Well, here is something fun in 2021 I was not expecting.   Hailing from Stavanger Norway Deception play a hybrid stay of technical, melodic death thrash.   As crazy as this sounds.  Picture Yyrkoon mixed Darkane.   Originally called The Art of Deception, The Mire is Deception’s third full length.   Clocking in at over 47 minutes these guys […]

I was late to the Stormtide party as I didn’t hear this Aussie Fantasy metal act’s 2016 debut, Wrath of an Empire until 2020. But When I finally did stumble across it, I very much enjoyed the band’s Asian/Far East inspired take on melodic, symphonic death metal, imbuing an mix of Amon Amarth, Stormlord and […]

We’re at a point in metal’s history where a band reaching the 30-year mark isn’t the rarity is once was. Still impressive! Especially considering the core makeup of Moonspell’s Fernando Ribeiro, keyboardist Pedro Paixao and lead guitarist Ricardo Amorim have been together for very nearly all of it (bassist Aires Pereira has even been around […]

So far in 2021, there’s been some excellent symphonic metal from power metal band Dragony, stalwarts Epica, the orchestral bombast of Abstrakt, the majestic Utbyrd, the epic  tales of Aussies Stormtide, the reformed Phlebotomized,  the avant garde chaos of Exanamis and aa few others as well. One such band is Belgium’s InHuman, who were formed […]

I rather enjoyed the debut from Israel’s Scardust, The Sands of Time.  It was a more progressive, Dream Theater tinged, complex take on the standard Delain/Epica style of female-fronted symphonic metal. It was highlighted by guitarist Yadin Moyal, vocalist Noa Gruman and young keyboardist/orchestral arranger, Alex Nichola. And once again on another concept/story themed metal […]

Ok fuckers, get your pitchforks out, it’s female-fronted metal time. It’s been well documented in these pages that my guilty pleasure is peppy, bombastic female-fronted metal. From long time stalwarts Epica to Delain and newcomers like Scardust and Moonlight Haze, I’m a sucker for a catchy chorus and pretty voice. And one of my favorites, […]

In the before times, earlier this year, I made it out to two shows. One of those was the Shadow of Intent tour which featured Signs of the Swarm, Brand of Sacrifice, and today’s review subject, Inferi. It was the first date of that tour at a really bad ass venue to which I had […]

Almost exactly a year after their debut, De Rerum Natura, Italian Symphonic metallers Moonlight Haze has already cranked out their second album. And you would think it would be a bit rushed and have a drop off in quality, but to their credit, they have kept things on a predictable, but high level with Lunaris. […]

The Artisan Era is really starting to come into its own as a label, and is starting to hone in on a pretty specific sound. With bands like Inferi, Equipoise, Warforged, The Odious Construct, Arkaik, Aethereus, Oubliette, Flub, Enfold Darkness, Mordant Rapture and The Zenith Passage, the label certainly has some of the better technical […]

2019 is turning out to be a banner year for Power Metal- all the heavy hitters like Sabaton, Gloryhammer, Battle Beast, Beast in Black and two Rhapsody related projects have all dropped excellent albums, and next week, genre grand fathers Hammerfall release a new album, and  then later this year Dwarven warriors Wind Rose drop […]

Progressive, symphonic Israeli metal band for fans of Delain, Between the Buried and Me, Dream Theater and Orphaned Land? Mastered by Jens Bogren (Opeth, Devin Townsend, Amon Amarth, Amorphis) ? Ok, I’m interested. Scardust’s debut album, Sands of Time was originally self released in 2017, but has been picked up by M Theory Audio (Into […]

****We interrupt your regularly scheduled slate of death and black metal to bring you this female fronted symphonic/power metal review*****  I’m a very cyclic music listener and reviewer, I do a lot of my listening and reviewing in batches; a 4 or 5 death metal albums in a row, 4 or 5 black metal albums […]