Through no conscious effort on my part, I completely missed the Blaze-era albums that Maiden put out in the 90s. The fact that I have never heard or read a good word about that period anywhere has ensured that I have never bothered to find out if I was missing anything at all. I guess I am comfortable for once in not knowing if the criticism was justified or not. As such, listening to Brave New World is essentially me listening to the follow up to Fear of the Dark. Acknowledging that this approach does neglect an important comparator, it is still more than a valid reference to base my review on and arguably is unique amongst the Bayley-bashing that normally goes on.

Fear of the Dark was poor, making up for none of the lost ground that No Prayer for the Dying sacrificed before it. In my review scenario then, if I am not treating Brave New World as a standalone release, it has an easy task. The bar was already low, let’s be honest, before BB entered the fray. Brave New World feels like it would have been a great opportunity to kick on from the duller years and make this a proper reunion album that realised once again the glorious melodies that Maiden had for so many years been able to consistently deliver. And you know what? They almost get there. In fact, no, in fairness they do get there for some of the album. The first three tracks are consistent winners, well-written and hooky as you like. Later, too there are treats like ‘The Mercenary’, ‘The Nomad’ and ‘Out of the Silent Planet’. Whilst I could not go so far as to say the reunion is held together by the same glue that made them such a strong songwriting machine for so many years (Bruce does sound a little disconnected at times), it is encouraging to find some enjoyment from an artist I had all but written off some years before this album had been released.

Consistency is my main gripe with Brave New World. Tracks like ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Fallen Angel’ are just not of the same quality as the above-mentioned ones. The terrible closing track is perhaps one of the worst tracks I think Maiden have ever released and I can only guess that they simply had little other material to bring for consideration given the track is frankly laughably bad. Has this album managed to pique my interest into any later releases? Well, yes and no. I won’t be dashing off to jump into Dance of Death by any means but I have been able to take heart from some semblance of quality still being present in one of my teenage go to bands of yesteryear.

This Canadian duo first came to my attention around a decade ago through their 2016 "Marked by Malice" demo which I quite liked at the time. They've since become a mainstay of my war metal listening habits as their proper releases all took things to another level from that initial release but this is the first Profane Order record to receive a proper review &/or rating from me for one reason or another. Like many of the sizable Canadian troop of war metal bands, Profane Order is made up of just the two members in multi-instrumentalist & Spectral Wound drummer Illusory & guitarist/bassist L.A. who enjoys his very first appearance on a Profane Order release here. Profane Order is very much the passion project of Illusory though who has been consistently filling the world with hatred, hypocrisy & death since 2015. "One Nightmare Unto Another" is very fine example of that too.

For Profane order's second full-length, we find the duo partnering up in the studio with Illusory's Spectral Wound band mate & guitarist Patrick McDowall to produce a record that nicely balances the abrasive qualities of all good war metal with just enough clarity to keep everything audible. In saying that, the wall of sound is still quite compacted with Illusory's face-melting vocals & pummeling blast beats kept very closely tied to the rhythm guitars, although the fairly uneventful guitar solos do tend to stand out in the mix. When the chaos reaches its peak, you can struggle to make out the riffs for a few seconds but you're generally given the time to successfully pull them out of the musical cesspool before the duo change course again (as they regularly do throughout the short twenty-five minute run time).

With just seven songs on offer, "One Nightmare Unto Another" has a tendency to fly by in no time, although that's not generally a concern for a war metal release as your ears can only take this sort of battering for so long. The tracklisting is extremely consistent though so it's very hard to select highlights with the vast majority of the tracks being of a very similar standard. The one that stands out to me is actually the shortest of them in "Suppression", although I really enjoy closer "Of Bile & Malice" too. Each of the songs expresses a similar musical theme with both the black metal & death metal components playing a strong role in the holistic message, although a few of the thrashier riffs do display a strong affiliation with Slayer's classic era too. Despite that, it would be quite easy to simply label "One Nightmare Unto Another" as blackened death metal as it's so clearly a combination of the two but the sheer chaos of its execution sees it always maintaining its war metal integrity.

War metal nuts will no doubt enjoy the experience because its everything it claims to be on the tin with the outstanding cover art being very much in line with what you've come to expect from a high-quality war metal release. If you were already a fan of the group through releases like 2017's "Tightened Noose of Sanctimony" E.P. or their 2019 debut album "Slave Morality" then you'll no doubt find "One Nightmare Unto Another" to offer a similar level of appeal. If pushed, I'd probably suggest that I regard those two releases as being just slightly ahead of this one but there's not a lot between them & I've thoroughly enjoyed being flayed to within an inch of my life by Profane Order once again.

For fans of Antichrist Siege Machine, Antichrist & Pig's Blood.

It is hard for me to remember the last time I had anticipation for a black metal album. Part of the reason for that is newer acts have been boring it up with many of the same tired trends in modern black metal that have left a sour mark on the genre for years. I've certainly had records surprise me over the past year and a half, but the joy of expectations (and having them met) is a feat seldom felt. That's where Saidan comes in.

Coming into my radar in 2024 with Visual Kill: The Blossoming of Psychotic Depravity they left a noticeable mark after a year that was depraved of decent black metal. The combination of black metal with j-rock, with divergences into punk and thrash, it made for an uplifting release that was packed to the brim with riffs, melodic motifs and solid production. This time around, Saidan have moved away from the indie's and are signed with Avantgarde Music. With the transition comes their longest album to date, but also their most diverse and passionate.

And once again, Saidan nailed it. In fact I might even call this their best. The main riffing in the guitar is grandiose as it goes back and forth between soaring melodic leads and devastating chugging rhythms. The bass is prominent most of the time and gives the low end of the mix some weight and makes tracks like "Razorblade Temptation" and "Kara No Bara" unbelievable forward momentum. I love how the percussion is performed here; the black metal blast beats are strong and precise, but the switchbacks to the punk skank beats, while the guitars continue the same riffing as before, helps grow each tune to tremendous heights. The vocals are ferocious and relentless, while still leaving the listener with enough room to breathe and reflect.

The riffing on Fangdriller: Scars Beneath Memory's Wrist is in top form. The recurring motifs on "Ethereal Blood", "Her Lips Pressed Against a Coffin Nail" and "Kara No Bara" are some of the best I've heard in a while. The slower transitional periods are a wonderful change of pace on a normally blistering album. The interludes between "Stained Glass Sin/Fang Driller" and "Beat to Death" are stunning, however they give the impression that they belong to the overall song structure as well.

As a whole album, Fangdriller does nearly everything right as it flows between different song styles. It is still a black metal album, so variation can feel limited at times, however the revolving key changes prevent the album from becoming too derivative. And each melodic lead has just enough variation from the songs around it to give each one a fighting chance to stand up and be remembered. In summary, Fangdriller is the kind of black metal album that will knock you back with its intensity and determination, but will keep you wanting to come back for more with a impressive run of killer melodies and punchy riffs.

Best Songs: Razorblade Temptation, Immersed by Eternity's Blade, Kara No Bara, Her Lips Pressed Against a Coffin Nail, Ethereal Blood, Beat to Death

For Fans Of: Svalbard, Stormlord, Deafheaven

You know those Instagram/TikTok musicians who declare "We're bringing back 80s thrash!" Yeah, don't be like those guys. If you're gonna bring back an earlier sound, you gotta actually do what has made a genre great in the past, and whether or not it actually brings it all back is the listener's opinion. Don't say, just do. Fortunately, there's one band who, alongside Static Dress, may just be restoring the greatness of 2000s metalcore/post-hardcore, Concealer.

This Room Could Be Heaven is the band's debut after a couple EPs. All of the melody and emotion that has made metalcore and emo 20 to 25 years ago is in here, while making room for some modern heaviness in the riffing.

We already get some vicious intensity in "Vanity, a Fractured Promise", blended with ethereal melody. "Claymore" is an explosive track that would blow you away especially when played through one of the big loudspeakers. Another chaotic standout "Color Slowly Fading" throws in some sincere melody here and there. It sounds almost like if Skycamefalling didn't split up and instead make a second album.

Then there's an electronic interlude in "I", adding in some metal at the end to segue to the next track. "II" is a short heavy track that brings forward some of the electronics from that interlude. Next track "A Quiet Ending" is anything but quiet, showing how well the band master their formula.

Another interlude-ish track, "The Stillness Between Us" has some decent ambient trip-hop. "And the Sunlight Spoke" is one of the best tracks of this emo/metalcore revival. I can listen to that highlight as many times as I want and not get bored. "In This Moment" is one more brief interlude, nothing to do with the similarly-named band. The closing title track pretty much summarizes the greatness of this album and shall leave their listeners wanting more.

So would it be appropriate for Concealer to declare "We're bringing back 2000s emo/metalcore!" with this album? Again, it all depends on the listener's opinion. For me, I say it's a promising contribution to the revival. If they can make it big with this one and future albums, this could be the scene's new era!

Favorites: "Vanity, a Fractured Promise", "Color Slowly Fading", "A Quiet Ending", "And the Sunlight Spoke", "This Room Could Be Heaven"

Oh dear! What have we here I hear you ask? Well, this Brisbane-based trio were one of the earliest metal bands to come of my adopted home state of Queensland back with 1985's awfully titled four-song "Daddy's Little Girl" E.P. being their first proper release. Vice weren't exactly a household name in this country so I didn't get around to checking this relatively unknown release out until earlier this decade &, even then, it was only out of sheer completism. I would suggest that the cover art alone would have scared off the majority of punters from this century but, you know what, someone's gotta do it so I recently decided to take the plunge by returning for a second helping, purely in the name of the glorious Aussie metal scene that I love so much.

The horribly titled "Daddy's Little Girl" was released on the completely insignificant Sundown Records label right in the middle of the 1980's. One look at that cover will probably tell you that Vice were at least loosely associated with the glam metal movement &, if that was the case, then you'd be correct because a good half of their sound fits that description pretty comfortably. However, they also possessed a much tougher heavy metal edge at times & opening track "Morpheus" will no doubt have you second guessing yourself with its powerful, down-tuned, bottom-string chug riff that's been pulled straight off of Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave". It's a great opener actually & I really enjoy it. It also sounds very different to other three tracks on the release. "Morpheus" is immediately followed by a very commercial sounding & misguided cover version of The Supremes "Stop ...in the Name of Love" which is certainly well performed & energetic but doesn't do a lot for me personally. The lengthier "Into the Night" sees things descending further with front man Peter Sharman's vocals struggling to find his feet amidst the glam/heavy metal instrumentation before the more than decent closer "Thriller Between the Sheets" rewards our patience with an up-tempo heavy metal feel that reminds me a lot of the punk-infused electricity of Iron Maiden's debut album. The variation in approaches across the four songs tells the clear story of a young band who were still trying to decide on what musical direction they should take so it can come across as unfocused but it does keep you on your toes nonetheless.

The production job on "Daddy's Little Girl" is more than acceptable for such an underground release of the time as it presents the band's strengths quite well. Peter Sharman would appear to be the main attraction with his big, masculine, powerful tone tending to make up for his occasional pitchiness with sheer charisma. The guitars of Dr Dave Warner (unfortunately not the former Australian opening batsman) are loud & proud while drummer Scott Allard would appear to be influenced just as much by hard rock as he is heavy metal, alternating between the two across the four songs. My enjoyment does tend to vary depending on how successful Sharman is at tackling each track though &, when he's in his element, Vice can be well worth hearing. I do think they were a significantly better heavy metal band than a glam metal one though so I've found myself enjoying the two more metallic inclusions a lot more than the two glammier ones. In fact, Vice don't really sound much like a glam metal act on the two songs that bookend this release which can only be a good thing in my opinion. Unfortunately, the two tracks that make up the middle of the E.P. do exist which has led to me deciding that "Daddy's Little Girl" probably isn't for me so I can't say that I'd recommend it to members who are looking for a hidden Aussie gem.

For fans of Twisted Sister, Axatak & early Kings Cross.