ll Stand For You” in September, “Love’s Not Gone” on 25^th October and “Hope’s Last Stand” on 8^th November.}

 

_{Sunstorm originally formed around Joe Lynn Turner on vocals and Dennis Ward on bass and their self titled debut was released in 2006. The original line-up released three albums between 2006 and 2012, but a new line-up emerged for the fourth album in 2016, with only JLT remaining. Ronnie Romero replaced JLT for the sixth album, “Afterlife,” in 2021 and the following album “Brothers in Arms” in 2022.}

 

_{Other than Romero, there is a whole new lineup for the latest album with Aldo Lonobile on guitar, Andrea Arcangeli on bass, Antonio Agate on keyboards and Alfonso Mocerino on drums.}

 

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_{CROSSBONE SKULLY – “Evil World Machine” – Better Noise 22^nd Nov}

_{“Evil World Machine” is the debut album from Crossbone Skully, the band created by Tommy Henriksen, and it was released on 22^nd November by Better Noise Music. The title track from the album was first featured on the Friday NI Rocks Show back in November 2022 and we played it again on 726. Two tracks were included on the Show during 2023 – “The Boom Went The Boom” featuring Phil Collen in October and “I’m Unbreakable” in November 2023. A further three tracks have featured during 2024 – “Money, Sex of God” in May, “Everyones on Dope” in July and “High on You” featuring Nikki Sixx in September.}

 

_{In addition to Tommy Henriksen, the band features Alex Boch on drums, Chris Wyse on bass and Anna Cara and Sam Bam Koltun on guitars. The album features appearances from guitarists Tommy Denander, Phil Collen, Joe Perry, Kane Roberts and Ace Frehley, bass players Pete Way and Nikki Sixx, drummer Glenn Sobel,  Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp  etc.}

 

_{Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/crossboneskully}

 

 

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_{STORACE – “Crossfire” – Frontiers 22^nd Nov}

_{“Crossfire” is the latest solo album from Krokus frontman Marc Storace and it was released on 22^nd November by Frontiers Music. The track “Rock This City” featured on the Friday NI Rocks Show in September, followed by “We All Need The Money” on 11^th October and “Screaming Demon” on 1^st December.}

 

_{Marc Storace joined Krokus in 1979 and has fronted the band for most of the years since then. During his breaks from Krokus in the early and late 90’s he released a solo album as well as a few other albums with other projects. Then in 2021 he released the first Storace album called “Live and Let Live” – this is being re-released by Frontiers on 13^th December.}

 

_{The latest album is produced and mixed by Tommy Henriksen; who also co-write much of it along with Storace and Krokus/Gotus drummer Pat Aeby. The live band features Storace and Aeby as well as guitarists Dom Favez and Serge Christen and bass player Emi Meyer.}

 

_{Website - https://en.storace.ch/}

 

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_{VOODOO CIRCLE – “Hail to the King” – AFM 29^th Nov}

_{German band Voodoo Circle released their seventh album, “Hail To The King”, through AFM Records on 29^th November. The track “Let It Rock” appeared on the Friday NI Rocks Show in September and “On the Edge” in October.}

 

_{Voodoo Circle was formed by guitarist Alex Beyrodt in 2008. Much of the band’s history is dominated by his partnership with vocalist David Readman who has sang on six of the seven album and bass player Mat Sinner who has played on all seven. Drummer Markus Kullman played on the band’s second and third album and their sixth and seventh album. Beyrodt and Sinner have also worked together in Primal Fear, Sinner and Silent Force.}

 

_{Website - https://www.voodoocircle.de/home/}