Tag: Symphonic
Twilight Force – At The Heart Of Wintervale Review
[Album artwork by Kerem Beyit] It’s been four years since we last heard a peep from Twilight Force, Sweden’s answer to Alan Menken stuffed into a mail hauberk. Were they the first power metal band …
We Have The Power – The Top 30 Power Metal And Power-Related Albums Of 2022
Heartfelt hails, salutes, subtle nods and solemn bows, all you heroes and villains. As implausible as it may seem, it’s time once again to dust off our helms, spot clean those cravats, fluff those poet …
Album Premiere: Ancient Mastery – Chapter Two: The Resistance
Writers and artists build by hand little worlds that they hope might effect change in real minds, in the real world where stories are read. A story can make us cry and laugh, break our …
Qrixkuor – Zoetrope Review
If we wanted to keep it short and sweet, we could probably just say that London’s (likely Scrabble cheaters) Qrixkuor make nightmare music. Here at Last Rites, however, we are generally impressed with being neither …
Epica – The Alchemy Project Review
Epica could record an album of Karol G covers and no one would bat an eye. So the fact that the band is collaborating with musicians from Shining, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Soilwork, Aborted, Insomnium, Uriah Heep, …
Stratovarius – Survive Review
The metaphor isn’t hard to spot in the cover art of Stratovarius’ 16th album, nor in its title, Survive. The world’s pretty fucked up these days and we may very well be beyond the threshold, …
Grave Digger – Symbol Of Eternity Review
At this point, 42 years in, the title “Symbol Of Eternity” may as well refer to Grave Digger themselves. Like their fellow Germans in U.D.O., Chris Boltendahl and his cast of comrades have carved out …
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 …