Firewind released their latest album via AFM Records on 15th May, and guitarist Gus G was my guest on the Friday NI Rocks Show to talk about the album, simply entitled “Firewind”. It is the band’s tenth studio album if you include the 1998 demo that was released, and the first with new singer Herbie Langhans. The interview with Gus G was originally included on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 10th April with one track from the new album, but was repeated again on 15th May with three tracks from “Firewind”. The interview can be read here - http://www.rockradioni.co.uk/interviews/3749-ni-rocks-interview-with-gus-g.html
“Undress Your Madness” by Pretty Maids was one of my favourite albums of 2019 and the song “Serpentine” was probably the track of the year. When the album was released in November, singer Ronnie Atkins was in the midst of a battle with cancer. A few months later he has made good progress and Pretty Maids have just released the album “Maid in Japan – Back to the Future World” through Frontiers Music. I had the opportunity to chat with Ronnie via Skype on 3rd June. We chatted about the recent Pretty Maids releases, his ongoing battle with lung cancer, the impact of Covid-19, his involvement in the Nordic Union project and more.
You can hear that interview on the Friday NI Rocks Show from 5th June which is now available from our MixCloud page - https://www.mixcloud.com/NIRocks/interview-with-ronnie-atkins-from-pretty-maids-on-the-friday-ni-rocks-show-5th-june-2020/
Read more: NI ROCKS Interview with RONNIE ATKINS from Pretty Maids
English band Ryders Creed released their second album, “Lost Souls”, through Off Yer Rocka Recordings on 8th May. The band formed in 2016 and released their self titled debut in 2018. The track “Headspace” from that album was featured on the Friday NI Rocks Show twice that year. The lead off single from the new album was called “Lost Soul” and this was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 8th May.
The latest Axel Rudi Pell album “Sign of the Times” was released by Steamhammer / SPV on 8th May – and it would be impossible not to post a recommendation! This the nineteenth studio album from ARP in just over thirty years. A prolific recording cycle has seen a new album appear every two years since 1989 – except for a few occasions when there were releases in consecutive years. I’ve now posted something about the last four studio albums. The track “Gunfire” was included on the Friday NI Rocks Show in April and I’ll be featuring more tracks soon.
Read more: NI ROCKS Recommends "Sign of the Times" by AXEL RUDI PELL