Tag: Melodic
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 …
Upon Stone ‒ Where Wild Sorrows Grow Review
Fast Rites: because sometimes brevity is fundamental. LA’s Upon Stone prefer their melodeath the way it was originally played in Sweden in the early and mid-90s: equal parts classy and brutal, haggard in the vocal …
Carcass – Torn Arteries Review
Ever been disappointed with a pretty good album? On the one hand, I haven’t either. But then… on the other hand… Let’s get that first cat right out of the bag: Torn Arteries is a …
Ophidian I ‒ Desolate Review
[Artwork by the incomparable Eliran Kantor] The most convenient way to describe Desolate, the sophomore effort from Icelandic tech-deathers Ophidian I, is to call it a serious guitar nerd’s death metal album. This is far …