RUSHONROCK.COM|CLASSIC ROCK * METAL * THRASH * PROG * GLAM * SLEAZE – IF IT ROCKS IT RUSHONROCKS!

Another diverse week of rock releases should provide all those romantics out there with plenty of food for thought ahead of Valentine’s Day but The Who’s latest greatest hits package will be the biggest seller of the week.

We rate the Super Bowl-bound vets alongside new releases from Robin Brock, Edge Of Forever, Titan and Orden Ogan.

And there’s a full review of thrash legends Anthrax’s repackaged and remastered classic Among the Living, featuring the Live In London DVD Oidivnikufesin (NFV). Read the rest of this entry »

We could have jumped the gun and reviewed the standard version of the new album by thrash legends Slayer but certain bands demand to be heard on heavyweight vinyl.

So we waited. And waited. And waited. Until our 180 gram beast of a record finally arrived with 11 thumping new anthems from Tom, Dave and the boys. 

And was the wait worthwhile? Read on for the official rushonrock verdict on World Painted Blood. Read the rest of this entry »

Testament – Trial By Fire (Skolnick/Peterson/Billy) b/w Nobody’s Fault (Tyler/Whitford) 1988

Taken from the album The New Order, which hit 136 on the Billboard Hot 200 and ultimately broke the band as a commercial prospect, this Testament classic still sounds massive today.

Had there been a big five when it came to thrash metal monsters breaking out of the US in the late 80s then Chuck Billy and his bombastic crew would have made the cut.

As it was the Big Four – Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax – enjoyed even greater success and remained in a superstar club all of their own. But tracks like Trial By Fire prove Testament’s class and those of us who have witnessed the band live in 2009 will testify to the fact that they’re still going strong. Read the rest of this entry »

Anthrax – I’m The Man (Anthrax/Rooney) b/w Caught In A Mosh (live) (Anthrax) 1987

Succeeding in making the Beastie Boys look like little girls lost, New York City thrash legends Anthrax fused metal with rap at a time when their credentials as rock gods were far from assured.

This phase in the band’s ultimately illustrious career was as brilliant as it was bold and the two tracks featured on this fine seven incher are representative of an act never afraid to push the boundaries – even when the stakes were ridiculously high. Read the rest of this entry »

Another week and another dose of all that’s hot and heavy in the wacky world of rock and metal. If live music’s your bag then check out ska-punk-sleaze rock hybrids Sonic Boom Six at Trillians tomorrow night. But if you can’t be arsed to get off your arse then stay right here for another feast of musical delights.

Brit rock heroes Stone Gods (pictured) are the latest band to get The ‘Load Down treatment as we continue our exclusive guide to the greatest acts at Download 2009. And the delightful Robin Beck  returns to these pages as we discover exactly what makes the pop rock queen tick in the rushonrock Rider. But that’s not all folks… Read the rest of this entry »

They’re one of the best live bands we’ve seen all year and now it looks like we’ll be seeing them again as Bay Area Thrash legends Testament prepare for a swift return to Tyneside.

After stealing the show from headliners Megadeth at Newcastle’s o2 Academy – during a short break from the Priest Feast – the ever excitable Chuck Billy and his band mates promised to return to our region sooner, rather than later.

And while so many acts make that hollow promise, the US heavyweights have delivered on the pledge by inking in a July 22 date in the intimate Academy II. Read the rest of this entry »

@ Newcastle o2 Academy, February 18 2009

After two weeks wrestling with blocked sinuses I had two options. Stay at home and fester or let two of metal’s noisier crews fix me in a way no medication ever could.

Sure enough Testament and Megadeth did the trick as my passages were unblocked and my ear drums given the kind of going over you’d only get from lying next a pneumatic drill. Or from your missus after one Guinness too many.

This was a blast from the past, a fierce taste of the future and a knowing glance at the present – a time when rock in all its various guises is experiencing a glorious renaissance. Who needs a main course of Priest when the 2009 Feast boasts apperitifs as tasty as Dave Mustaine’s Megadeth and the utterly damaging Testament? Read the rest of this entry »

One of this website’s aims is, and always will be, to spread the word of rock. And if, through our loose association with Middlesbrough football club’s Emanuel ‘Mad Dog’ Pogatetz, we can do just that then you won’t hear anyone inside rushonrock towers complaining.  

And it is thanks to Manu that the esteemed British broadsheet, The Guardian, dedicated today’s transfer rumours section to rock. Check out the following link and see if you can trump ace scribe Tom Bryant’s valiant attempt to shoe-horn as many rock references as possible into one football yarn: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/oct/01/newcastleunited.tottenhamhotspur

Of course rushonrock is no stranger to the national dailies following cameo roles in the Daily Mirror and Matt Dunn’s Daily Express column. Again the fact that the latter chose to examine the link between Mr Pogatetz’s love of all things metallic and the odd rash tackle doesn’t bother us one jot.

When was the last time you saw Anthrax’s Caught In A Mosh or Metallica’s The Unforgiven III namechecked in the national sports pages? Oh, that’ll be never then. But get ready for more rock and goal news very soon..

ps: thanks to Black Tide for appearing on this post for no reason other than they look pretty damn metal in this pose.

…until rushonrock hits the Leeds Festival beat – assuming the great British summer doesn’t serve up a complete washout.

And the best news for all fans of thrash metal waking up this morning is that Sweden now allows parents to call their kids Metallica!

It’s not the worst idea in the world. Just think of all the T-shirts that would come ready made with the name of your little nipper plastered across front and back. He/she would never get lost and, more importantly, never get any trouble from anyone.

And I’d rather call my kid Metallica than Anthrax, Slayer or Venom. But if it’s a bit too edgy for all you religious types then there’s always the fallback of Testament (Old or New). Of course you’ll have to move to Sweden….