Tag: Melodic

Blast Rites: Lipoma – Odes To Suffering Review
A few weeks back, we wrapped our annual early July round-up of the things we missed out on covering in a timely manner, so in the spirit of not doing things in a timely manner, …

Heruvim – Battle For Cimmeria Review
Ukraine’s Heruvim burst into the scene ‒ and our 2022 EP list ‒ with last year’s beastly Shadowheart. They showed a massive affinity towards Edge of Sanity (the melody, the gargantuan riffs, the deep growls) …

Pestifer – Defeat Of The Nemesis Review
[Cover art by David Caryn] Nothing quite reminds you of the vastness of the musical universe like finding a new-to-you band that is decidedly not new. My initial spin of Pestifer’s new EP Defeat of …

Majesties – Vast Reaches Unclaimed Review
[Cover art by Juanjo Castellano] The short version: If you’re a melodeath fan, don’t buy the supposed return-to-form new record from In Flames, which is really a Korny-chorus-heavy Sounds of a Playground Fading wolf in …

Insomnium – Anno 1696 Review
[Artwork by Sami Makkonen] Not sure if you’ve noticed, but melodeath is enjoying a heck of a resurgence of late. To be clear, the offshoot never fully left the arena, but it’s probably been about …

Frozen Dawn – The Decline Of The Enlightened Gods Review
With all due respect to the late Mariusz Lewandowski and the art chosen to adorn the cover of Frozen Dawn’s fourth record, The Decline of the Enlightened Gods, it’s a mite off for this sound. …

I Am the Night ‒ While the Gods Are Sleeping Review
[Cover art by Kristian “Necrolord” Wåhlin] The Grand World of Heavy Metal Music is no stranger to works of tribute, typically to an era or sound or Days of Yore, but sometimes bands zero in …

Amorphis – Halo Review
[Cover artwork by Jean-Emmanuel “Valnoir” Simoulin] Comfort is an underrated and often unexpected trait of heavy metal that’s largely eclipsed by the conventional “brutal,” “crushing,” “razored,” “evil” et al. that largely dominates the lexicon of …