The Viking in the Wilderness - reviews and news

(34:42; Exile on Mainstream) Track list: 1. Get the Guns 4:15 2. Listen 3:46 3. The Enemy 4:35 4. Push 3:23 5. Buried Under 3:26 6. Boys and Girls 3:24 7. Saturn 3:56 8. Dark Night 4:27 9. Own 3:30 Line-up: Jonah Matranga - vocals Marlon King - guitars Nick Hannon - bass Mitch Wheeler - drums Stevie B - drums Blake - electronics UK band Sons of Alpha Cenaturi have clocked in a good 20 years of activity, with a handful or so of albums to their name so far. "Push" is the name of their latest studio album, which was released through German label Exile on Mainstream Records in the summer of 2021. It is a difficult to define variety of hard rock that this latest incarnation of Sons of Alpha Centauri has to offer this time around. Tight passages with atmospheric laden elements live side by side with harder, more majestic as well as gnarly and dirty guitar riff driven escapades, with some songs and passages closer to being a hard but elegant take on post-punk, while other creations ...

(46:18; Matt Steady) Track list: 1. The Roamer 3:56 2. Hello Old Friend 3:29 3. Theory of Ruins 5:26 4. The Green Man 3:58 5. Buen Camino 3:45 6. Long Road Home 3:57 7. Funny Old World 4:54 8. Grist for the Mill 3:24 9. The White Cliffs of Dover 6:09 10. Hazel of the Rocks 3:02 11. Wayfaring Stranger 4:18 Line-up: Matt Steady - vocals, instruments with: Indigo Steady - vocals Eleanore - vocals Terl Bryant - percussion Sam Jefferson - guitars Steve Fletcher - keyboards Serena Smith - violin Phil Harris Stuart Wood UK artist Matt Steady is a fairly unknown quantity to me, but he reached out to me one day - on Twitter I believe - and offered to send me a promotional copy of his album "The Echoes Remain". An offer I obviously accepted. It would appear that Matt has been quite the productive artist for the past five years or thereabouts, with a steady stream of studio albums as well as a live album being released between 2016 and now. The album I received is actually a compilation...

(42:31; Norske Albumklassikere [2021 Edition] ) Track list: 1. Obsession (5:59) 2. Dance (2:08) 3. Chant! (My Timbre Is Versatile) (4:25) 4. Keine Angst (5:03) 5. Dissolve (3:06) 6. Depart (3:06) 7. Arbeid og Fritid (2:54) 8. The Darkest Night (6:00) 9. Branca (3:37) 10. Location (6:13) Line-up: Helge Gaarder - vocals, piano, programming, percussion, synthesizer, bass, effects with: Jörn Christensen - guitars Kristin Kopperud - vocals Kjell Fosstvedt - drums, percussion Viggo Vestel - guitars, percussion, piano, harp Erik Aasheim - percussion, vocals Paul Austad - bass, vocals Brynjulf Blix - synthesizer Sven Kalmar - drums Bygg Band - tape effects Björn Pettersen - bass Ola Snortheim - drums Mari Wendelboe - strings Karin Westrheim - saxophone The late Norwegian artist Helge Gaarder is possibly best known for his tenures in the bands Kjøtt and Cirkus Modern in the early 1980's, but he also found the time to record and release his only solo album in the period when he was active in...

(39:23; Norske Albumklassikere [2021 Edition] ) Track list: 1. The Good the Bad and the Ugly (3:45) 2. Monsterdance (3:45) 3. Another Story of Love (4:31) 4. Swingtime (3:13) 5. The Track (3:38) 6. Mr. Brown (4:06) 7. Mountains (4:17) 8. Born to Rock (3:09) 9. Sacred Alibi (3:44) 10. Fade Away (5:15) Line-up: - Harald Dose - vocals - Geir Emanuelsen - bass, vocals - Stig Theo Eriksen - drums, vocals - Erlend Ottem - guitars, vocals - Bård Torstensen - guitars, vocals with: - Rock 'n Rolf Pedersen - harmonica - Lina Narjord - violion Norwegian band Theo had a career as a recording band that lasted from 1982 until 1989, with a few different line-ups of the band in those years as well from what I understand. "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" was their third and final album before the band went into hiatus as far as recording material is concerned, and was originally released through the label Veps Musikk in 1988. The album was reissued through the series "Norske Albumklas...

(52:50; Spira Records) Track list: 1. There Ain't No Cider on the Rider (2:30) 2. Doodlebug (2:38) 3. Hand Grenade (2:23) 4. Napalm Rising (3:13) 5. Jitter Juice (3:08) 6. Feelin' Alrite (3:52) 7. Bombardier (3:40) 8. Bullet Belt (2:51) 9. Hawker Hurricane (2:05) 10. Big Ben (3:21) 11. Motherhead (4:08) 12. Chopper (3:21) 13. Shot in the Head and Left for Dead (3:00) 14. Achtung Minen (4:36) 15. On the Fields of Cleckhuddersfax (8:04) Line-up: James Childs - vocals, bass Owen Childs - guitars, vocals Chris Fielden - drums, vocals US based band Little Villains was formed back in 2005 by Phil Taylor and James Childs, and while they didn't manage to release any material prior to Taylor's passing in 2015 two albums featuring his contributions appeared in 2019 and 2020 respectively. "Acthung Minen!" is the third studio production by Little Villains, and was released in 2020 through the label Spira Records. It is also the band's first album that doesn't feat...

(44:08; Spira Records) Track list: 1. Safer (2:22) 2. I (3:06) 3. If There’s An Angel (3:18) 4. Alone Again (2:04) 5. Thicker (5:59) 6. You (2:36) 7. Choke 3:14) 8. Sometimes (2:16) 9. Nothing’s For Free (3:22) 10. Save Yourself (4:09) 11. Get Away (1:59) 12. Lazy (4:01) 13. The Ghost (5:42) Line-up: Nick Davidge - vocals, guitars James Childs - guitars, vocals Simon Hedges - bass Chris Fielden - drums UK band Airbus, currently based in the US according to the press release that followed this album, had their first span of life lasting from the late 1980's until the band went into a state of hiatus sometimes in the early stages of the millennium. The band is back at it, and this fall they released the album "You" through the label Spira Records, the third full length album by Airbus so far. It is an interesting blend of material this album has to offer, and when reading that the material here was recorded in the middle of the 1990's a lot of the variation makes perfec...