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March 11th, 2024 Reviews

Midas Fall – Cold Waves Divide Us (Monotreme Records)

…ed and elegant, but no less potent. Midas Fall are no doubt masters at gracefully enveloping the listener with their soundscapes, and as the album moves along, our attention didn’t waver for a second. “Point of Diminishing Return” utilizes electronica with occasional violins to craft a different purview, whereas “Monsters” sits firmly within post-rock musings, artfully galloping along. Likewise, the title track is thickly swathed in serene moments…

March 11th, 2024 Reviews

Aborted – Vault of Horrors (Nuclear Blast)

…iece for Aborted to pull off with their veteran status. The band know exactly how to mold and meld their groove-friendly death metal into caustic levels of aggression while still keeping it relatively memorable. Nothing has changed here, and some of the guests bring an added bit of depth or variety to the fold. “Death Cult” is probably the biggest stand out with its staggering grooves and wall of sound approach to aggression, with Sven trading voc…

March 10th, 2024 Features

Firewind – Mindful When United

…? I want to make albums that count. I want to make good stuff that will hopefully stand the test of time. Evolve the sound – we are not the kind of band that invented the wheel or reinvented the wheel. We are not the most original or innovative, but we have our own sound, our own style. I want to develop and take that style further with each album. I’m always trying to inject small things into our music, to keep it fresh. It’s not easy to do, beli…

March 8th, 2024 Reviews

Saturnalia Temple – Paradigm Call (Listenable Records)

…his vocals to give his delivery a bit more Celtic Frost-like punch especially on the grunts for early highlight “Revel In Dissidence”. Quality doom possesses that slow into painfully dreary variation song to song – which is what you’ll get here, feeling every guitar note bend, plodding bass line, or heavy-handed snare hit. The weak will stray away from Saturnalia Temple – the faithful already welcome to the reflective despair present on Paradigm C…

March 6th, 2024 Reviews

Vlad in Tears – Relapse (Metalville)

…o around. The combination of emotionally driven hooks on all fronts musically plus vocally allows the listener to dive deep into the heavy-handed, hypnotic chord progressions that lead to bigger payoffs through the choruses. Check out “Dig Deep” in that regard, the stunted riffing of Lex Vlad cascading next to an addictive vocal refrain, shifting into some tranquil passages before the next heavy charge barrels down from the sky. The contrasts cont…

March 6th, 2024 Reviews

Sonata Arctica – Clear Cold Beyond (Atomic Fire Records)

…d of the group. Scandinavian cultural / atmospheric accents come to the forefront through “A Monster Only You Can’t See”, allowing Tony’s expressive range to shine, as well as some interesting folk-like musical progressions, the guitar work of Elias Viljanen taking on a bit of Viking/Thin Lizzy-esque textures especially when he garners the spotlight hook-wise. The quintet also excel in reflective ballad pieces – “The Best Things” probably one of t…

March 5th, 2024 Features

Lutharo – Riding Within Euphoria

…er the next twelve months or so to support this release? Shipperbottom: Hopefully more tours. More music videos are coming out. More online content for sure, but hopefully touring. We’ve got some things lined up for the new year, more writing. We are already starting to be like, when can we write again? We have the itch again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl5SfC-oTMI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRmAZiLedvA Lutharo official website Lutharo o…

March 4th, 2024 Reviews

Judas Priest – Invincible Shield (Sony Music)

…guitar passages building next to a thick, booming bass foundation as Rob deftly weaves his wordcraft in the cracks and crevices as the supreme metal vocal master he attained decades previous. While the main edition contains eleven tracks, the deluxe owners will get three bonus songs – of which “Fight for Your Life” possesses a bit more of a 70’s, bluesy proto-metal feel in its pace and guitar structure, as “Vicious Circle” slashes in that driving…

March 3rd, 2024 Features

Judas Priest – Shattering the Invincible Shield

…years. That character is alive, well, and strong in Invincible Shield. Hopefully we try to push somewhere differently sonically, or whatever way we can to make the album sound like it’s own animal with its own two legs. The writing and recording, we were able to get together and lay the groundwork for these songs before the lockdown hit. I, Glenn, and Rob, we hashed out these song ideas in demo basic form. Then the lockdowns hit so we couldn’t ge…

February 28th, 2024 Reviews

Devastator – Conjurers of Cruelty (Listenable Records)

…/bass infusion between the musicians where you can tell they love those early Maiden efforts equally. Spitting out tales of blasphemy, anti-religious themes through titles like “Bestial Rites” and “Necromantic Lust”, bassist T. Nachtghul uses his nasty, raspy screams plus gruff mid-range to convey sinister words, reverb/echo effects only enhancing that edge tenfold. The versatility engages listeners to commit track by track. A love of Motörhead ap…

February 27th, 2024 Features

Hands of Goro – Step Into the Outerworld

…album, we wrote those songs in a week or two that we had to prepare randomly before the one-off show. We enjoyed it, we persevered, and seven or eight years later, a few different drummers, here we are, we have an album. That literally came out of a project that we didn’t literally know what it was when we started. Adrian pulled the name Hands of Goro out of thin air. Although I listen to a wide range of music, the stuff I’m comfortable doing and…

February 26th, 2024 Reviews

David Reece – Baptized By Fire (El Puerto Records)

…groove rhythm component, allowing David to sail in his mid-range to slightly higher range capacity comfortably. It’s evident these musicians possess great knowledge of many subgenres across hard rock and metal – venturing into even Latin / cultural angles during “Payback’s A Bitch” or flamenco acoustic guitar prowess for the final bars of “My Heart Burns”. Bluesy-based riffage in stunted juxtaposition weaves around the seductive phrasing and note…

February 26th, 2024 Reviews

Firewind – Stand United (AFM Records)

Although the releases have been spread out a bit compared to the early / mid 2000’s, one can always rest assured that there is a supreme benchmark aspect to the melodic heavy / power metal present from Firewind. With vocalist Herbie Langhans firmly ensconced in the lineup, Stand United as the tenth studio record keeps the four-piece alignment to great songwriting with stellar melodies as well as a bevy of musicianship-oriented tricks front and ce…

February 25th, 2024 Features

Sonata Arctica – Into the Cold Beyond

…d to start with my core in health. Exercise, it’s not just in the chest, only before the tour. It has to be done all the time; you have to maintain yourself. If you let yourself go around Christmas, you need to start picking up more as you age. It doesn’t get easier taking care of all that. It’s a lot of work, staying in shape. When you go on tour, you can feel it. If it’s harder than it’s supposed to be, you need to work a little harder to get in…

February 23rd, 2024 Reviews

Saffire – For the Greater Good (Redux) (Rock of Angels Records)

…e highs throughout “Heartless”, or the soothing harmony engagement in the reflective “As Promises Burn” for two specific markers to his powerful control. The keyboards and guitars sculpt the sound for the band in a 70’s meets 80s/90’s mishmash – racing off the highway in a Firewind/Dio-esque manner for “The Great Escape”, while getting into a heavier, groove-like angle during “Ghost Town”. The hooks come quick, each song containing interesting min…

February 22nd, 2024 Features

Myrath – Carrying On

…the biggest accomplishments or lessons learned that you’ve been able to apply to the benefit of Myrath? Codfert: First of all, I couldn’t do anything in Adagio. Of course, I tried to compose songs, compose ideas, business ideas – but everything was centralized with Stephan and his own vision. I’m not telling you that is right or wrong. It’s difficult to make it in the metal business. I couldn’t tell him my ideas, so that was one of the main reason…

February 20th, 2024 Features

Suicidal Angels – Fighting for Humanity

…es, the war in the Ukraine affected a lot, the production of vinyl especially. You usually have to deliver the master three or four months before the release – due to the war in the Ukraine, we had to wait for almost a year. We were not being lazy; we were just waiting in line until it was our turn for the factories to produce the album. We are super excited about the whole thing and the final result. We are looking forward to going back into the…

February 19th, 2024 Reviews

Morta Skuld – Creation Undone (Peaceville Records)

…ith Peaceville Records for the fifth album Wounds Deeper Than Time. Currently only vocalist/ guitarist Dave Gregor remains from the original days – but he has a great group of younger musicians rounding out the quartet to fire up the creative embers through this latest opus Creation Undone. The savage nature to the riffs combined with a natural energetic presence in when to shift the tempos or push into upper gear ensures numerous highlight moment…

February 18th, 2024 Features

Durbin – Piercing Steel

…tanding of where to position things for the best final outcome? Durbin: I definitely think so. He didn’t necessarily produce. I wrote all these songs 100%, I have a whole vision of what they are supposed to sound like. In one case there was an issue – I gave him the songs, play them, and then when you give them back to me I’ll lay down the final vocals. One of them came back, it was “Tear Them Down”, and the riff.. it wasn’t something talked about…

February 16th, 2024 Reviews

Amaranthe – The Catalyst (Nuclear Blast)

…ck in the best moments of their sound and attempt to perfect them, The Catalyst is simply continuing further down that path. The band’s cybermetallic mix of modern, heavy riffs, danceable beats, and the bombastic tri-vocal approach is one that people have truly come to ‘love or loathe’ over the years, and the inventive spirit of it shouldn’t be understated. At the end of the day, it’s hard not to state that those who listen to and enjoy Amaranthe…

February 15th, 2024 Features

Morta Skuld – Fighting Underdogs

…ails for a better outcome that you are happier with? Dave Gregor: Yeah, I definitely think the last couple of years definitely had a play into this. Especially with the dark times for everybody, I wasn’t immune to it, and I went through a couple of bouts of depression myself. I really think that the writing process is definitely therapy for me, and I used a lot of my experiences and what was going on around me in my life for not only the lyrics bu…

February 14th, 2024 Reviews

Art of Anarchy – Let There Be Anarchy (Pavement Entertainment)

…re fairly well known in the hard rock / metal circles (guitarist Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal from Guns N’ Roses / Sons of Apollo, vocalist Jeff Scott Soto courtesy of his time in Yngwie Malmsteen / Sons of Apollo as well), Art of Anarchy chooses to march on a path all their own for Let There Be Anarchy. Contemporary in feel, the dynamic twists between heaviness to darkness, all thrown into a melodic, powerful sound should intrigue most listeners who see…

February 14th, 2024 Reviews

Darkest Hour – Perpetual | Terminal (MNRK Music Group)

…s had at their metallic heart, and showcases it at their finest. What greatly benefits Perpetual | Terminal is that there’s some absolutely raging tracks and some more melodic ones. Yeah, the usual diversity is key line but it doesn’t diminish the point. That galloping melodic death/thrash energy that Scandinavian is/was famous for, is something that Darkest Hour always used to their benefit. “Societal Bile” and “Love is Fear” are absolutely frene…

February 13th, 2024 Features

Surgical Strike – Nonstop Hate

…onal acts? Albert: That’s a hard question. The interest in newer bands is definitely there, and it exists, but as I’ve said there are still too many releases. Bands should pay more attention to producing videos, supporting each other by exchanging shows, something like this. That’s the most important thing to me. There are still people going to shows, during the corona days a lot of the clubs had to shut down. It is a bit harder than it was three…

February 12th, 2024 Reviews

Durbin – Screaming Steel (Frontiers Music)

…in once again illustrates that younger artists can deliver classic, traditional heavy metal to an audience clamoring for more material beyond cranking up the oldies but goodies for the thousandth time. Screaming Steel hopefully helps get the band more touring / festival opportunities to build an even deeper, faithful following. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY8CdVlAK7c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jTPn7NCtPc Durbin on Facebook…

February 12th, 2024 Reviews

Illumishade – Another Side of You (Napalm)

…t the band had signed with Napalm Records as well as releasing a sophomore effort was certainly a welcome one. Another Side of You doesn’t have the same conceptual story feel as the debut, but shows them as willing and able to play around a bit with their formula while still maintaining a stunningly high bar. The ‘Disney gone metal’ vibes still offer a beautiful, ear-catching quality, as does Fabienne Erni’s enigmatic vocals, but the diverse offer…

February 9th, 2024 Reviews

Revolution Saints – Against the Winds (Frontiers Music)

…roup, the prospect of this Mark II lineup is beyond exciting! And that really jumped out at me with “Will I See You Again”! Not surprisingly, this was my favorite. This is one I keep going back to. Elsewhere there is greatness afoot with “Show Me Your Light”, the high octane “Save All That Remains”, and opener “Against the Winds.” The bottom line is this: Revolution Saints are here to stay, and let’s hope we have many more albums that I get to rev…

February 8th, 2024 Features

Infected Rain – Vehicles for Emotion

…force and Amaranthe. Then its time to prepare for summer festivals, and hopefully a really nice tour in autumn…maybe even two. We are trying to see if we can make it work. But we have a lot of shows coming up, the new album comes out in February, and a lot of music videos after that. There’s a lot going on! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7t9SspFWKA&pp=ygUNaW5mZWN0ZWQgcmFpbg%3D%3D https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-JGQgnwpGE&pp=ygUNaW5mZWN0ZWQgcmF…

February 6th, 2024 Features

Dust Bolt – Follow Your Instincts

…look on new label AFM Records, his concerns for a younger generation to hopefully keep the metal scene alive, and future touring plans including hopefully some North American dates. Dead Rhetoric: Sound & Fury is the fifth studio album for Dust Bolt. You mentioned in the background information that after your previous album Trapped in Chaos that things were getting more complicated in your lives now that your older – plus the pandemic occurred whi…

February 5th, 2024 Reviews

EXA – Left in Shards (Self-Released)

…emon. While four years may seem like an eternity for the sophomore record Left in Shards, the pandemic probably slowed down productivity (or proper rehearsals). Continuing the DIY output including self-production duties handled by guitarist/vocalist Tom Exa, this is crisp thrash of a pristine variety – locked into many Bay Area traits while containing the right balance of fluid, sophisticated lead breaks as well as killer, musically tasty transiti…