In a music scene that has threatened to become increasingly trivial and contourless for a number of years, Evergrey are the (exceedingly ambitioned) silver lining on the horizon. Since 1993, the Swedish group surrounding frontman/songwriter Tom S. Englund has been synonymous with technically and compositionally outstanding standards, combined with lyrics and messages which go way beyond pure Rock ’n’ Roll prose. Their latest album 'The Atlantic', due to be released on Friday 25th January, sees the five band members: Englund, Henrik Danhage (guitar), Johan Niemann (bass), Jonas Ekdahl (drums) and Rikard Zander (keyboards), manifest their excellent reputation as one of the most unusual and innovative Progressive Metal acts worldwide, presenting the third part of their 'Hymns For The Broken' trilogy about the adventure of life, part one having been launched in 2014. In line with the programmatic album title and its expressive cover artwork (designed by Greek artist Giannis Nakos, renowned for his work for Oceans Of Slumber and Hades Rising, among others), Evergrey take their fans on a tempestuous expedition across the rough (Prog Metal) seas.

Today's January 2019 WRC Bulletin also announces the first of our winners in our 2018 WRC Awards, with the remaining category winners being announced over the next ten days. We also look forward to our January gigs including Chantel McGregor, Sari Schorr, Frances Dunnery, Born Healer, CDMC, Atomic Rooster, Vega and Aynsley Lister. Meanwhile, we also look back at our December gigs including Dan Patlansky (November), Geoff Tate, Molly Hatchet, Wrinklystock VII (pictured), The Slow Readers Club, Ben Poole, The Pretty Things and Uriah Heep, plus our Buckets Rebel Heart and Collateral CD reviews. Don't forget that if you ever want to contribute a gig or CD review to our website then please get in touch!

Our very first Track Of The Day of the New Year is the smoky-voiced Elles Bailey and the darkly magical video for her single ‘Medicine Man’, the first track released from her second album ‘Road I Call Home’ which will be released on Friday 8th March next year. ‘Medicine Man’ dropped in November, charting at Number 1 in the iTunes Blues Charts, as well as being added to the Nu Blue playlist on Spotify! The single also peaked at Number 7 in the Amazon Blues Charts and Number 2 on their Hot New Releases, as well as getting Radio 2 support from Cerys Matthews! Shot in glorious widescreen, with echoes of Twin Peaks, the tricksy, colourful video (directed by Jamie Luke Milligan) brings Elles’ song to life with images of a wicked ringmaster, gangster gambler, a mystic and everybody’s favourite: a clown! Inevitably, Bailey will be back on the road she calls home in 2019 including The Lexington in London on Tuesday 12th March - a chance to experience her unique voice and amazing new material, in Elles’ natural habitat!

"A five piece Blues-tinged Rock band from Derbyshire, featuring Phil Poole (lead vocals), Stephen Broughton (guitar), Gavin Mills (guitar), Indy (bass and backing vocals) and John Ironfoot Willis (drums). They are a tight, well-honed band that deliver monumental chunky riffs and groove-laden tunes, with a nod towards Zeppelin, Trapeze and Black Stone Cherry. The band's performance was flawless, engaging and connecting with the audience at every opportunity. I believe the full set list included the songs 'Over And Over', 'Tale Of A Broken Man', 'Bring It On Home', 'Hard Times', 'All That I Have' and 'Bring Your Pain'. I am fairly certain these guys are destined for great things." That was part of our review from the Graham Bonnet Band gig at The Underworld in Camden in August, and Doomsday Outlaw (Video Of The Day) are the first winners in our 2018 WRC Awards - voted 'Best Support' band by our members!

Whatever you have planned for tonight - have a good one. Walkway still have a few tickets left for their New Year's Eve party at Diss Cue Club. It's going to be one hell of a night, however, entry is by ticket only and tickets cannot be purchased on the door on the night, so go to their website (pictured) for details. Meanwhile, if you are staying in, the Abbagirls, who performed at Carlton Road Adult Training Centre's Christmas Party recently, thanks to money we raised from Wrinklystock VII, are on the New Year's Eve episode of BBC1's Eastenders! Anyway, a peaceful and a prosperous New Year to you all!

Yes, today we finally squeeze in our last category - Best Unplugged nominees in our 2018 WRC Awards before voting closes at midnight tonight! First up is Kris Barras (Track Of The Day), who supported Beth Hart earlier this year, and then secondly The Quireboys, who also celebrated a decade since the release of their album, 'Homewreckers & Heartbreakers' with a gig at London's The Forum in September. The two other nominees are Alter Bridge's Myles Kennedy (pictured) who played Ramblin' Man Fair at the end of June, plus Blues Pills' Dorian Sorriaux (Video Of The Day) who coincidentally supported Myles on his tour earlier this year. Remember this is your last chance to cast your vote for all eleven categories by simply going here! The winners of our first category will be announced tomorrow!

British Rock band Aaron Buchanan And The Cult Classics have recently signed to Listenable Records. To celebrate, the band and the label are releasing a Special Edition of the album ‘The Man With Stars On His Knees’ on Friday 22nd February featuring five brand new bonus tracks, consisting two brand-new studio tracks ‘Undertow’ and ‘Fire In The Fields Of Mayhem’ and of three live tracks on the CD version. In 2015, having toured the globe for four years fronting Heaven’s Basement, Buchanan walked out of one band and immediately into a studio just out of London with producer James Curtis-Thomas, guitarist Ryan Woods and sister and guitarist Laurie Buchanan. In the years prior, Curtis-Thomas and Buchanan had spoken many times about producing a record with deep, mature, and colourful content; just a few months later and a stint for Buchanan in Australia where many of the vocals were tracked in a shed just outside Brisbane, the now critically acclaimed and award winning record ‘The Man With Stars On His Knees’ was born out of a tiny studio just outside London with no hot water or central heating. A true testament to the belief in the music and vision Buchanan had brought to the table.

In 1988 Lypswitch moved from Orlando, Florida, to Hollywood, California, to follow the Rock 'n' Roll dream. In three years the band played over 100 shows and was almost signed. After 30 years the Sunset Strip veterans featuring Danny Whaley - vocals, Mick O'Brien - guitars, David Love - bass and K.A. - drums, has regrouped and has finally released '30 Years', consisting of six songs from the 80's, five re-recordings from the 80's and three new songs recorded in 2018!

A brand new category last year - won by Black Country Communion's 'BCC IV' - today in our 2018 WRC Awards, we switch our attention to the nominees in our Best Reviewed CD - namely Federal Charm (pictured) for 'Passenger', Sari Schorr (Track Of The Day) for 'Never Say Never', The Bad Flowers for 'Starting Gun' and, finally, Bad Pennies (Video Of The Day) for 'Songs From The Medway Delta'. With just two days to go, please cast your vote including our other ten categories here.

Just three categories to go now as today we focus on our nominees in our Best Prog Performance in our 2018 WRC Awards. At the start of July we saw the Von Hertzen Brothers at Maidstone's Ramblin' Man Fair, and then just five days later we took in Roger Waters' 'Us And Them' tour at British Summer Time in London's Hyde Park (Video Of The Day). Meanwhile, more recently, in October, we saw Steve Hackett at The Royal Festival Hall and The London Palladium, where we also saw King Crimson (pictured) a month later. So there you have it - if you want to cast your vote for one of these superb Prog bands then simply go here!

New Wave Of British Heavy Metal legends Raven release an extraordinary live album, ‘Screaming Murder Death From Above: Live In Aalborg’, on Friday 18th January on Steamhammer/SPV. The album contains 11 pure crack-shot Heavy Metal live cuts recorded at Raven’s massively acclaimed concert in Aalborg, Denmark, in November 2017. On fire and blissfully unaware that the gig was being recorded, John Gallagher (bass, vocals), Mark Gallagher (guitars) and Mike Heller (drums) put in one of the best performances of their lives. This was all the more amazing given the setback that occurred to the band in the spring of 2017. Shortly before the start of their US tour, Raven’s long-standing drummer Joe Hasselvander suffered a heart attack, putting an end to his active music career. After a few temporary replacements, it was quickly decided that Heller (Fear Factory, Malignancy) would be their new drummer.

Today's Track Of The Day is one of the many festive interviews that Geoff Carne & The Hatz did recently about their latest release 'Christmas Time'. Listen as Geoff chats to Kev Castle on Nottingham Hospital's Radio about the band, who have incidentally already announced two gigs for next year - The Old Star, Uttoxeter, at 9pm on Friday 22nd March and The Carlisle, Hastings, at 5pm on Easter Monday 22nd April.