Firewind – Firewind Review
Few would argue against the point that the true heart of power metal is fun. Powerful fun. Triumphant fun. Escapist fun. Uplifting, unbridled fun. The fun, even when delivered in half-baked and stock songs, is …
…And Oceans – Cosmic World Mother Review
The evolution of …and Oceans from an excellent but fairly standard symphonic and melodic black metal band in the late 90s to a group incorporating plenty of industrial and avant-garde influences was not entirely unlikely …
Cryptic Shift – Visitations From Enceladus Review
If you wander over to the Bandcamp page for Cryptic Shift’s full length debut Visitations from Enceladus, you’ll easily glean the expected bits of information: genre tags (death, thrash, progressive, technical, etc.), location (Leeds, UK), …
Lord Vigo – Danse De Noir Review
Even a cursory glance at the band details for Germany’s Lord Vigo ought to tell you that this trio of dudes likes having fun. They take their band name from the villain of Ghostbusters II …
Candlemass – The Pendulum Review
Fast Rites: because sometimes brevity is fundamental. Evidently the sessions that created last year’s The Door to Doom didn’t just lead to the best Candlemass record in over a decade – and the first with …
Malokarpatan – Krupinské Ohne Review
[Cover artwork: Svjatogor] Over three albums in just under six years, Bratislava’s Malokarpatan have achieved a bit of a feat: they have managed to maintain their fun, slightly medieval aesthetic (both in their sound and …
My Dying Bride – The Ghost of Orion Review
[Cover artwork: Eliran Kantor] Spoiler alert: My Dying Bride has never put out a bad album, and My Dying Bride continues to never put out a bad album. What constitutes a classic, great, or merely …
Dead Kosmonaut – Gravitas Review
Sweden’s Dead Kosmonaut is pretty clearly still feeling out their place in the heavy metal pantheon. On debut full length Expect Nothing and last year’s standout Rekviem EP, they’ve played a mix of smooth trad, …