ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • OCCULTATION – Silence in the Ancestral House

    ‘Silence in the Ancestral House’ serves up fifty minutes of echoing, nostalgic, progressive doom that soars across genre boundaries on night-dark wings. The vocals are ethereal and concern themselves as much with maintaining the atmosphere as with driving the melodies. The fact that they are 100% clean and 100% female is… er… 100% welcome in…

  • DECAPITATED – Blood Mantra

    Polske Decapitated er et band som har opplevd store opp- og nedturer. Med sine to første album fikk de opparbeidet seg en god del fans over hele verden og ble av mange ansett som et av de mest lovende tekniske death metal bandene i Europa. Men etter den tragiske bussulykken i 2007 der trommeslager Vitek…

  • LYRIEL – Skin and Bones

    Intertwining two very popular sub-genres in metal these days, the folk/ gothic oriented German sextet Lyriel give your ears a variety of sounds to latch onto. Their fifth studio album "Skin and Bones" provides the listener 13 more songs where the band straddle elements that recall yesteryear melodies, classical violin/ cello instrumentation and symphonic/ dramatic…

  • ACCEPT – Blind Rage

    After 14 albums and nearly 40 years on the trail (taking name changes into account), it is surprising how much Accept still have left to offer. I am happy to report that the renaissance brought about by the addition of vocalist Mark Tornillo continues with the excellent ‘Blind Rage’. Quite a few people checked out…

  • PALACE – The 7th Steel

    Teutonic metal has a special place in my heart. Growing up the sounds of Accept, The Scorpions, Running Wild, Grave Digger, and Helloween received a modest amount of turntable spins. So when I find out that Palace espouse similar beliefs in their stylistic template, the ears perk up. "The 7th Steel" is ironically their seventh…

  • SERPENTINE PATH – Emanations

    Serpentine Path debuted back in 2012 with a self titled blast of doom/death that worked out quite well.Now two years later the follow-up entitled "Emanations" hit the shelved and me for one really dig this one a lot more than the debut.The pace is taken down a notch but it´s not dragging, it´s tearing and…

  • SANDMARX – The Perfect Storm

    Sandmarx is a hard-rocking Norwegian entity that completely took me by surprise and instantly drew me in the very first time that my brother-in-law happened to play me a few of their songs. When I received the promo for this full-length album, The Perfect Storm, and glanced at the somewhat bleak and melancholic album cover…

  • TRANSPORT LEAGUE – Boogie From Hell

    Veteran Swedish band Transport League return to the scene for their fifth full length in the aptly titled "Boogie from Hell". Considering their resurrection in 2009, this is their first studio album in over a decade, so I would expect nothing but the best from this quartet of musicians. Describing their sound as a mix…

  • BLOODSOAKED – Religious Apocalypse

    At 9 songs and a 34 minute playing time, I scratch my head at calling this an EP release. A one man band, Peter Hasselbrack is Bloodsoaked – and on this new release combines 3 fresh tracks with 2 covers and 4 live songs. The game plan is simple: fast and furious blast beat oriented…

  • WOLFEN – Evilution

    German power metal is an institution across the globe. Add in a little of that double bass, up-tempo thrash nature and you have the essence of Wolfen’s sound. They’ve been a group since the mid 1990’s, recorded a number of demos and 4 previous albums prior to issuing their fifth and latest "Evilution". The quintet…

  • LAIKA – Somnia

    Active since 2009, the Winnipeg, Canadian sextet Laika are on their second full length "Somnia" – a 9 track record that to my ears is in the progressive/ melodic death metal vein. Propelling the bass abilities forward for Mike Mason gives songs such as "Escalation of Terror" and "The Immortal" a little bit of an…

  • GRAND DESIGN – Thrill of the Night

    More Def Leppard-oriented hard rock here from the Swedish band Grand Design on their third studio album "Thrill of the Night". Vocalist Pelle Saether has a helium style range that can be a little nasally from a Stephen Pearcy meets Joe Elliott perspective on "Rawk N’ Roll Heart Attack" and "Get Up ‘N Love Someone".…

  • 220 VOLT – Walking in Starlight

    Childhood confession: a lot of times when money was tight, I’d make blind purchases at local tag sales and flea markets to fuel my rock and metal desires. My first exposure to this Swedish melodic hard rock/ metal act would be through that method, as I bought "Electric Messengers" on vinyl in the 1980’s from…

  • THRESHOLD – For the Journey

    Probably the most unique of the UK progressive metal bands, Threshold remain resolute in their space-oriented atmospheric sound on this latest album "For the Journey". Years of seasoning keep the sextet locked in a song first, intricate elements second mode for these 8 songs. "Unforgiven" instantly shines due to Damien Wilson’s upper choral harmonies, while…

  • SEA – Sea

    Throwback, retro / classic hard rock has taken the world by storm. Raiding your parents (or grandparents) record collections, submitting to the sounds of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Thin Lizzy and using that influence to create new riffs and songs in that same 60’s/ 70’s spirit. The Danish quartet Sea wish to…

  • STATE OF SALAZAR – All The Way

    West Coast / AOR/ Arena oriented melodic rock is probably considered the ultimate ‘feel good’ style – shimmering harmonies, bright chord combinations, and up beat tempos are the hallmarks in this genre. What’s nice to know is there are younger musicians (especially in Europe) willing to create new music inspired by the heydays of the…

  • THE MORPHEAN – Mechanical

    Melodic death metal from Austria again, here is The Morphean with their second album "Mechanical". Slowly working their way up the ranks since their 2006 beginnings, they’ve maintained a steady lineup since the start outside of drummer Uli Meisinger, who came in during 2010. After a couple of passes, the 10 songs are standard Gothenburg…

  • DICTATED – The Deceived

    Ah, the soothing sounds of brutal death metal. Welcome to Dictated, a Dutch outfit that has three primary members (guitarists Jessica Otten and Sonja Schuringa plus vocalist York Keijzer) and two session members (bassist Henri Sattler and drummer Michiel van der Plicht of God Dethroned). Their second album "The Deceived" contains 10 tracks of vicious,…

  • ELECTRIC WIZARD – Time to Die

    Jus Oborn and his formidable doom outfit Electric Wizard are back one again with a heavy as f**k album (what is heavy?, It´s for someone else to dechiper).Electric Wizard should need no introduction and if you´re wondering what all the fuzz is about, give "Dopethrone" a listen and be impressed. "Time to Die" is EW´s…

  • CANNIBAL CORPSE – A Skeletal Domain

    Cannibal Corpse should need no introduction. The US death metal act is out with their 13 full-length aptly called "A Skeletal Domain" and hell yeath this is some good extreme metal. I´ve personally been a little on and off CC since I first got their third output "Tomb of the Mutlated (1992). The first albums…

  • SPARZANZA – Circle

    Active for 18 years, Sweden’s Sparzanza on their seventh album "Circle" bristle in stoner rock confidence, adding a touch of heavy metal nuance to the proceedings through these 11 hard hitting tracks. Stonesour, Godsmack, Audioslave, and Mustasch are four bands that come to mind the most here- the snare has an open slap/ Stone Temple…

  • ADRENALINE RUSH – Adrenaline Rush

    Starting in 2012 around vocalist Tave Wanning and producer/ songwriter Erik Martensson, the quintet Adrenaline Rush from Sweden began searching for the right musicians to fill out the lineup. All handpicked from bands around Stockholm, this self-titled debut album is an 11 song Melodic Hard Rock affair that is very energetic and party oriented. The…

  • NONPOINT – The Return

    Nonpoint has made a healthy career straddling the lines of heavy metal, alternative metal and nu-groove nuances since the late 1990’s. "The Return" is their latest full length, and first for Metal Blade in Europe. Those who love quick hitting hooks, easy head bobbing riffs, and steady grooves along with soulful, kick ass vocals from…

  • WEEDEATER – Sixteen Tons

    For all you southern doom/sludge fans out there, both of Weedeaters two first albums are being re-released for your listening pleasure.For those who know and love bands like Eyehategod and Crowbar, this is right up your alley. Maximum fuzz with an vocal that sounds like nothing else.Weedeater startet out by Dixie (Dave Collins) when cult…

  • ROTTING CHRIST – A Dead Poem (re-release)

    The fourth studio album from Greek metal act Rotting Christ would be a breakthrough record for the group, tempering their extreme black roots into a more palatable, gothic template. Originally appearing in 1997 through Century Media, Greek label Sleaszy Rider sought the rights to re-issue a lot of the band’s back catalog, and this is…

  • CANNIBAL CORPSE – A Skeletal Domain

    13 albums in and US death metal titans Cannibal Corpse are still up there with the best of them. To be honest, I had gone a bit cold on this act during the Erik Rutan years. Not that I blame his production job really – I suppose the first problem for me was the lack…

  • KILMARA – Love Songs and Other Nightmares

    The third studio album from Barcelona, Spain’s Kilmara has a strong melodic heavy metal foundation throughout its 12 tracks, occasionally gaining an extreme vocal aspect to help vary the vocal presence. Masterplan guitarist Roland Grapow handled the recording/production duties at his own Grapow Studios, allowing the quintet the chance to really focus on their craft.…

  • OVERDRIVE – The Final Nightmare

    A NWOBHM band from the early 80’s still kicking today, as we have their latest 9 song studio album "The Final Nightmare". Reigning in a sound full of Hammond Organs, high pitched Biff Byford-like melodies, and simple but effective guitar hooks / tempos, there’s a lot to enjoy about the driving material such as "Invited…

  • AOV – Act of Violence

    Modern thrash metal with a small amount of extreme vocals- this is the Finnish band AOV and on their debut album "Act of Violence" roll out 9 tracks + a short intro of Slayer meets The Haunted style thrash while vocally possessing more of a growling meets Phil Anselmo-style voice over anything inherently melodic. The…

  • EXECRATION – Morbid Dimensions

    Norsk death metal er for tiden i sin mest gylne tidsalder der band som Diskord, Obliteration og Execration ruler verre enn verst. Sistnevnte er nå klar med sin tredje fullengder kalt «Morbid Dimensions». Skiva slippes av Duplicate Records i slutten av denne måneden og her er det bare å glede seg. Skiva åpner noe overraskende…