Danish band Disneyland After Dark aka D-A-D, recently reached a rare milestone, celebrating forty years as a band, in a sometimes volatile and ever-changing music market landscape. Their legacy consists of a wide and varied discography that exceeds the expectations set by their fantastic worldwide breakthrough album from 1989, No Fuel Left for the Pilgrims.
Swiss metal band Burning Witches have been steadily growing their international reputation over several years, having since played live on numerous major heavy metal festival stages, and undertaken successful headline tours. Musical instrument endorsements, guidance and management from Destruction mastermind, Marcel “Schmier” Schirmer, and snaring internationally respected guitarist Courtney Cox [ex-The Iron Maidens] in the lead guitar role, has further enhanced their credibility. Cox took over from lead guitarist Larissa Ernst, who is currently on maternity leave from the band.
Manning Bar, Sydney University, Camperdown, and The Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Saturday, 5th April and Monday, 7th April respectively. Score: Five out of five skulls. American hard rock band Winger’s farewell tour with the original line-up, almost didn’t happen a while back, but once details were ironed out, the tour got traction. From there, the musician
Toto first toured Australia in 1992 on the back of Kingdom of Desire, and those shows lifted the roofs off the clubs and beer barns of the day. They’ve since returned to Australia several times over the years, selling out venues, with their most recent tour prior to this, being in 2019. So, their latest venture to Australia as a touring entity was naturally met with an enthused response, selling out the venue that is almost doubled in size to their previous tour.
Long established Welsh alternative rock band, Feeder, have been prolific of late. After earning many music awards, delivering celebrated live performances, and having endured the restrictions of the pandemic, they have completed an album trilogy that commenced with the 2022 release Torpedo. This release sits alongside their first double album, Black/Red, from 2024 to wrap up the trilogy.
Winger is the shining example of a band whose love of playing music over chasing pots of gold at the end of the rainbow within the fickle music industry hit machine, has allowed their reunion to be a successful venture. Screaming up the pop metal charts of the day, back in 1988, with their major label debut, Winger’s musical prowess was immediately evident, fronted by classically trained, arranging and songwriting skilled bassist Kip Winger, not to mention ballet, who was already known for his tenure with Alice Cooper, as was keyboardist Paul Taylor.
Swedish melodic death metal is a highly regarded sub-genre of the global metal scene. Many artists that originated from the Gothenburg scene that went against the grain of grunge, and other trends, are regularly name checked as highly influential across a variety of sub genres, still to this day. So, the genesis of The Halo Effect came about from the combined efforts of various notable musicians involved in bands such as In Flames, Dark Tranquillity and HammerFall to create something musically unique.
British iconic punk and new wave rockers, The Stranglers, are returning to Australia & New Zealand next March to mark their monumental 50th Anniversary – joined by Australian special guest, Merryn Jeann. 🔥 TICKETS ON SALE NOW Thu 13 March: Auckland, PowerstationSat 15 March: Wellington, Meow NuiSun 16 March: Christchurch, Christchurch Town HallWed 19 March: Sydney, Enmore TheatreThu 20 March: Brisbane, The TivoliSat
The legacy of British heavy metal royalty and Judas Priest was bolstered by the superb contribution to the band’s vast discography by American vocalist, Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens. His rise to stardom garnered mainstream attention with the rather dubious poetic license that embellished the absurd film Rock Star, but the heavy metal community were already aware of his vocal abilities, as he inevitably took on a solo career.
British metal band, Sylosis, are intense purveyors of modern thrash metal. Formed in the 2000, within Reading, Berkshire, nearby the meeting of rivers well known to the British, the flow of music from Sylosis has spread widely, with stylistic maturity, and impeccable guitar technique from frontman Josh Middleton, who has also leant his service to East Sussex metalcore outfit Architects, which has obviously kept Mr. Middleton occupied.