Kiarash Golshani

Very few instruments have crossed the undefined cross-cultural barrier of communication like the electric guitar. Like a fire from heaven, when in the possession of certain mortals you realise it’s a tool from a higher plane. It’s capable of so much, it speaks different languages depending on who's got their hands on it. There aren’t many places where this is more apparent than the Sahara, where the language it speaks is one of an unpretentious love for the experience of music. You may have...

It’s gloomy. Of course, it’s bloody gloomy. Paradise Lost are playing the Islington Assembly Hall in October. That might be one of the most gothic sentences ever composed. They’re also hot off the heels of their new album, Ascension , which has had quite the good time critically as of late. This has to be the umpteenth time the Paradise Lost boys have played in the capital, and for good reason. No British metal band has shown themselves to be musical chameleons quite like these guys. From the...

SABATON. Legends . How did we get here? To understand Legends  is to understand what happened to this band in the years leading up to its release. When Carolus Rex  hit the power metal scene in 2012 it was shaken to its very foundation. Sweden’s  SABATON had already earned a reputation with Attero Dominatus  (and yes, the Latin remains indefensible), but Carolus Rex  was where the vision cohered. The low-register vocals, the dense keyboard layers, the military themes delivered with staunch...