Paul Grenyer

Infected Rain are one of those bands I thought I really ought to be into. A modern, European metalcore band with female vocals, what’s not to like? But I just couldn’t get on with the Ecdysis album. I persevered and when the band released a few tracks from the Time album in advance of its release, I listened, but they didn’t really work for me and I almost gave up. Then a few weeks later Time came out, I tried again and was just blown away. Not just daily listens, but multiple dailey listens. Then it was announced they would be playing at the Underworld at the end of August and a quick check revealed almost everything they’re currently playing live is from Time with a couple of older songs thrown in. It should be perfect, but, as I’ve blogged before , the sound at the Underworld can be hit and miss. Then my wife said she wanted to go and that was that! We went and it was amazing! The band hit the stage, and while the sound wasn’t perfect, still not enough guitar in the mix, it sounded ...

by James S. A. Corey ISBN: 78-0356504193 In some ways Cibola Burn is a lot like Abaddon’s Gate , it’s slow to get going. It takes about half the book, however the second half of the book is really good. One way in which it is different from the stories which precede it, is the Space Opera scope. The vast majority of the story is based on or in orbit around a single planet. For me, this means it doesn’t qualify as Space Opera. That sort of thing may not be important to you though. The new characters in the book are outstanding. Of course James Holden and his crew are central and key to the story. Chrisjen Avasarala is mostly absent again. The members of the opposing factions on New Terra are complicated and feel real. The natural order of who is right and who is wrong is constantly changing and being reevaluated. Star Wars this isn’t! I didn’t really get my head around what I think was meant to be the thought processes of the Protomolecule within the planet or how Miller interacts with...

Would you travel for over 4 hours to spend less than 10 minutes with one of your favourite bands just to get their latest album signed and a photograph? I DID! Although, someone came from Germany, so it wasn’t the longest anyone travelled. I don’t think I’ve been to an album launch signing since July 1997 when Paradise Lost played the London Astoria on a Sunday night and they opened the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street so that we could buy the album at midnight and have it signed. (Remember when album releases were on Mondays?). When the email came through that Winterfylleth were doing a number of album launch appearances and one of them was in Camden on a Friday night I immediately wanted to go. And then I panicked! I’d already pre-ordered the album. Would it be here in time? Worry not! I’ve got plenty of other albums of theirs they could sign. To add insult to injury, Mark Deeks wasn’t going to be there either. It’s Wednesday evening. I’m in Skegness with work and I get an email sa...