Rocket Schallplatten & CDs

Review: The mysterious Gothenburg based collective have apparently styled this as their 'folk' album yet this is less than half the story - indeed, 'Requiem' stands as an adventurous travail through styles and headspaces, moving from the vibrant psychedelic jams of their earlier work to ritualistic acoustic interludes, and with hi-life wave-ups rubbing shoulders with grage rock grit. Their ceremonial splendour is only enhanced by this all-encompassing outlook, with the more understated moments effortlessly hitting the same revelatory dimensions as the third-eye-cleansing moments of drama. And any band who can manage to make the panpipes sound thrilling and vibrant as an ingredient in their mystical brew would appear to have strange magick indeed on their side.

Review: Goat's World Music offers a captivating blend of Aboriginal, Nordic, psychedelia, acid Rock and tribal influences, exuding strong rock overtones driven by powerful female vocals that command attention with their intensity and strength. Throughout the album, listeners are treated to mesmerizing organ leads that add an ethereal dimension to the music, while abrasive and rash guitar work injects a raw energy into the sound. Tribal percussion rhythms further enhance the album's immersive atmosphere, transporting listeners on a sonic journey. With its diverse range of influences and eclectic instrumentation, World Music defies traditional genre boundaries, making this a listening experience that stands out.

Review: Swedish psychedelic rock band Goat are currently in the middle of a worldwide tour, in recent months introducing their masked, anonymous live shows to festival punters. These shows take on an ensemble, ritual atmosphere, much to the bemused chagrin of consumer audiences, and their recorded albums are no less indicative of their related themes: spirituality, nature, play, death. Recorded across many different locations including Sweden, Brazil, India and Japan, Medicine is their latest opus, whereupon they channel a well-structured form of 70s-style prog to play up the cyclical nature of identity, a fact of life which is lost on most people. To quote the band - for our families, friends, society, this could be done through the use of psychedelics, through meditation, through learning from other people, staying curious and never settling for a 'solid' identity.

Review: Whether you opt to use the abbreviation - Pigsx7 - or say the band name in full, one thing is certainly abundantly clear about the swine-inspired sludge-rockers from Newcastle, UK. They make very loud and very powerful 'proper' rock music, make no apologies about it, and have been pretty damn consistent since they first squealed onto the scene with riffs blazing. 'Viscerals' does not break from that remit. Having managed to simultaneously win over die hard heavy metal types and BBC 6 Music listeners alike, they deliver this as their latest offering to the music hungry populace, and it's pretty much business as usual. Exceptional guitar innovation, propulsive rhythms and commanding atmospheres, with the only real change being the track lengths - with these arguably their most succinct to date, but as overwhelming as anything that has come before.

Review: So good then named them seven times? That's no doubt what fans of Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs will say, and you'd be hard-pushed to argue off the evidence of this new album. It is their fifth in just 10 years and is a powerful statement that is packed with some of their most potent work in an already storied career. The Newcastle-based quintet, fortified by their own individual passions, held up mirrors to themselves in writing this one. The result sounds are anthems for a world that is sleepwalking into oblivion but if it sounds this good, we aren't perturbed.

Review: If you're in the mood for heavy, fuzz-drenched guitar riffs, psychedelic intent, bass-heavy grooves and gnarled, echo-laden vocals, Geordie outfit Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs has you covered. They're at their weighty, intense and intoxicating best of 'Land of Sleeper', their first studio album for three years. They set the tone with the exceptionally dense, atmospheric and intense 'Ultimate Hammer', which evokes the grand heavy rock/proto-metal of Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Led Zepellin. The album continues in that vein, with a dash of punkish, late '70s/early '80s 'new wave of heavy metal' thrown in. A few critics have already suggested that it may end of being the best heavy rock album of 2023; while it's too early to tell, it's certainly a fantastic full-length excursion.