Back in 1987 I was still discovering what Thrash Metal was. I was familiar with Metallica and Megadeth and when the opportunity came, I found myself buying Helloween’s Keeper of the Seven Keys part 1 at the local mall in Shreveport, Louisiana. Holy shit, not only were these guys fast as a fucking shark; they […]

“Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you […]

Italy’s Dwarven-themed Power metal stalwarts, Wind Rose is back with album number 7, following up 2022’s excellent Warfront, which in my opinion was the best thing they have released. I’ve been a fan of the band since 2017s Stonehymn, where they really locked into the whole Dwarven metal persona, costumes, and themes.  Since then, they […]

Power Metal has been part of my life since Helloween and their Keeper of the Seven Keys albums. A long time, considering that that first album was ’85-’86 I think. Manowar was around then, wearing animal skins and looking absolutely ridiculous. I confused (and wrongly assumed) that Hammerfall were Manowar clones. It might’ve been the […]

It’s been a few weeks since my deep dive into Helloween’s back catalog and then the killer album from MadHatter showed up, and now I’m going deeper into the Power Metal void with Shadows of Steel and their searing fourth full-length Twilight II. This is a ass-kicker, fast when it needs to be and harmonious […]

Sometimes I find myself needing a break from Death Metal, Black Metal, and those related sub-genres and I look for something heavy, but different. So the other day I went down a Helloween rabbit hole, Keeper of the Seven Keys 1&2, Walls of Jericho; those are two prime examples of precision German Power Metal, while […]

This Finnish power metal band has been around since the 90’s and I have seen their logo and ads for decades, however, I have never heard them until now, with Clear Cold Beyond which is their 14th album – holy smokes!  After listening to their back catalog in order to compare this to their prior […]

When it comes to Theocracy, I have a history. The idea is a deeper one. The band is a bit of one as well. Several years ago I was in what was one of my favorite establishments, a little record store called Magnolia Thunderpussy in Columbus, OH. They happened to be playing some epic power […]

While I guess it’s fair to say 2020 will be remembered for… other reasons… I, personally, will remember it as a year that saw the battle for modern Heavy Metal supremacy really get into full swing. Glorious, chainmailed, axe-wielded swing. There were the up-and-coming warriors like Black Soul Horde, Stygian Crown and Meurtrières entering the arena to […]

International (Canada/ US/ Australia) act Dragoncorpse, has garnered quite a bit of on line hype with their take on deathcore meets power metal and anime (self-described power core), with three rip-roaring singles,  as well as a rather amusing online presence full of memes and self-deprecating humor. Well, now it’s time to see if the hype […]

Much like my porn, my tastes in power metal are very specific. And also, both usually involve cosplaying, elves, dwarves and….. dragons?… anyway I digress…. What I’m trying to say is that there are only a few power metal bands I truly enjoy, and one of them is Sweden’s Twilight Force. Heck, 2019s Dawn of […]

I have a problem with power metal in that I miss all the great albums until after the year is over and therefore am unable to include them on my year end list. However, I did happen to catch the promo for Judicator’s new one on Prosthetic called The Majesty of Decay, and I am […]

At Teeth of the Divine, we all have our own individual tastes and personal preferences when it comes to metal – a point which has, unfortunately, led to some words we wish we hadn’t said and no shortage of blood left on each of our hands. Literally. We’ve made some… mistakes… ANYWAY, one thing that […]

Alright. Well. I’m not gonna get too specific, but I’ll tell you that outside of Teeth of the Divine, I don’t live a terribly exciting or spectacular life. I’m not “living my dream” or working some self-made passion project for a living. This isn’t a complaint, I have a steady job that I’m grateful for, […]

Listen, when it comes to power metal, like my porn tastes, I have very specific, odd niches that I enjoy. For some reason, I skip right past the ‘normal’ power metal like Primal Fear, Firewind, Hammerfall, Iced Earth and such and dive headfirst in with unfettered glee into the uber cheesiest, symphonic cosplay-loving, LARPing, cape-wearing […]

It’s Friday night. Most of your friends or colleagues are getting ready to head out on the town and grab a few drinks, listen to some awful cover band for a $10 cover charge, hook up with a random stranger in a bathroom stall while railing a line or two off the back of a […]

Italy’s premier Dwarven-themed power metallers are back with album number 5, and although I only discovered them after 2017s Stonehymn, (where they truly leaned into the Dwarven imagery and themes), they have been one of my favorite power metal bands since. 2019s Wintersaga brought us the youtube hit and earworm “Diggy Hole”, (sitting at 34 […]

I’ve been a big fan of Helion Prime since their 2016 self-titled debut. Their brand of familiar, but subtly unique Power Metal has always landed really well with me and, at least in my objectively worthless opinion, the band has been criminally underappreciated over their 6-year career. For me, there have been two things that […]

There’s something that feels a little… I dunno… strange about listening to Sabaton these days. Right? To be fair, it’s not like war hasn’t been a constant part about being on planet Earth. But WORLD War? Jeez, seems sort of… archaic, no? Making bombastic, rousing power metal about heroism and battlefield glory and all that […]

A lot is said about the element of surprise when it comes to war tactics. You catch an enemy sleeping, and the impact of your attack is likely to be that much more devastating. Of course, this principal isn’t solely applicable to warfare. Take, for example, Seattle Power/Traditional Heavy Metal outfit Greyhawk and their 2020 […]

I am not overly familiar with Iceland’s music scene.  I know some quality death metal bands and maybe 1 or 2 black metal bands, but for the most part that country is not swarming with a gigantic scene, as far as I know.  As for power metal, unless I saw Power Paladin were from Iceland, […]

I had to check and see if this second album from Spain’s customed troupe, Crusade of Bards wasn’t on Napalm Records a few times, just to be sure.  They have ‘that ‘ sort of sound with symphonic, female-fronted operatic bombastic, gothic-tinged metal, and a few heavier elements (gruffs death metal vocals etc) sprinkled in here […]

OK soooooooooooo listen – I’m not exactly what anyone would call an expert in the world of electronic music, or even more metal-leaning industrial music, for that matter. No hate or disrespect or anything like that at all, it’s just not an avenue I’ve gone down much to this point in my life. With that […]

As I’ve stated many times before in these very pages, I’m very picky about my heavy/power metal. It’s not a genre I generally really enjoy or get into, but I’ve certainly come to appreciate the likes of Blind Guardian, WindRose, Dragony, Fairyland, Thy Majestie, Grail Knights, Pathfinder, Twilight Force,  and the 23 Rhapsody related bands, […]

At the risk of discrediting the review right from the get-go, I’m just gonna come right out and say this: I’m a Black Soul Horde fan. I fucking love these guys. To my ears, last year’s Land of Demise was a sleeper pick for Traditional Metal album of the year, going toe-to-toe and blow-for-blow with […]