INNER AXIS – Midnight Forces

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/InnerAxis/ The German heavy metal outfit known as Inner Axis recently unleashed this ten-track affair of theirs via Fastball Music, and just like the single releases and full-length LPs that preceded Midnight Forces it very much leans towards the classic variety of the genre, which is to say that your appetite…

ALKALOID – Numen

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://alkaloid-band.com/ As in my review of the second Alkaloid’s album, Liquid Anatomy²⁰¹⁸ (5/6) I again refer to the debut The Malcuth Grimmoire²⁰¹⁵ as one of the greatest most complete progressive death metal works in the genre one I sincerely believe it will one day will be mentioned in one breath…

COBRAKILL – Serpent’s Kiss

RELEASE YEAR: 2024BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/cobrakillrocks/ The German heavy metal/hard rock outfit known as Cobrakill unleashed their sophomore effort a couple of months ago via Frontiers and this 12-track slice of fiery fun is filled with adrenaline-fueled riffs, gang vocals, and a bad-ass attitude. There is no shortage of vigor and quality to this 80s-inspired blast…

LINUS KLAUSENITZER – Tulpa

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://artofpropaganda.bandcamp.com/album/tulpa Linus Klausenitzer is Alkaloid’s powerful bassist and on October 6th last year the man decided to release his solo album Tulpa²⁰²³ via AOP Records. To succeed in this endeavor he had asked many renown contributors to take part in it, among whom are Juggernaut’s Javier Perera Martin on vocals,…

STILLBIRTH – Homo Deus

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://stillbirthofficial.bandcamp.com/ As you listen to the German brutal death metal and death core act’s Stillbirth’s new album Homo Deus²⁰²³ released on April 7th, you may get an impression you’re dealing with one of those young highly skilled ensembles at most on their 3rd installment, stylistically somewhere between All Shall Perish,…

LEPER COLONY – Leper Colony

RELEASE YEAR: 2023 BAND URL: https://lepercolonydm.bandcamp.com/ The mighty death metal warrior Roger “Rogga” Johansson (bass, guitars) whose musical contributions to the genre run for four lines on Encyclopedia Metallum, is back with another slab of classic extremity, here infused with substantial amount of doom, thrash, groove and even traditional metal, joined by Marc Grewe (vocals)…

BLACK HAWK – Soulkeeper

RELEASE YEAR: 2023BAND URL: https://www.black-hawk-music.de/2014/index.php Black Hawk hail from the northern part of Germany and deliver classic old-school heavy metal that recalls Saxon and Accept, and after having listened to it a number of times I must say that I find this output of theirs rather charming, catchy, and entertaining. The production is loud and…

NECROPOLISSEBEHT – TTCCCLXXX

RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://necropolissebeht.bandcamp.com/releases This ugly 4-track grenade by the German outfit known as Necropolissebeht was released on CD late last year and somehow found its way to my mailbox, and I really had no idea what to expect when glancing at its artwork, but it turned out to be a raw, crushing concoction…

APRIL ART – POKERFACE

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/aprilartband/ The German outfit named April Art recently released this independent offering titled POKERFACE, and the quartet essentially dabbles in something akin to a mixture of alternative rock/metal and nu metal, which means that what we have here sounds rather modern and contemporary in many ways. There is a good flow…

VANDEN PLAS – Live & Immortal

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.vandenplas.de/ A very cool live album by the prog metal outfit Vanden Plas is what we have here, and this particular recording, which dates back to late December 2016, sees the band in full flight on home turf in Germany. Live & Immortal captures the epic riffage, shifting moods, memorable moments,…

FLYNG CIRCUS – Seasons 25

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://fastball-music.bandcamp.com/album/seasons-25 Seasons 25 by the awesome German prog rockers Flying Circus is something quite special and noteworthy. It is a 2-disc set containing a remastered version of the album Seasons from 1997 and, more importantly in this case, an entirely reworked and re-recorded edition of said LP by the current line-up…

DRUDENSANG – Tuiflsrijtt

RELEASE YEAR: 2022BAND URL: https://folterrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tuiflsrijtt-2 This great-looking CD showed up on my doorstep a few weeks ago and turned out to be a rather cool surprise in many ways. The German outfit Drudensang dabbles in harsh and intense yet melodically rich black metal that employs many of the usual tropes and motifs found within the…

HEMESATH – So Schön

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://www.facebook.com/hemesathband/ The German act named Hemesath is something quite different and hard to pigeonhole in terms of style and genre. Using such diffuse terms as alternative rock and alternative metal often blows ass simply because they tell you very little about the actual music, but in this case, I have no…

THANATEROS – On Fragile Wings

RELEASE YEAR: 2022  BAND URL: https://thanateros.bandcamp.com/ The German folk-inspired metal outfit known as Thanateros released this twelve-track effort of theirs just a few weeks ago via Echozone and despite not being what one would deem an immersive experience or an enthralling listen, it does have its merits and some rather interesting ideas to it. In truth,…