This is the latest of my monthly posts looking at some of the album releases that have caught my attention. This one, obviously, is looking at some of the great albums released during April 2021.
This month it covers releases from Maverick, Blaze Bayley, Infinite & Divine, The End Machine, FM, Motorjesus, Sweet Oblivion Ft Geoff Tate, Icon of Sin, Temple Balls, Frozen Crown, My Refuge and Gilby Clarke.
Canadian band Sumo Cyco release their third album, called “Initiation”, through Napalm Records on 7th May. The band is fronted by vocalist Skye ‘Sever’ Sweetnam, who formed the band in 2011 along with guitarist Matt Drake. I had the opportunity to speak to Skye via Skype on 7th April and we chatted for around forty minutes about the band, the new album, the three singles that have been released and much more. You can hear that interview on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 9th April which is available from the NI Rocks MixCloud page - https://www.mixcloud.com/NIRocks/interview-with-skye-sweetnam-from-sumo-cyco-on-the-friday-ni-rocks-show-9th-april-2021/
The interview can be read in full below.
Read more: NI ROCKS Interview with SKYE SWEETNAM from SUMO CYCO
There are two NI Rocks Shows uploaded each week on Rock Radio NI. These are the playlists for those shows for the month of March – all of which are still available from the On Demand Player. There are tracks by around 140 different artists on the Shows this month. Playlists for February were published previously and these Shows are also available via the On Demand Player – http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/back-stage/music-reviews/3799-ni-rocks-recommends-album-releases-february-2021.html
There were new interviews this month with Ricky Warwick, Chez Kane, Gary Hughes and Mark Mangold. All interviews can be found here - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews.html and on the NI Rocks MixCloud page eventually as well - https://www.mixcloud.com/NIRocks/
American singer-songwriter and keyboardist Mark Mangold is a guest on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 26th March. Mark will be best known as a member of three bands – American Tears, Touch and Drive, She Said. On 26th March Touch release their first album of new music in almost forty years when “Tomorrow Never Comes” is released by Escape Music. The band released their first album in 1980, but their second album, recorded in 1982, wasn’t released until 1998. The band opened the first ever Monsters of Rock Festival at Castle Donington in 1980.
I spoke to Mark via Skype at his home in Sweden on 9th March and we chatted for about 25 minutes about the new Touch album as well as American Tears and Drive, She Said. You’ll find that interview and four tracks from the new Touch album on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 26th March which is now available on our MixCloud page - https://www.mixcloud.com/NIRocks/interview-with-mark-mangold-on-the-friday-ni-rocks-show-26th-march-2021/