Fire Red Empress - Paint Me The Devil EP (2014)

Genre -  Hard Rock / Heavy Metal / Alternative

Label - Independently Released.

Track listing:

01 - Left Unspoken

02 - Paint Me The Devil

03 - Behind The Veil

Fire Red Empress are a Midlands based band born from the ashes of the awesomely talented Voodoo Johnson, and are now releasing their debut EP in the form of Paint Me The Devil.
Now Voodoo Johnson were a very popular and promising band who never really got the breaks that they deserved. They released their debut album, 10,000 Horses to much critical acclaim only to have their lead
vocalist, the extremely talented Kevin Bayliss, call it a day and announce that he was leaving the band part way through their tour. Un-perturbed the band re-group and recruit the services of new lead vocalist Nick Taylor-Stoakes and set to writing and recording a new Ep, 2011's Black Powder Mother Loader, which saw the band head in a heavier direction musically, and again to much critical acclaim. After a whole bunch of tour dates the band locked themselves away to record their new album. But after personal tragedies, such as the passing of close family members the band opt to change their name and effectively start all over again in the guise of Fire Red Empress.  With a string of successful gigs up and down the UK, FIRE RED EMPRESS quickly garnered the attention of über-producer Jacob Hansen, whose work with Danish rock giants Volbeat speaks for itself. The songs transcended the miles and were recorded and mixed at Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark, where Jacob captured the intense energy of the band’s live performance and masterfully harnessed the massive riffs and epic soundscapes.
The three tacks on offer here continue to see the band moving in the heavier direction of 2011's Black Powder Mother Loader, whist showcasing the guys song writing abilities with the songs going through lots of twists and turns, but in arrangements and tempo.
My pick of the bunch here is Behind The Veil, which has a real epic feel to it, although titles track, Pain Me The Devil is a bloody close second!
Its really good to see one of the counties best bands back in action!

Very Highly Recommended
Check these guys out, you wont be disappointed!

Rating 10/10

Get the EP here

Kev Bayliss - The Project

Genre - Hard Rock / Classic Rock / Indie / Alternative Rock / Modern Rock / Pop
Label - Rare Records

Track Listing:


01 – Your Heart’s Desire
02 – Quicksand
03 – Falling Down
04 – Starchaser
05 – My Sorry Cinderella
06 – One Day Older
07 – The Beholder
08 – Leave This Town
09 – Kung Fu Master
10 – All I Own
11 – Revolution
12 – Make A Difference (CD Bonus Track)

I first came across the vocal talents of Kev Bayliss in late 2009 via a cover-mounted cd with Classic Rock magazine entitled ones to watch in 2010. Upon said cd was a track by Kev's former group, Voodoo Johnson, titled Bad Habit, which immediately grabbed my attention. I quickly tracked down the two Eps that the band had put out and was blown away by tracks such as Seven years, Nowhere Inbetween and Broken. Quickly Voodoo Johnson became one of my favorite bands, with Kev joining the likes of Sean Harris (Diamond Head), Tony Martin (Black Sabbath, Empire, Cage, Giuntini Project), Glenn Hughes, and Ronnie James Dio as one of my favorite vocalists! Then after releasing a great debut album (10,000 Horses) Kev was to announce his decision to part company with Voodoo Johnson in late 2010 citing music differences as the reason. I was heartbroken, I had held high hopes for Voodoo Johnson and prayed that that was not to be the last that I would hear of Kevs amazing vocals.

Luckily, Kev quickly announced his plans to release a solo album, and now almost eleven months later, here it is in the form of The Project.
Joining Kev for this album are, Kev Bartlett (Drums), Nick Daniel (Bass / Guitars), Lucky Singh (Guitars), and former 30 Seconds To Mars Guitarist Kevin Drake. Together they have produced, in my honest opinion one of, if not the best album of 2011!
With The Project Kev has moved away from the angry heavy riff driven rock of his previous band, Voodoo Johnson, and adopted to folllow a more melodic, dare I say musically diverse direction all together.
Opening with Your Heart’s Desire, a finally crafted guitar driven pop song, with some great melodic hooks and some fine heart felt lyrics from Kev, as well as a great vocal line to boot. Next up is the lead single from the album in the form of Quicksand, a more poppy track with a distinctive indie feel to it, but once again a great song!
Falling Down follows, which in my honest opinion has to be a contender for the best song of 2011. A beautiful piece of modern guitar pop rock. A great song with an amazing vocal delivered from Kev!
Starchaser is up next, another great song, My Sorry Cinderella follows quickly, with its music box intro before exploding into great little rocking track, that I absolutely adore!
Next up is a track that fans of Kevs facebook sites should be familiar with as it’s been posted there for a while in rough acoustic demo form, One Day Older, which even in its unpolished form was amazing. Now finished and polished it just blows me away, a track that I can see myself listening to for years to come, truly outstanding, along with the equally brilliant Leave This Town which is up next. The excellent Kung Fu Master rocks things up a little again, allowing Kev to show just what a great rock vocal he can deliver. All I Own is up next, and is yet another contender for song of the year, the quality just never drops with this album!
Revolution closes out the album proper, another great song that has a great melody and some fantastic vocals along with its epic feel.

The pre order cds come with the bonus track, Make A Difference, which is another great little Gem. This album proves that Kev is not only one of the finest vocalists out there today, on a level with any of the biggest names in the business, but he is also a stunning songwriter as together with Kevin drake and Lucky Singh he has produced an album of twelve glorious tracks. A stunning and contemporary mix of pop and rock with indie sensibilities, and quite possibly my favorite album of 2011.

Although all twelve tracks are brilliant my favorites have to include, Falling Down, All I Own, One Day Older, Kung Fu Master, Revolution and Your Hearts Desire!

This album is very highly recommended!


Rating - 10/10

Website - Kev Bayliss

Voodoo Johnson - Black Powder Mother Loader

Genre - Hard Rock / Classic Rock / Modern Rock / Blues Rock
Label - Polarian Records

Available - 17th October 2011

Track listing -

01 - Dogs Of War
02 - Swear It To The Sun
03 - United Divided
04 - The Garden
05 - Black Skies Mist.

Voodoo Johnson return with a new EP, Black Powder Mother Loader, the first release to feature new vocalist Nik Taylor-Stoakes (ex Vallenbrosa), and by god waht an EP it is!
Now I was both shocked and heart broken late last year when then Voodoo Johnson vocalist, Kevin Bayliss, announced his decision to leave the band after releasing two great Eps and a stunning debut album together, citing the old chest nut of musical difference as the reason. Now for most young bands, losing a vocalist the kalibre og Kev Bayliss, especially on the eve of a major tour supporting Europe, would have been too much to come back from, but not these guys! And thank God!!

Black Powder Mother Loader see's Voodoo Johnson move into a slightlty heavier musical direction, and the added power in the delivery really seems to suite the new material. Nik has a lower vocal register than Kev, but by God he has some pipes and a great range!.

The Ep opens with the riffing power of Dogs Of War, setting out the stall, a powerful opening track and a great sign of things to come! Next up is Swear It On The Sun, a bluesey rock track, with some great guitar work and some excellent crooning thanks to Nik! United Divided is up next, another riff driven rocker, and excellent track, this is gonna be a blast live. Next up and adding a little light to the shade on the Ep is The Garden, a beautiful little acoustic track, that showcases the softer side of Niks vocals. Rounding out the Ep is Black Skies Mist, a song written with non other that NWoBHM and Diamond Head legend Brian Tatler. Black Skies Mist was first aired back in March, as a single, but it closes out this EP perfectly, with its speed and power leaving you wanting more!
Voodoo Johnson's future, and the future of British Rock music is looking bright! These guys are still going to be huge!
I truly cant wait for these guys to release a full length album together!

Black Powder Mother Loader is released on 17th October 2011 through Polarian Records, buy it, check it out, you will not be dissappointed!
Now if only these guys would get together with Hate Gallery for a co headlining Uk tour....hmmmm


website - Voodoo Johnson
Rating - 10/10

Voodoo Johnson Announce April Tour

Voodoo Johnson - 10,000 Horse's

Voodoo Johnson are a Midlands based classic hard rock band with a sound that has been described as being similar to Aerosmith, Led Zepplin and Whitesnake with a little Queens of the Stone Age, and even sounding a little like later day Diamond Head to me! (the Nick Tart fronted version that is.)

Fans have been waiting for this album to drop for a while, after the band released two stunning Eps, (II & Into The Red), so expectations are high, but have the band managed to deliver? Well in a word, YES!!!!

10,000 Horses opens with 'Headstone', a stunning melodic yet heavy track, and is quickly followed by 'Sin!', another classic in the making, a great track that's going to be fun live!
Next up is 'Feel Karma' with defiant chorus, a classy track with some interesting riffs to boot! That's quickly followed by the epic that is 'End Of The Empire',Zepplin would be proud!
'You Will Never Know' is up next and is more of a straight a head rocker followed by 'It Doesn't Matter To Me', a mid tempo rock track, with a real laid back 70's feel to it.
'Burn' is a great rocker, whilst the re-worked 'Nowhere Inbetween' manages to make a brilliant song even better by trimming it down a little, yet maintaining that Six A.M feel that the original had.
'Sleepwalker' is a classic in the making, with its moody acoustic intro and keyboards steadily building into a epic song, whilst 'Rain' manages to showcase the bands softer side, being a lovely acoustic track. Closing track on this cd is 'Never Make It Out Alive', although it is marked as a bonus track and therefore maybe missing from some released versions of the album!), and is a stunner, a real epic like Seven years from the Into The Red EP.

This album really showcases the band at their best, I mean yes it would have been nice to have a real uptempo rocker on here, but all the tracks on offer are excellent, Kev Bayliss has a great set of pipes which he uses to full effect on 10,000 horses.

With a debut album this strong its no wonder music biz heavy weights such as Classic Rock Magazine, Bruce Dickinson (BBC Radio 6 Rock Show / Iron Maiden) and Alex Zane (Mars Planets Radio), have thrown their support behind the band

A truly fantastic debut album from a band who are destined to be huge!!!!!

website - http://voodoojohnson.com/
rating 10/10

Voodoo Johnson - Into The Red Ep

I came across Voodoo Johnson through classic rock magazine, they have the song Bad Habit on the cover cd 'Ones To watch Out For 2010'.


This Ep actually came out early last year but somehow slipped under my radar, but I'm so damn happy that I got to hear it even if I'm a little late to jump on the train lol!

Simply put Voodoo Johnson are brilliant. They deliver a contemporary classic rock sound somewhere akin to Aerosmith, Led Zepplin and Whitesnake with a little Queens Of The Stone Age thrown in there.

The songs are excellent written and performed, and Kev Bayliss is a natural born rock star, his voice is great!

Rockers like The 'Longest Day Ever Wasted' and 'Bad Habit' are pure rockers, whilst 'Seven Years' has a real epic feel to it, with its acoustic opening, bursting into a real rocking grinding riff and an acoustic mid section that just screams class!

'Another White Lie' is a very socially conscious song and a slow moody rocker, (Voodoo Johnson have something to say!) and closing track 'Inhale' is another great rocker!

Together for just four years, and having already worked with producer Gavin Monaghan (Kings of Leon, Editors, Ryan Adams) on previous projects, Voodoo Johnson are now putting the final touches on their brand new album with producer Romesh Dodangoda (Bullet For My Valentine, Kids In Glass Houses, Funeral For A Friend) for release later this year

The group have received continued support from the likes of Bruce Dickinson (BBC Radio 6 Rock Show) on national radio as well as Myspace’s Alex Zane (Mars Planets Radio).



Lets hope 2010 really is their year, check out they are amazing!!!



Rating 10/10