SOULLESS – Shine in Purity

When a one-man atmospheric black metal band has a noose hanging from its logo you don’t expect it to live past the first recording, let alone two: "Lost In Mind" (2018) and "Unreachable" (2019). Yet the 22 year old multiinstrumentalist vocalist known only by the mysterious name Rivanectomy persisted for not just one more record,…

THE BEAST OF NOD – Multiversal

The Massachussettsian progressive metallers The Beast Of Nod, seem to have honed their skills enough on two EPs: "Enter The Land Of Nod" (2015) and "Arrival" (2016) as well as one full length, "Vampiria: Disciple Of Chaos" (2018) to create a worthy follow-up, so why is this year’s "Multiversal" such a magnifiscent display of instrumental…

Tony Drozdjek’s Witchcraft – Egos Never Die

What we have here is a highly captivating compilation album that is both historically interesting and exceptionally cool, namely "Egos Never Die" by the Norwegian entity known as Tony Drozdjek’s Witchcraft. In many ways, it sounds like a cross between Budgie, early Iron Maiden, Angel Witch, Saxon, and to a lesser extent Judas Priest around…

THE ABSENCE – Coffinized

Whether or not we’re ready to accept it melodic death metal (melodeath) is no longer a genre where one can still sound innovative but it is still one where quality, engaging records can be conceived. Arguably the first melodeath album was Death’s "Human", but I think it’s fairer to say that the genre was born…

ONDFØDT – Norden

Ah yes, a new album by Ondfødt – what more could a guy ask for on a rainy and windswept day such as this? The Finnish black metal artillery unleashed a fabulous slab of highly intense, deeply atmospheric, and utterly memorable music back in 2019 via Immortal Frost Productions, and judging by the quality of…

MARILLION – With Friends at St. David’s

What we have here is a wonderful 2CD set containing an exceptionally atmospheric and deftly executed live performance from a 2019 show in Cardiff by the British prog rock pioneers Marillion. That in itself ought to tell you all you need to know and get you excited, but we shall proceed as we usually fucking…

THRONUM VRONDOR – Dies Tenebrosa Sicut Nox

The musically ferocious horde known as Thronum Vrondor is an interesting encounter and I must say that I find their bludgeoning yet nicely varied brand of highly intense black metal quite appealing. "Dies Tenebrosa Sicut Nox" is their fourth full-length and the Belgian outfit delivers their menacing, blackened message in a convincing manner. This latest…

MARK SPIRO – Traveling Cowboys

The highly skilled songwriter Mark Spiro recently released this solo effort of his titled "Traveling Cowboys", and we are essentially treated to fifteen compositions that are perhaps best described and classified as AOR rock with pop sensibilities to them and an abundance of vocal hooks. Melodically strong and boasting good vocals and great musicianship, these…

HELLOWEEN – Helloween

In the unlikely case you haven’t figured it out by now, Iron Maiden and Megadeth, Helloween’s two biggest influences, are my favorite bands (vide: my reviewer’s moniker). It is a curious phenomenon that genre creators rarely stay inside the box they have build and the German power metal originator is no exception. At a time…

THIS ENDING – Needles Of Rust

This Ending’s debut album "Inside The Machine" (2006) came out back in the time when I was high on all things Dark Tranquillity and, by extension, all things melodic death metal (melodeath for short). The album was unashamedly borrowing from Gothenburg trio (At The Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity) as well as from Soilwork, Hypocrisy…

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