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Tobias Sammet's Avantasia - "Here Be Dragons"
Here's what Blabbermouth says about it:
" EDGUY frontman Tobias Sammet's long-running AVANTASIA project will release its tenth studio album, "Here Be Dragons", on February 28, 2025 via Napalm Records. In addition to absolute AVANTASIA essentials such as spellbinding choirs and theatrical symphonic metal elements, Sammet surprises fans old and new with plenty of intriguing fresh soundscapes. "Here Be Dragons" gives the celebrated AVANTASIA sound that has been carefully crafted over a quarter of a century an exciting and powerful spin. The new album is the most consistent and concise piece of art that the band has ever crafted.
AVANTASIA's impressive success story has seen nine previous studio albums (including the 2019 offering "Moonglow" that charted at No. 1 in Germany),gold awards, hundreds of millions of streams as well as headline shows at all important metal festivals and worldwide sold-out arena tours with tens of thousands of devoted fans. AVANTASIA is not showing any signs of slowing down; soon after the release of "Here Be Dragons", the band will head out on an extensive arena tour across Europe, promising to deliver fans an immersive experience with their biggest and most epic production ever.
Sammet comments: "This new album carries the most adventurous and bold spirit my music has had in decades. And it's rather reckless, fearless, powerful, and uplifting and not introverted at all. While my previous albums allowed me to get a lot off my chest, this time I dove headfirst into the creative flood, crafting ten discrete, musical pictures, that miraculously merged into what I believe is the tightest chapter in AVANTASIA's history. I did everything exactly how I wanted it, approaching the album with unrelenting determination and a carefree attitude that was reminiscent of my early days way before the Metal Opera thing, when I felt unstoppable and let instinct just write songs. Right now I'm bursting with energy and can't wait to unleash 'Here Be Dragons' and then kick off the big tour with our new stage. We'll present the new material alongside our classics and some rarities in the most spectacular stage show AVANTASIA has ever delivered. An early Merry Christmas, everyone!"
In grand AVANTASIA tradition, the new full-length is rich in vivid storytelling and cinematic atmospheres, not to mention the highest level of musicianship. Opening track "Creepshow" is without a doubt one of the catchiest songs in their career. The energizing future hit truly welcomes the listener into the new era of AVANTASIA and will be an integral part of the band's spectacular live shows. In contrast, the incredible title track "Here Be Dragons" is a classic AVANTASIA song, and, at almost nine minutes, is by far the longest on the album. The cinematic dark soundscapes of "The Witch" captivate and support the song's storyline perfectly. Emotional, multifaceted vocal performances mesmerize on "Avalon", while the heavy metal number "Against The Wind" serves as further proof of the versatility of AVANTASIA's sound. Remaining well-balanced and cohesive, "Here Be Dragons" is undeniably AVANTASIA's most powerful album so far.
The 10-track offering was written and composed in its entirety by Tobias Sammet himself, produced and recorded by Tobias Sammet together with Sascha Paeth, mixed by Sascha Paeth and mastered by Michael Rodenberg. The stunning cover art was once again created by acclaimed British fantasy artist Rodney Matthews. "Here Be Dragons" marks another masterpiece in the AVANTASIA catalog, leaving both fans and critics speechless and proving the band's standing as a main force in the world of rock and metal!
"Here Be Dragons" is now available for pre-order in several exciting physical editions, with bonus albums included in select limited formats, like a 3CD hardcover artbook with 96 pages, over 160 pictures, drawings of Rodney Matthews and extensive stories to accompany the music and pictures. Make sure to secure yours and stay tuned for the first single that will be released very soon.
"Here Be Dragons" track listing:
01. Creepshow
02. Here Be Dragons
03. The Moorland At Twilight
04. The Witch
05. Phantasmagoria
06. Bring On The Night
07. Unleash The Kraken
08. Avalon
09. Against The Wind
10. Everybody's Here Until The End
AVANTASIA's ninth album, "A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society", was released in October 2022 via Nuclear Blast. The disc was the follow-up to "Moonglow", which came out in 2019.
"A Paranormal Evening With The Moonflower Society" was produced by Sammet with AVANTASIA guitar player Sascha Paeth. The cover artwork was created by Swedish illustrator Alexander Jansson.
Since its beginnings in 1999, AVANTASIA's past releases have featured international stars such as Alice Cooper, Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker (SCORPIONS), Sharon Den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION), Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer (KISS), Eric Martin (MR. BIG), SAXON's Biff Byford, TWISTED SISTER frontman Dee Snider and many more."
Fester Fanatics - "What Choice Do We Have?" (1987)
I took my first tentative steps out into the Sydney metal scene as an enthusiastic 15 year-old during the very early 1990's, buoyed by the discovery of a local act by the name of Mortal Sin in 1989 who had seen the wool being pulled away from my eyes in regard to the potential for a local band to create high-quality extreme metal. I very quickly found myself attending every all-ages gig I could find & learning the rub of the land as to who were the key players in a fairly limited market in comparison to the other major Australian cities. One band that was always floating around was a silly bunch of rapscallions by the name of Fester Fanatics who were connected to a couple of other notable Sydney acts at the time. These guys were somewhat of a live staple around those parts in those days & were strongly connected to the thrash metal scene that I'd become so enamored with in the late 1980's. It was around 1990/91 that I became aware of Fester Fanatics' 1987 debut album "What Choice Do We Have?" through the older skater kids at my high school & I remember finding the links to thrash & crossover to be a little bit tenuous at the time. I was already a fan of Massive Appendage (i.e. the novelty thrash metal band that a few of the Fester Fanatics' members were a part of & the act I believe is responsible for producing the very first conventional thrash metal album to come out of Australia) but this record sounded a fair bit less thrashy to my young ears. It also seemed to offer a fair bit less enjoyment so I cast it aside after a few listens & haven't returned to it since. It's time to rectify that today though as I revisit this very underground record from this seminal Sydney metal band.
"What Choice Do We Have?" was recorded & mixed on 8-track 1/2'" tape at Fatboy Studios some time in 1987 with the album being released on 8th December that year. It was self-produced by guitarist Darren McCormack (aka Jed Starr of Massive Appendage, Kings Cross & Killing Time) which would appear to have been a mistake on the evidence here because this record sounds raw & noisy as fuck & not in a good way. In fact, I'd suggest that any chance the album had of being successful was nullified by this element alone if I'm being honest. The vocals of notorious front man Alfie Fester (who the band was named after thanks to Alfie's signature bald-headed look) are also pretty rough & a long way from accomplished. That probably doesn't matter as much as it might for other bands though as there's no doubt at all that Fester Fanatics didn't take themselves too seriously. We may not have the blatant sexual references that Massive Appendage's "The Severed Erection" album built its reputation on but there are four tongues firmly wedged into the cheeks of the four band members here.
Although it's known as a thrash record, "What Choice Do We Have?" sees Fester Fanatics taking a whole bunch of creative directions with the most prominent component clearly coming from traditional heavy metal which is the only primary genre tag I can justify here. Just listen to the obvious references to Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave" on the silly album low point that is "My Mama Wears Army Boots" for a clear example of Fester Fanatics' influences. The eighteen tracks do include a couple of tracks each from the thrash metal & crossover thrash genres but it's simply not enough to justify a thrash label for the album overall. I think people tend to want to reach for the crossover tag based purely on the extensive use of gang vocals & the general silliness in the song-writing. Across the album you'll also find moments that call on Anthrax-style rap metal, speed metal that sounds like sped-up Iron Maiden, the glam metal of Jed Starr, his brother Snuff Beastly & drummer Tubby Wadsworth's other band King's Cross, hardcore punk & even some dalliances with smooth jazz & jazz fusion. It doesn't make much sense from a creative point of view but then I'm not sure it's supposed to either. It's all about having a bit of drunken fun with your mates & it no doubt served that purpose at the time too.
The quality of the lengthy tracklisting is questionable though to be fair. I quite like about half of it but wouldn't say that there's anything I feel like returning to at any point either. There's not anything terribly awful included though so it's kind of a middling record in many respects. The best moments are no doubt when Jed let's it rip with some stunning lead guitar work which makes the rest of the record sound decidedly amateurish in comparison. Jed has always been an awesome guitar player & there are a number of moments spread across the album that highlight that beautifully, particularly his unaccompanied Eddie Van Halen-style solo piece in "Musicians Choice" which is arguably the best thing on the album. I definitely enjoy Fester Fanatics' thrashier moments more than their more commercially accessible heavy metal material too but that's no surprise really, is it? I just don't think there's enough of it here to keep me interested with some of the chuggy heavy metal tunes sounding a little phoned in, even if the band members all prove themselves to be quite capable.
At the end of the day, there has to be also-rans & "What Choice Do We Have?" falls well & truly into that camp as there are much better early Australian metal releases than this one. It's not in the same class as the Massive Appendage album in my opinion & I don't think too many classic heavy metal fans are gonna find all that much appeal in it either as Alfie's vocals simply aren't strong enough to compete in that space. The only place I see this release fitting in is in the novelty record market which is extremely niche & is not really any of my business.
For fans of Massive Appendage, King's Cross & Scatterbrain.
3/5
Taramis - "Queen of Thieves" (1987)
Melbourne progressive metal outfit Taramis hold somewhat of a prestigious position in the story of Australian metal. They were arguably the first metal act of any note to start messing with progressive influences which gave them a distinct point of difference while still maintaining enough of a traditional heavy metal component to ensure that they didn't lose any of the old-schoolers along the way. I didn't become aware of them until their 1991 sophomore album "Stretch of the Imagination" which I regard as being their finest work however my recent investigations into the early roots of the Aussie metal scene have seen me finally exploring their 1985 "Blood and Honour" demo tape & 1987 debut album "Queen of Thieves", neither of which are as thrashy as the band would eventually become. The Prowler demo was a decent enough heavy metal release although it was a lot less expansive & more conventional than the Taramis releases. It was clear that there was some talent there though so I was interested to see how that would develop on "Queen of Thieves". It certainly has too as this is a far more sophisticated release than the demo ever aspired to be.
The impact of Taramis' debut album is a little restricted due to an overly raw production job that was fairly typical of underground releases of the time. It was recorded at Saturn Studios in Melbourne with unknown producer George Simak who isn't exactly a household name in the local metal scene. The results are pretty much as you would expect too with the guitars sounding tinny & far too far back in the mix while the vocals of operatic front man Shane Southby boom out over the top with no restraint whatsoever. It's a fairly unforgiving position for the theatrical Southby whose soaring, air-raid siren style, high-pitched voice often struggles for control, even spilling over into the pitchy & cringe-worthy on tracks like "The Chosen" where he completely ruins what was otherwise a very solid progressive metal number from an instrumental point of view. He's a lot more successful on other tracks though & I've found myself enjoying a good three quarters of the tracklisting with heavy metal closer "My Life" being the only other failure. Taramis are at their best when they're at their most adventurous & prove themselves to be highly capable musicians along the way. Iron Maiden have clearly been a major inspiration for them & you can easily pick up the influence of their more progressive mid-to-late 80's records on "Queen of Thieves", particularly on the basslines of Danny Komorr who forms a formidable partnership with former Nothing Sacred drummer Dave Browne. The guitar solos of Craig Robertson aren't the most polished or theoretically correct you'll find but they are always interesting & fit the purpose quite well. It's kinda hard to pigeon-hole Taramis' sound at this point though as they tend to jump around a bit but I think a progressive power metal tag is probably the best fit, despite the consistent presence of traditional heavy metal. I think Southby's vocal style simply points me in the direction of power metal every time I question myself & there's a similar feel to Manilla Road in the atmospheres at times too.
The raw production job does limit how far Taramis can take you to an extent but I've found more than enough appeal in "Queen of Thieves" to keep me interested. It's probably just lacking those couple of classic tracks to draw your attention away from its flaws with only the excellent progressive metal anthem "Doesn't Seem" pushing up into second tier territory. The rest of the album largely sits back in the third tier for this type of music but it was an admirable first-up effort for Taramis nonetheless. History has shown that it did just enough to afford them a rare status amongst a local scene that was still quite immature in terms of the more progressive end of metal so it deserves its place in Australian metal folklore.
For fans of Adramelch, Iron Maiden & Manilla Road.
3.5/5
I've been hammering these three early maiden classics all day and raising the horns to mark the passing of Paul di'Anno. RIP.
How's it going, fellas? As we welcome the first days of October, the noble Guardian Knights are eager to hear about a new stronghold worthy of their graceful protection. This time, it is my honor to be their knight captain, so I've striven to select an aptly grand mission in this year's debut full-length from US old-school heavy metallers Savage Oath, "Divine Battle".
Heavy metal stands strong, fellas! I find it properly heartwarming that, despite its more than fifty-year existence, the subgenre is still capable of spawning genuinely delightful records. The album boasts a proper, gritty, old-school sound, catchy, triumphant choruses, and even a slight hint of doom, mostly due to the vocal performance that, to me, sounds a lot like how Ozzy would sound if he could actually sing :]. Lately, I simply can't stop listening to this beauty. If all that sounds good to you, dive right in!
https://metal.academy/releases/50773
Hey there, Rex. If you're up for any ideas for your possible "powercore" (power metal/melodic metalcore) band, the new Jeris Johnson album Dragonborn is for you. Particularly the first half in which most of the songs from that section genuinely exemplify this rare epic modern combo.
I'm back for monthly Feature Releases and I wanted to shine some light on a modern band attempting a done-to-death retro sound that has stood the test of time for me at this point. Canadian Heavy Metal band Riot City screamed onto the scene with their 2019 debut Burn the Night, complete with a strong, classic high-pitched vocalist and a nice amount of energy from the rest of the band. Despite that, it wasn't until a vocalist shift for 2022's Electric Elite that this band started getting some serious playtime for me, since I personally find this album to be a strict upgrade over their debut.
If you're looking for a classic Heavy Metal fix this month, feel free to check this one out and let us know what you think below.
This came up on facebook, and I decided to take a gander. I don't usually go for this... I usually hate this, but I found one that I would actually call a great album. You get symphony, operatic soprano-but I like her voice much more than most, and a guitarist doing his best Yngwie Malmsteen impersonation. It has some kind of X-Factor I can't put my finger on. Check it out: THey only have a little over 1,000 monthly listeners so this is still under the radar.
Well this next album is gonna cause some divisive discussion...
The most essential part of the history of Rainbow involves two members. First off, there's the band's main founder, ex-Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. He and Deep Purple were touring with support from blues/hard rock band Elf. That band was known as an early one for the legendary Dio (RIP). Impressive by Dio's mighty magical voice, Blackmore invited him for a different project, one that would become a great success, resulting in Blackmore leaving Deep Purple and Dio disbanding Elf.
As you can hear in Rainbow's 1975 debut, their hard rock sound combines the blues of Elf with the early metal of Deep Purple. Yeah, I'm saying it, this album is metal! Though their metal side would be more pronounced in their second album. But with a large amount of blues/hard rock in the album as well, I say the rock/metal ratio is 50:50.
"Man on the Silver Mountain" is a classic opener, right from that memorable riff. It's the most metallic sound here while combining their heavy metal side with hard rock. And that's just the start of the variation that would occur in the rest of the album. What makes that track the fresh classic highlight is how guitar-driven it is, as Blackmore slides through his riffing and soloing. Dio's vocals help give that guitarwork more atmosphere. More of that top-notch guitar playing appears in "Self Portrait" which, I suppose you can consider a power ballad, but to me, it has more of a hard rock/proto-doom metal (doom rock?) song of early Black Sabbath. The bass can be heard greatly, and the lyrics have poetic appeal. "Black Sheep of the Family" has the nice prog-ish hard rock speed of the band whose song they were covering, Quatermass. Good, but not spectacular.
Then we have a more obscure yet underrated track in "Catch the Rainbow". This can work greatly live with the clean guitar and vocals of Ritchie and Dio, respectively. It's more effectively that way for a slow blues rock ballad. Would the band's later vocalists like Joe Lynn Turner and Ronnie Romero be able to master singing that song as greatly as Dio? Didn't think so... The more exotic hard rock/metal sound comes back in "Snake Charmer", with a serene guitar solo. "The Temple of the King" has cleaner mid-tempo blues rock that continues to have the torch carried by Dio's vocals and Blackmore's guitars.
"If You Don’t Like Rock ‘N Roll" is OK, but their attempt to push their usual hard rock back a couple decades into the rock 'n roll era just doesn't sound right for me, especially that annoying piano. They assumed right, I don't like early rock 'n roll. "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" is a mid-tempo hard rock/heavy metal march. One more highlight is an upbeat instrumental cover of "Still I'm Sad" by The Yardbirds. They take that band's blues/hard rock sound and give it a more metallic edge.
Other than that "Rock 'N Roll" track detracted a half-star from what would've been a perfect 5-star rating for the album, the music for Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow is all in amazing performance and mood. Although it is a rock/metal album, the more metal fans might find the songs laid back. Despite that, the heavy energy is what keeps things rolling. I must admit, I wasn't expecting that kind of approach, so consider me surprised. I never usually enjoy 70s music, but the "Roots of Metal" project is going mostly smoothly for me so far. If you enjoy Dio and Deep Purple, you might get a great kick out of this as much as their second more solidifying album. Catch that rainbow!
Favorites: "Man on the Silver Mountain", "Self Portrait", "Catch the Rainbow", "Snake Charmer", "Still I'm Sad"
4.5/5
Metal enough in my opinion: yes
It's been 5 months since I last listened to Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, so I decided to give it a little more listening today. Now back then I was in the zone of checking out albums from the 70s in this project, and many of the albums I was listening to at the time sounded metal enough for my ears, and my thoughts carried over to this Rainbow album that made me think similarly to what those other bands/albums have done. Then in this recent revisit after listening to and reviewing a lot of modern metal albums, I've realized that this Rainbow album sounds nothing like any release I would consider metal. I guess listening to an album at a different time can trick my mind, huh? So I now consider Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow more of a blues/hard rock record, and my rating has massively dropped down to 2.5/5. How sad... Metal enough in my opinion: no
Iced Earth - "Storm of the Nightrider" (1991)
I had a great deal of time for the 1990 self-titled debut album from Florida outfit Iced Earth after discovering them through a video compilation shortly after its release. The five-piece band more than made up for the vocal deficiencies of front man Gene Adam with a splendid blend of US power metal & thrash metal that ticked a great many of my metal boxes. Rhythm guitarist Jon Schaffer's impeccable right-hand technique was of particular interest for the budding young axeslinger that I was at the time & I quickly committed to checking out Iced Earth's subsequent releases as well as their earlier "Enter the Realm" demo. 1991's "Night Of The Stormrider" sophomore album was a little bit different though with John Greely replacing Adam behind the microphone stand & Richey Secchiari filling Mike McGill's empty drum stool. The resulting recordings would see Iced Earth presenting just as strong a "Master of Puppets"-era thrash metal influence as "Iced Earth" did but the greater emphasis on creating an epic atmosphere through soaring melodic content saw the album sitting a little less comfortably next to your average thrash record & feeling much better suited to the power metal scene (both the US & the European ones). I have to admit that my struggles with power metal were very real at the time &, if anything, I'm actually a little more open the genre now so it's fair to say that I found "Night Of The Stormrider" to be pretty tough going which would see me distancing myself from Iced Earth until 1997's "Days of Purgatory" re-recording album would entice me into checking out what their early works might sound like with a more suitable production job & front man. Sadly, I wouldn't explore Iced Earth's more accomplished 1990's studio albums until 2014 when I was preparing to see them play live at Sydney's Manning Bar at which time I discovered that they had a lot more to offer than "Storm of the Nightrider" had delivered to me back in the day. Fast-forwarding to the modern day & it's been decades since my perceptions around the merits of Iced Earth's sophomore record were first developed. The unanimous praise that seems to be heaped on it have not gone unnoticed by me either so it's about time I gave the album a reassessment.
The first thing I noticed about "Night of the Stormrider" upon this revisit is the production job which isn't amazing to be fair. Jon Schaffer's rhythm guitar sound is a bit dry which I don't feel provides his skill sets with the best platform. The lack of bass guitar in the mix doesn't help either while the use of synthesizers is often a little over the top. Still... I found that I was able to get used to the sound over a few listens to the point where it definitely made less of an impact by my third spin. New front man Greely's vocals are like chalk & cheese with Gene Adams' delivery with Greely opting for a theatrical, operatic approach that reeks of power metal indulgence. I do really enjoy the moments where he pushes up into Rob Halford style falsetto territory though as he reminds me very much of Judas Priest's classic "Painkiller" album at times. Sanctuary/Nevermore front man Warrel Dane sometimes comes to mind too actually.
The stylistic approach of "Storm of the Nightrider" is very much what I remembered with the band keeping one foot in Iron Maiden/Judas Priest territory while galloping forwards with some of the most precise right-hand thrash riffage this side of James Hetfield with the other. Unlike the self-titled debut though, this record simply doesn't "feel" like thrash metal even though it's so clearly dominated by the consistent use of fast thrash guitar work. The added melodicism, consciously epic atmosphere & over the top vocal style are all at odds with the mentality of your average thrash band & I feel that the US power metal tag covers a wide enough area to encapsulate the sounds heard on this record. The fluency of the song-writing is still a work in progress though as there are many examples of disparate parts simply being pasted together & the art of the segway would be an area that Iced Earth would get much better at by the end of the decade.
I have to admit that I've been a bit hard on Iced Earth in regard to the quality of the material though as there aren't really any genuinely weak tracks included so I do find myself enjoying the album as a whole these days. It certainly helps that the tracklisting kicks off with one of the best inclusions in the excellent "Angels Holocaust" with its symphonic flourishes & face-tearing vocals. The excellent "Pure Evil" is the other clear highlight in my opinion & is probably my favourite track on the record to be honest. The rest of the songs are all pretty good without ever pushing me to consider awarding my higher scores. All of the material sits at a very consistent level of quality but I'm not sure that I ever feel that I'm listening to a tier one metal band because "Night of the Stormrider" is just a little too consciously extravagant for my taste &, as a result, I hold a preference for the darker records either side of it. I can definitely see why it appeals to some people so much these days though, particularly those with a penchant for thrashy US power metal like Metal Church & early Nevermore or Jon Schaffer's side project Demons & Wizards.
3.5/5
Ozzy Osbourne - "Just Say Ozzy" E.P. (1990)
While listening to this month's The Guardians feature release "No More Tears" I was reminded that I spontaneously picked up this largely overlooked live E.P. from the local record store some time shortly after it was released. I think it might have been the first of Ozzy's solo work that I laid down my hard-earned cash for actually & it was driven by my enthusiasm for Black Label Society & Pride & Glory guitar virtuoso Zakk Wylde's work on Ozzy's previous studio album "No Rest For The Wicked" which I believe might have been my introduction to Ozzy's solo material in general. And if I was looking for a showcase for Zakk's chops then I probably couldn't have asked for more than I got with this half hour of high-quality heavy metal to tell you the truth.
The E.P. features four of Ozzy's solo tracks (three taken from "No Rest For The Wicked" & one from his previous album "The Ultimate Sin") as well as two classic Black Sabbath tunes ("Sweet Leaf" & "War Pigs") & all of them are worth hearing. Ozzy's vocals aren't at their best & he sounds a little bit like he's running on auto-pilot at times (particularly during "Bloodbath In Paradise" where he's noticeably pitchy) but his voice certainly suits the Sabbath material far better than it does his solo material which is a long-term bug-bear of mine. Wylde's guitar playing is the real drawcard here though & it doesn't disappoint for a single second of this record. In fact, I'd suggest that he's a tighter musician than Randy Rhoads was in all honesty. He just sounds like he's in complete control of his instrument at all times as he nails every single nuance of the material which makes his performance worth whatever it was that I paid for this otherwise fairly inessential release. Opener "Miracle Man" is comfortably the best of the solo work but it's unsurprisingly the Sabbath material that stands out as the best inclusions here with "War Pigs" being the clear highlight. If you can't get enough Ozzy-era Black Sabbath or 80's Dio in your life then I'd recommend that you check this E.P. out & Black Label Society fans will probably wanna get in on the action too just for the Wylde-card.
4/5
My old Iron Maiden "World Slavery Tour 1984-85" baseball shirt has finally packed it in which has left me feeling quite emotional.
So with the start of a new year it's once again time to have a look at the covers for all the releases for each clan. I personally like to rate a whole stack of covers all at once, rather than doing them one at a time throughout the year, as it allows me to get a better feel for where each cover sits in comparison to others. With that in mind, I've just rated every cover for releases in The Guardians for 2023.
Below are the releases that are currently competing for the prestigious 2023 The Guardians Cover of the Year Award (i.e. they rate at least 3.7 and have 3 or more ratings). The winner will be announced on the 1st of February, so there's still time to get your ratings in.
Elvenking - Reader of the Runes – Rapture
Jag Panzer - The Hallowed
Kamelot - The Awakening
Sorcerer - Reign of the Reaper
Delain - Dark Waters
Sabaton - Heroes of the Great War
Bloodbound - Tales From the North
Gatekeeper - From Western Shores
Smoulder - Violent Creed of Vengeance
Burning Witches - The Dark Tower
If you want to contribute and rate some covers, the easiest way is to go to The Gallery and select The Guardians and 2023.
I look forward to seeing which release gets up for the win!
