You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Often portrayed as a violin vixen, Anna Phoebe, you might be forgiven for thinking, trades on her sexuality.

But this album shows that nothing could be further from the truth. Between The Shadow And The Soul is a beautiful exposition of musical excellence. Phoebe showcases not only her considerable creativity with the violin, but also gives her band full rein to add their own touches to enhance the music. The result is a whole album, not just a collection of impressive, individual songs. Each one works as a separate entity, but this is a musical journey best taken from start to finish. As soon as the Eastern hue of Shadow glides along, you’re hooked. And the music is so well paced and imaginatively affluent that nothing feels contrived or dragged out. Guitarist Nicolas Rizzi works well with Phoebe, complementing her more explosive moments with some subtle rhythms, while he also shows himself to be capable of a more expansive erudition. There are some breathtaking colours on Nines and Uncrowned, while the acoustic Embrace has an authentic warmth. This is an album that rewards you with each listen, offering real depth and a quality vibe.

Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for Record Mirror magazine in the late 70s and Metal Fury in the early 80s before joining Kerrang! at its launch in 1981. His first book, Encyclopedia Metallica, published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year. Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the Anthrax song Metal Thrashing Mad in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009. He died in 2021.