ALBUM REVIEWS

RECENT ALBUM REVIEWS

  • WHISPERS OF GRANITE – Liquid Stone

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://whispersofgranite.bandcamp.com/album/liquid-stone What a marvelous musical treat Liquid Stone is. Whispers of Granite consists of two immensely skilled individuals, namely Norwegian vocalist and vocal composer Trude Eidtang and German keyboardist and composer Andreas Hack, and this debut offering of theirs is a superb example of how to weave art rock, prog, brooding folk…

  • ALL MEN UNTO ME – Requiem

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://linktr.ee/allmenuntome Once in a while one encounters and experiences an album that transcends genres and conventions while also being transcendental. All Men Unto Me, which is a swirling mass of pitch-black musical brilliance spawned by the man known as Rylan Gleave, is unarguably one of the most unique and moving outputs we…

  • ISILIEL – Moonbow Rebellion

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.isiliel.com/ Isiliel is the solo project of Himari Tsukishiro – known from her work with Necronomidol. With Isiliel, she’s built a sound that blends black metal, power metal, gothic atmosphere, and synth-heavy idol pop. Her debut set the foundation – Moonbow Rebellion builds on it with sharper production, more dynamic arrangements, and…

  • MY SILENT WAKE – Lost In Memories, Lost In Grief

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://mysilentwake1.bandcamp.com/ As melodic death doom metal is hands down my all time favorite genre which fits my complex internal psychology like a glove, I am always on the look out for the finest representatives thereof. Naturally, the so called Peaceville Trinity (Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost) would be the…

  • TARJA – Circus Life

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://tarjaturunen.com/circus-life/ The talented Tarja Turunen recently released this 18-track live offering via earMUSIC titled Circus Life in the shape of a great-looking 2CD/Blu Ray set, and this is a rather interesting symphonic metal release for a number of different reasons. Recorded in Bucharest just a couple of months shy of the Covid-19…

  • LORENTZEN – Leave Nobody Behind

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://apollonrecords.no/products/lorentzen-leave-nobody-behind-cd Apollon Records were kind enough to hand me a copy of Leave Nobody Behind, which was composed and crafted by the talented Eivind Lorentzen (ex-Gentle Knife, Oldenborre, and Synsbedragerne), and the idea behind the album and lyrics seemed a rather interesting and intriguing one on paper. Floating somewhere between atmospheric prog,…

  • SEPULCHRAL CURSE – Abhorrent Dimensions

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://sepulchralcurse.bandcamp.com/ After my glowing review of Sepulchral Curse’s debut, Only Ashes Remain²⁰²⁰, I anticipated even greater things to come from these Finnish blackened death metallers on their follow up and, sure enough, Abhorrent Dimensions²⁰²³, released on CD on October 27th 2 years ago however, hear me out, on limited edition…

  • FRANCIS ROSSI – The Way We Were Vol. 1

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.francisrossi.com/ Francis Rossi of Status Quo fame recently released this seventeen-track compilation of various demo versions and alternate takes – many of which relate to his work with and songwriting contribution to the aforementioned Quo – and it is a rather intriguing album in many respects. Some of the ideas presented on…

  • WINGLESS – Ascension

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://wingless.bandcamp.com/ While Nonconform²⁰²¹ (via Selfmadegod Records) was a very good album from this Polish death metal ensemble, my review was hopeful of the follow up to take more risks in order to distinguish Wingless from Behemoths, Azaraths and Vaders of my native land on one hand, and from the way Malevent…

  • SUIDAKRA – Darkanakrad

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://www.suidakra.com/ Appearances can be deceiving and many a war has been founded on such deception. Take the name for the band: Suidakra, even typecast weirdly as SuidAkrA. Is that like a fancy name for suicide, such as harakiri (male) or seppuku (female) shame/honor self-killing? Or is it a name of…

  • HELHEIM – HrabnaR / Ad vesa

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://helheim.bandcamp.com/album/hrabnar-ad-vesa It is a thrillingly peculiar thing when one receives a promotional disc for a new album by Viking metal legends Helheim in the sense that you never quite know to expect from them except for all-out quality, which is a great thing, because these veterans never fail to amaze this scribe…

  • JON ANDERSON AND THE BAND GEEKS – Live – Perpetual Change

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.jonanderson.com/ None other than the legendary and inimitable Jon Anderson assembled a group a few years ago endearingly named the Band Geeks and recorded something akin to a Yes fan’s wet dream in the shape of this superb-sounding live album. A collection of epics and classics by Yes sure sounds good, does…

  • CHRIS ERICHSEN – Kjærtegn og Manifester

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://chriserichsen.bandcamp.com/album/kj-rtegn-manifester I had no idea what to expect from this curiously titled opus by Chris Erichsen of Det Aller Værste! fame, and although Erichsen’s solo output does bear more than a subtle resemblance to the aforementioned band and its take on New Wave and (post) punk, Kjærtegn and Manifester is something else…

  • AFARGANG – Andvake

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://afargang.bandcamp.com/album/andvake Afargang, which is a relatively new and exciting addition to the Norwegian progressive scene, offers plenty of atmosphere and evocative qualities on this unique-sounding debut album of theirs. Spearheaded and masterminded by fiddle player and harpist Olav L. Mjelva, this talented ensemble merges folk music, forward-thinking black metal, and prog metal…

  • VARIETY JONES – Shell Shocked

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://variety-jones.bandcamp.com/album/shell-shocked What a lovely, rabble-rousing debut offering this is! Variety Jones hail from Bergen but sound like they crawled out of the gutter in Los Angeles roughly thirty-eight years ago, which is obviously meant as a compliment. With an emphasis on raw and concise riffs that will make you raise your fist,…

  • ANDERS BUAAS – Trollringen

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://andersbuaas.bandcamp.com/album/trollringen The epic and ambitious trilogy titled The Witches of Finnmark (2017-2019) by the immensely talented Anders Buaas was a captivating musical saga, and I was therefore rather curious as to whether something sporting the intriguing title Trollringen would somehow follow in that same vein or perhaps be more akin to the…

  • RED MOON ARCHITECT – October Decay

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025 BAND URL: https://redmoonarchitect.bandcamp.com/ Two albums by the Finnish melodic death doom metal sextet, Red Moon Architect (RMA) have made quite a stir in the genre: Concealed Silence²⁰¹² (on Inverse Records) and Fall²⁰¹⁵ (on Playground Music), the latter of which was my introduction to their craft, a very enjoyable addition to my musical…

  • BRAKE LOOSE – Frenetic

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.brakeloose.com/ What a fabulous outfit this is! Irish/Venezuelan rockers Brake Loose have made quite a name for themselves this past year or so thanks to some stellar live performances, and there is something quite refreshing and invigorating about this inspired five-track EP of theirs appropriately titled Frenetic. Taking their cues from 80s…

  • VADER – Humanihility

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.instagram.com/vader_band_official/ Polish death metal legends Vader are not merely one of the foremost purveyors of insanely catchy and pummeling tunes of darkness but also exceptionally consistent with respect to delivering outputs that ooze quality and great songwriting chops. They have been around for what seems like forever, yet they have lost none…

  • DESERTED FEAR – Veins Of Fire

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025 BAND URL: https://www.desertedfear.de/ The German melodic death metal trio really impressed me with their 5th long play (remember that ancient euphemism?) Doomsday²⁰²² album (on Century Media Records) so my review reflected that seemingly out-of-the-blue fantastic record but the quality of the recording fit the mold well. What I mean is that not…

  • GARY MOORE – Gary Moore Live – From Baloise Session

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.mascotlabelgroup.com/collections/gary-moore Often imitated but never surpassed, the sadly missed Gary Moore was one of a kind and his music will continue to inspire and thrill us for many decades to come. Recorded towards the end of 2008 a mere three years before his untimely death at the age of 58, this beautiful…

  • MOONSOON – East of Asteroid

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://moonsoon1.bandcamp.com/album/east-of-asteroid Fervently dynamic and emotionally potent, this quietly thrilling debut album by Moonsoon is neither short on finesse nor heart. An output of great depth then, and even though it shows major affection for the Floydian soundscapes of the seventies and eighties, it never shows off or reads as pastiche, nor does…

  • FATES MESSENGER – Scars

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://fatesmessenger.com/ In the reviewer’s, indeed, a metalhead’s experience, one of the best moments is when you hear that one guitar sound that just takes you emotionally to the next level, one where you go “Holy cow, who are these guys?!” and your metal is never the same. For me, there…

  • LORDI – Limited Deadition

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://lordimusic.bandcamp.com/album/limited-deadition The ridiculously endearing monsters known as Lordi are back with a new output and sound as over the top and joyous as usual, which means that there is nothing new under the sun as such, but the best parts of the sixteen-track offering are so cool and funny that you would…

  • HÄXAN – Death of Me

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://haxan.co.uk/ Häxan is a musically explosive trio hailing from South Wales, and there must be something in the water in those parts of the UK as Death of Me delivers an abundance of hooks and thrills that will make you want to revisit the disc again and again. Their debut offering, White…

  • BURNING CREATION – Sea Of Dead Bodies

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://facebook.com/burning.creation5/ My native country of Poland had always been a vibrant heavy metal scene but, with the exception of Acid Drinkers, Kat and Vader there had not been many of renown until the day Adam Michał “Holocausto” “Nergal” Darski recorded the infamous Eternal Damnation¹⁹⁹² demo signalling a new wave of…

  • TUSMØRKE – En pakt med Naturen

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://tusm-rke.bandcamp.com/album/en-pakt-med-naturen Norwegian proggers Tusmørke are not only one of the most prolific and creative outfits in this green and pleasant land of ours but also one of the very best and most rewarding listens there is. Their discography is both vast and unique, and their take on psychedelic folk prog is as…

  • PYMLICO – Core

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://pymlicomusic.bandcamp.com/ Core is the fifth full-length album by Norwegian prog rockers Pymlico to have been released by Apollon Records (and the ensemble’s eighth overall as far as I recall), and it is easily the group’s most organic, accessible, and memorable output to date, which is saying something. The brilliant and intuitive interplay…

  • KING KRAKEN – March of the Gods

    RELEASE YEAR: 2025BAND URL: https://www.kingkraken.co.uk/ The hard-hitting Welsh metal outfit known as King Kraken impressed me greatly with their pounding and groovy debut album titled MCLXXX back in 2023, and a few weeks ago they unleashed a brand-new maelstrom of heaviness named March of the Gods, which sees the quintet conjure up ten catchy and concise…

  • WOUND COLLECTOR – Begging For Chicxulub

    RELEASE YEAR: 2024 BAND URL: https://www.woundcollector.com/ For my second perfect score review this year (yet concerning last year) I’ve chosen the Belgian progressive death metal quintet uniquely named Wound Collector and their 1st EP after 2 full lengths, Begging For Chicxulub²⁰²⁴ independently released last June 15th. What makes this outfit compelling is how they seamlessly…