Shadowqueen: Don’t Tell

Riff-ready, explosive rock’n’roll.

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With a moniker that suggests Dungeons & Dragons lyrical fare harnessed to galloping power metal, this Aussie trio obviously like to confound expectations by tearing off the blocks with the pacey, down‐to‐earth blast of Best Of Me – thankfully signalling a distinctly Ringwraith‐free zone.

With Robbi Zana’s brazen, honest and emotion‐fuelled vocals firmly to the fore atop a churning, violent swell of Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots‐sized riffs, Don’t Tell is a pleasurably pummelling experience, but the care taken to include instantly memorable choruses – check out What You Want, Any Other Day and Wake Up – and cleverly woven arrangements shows there’s a deep well of creativity just waiting to be exploited. An impulsive, impressive debut.

Essi Berelian

Whether it’s magazines, books or online, Essi has been writing about rock ’n’ metal for around thirty years. He has been reviews editor for Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, rock reviews editor for lads mag Front and worked for Kerrang!. He has also written the Rough Guide to Heavy Metal and contributed to the Rough Guide to Rock and Rough Guide Book of Playlists, and the Guinness Book of British Hit Singles (13th edition). Most fun interview? Tenacious D – Jack Black and Kyle Gass – for The Pick of Destiny movie book. An avid record/CD/tape collector, he’s amassed more music than he could ever possibly listen to, which annoys his wife no end.