It’s about time for those who still haven’t heard Swedish old-school Death Metal veterans Seance to finally join the club. Having vanished into thin air in the early 90’s they resurfaced in 2008, more than fifteen years after their well-acclaimed sophomore release Saltrubbed Eyes. Sadly, I never had the chance to become familiar with them […]

Like a treacherously silent volcano, Equilibrio, the last symphonic opus from Netherland’s Power Metal outfit Xystus, has quite unexpectedly erupted somewhere on my third attempt to look into its dark yet flaming musical depths. The point is that I didn’t quite get its multiple dignities during my initial familiarization tours, yet I felt there was […]

Sadly, albums released at the end of a year usually tempt a cruel fate of being left out of the majority of top lists, which is sometimes nothing else but a gross injustice towards some exceptional pieces of value. Thus, Screenslaves, the ninth full-length release from Hamburg-based metallers Paragon is unconditionally one of the nominees […]

Like a sedulous apprentice, Australia looks up to its masters from Europe and America and seems to benefit a lot from the lessons given by them. Sometimes the end result is just superb, to say the least! Not only does this country’s metal scene take over the best achievements of the two biggest metal continents […]

Placed in the Dark Power Metal category, Swedish metallers Her Whisper are indeed far from calling up any associations with bright colors of sonic palette. Instead, their primary hues are gray, black and dark blue, just like the colors of the artwork on the cover of their sophomore release The Great Unifier. Probably this feel […]

Legion and Emil Dragutinovich, both more known for their previous participation in prominent Swedish Black Metal act Marduk, are pretty creative spirits who seem to earn their keep by taking part in as many Metal projects as their time allows. Having tied up with some other not so well known musicians under the name of […]

Formed in 2006, Chicago-based Progressive Power Metal quintet Mindwarp Chamber meditates upon the imperfection of the world we live in, treating the everlasting subjects of hatred, stupidity, greed, vengeance and hopelessness in their vivid metaphorical lyrics. Rarely does a metal album’s verbal content manage to divert my attention but Delusional Reality did just this, for […]

I can’t say I was very happy to hear back in 2007 that Matt Barlow (then former Iced Earth front man) had stepped into Lance King’s shoes as the new vocalist for Power Metal outfit Pyramaze, one of my favorite bands from Denmark. The reason was that I was really keen on the idea of […]

With as weak a name as Harmony, it might be easy to immediately dismiss these Christian Power Metallers but this could be a mistake as their music more than makes up for it the moment Chapter II: Aftermath (Chapter II, hereinafter) blasts out of your speakers. Although their lyrical subject matter is indeed also heavily […]

People still labeling Metal as Satan’s music are most probably unaware of the current alignment of forces in the metal world of today. The number of bands propagandizing the name of Lord through the raging language of riffs and blasts is increasing on an almost daily basis and some of them can easily rival Devil’s […]

If I had to make up a metal compilation of this year’s catchiest metal songs, “Rock’n’Roll Devil”, the title number from the second album by Swedish Death ‘n’ Roll trio Helltrain, would pronouncedly fetch up somewhere there at one of the places atop. As you most probably surmised, the release at issue is yet another […]

Transcending Bizarre?, a somewhat eccentric Avant-garde Black Metal name from Central Macedonia (Greece), indeed put a huge question mark before me with their second album The Serpent’s Manifolds as I struggled to come up with at least a couple of bands their music could be compared to. Nonetheless, I will dare to assume them to […]

The terms “symphonic”, “progressive”, and “power” are the Blessed Trinity of Metal that accompanies a lot of present-day bands trying their fortune in becoming a new Savatage, Symphony X or Angra. With their three albums, New Jersey-based quintet Suspyre have shown that they are versed in any of the three. While the debut The Silvery […]

No sooner did The Crown become history in 2003 than all those in mourning were soon relieved to know that the band’s vocalist Johan Lindstrand had decided to launch a new project. Dubbing the newborn band as One Man Army & The Undead Quartet, Lindstrand didn’t rack his brains about what kind of metal to […]

Being a supergroup of sorts and harboring under their shining fuselage such personages as Nils K.Rue (Pagan’s Mind, Eidolon), Andy La Rocque (ex – Death, King Diamond) and Magnus Rosèn (ex – Jorn, ex – Hammerfall), X World 5 sound like a crew of extraterrestrial cyborgs who flew to Earth for the sole purpose – […]

“In this world people will always throw stones in the path of your success, it depends on you what you make from them, a wall or a bridge…” Being one of Sweden’s most controversial and widely debated outfits, Evergrey seem to have been ignoring any disrespect they keep getting year in year out, constructing one […]

Failing to catch me upon a couple of initial spins, The Immunity Zone, a fourth release from Sweden’s Progressive Metal eccentrics Andromeda, finally lured me into its trap by means of its huge instrumental sections and extremely impressive songwriting. I always thought that one of the principal attributes of Andromeda’s music was its covert ability […]