It's interesting that Somewhere In Time is coming out as a firm favourite for many these days, I have vague notion of it being maligned/poorly thought of in general until very recently. It was the very first Metal album I EVER got, so holds a special place in my heart, but I will say that "Sea of Madness" & "Heaven Can Wait" don't rate very highly for me.

For me best is either Piece of Mind or Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

I think the only clanger on Piece of Mind is "Sun and Steel" - total skipper, hate the chorus - would have been a perfect album if they'd dropped it. I love "Quest for Fire" & "To Tame A Land" - top drawer Maiden for me, they've got it all. Outside of the just the tunes, I think the overall atmosphere, cover art and band promo photos all just capture that early 80s Heavy Metal vibe perfectly - before it became somewhat mainstream.

Quote from: Paul keohane on May 19, 2026, 03:33:24 PMI really enjoyed Overtures of Blasphemy!, i was definitely in the minority on here at the time!

Me too - the first 5 or 6 songs on that are really strong actually

Seventh Son of the Seventh Son easily

An Post are creaming themselves with excitement at the moment

https://www.independent.ie/business/irish-business/irish-shoppers-to-face-customs-charge-on-any-item-worth-150-or-less-posted-from-outside-the-eu/a/153774021.html

Enthusiastic Eunuch Presents

Deafkids
(Brazil/Neurot Records)

Friday 16th October
Bello Bar
Doors 8pm
Tickets via https://billetto.ie/e/deafkids-brazil-neurot-records-tickets-19410

The Brazilian duo DEAFKIDS returns with a vital and combustive new album, CICATRIZES DO FUTURO (SCARS OF THE FUTURE). This nine-track sonic assault forges a path beyond the conventions and boundaries of static musical genres. Here, electronic fury and feverish organic percussion collide with a relentless Latin American punk spirit. CICATRIZES DO FUTURO is the band's first non-collaborative full length since 2019's Metaprogramação, and will be available on LP, CD and Digital formats via Neurot Recordings on 29th May 2026.


Imbued with a frantic Afro-Latin pulse, lead single "CICATRIZES" (SCARS) is available to listen to today and features a dirty, danceable and sweat-soaked intersection between raw punk and clave-led Afro-Cuban music, with a futuristic approach and bloodshot eyes. Heavy pulsating 808 bass drums hit hard as a characteristic D-beat foundation for Sarine's ultrafast percussion played in the Guaguancó rhythm, driving a relentless Acid-House bassline and fuzzed walls of guitar riffs while processed vocals screams in absolute madness.


"The lyrics of 'CICATRIZES' are like an eyewitness account of a world collapsing, facing its devastating material and psychological consequences. Describing the journey from apathy to traumatic perception, from alienation to incurable witnessing, the song captures the state of a consciousness that, awakening from the collective delusion, confronts the terrifying reality that has been concealed. The rhetorical question 'Is it all a delirium?' is quickly answered and amplified: it is not individual, but a collective 'great delirium!', a toxic and dominant narrative that normalizes the absurd and paralyzes action."

"Conceptually, the album is a visceral diagnosis of a world intoxicated by its own fictions of power, tracing the anatomy of a systemic grand deception and exploring its mechanics of psychological, social, and material domination, the indelible marks imprinted on bodies and minds and it's catastrophic consequences. It is a journey from the poisoned and addicted collective psyche to the desperate search for an antidote, while the future seems to be already cursed by the very forces that pretend to build it. Yet, for all its thematic weight, CICATRIZES DO FUTURO is hypnotically danceable - physical and ritualistic music that demands body movement as a form of mental cleansing. The album doesn't just reflect a fractured and violent world — it breathes desire to live and resist through new sonic paths."

They continue, "Our music comes from the perception of the environmental, political, and moral toxicity that permeates our realities under such conditions. In the context of the album, the scars are those of a brutally stolen past reflected in a wicked future. A permanent mark of violence is also a memory that will never be silenced!"

Formed in 2010 in Volta Redonda/Rio de Janeiro and signed with the North-American label Neurot Recordings since 2017, the work of multi-instrumentalists Douglas Leal (vocals, guitar, electronics, samplers, percussive, artwork, etc) and Marian Sarine (drums, percussive, electronics, bass) consistently blends the raw spirit of noise and punk with complex global rhythms and electronic experimentation, creating a vibrant and provocative body of work that challenges musical and aesthetic conventions.

Luke has been active again with the Berzerker for about two years. Was talks of a new album being recorded but doesn't look like anything has even been started yet. They played the Damnation in 06 I think it was a few days before the Dublin show.

The Berserker announced for this in their first - and only - European show for 18 years. Quite the surprise!

Boards of Canada - Inferno

Out today.
I'm enjoying it.

13 years since their last release!

A big mix of emotions/feelings, from spooky, sad to joyous!

(I couldn't wait for the vinyl to land, so went online )

T.Rex - Electric Warrior.
I always found it interesting how Marc Bolan wrote these songs that were generally just one or two riffs repeated and the songs don't get boring. Monolith and Mambo Sun are two of my favorites on this album.

Quote from: Black Shepherd Carnage on May 29, 2026, 08:37:28 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CsbmCZjq30

Worth watching in full. Sadlier nails the national sentiment, and great to see him be let say it all and for it to be broadcast to all.

Im amazed to hear it said in such plain terms on the national broadcaster. Very eloquently put by Richie.