For over a decade, I've considered myself to be a metal nerd. Not to brag, but I know a lot about the different metal bands and genres I've listened to all these years. Even when I seem to distance myself from a genre or at least bands from a genre and have done it for a few years, I can still remember many of my experiences with those bands' material. One of those artists is Devin Townsend, a prolific Canadian mastermind in progressive metal.

30 years before this review, he work for Steve Vai, toured with The Wildhearts, and started his own band Strapping Young Lad. Since then, he has made almost 30 albums. Such amazing creativity he has! And now his new album PowerNerd has arrived, serving up his usual prog-metal blended with the alt-metal of his Project album Addicted.

The title opener blasts open the gates of Devin's usual energetic prog-metal, as Hatebreed vocalist Jamey Jasta yells the title, "POWERNERD!!!" The song certainly has that rock-on metal Motorhead vibe, and the lyrics have gotten me hooked too, "Time for life and rock 'n' roll!" After that, "Falling Apart" relaxes into the beauty of Terria, with serene female vocals by Tanya Ghosh. One of the most surprised-filled tracks here is "Knuckledragger", with 80s 8-bit synths and a fun catchy chorus.

"Gratitude" has softer harmony, in contrast to the Hevy Devy business in other tracks. "Dreams of Light" is a short peaceful spacey interlude. It segues to "Ubelia" that drives on as an uplifting anthem. "Jainism" comes back to the modern progressiveness longtime Devy fans know and love.

Power ballad "Younger Lover" continues the motive of exploring a different style. The dramatic grandeur of "Glacier" is quite massive. This throwback to the Sky Blue album shall level up an arena-sized crowd. 6-minute epic "Goodbye" is a joyful rocker in a similar vein to Van Halen, probably done better! That should've been the end of the album, except... "Ruby Quaker" brings back the "comedic bonus track" aspect as a coffee-themed country hoedown. Interesting, though this album would've been perfect without it.

With PowerNerd, Devin Townsend fans are once again reminded of what a progressive metal superhero he is. While I have my own metal heroes, I don't mind revisiting this musical genius once in a while and checking out amazing offerings like this one. Creativity can be anyone's superpower, but he isn't just anyone!

Favorites: "PowerNerd", "Knuckledragger", "Ubelia", "Jainism", "Glacier", "Goodbye"

Norway's In the Woods... originally split in 2000 after releasing three albums that saw them move away from the atmospheric black metal of their critically acclaimed debut, HEart of the Ages, in a more progressive direction that dabbled in the avant-garde. Reforming in 2014, Pure marks their comeback in grand style. Whilst it is also considered as another progressive metal release, Pure moves away from the more avant-garde aspects of the previous works, including ditching the dual male/female vocals found on both Omnio and Strange in Stereo and incorporating far more from gothic and doom metal. This makes for a less ambitious-sounding release, but comparing this with an album like Strange in Stereo is a little like comparing apples and oranges in that they are separate entities distinct from each other, both with their own merits and may as well be by different bands and as such comparing the two iterations of the band is a futile exercise.

As anyone who is familiar with my taste knows, the shift into a more doomy direction is something that is always going to find favour with me. To be clear, though, this isn't a doom metal album as such, it certainly deserves it's progressive metal tagging, but the generally slow- to medium-paced tempos, downtuned guitar and heavy bottom end provided by the robust production, when coupled with James Fogarty's languid vocal style and clear, ringing lead guitar work sets Pure firmly within the gothic metal territory inhabited by the likes of mid- to late-era Paradise Lost. The songs are tightly written, featuring some wonderful and memorable melodies and there are some nice touches, such as the subtle use of keyboards, especially when they reference a psychedelic Hammond organ sound on a couple of tracks, "This Dark Dream" seeing them used to greatest effect and the space rock atmospherics of "Transmission KRS" are one of my album highlights. In fact the psychedelic / space rock connection is such that there is even a point where I could swear the track "Cult of Shining Stars" directly references the riff and melody from Hawkwind's classic from Warriors on the Edge of Time, "Magnu". The performances are terrific, all the members seeming very confident in their own ability to deliver exactly what they envisioned conceptually and the production is beefy, yet retains excellent clarity allowing each member's contributions to be heard.

The first forty minutes are great, but for me, things get even better for the final three tracks when the band are joined by Green Carnation guitarist and long-time collaborator Bjørn Harstad. His guitar work is exceptional here with some truly sublime soloing, the previously referenced, ten-minute instrumental, "Transmission KRS" being an extended showcase of this and his solo towards the end of closing track, "Mystery of the Constellations" is almost up there with Dave Gilmour's "Comfortably Numb" for sheer soaring magnificence.

Of course, because of the modern internet-led obsession with experimentation and the ever-frantic search of metal fans for innovation, Pure's trading of the band's previous "avant-garde" work for well-crafted and performed songs with more traditional structures saw a number of fans bemoaning this turn of events. Well, more fools them, because this is an absolute top-drawer doomy prog metal release that, just sheer quality-wise, brings to mind post-Isa Enslaved and it's incomprehensible to me that a release of such quality could be considered a backward step.

After a fairly lackluster debut, Stratovarius are back!... with another fairly lackluster album.

Now, I like Stratovarius. I really, really like Stratovarius! They're a great band with some very catchy and memorable songs. But that doesn't really show in these early releases. Two major factors that are missing from these early days are prominent keyboards, which serve on 'Twilight Time' as nothing more than the odd sound effect or embellishment here and there, and powerhouse vocalist Timo Kotipelto. Because before that, we have guitarist, songwriter and band leader Timo Tolkki singing! And while he's alright, his voice does get a little grating after a while.

There are a couple of notable moments however. Opening track 'Break the Ice' is fairly good, and tracks like 'The Hands of Time' and 'The Hills Have Eyes' are tolerable, if you can see past the cheesy power metal melodies that they're built around. The music is fast and furious, with some very tight playing and nice, shred guitar solos, but overall, these songs are mostly forgettable, especially when compared to the bands later material.

'Twilight Time' has a few things going for it that stop it from getting a one-star rating, but it’s really best to leave this to the die-hard fans.

'Violated' is a six-song EP by rap metal band Stuck Mojo, released prior to the groups second album, 'Pigwalk', and originally intended only for European audiences.

The disc consists of four studio recordings, including early versions of 'Violated' and 'Back in the Saddle' (titled 'U.B.Otch' here), which would go on to appear on the 'Pigwalk' and 'Rising' albums respectively, (and much-improved, I might add). A Black Sabbath cover, and EP exclusive 'Pizza Man' are also included, and these are probably the only reasons to own this disc. Especially the latter, which is actually a really cool song, despite only being just over two minutes long!

Then there's two live tracks. Personally, I'm always sceptical about early rock releases like this with "live" songs. The quality is very raw, and the audience sound pretty fake, but either way, they're not really songs I'm bothered about.

Stuck Mojo are easily one of my all-time favourite bands, and guitarist Rich Ward is one of my absolute heroes as a musician, but overall, this release is one for the die-hard fans (and surely I'm not the only one!). The music is rough and gritty and the attitude and energy is easily apparent, but there's not really anything here that is either relevant or not improved-upon with later recordings.

Godsmack is still going throughout their Grammy-nominated 3-decade career, though they've retired from making new albums after Lighting Up the Sky. Their first 6 albums had their modern mainstream alt-metal on display, but with When Legends Rise, Sully Erna and the gang decided to turn things around with a more hard rock direction. Sadly, it just doesn't work as much as it would, and not even the songs that go back to their roots can help out.

So yeah, this Massachusetts band consisting of Sully, Tony Rombola (guitars), Robbie Merrill (bass), and drummer Shannon Larkin have some catchy hard rock in their hands. While it's clear where they're going, the album is not without some slight metal heaviness...

The opening title track moves on well in the verses. The chorus, not so much. The kind of chorus that's too radio-focused is the bad kind for full-on metalheads. The next track and first single "Bulletproof" may be too accessible for earlier fans, but it soars much better with its catchy melody. Reminds me of Breaking Benjamin a bit, which must be why my brother likes that one. Also exciting is "Unforgettable", indeed an unforgettable anthem complete with a choir-backed gang chorus.

Then things start falling apart further in "Every Part of Me". That track and "Take It to the Edge" follow the opening track's motive of having promising verses followed then by painfully predictable choruses. That kind of structure can cause weakness to reduce the strength. "Under Your Scars" is an interesting track. It's a power ballad similar to the ones made by Guns n' Roses. And yet I actually find it stronger than those poor previous two tracks. So emotional! "Someday" has better potential with heavy-hitting action, though it's too far out to make highlight status.

"Just One Time" is a repulsive sh*tter. It starts heavy in the first 15 seconds then drops into Johnny Cash-ish country rock. That's rather disappointing. The kind of rock in "Say My Name" is too close to that of Clutch. "Let It Out" take the radio-infused power of the first 3 tracks and makes too much of that for its own good. The closing track "Eye of the Storm" is a heavy anthem like the ones the band made 15 to 20 years prior.

You might think When Legends Rise would be like a rising phoenix, but this phoenix seems more watered down. Erna made his attempt at rebuilding the sound of Godsmack and it seemed like he had fun in the process. Still it doesn't sound like something to please metalheads and longtime Godsmack fans. But would it please my brother? Sure....

Favorites (only songs I enjoy): "Bulletproof", "Unforgettable", "Under Your Scars", "Eye of the Storm"