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Author Spenny

It is now a new decade, and the last time my Ave Noctum bio was updated, it was 2014. So much has changed since then, not least my time ravaged hulk having reached its half century. Vinyl has gone from being a thing of memory to a thing for the trendy and hip (but try going for a walk with that stereo in your pocket!), and tapes have gone from being a best forgotten “fragile”, in every sense of the word, memory, to the most kvlt of the kvlt and grimm offering! What has not changed, however, is my dedication to hard rock and heavy metal. Indeed, my formative years were saturated by the likes of Cream, Deep Purple, Queen, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Genesis, Yes, and their ilk, as well as healthy chunks of Motown on the turntable that was the pre-internet stereophonic centre for entertainment in my mother's 70's single parent household, and my first “concert of choice” (I exclude some I was taken to/performed in against my will) was Motörhead in 1984 in Manchester. However, after living through the heyday of thrash when the “Big Four” were young and hungry, I still revel in the new generations of musicians who rally against the written by committee and autotuned blandness of modern popular music. Every couple of years the popular press features articles about “the death of rock”, whilst lauding the latest autotuned flash in the pan act, and then does a volte face to promote a short lived NME bait guitar act, but the fact is that metal and hard rock lives, and indeed thrives, below the radar of popular consciousness, and I, like my fellow Ave Noctum scribes, revel in that world. So, keep reading, keep supporting the scene you love by buying the music, purchasing merch, and going to the shows, and here's to another decade of excellent music that sticks a stiffly raised middle finger in the direction of popular opinion.

Hemplifier – The Stoner Side of Doom (Electric Valley Records)

Of late I’ve been on a real Prog kick, with albums from classic acts like Yes and Jethro Tull being matched by tour tickets pinned to the board in my living room, as well as newer acts like Rosalie Cunnningham… Continue Reading →

Hex A.D – Delightful Sharp Edges (Apollon Records)

Another day, another review, and again, another band from Norway. I currently reside in Scotland, a nation with a very similar population, but nothing like the remarkable output of rock and metal of that land across the North Sea. Why… Continue Reading →

Howlin Sun – Maxime (Apollon Records)

If you are a regular reader of Ave Noctum, (and if not, why not?), you will like as not know Bergen as almost the epicentre of Black Metal, the city having spawned the likes of Immortal, Gorgoroth, Taake, and so… Continue Reading →

They Watch Us From The Moon – Cosmic Chronicles: Act 1, The Ascension (New Heavy Sounds)

Despite having been alive in no less than seven different consecutive decades (I had to check my maths, and damn, I wasn’t wrong!), I try not to be too set in my ways, and especially when it comes to music,… Continue Reading →

Smokey Mirror – Smokey Mirror (Rise Above Records)

As I look back at my prior mournfully poor ramblings on this fine site that you are reading, I noticed that it is now at least a decade, yes a DECADE, since I started mentioning the beginnings a “Retro Rock… Continue Reading →

Blood Ceremony – The Old Ways Remain (Rise Above Records)

As folks say these days, “spoiler alert”; before you scan to the score at the bottom of this page I feel absolutely compelled to announce that with ‘The Old Ways Remain’ Canada’s Blood Ceremony has shot straight to the top… Continue Reading →

L’Ira Del Baccano – Cosmic Evoked Potentials (Subsound Records)

Time, or at least the way we perceive it as passing, can be a strange old thing, and it’s something I’ve particularly noticed when listening to music. Sometimes it can seem to drag, indicating something is an unwelcome slog to… Continue Reading →

Desolate Realm – Legions (S/R)

In this world there is a certain type of person who is always looking for some new thrill, some new experience, never apparently satisfied with their lot, and always flitting about like a hummingbird in search of their next hit… Continue Reading →

Smoke Rites – Total Lung Capacity (S/R)

If you’ve had even the briefest look at the news in the world of Metal, you’ll likely be aware that Pantera are trending, Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown recruiting Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante to fill the massive gaps left… Continue Reading →

Pariah Lord – Vultures (Boersma Records)

One second. As starts to reviews go, that’s a new one even for me. So, what does that “one second” mean? How long until I turned it off? Hell no. How long until I knew what was coming for the… Continue Reading →

Vibrant – Trying To Survive (S/R)

As 2022 turned to 2023, doubtless there were any number of resolutions made to turn over a new leaf, start new ways, and try new things. Now that it is several weeks into the new year, many of those resolutions… Continue Reading →

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