A nice collection of music for you lot this week and overall it's pretty damn good to boot. So without further mutterings: the reviews.

CD Reviews

Neurosonic: Drama Queen

Another cracking release from BoDog, Neurosonic lets you know it's going to be good fun by starting out with a track all about the Saturday Night Live lip-sync fiasco with Ashley Simpson. Let's just say fans of live performance who hate manufactured pop will be nodding their heads in agreement. This is great stuff with "Are Solar" and its spoken word interlude.

This is modern heavy rock with a hefty dose of originality and a serious lack of pretentiousness. Think Green Day without their heads up their arses mixed with a dash of Marilyn Manson at their best. It catchy as hell and you won't want to stop listening to it. Now BoDog ain't perfect with their releases (no record company is) but they have had strong releases in the last few months. Jason Darr, the brains behind this band, is a talent you need to hear.

Edgewater: We're Not Robots

A bit modern and indie sounding, this lot would fit in quite well on UK radio at the moment. And therein lies the rub. It's hard to find what exactly this band does so many other bands are not doing at the moment. They do play rather well but seem to lack that special something to puts them over the top. There is nothing here to make me take up and notice. Saying that, it was not rubbish either.

It does not surprise me they found success with a song on the Punisher soundtrack, because to me the tracks scream TV show/movie soundtrack. I mean take one listen to "Digging for Sounds" and just imagine it on The OC. All I can say is it's a collection of average indie rock played with talent and passion. What would help is a couple of catchy tracks.

Merendine Atomiche: Raw

Now this is some cracking heavy metal from a band with an odd name. It's Raw metal at its best and most driving. It will remind you of old Metallica and some of the other Bay Area thrashers, well until you hit lovely acoustic intro to "Peace Means War." Lucas Zaderine has a John Bush of Anthrax/Armoured Saint tinge to his voice which is always a good thing.

Is this stuff original or bleeding edge? Well no, but that doesn't mean it will not put a goofy smile on the face of anyone who calls themselves a fan of metal and thrash. There is even a hint of Queensryche of old in the track "Zero Degree." These guys are definitely worth checking out and I look forward to their next release. Another good Italian metal band, which is always nice, I suspect they are rather good live as well.