_{“Valley of Thorns” is the debut album from British female rock band The Kut who have previously released a number of EPs and single over the past ten years or so. The album was released on 4th May through Cargo Records. When the labels ‘alternative’, ‘grunge’ or ‘punk’ get tagged onto bands I can sometimes struggle to connect with the music, but that hasn’t been the case with The Kut. When I got the link to the new album via Rock n Growl promotions a quick preview was enough to ensure that the album got a more in-depth listen. The track “Bad Man” will be on the Friday NI Rocks Show this week.}

_{“Live In Space” is the debut album from Swedish band QFT – Quantum Field Theory – and it was released on 4th May by Despotz Records. QFT features vocalist Linnéa Vikström who is best known as one of the female leads in symphonic metal legends Therion. I spoke to Linnéa about the album and much more when she was a guest on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 4th May. We also played three tracks from the album on that Show – “Aliens”, “Big Bang” and “End of the Universe”. I had also included “Aliens” on the Show on 6th April.}

_{“What Will Be” is the new album from Dublin band Elevation Falls and it was released on 19th April. The female fronted band formed back in 2012 and deliver a great hard rock / blues sound. Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to catch them live yet but I’ve been playing tracks from their earlier releases for a few years and had pre-ordered “What Will Be” based on those songs. I wasn’t to be disappointed. The track “Vultures” was included on the NI Rocks A-Z Show on 24th April and “Zombie” on the Friday NI Rocks Show on 27th April. Expect more tracks on the Show soon.}