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OK, this is a kind of an odd release. I guess the rather short length for this split EP is one thing, with an average two and a half minute length per song. But when two different sounding bands come together to make this release, it can cause some confusion within the clans.

Cream Abdul Babar is more of an experimental noisecore band, edging in on sludge and add in some keys and horns, as evident in "Mahogany-Walled Executive Officer". The amount of experimentation and discordant rhythm makes them sound like a mix of Dog Fashion Disco and Today is the Day. It's not super bad though, unlike the next track... "Intruder Alert" is a 4-minute waste of time, with nothing but looped synth distortion. That band is certainly not a winner for me with that ear-f***ing sh*t.

Teen Cthulthu is a much better deal here, combining metalcore with symphonic black metal, before early Abigail Williams and Dance Club Massacre made it cool, exemplified greatly in "Astral Black". The following track "Crystal Castles" has more black metal than the previous track, with a melodic ending. "Xcalibr8" is another sh*tter though. It seems way too short at just one minute, and the hard-to-decipher-without-reading lyrics make a cheesy poem that a popstar could write. But I still enjoy those other two kick-A tracks on this side of the EP.

The cover art makes good usage of outer colors despite the image being distorted which brings its quality down to as much as that release itself. I'm really not sure how they made art much lower quality than those low-effort blackgaze album covers these days. And it doesn't change my opinion on this EP. It's an OK try with two great tracks by Teen Cthulhu. But the rest, particularly the Cream Abdul Babar side of the EP, thumbs down....

Favorites (only two tracks I like by Teen Cthulhu): "Astral Black", "Crystal Castles"

I'm honestly a little surprised I haven't heard a lot of this band. Lord of the Lost has worked up a catalog of their gothic/industrial metal sound, and somehow that didn't peak my interest. However, things have turned out promising when I checked out their previous two albums Blood & Glitter and Weapons of Mass Seduction. And now I might get even closer with the new adventurous Opvs Noir Vol. 1!

Frontman Chris "The Lord" Harms, guitarists Pi "π" Stoffers and Benjamin "Benji" Mundigler, bassist Klaas "Class Grenayde" Helmecke, keyboardist Gerrit "Gared Dirge" Heinemann, and drummer Niklas Kahl are back at it again. Opvs Noir Vol. 1 is the band 10th album, as well as the start of an exciting new trilogy.

Starting off hard is "Bazaar Bizarre", a majestic opener with Chris' haunting verses. The softness of those verses are in contrast with the chorus of aggression and beauty. Then it switches to "My Sanctuary", which is half the first song's length and has a dancey beat and simplistic riffing. After that is the lovely "Light Can Only Shine in the Darkness". Lord of the Lost and Sharon den Adel of Within Temptation are practically a match made in metal heaven! Her vocals shining in the band's symphonic/industrial metal sound adds a new dimension of dark yet bright serenity. "I Will Die in It" is another well-done piece of gothic/industrial metal. It's quite catchy while staying massive, as the keyboard orchestration adds in all that grandeur.

Breaking boundaries further is "Moonstruck". Chris sings and screams alongside the Stimmgewalt choir, sounding similar to Moonspell's more symphonic works. Next up, "Damage" is all about industrial metal aggression. The guest vocals by Deathstars' Whiplasher Bernadotte makes things sound more extreme. And even without that, it still sounds a lot like Deathstars. "Ghosts" is an amazing piece of beauty and intensity! I love the cello by Tina Guo here. "Lords of Fyre" is up next. Wow, 5th collaboration track and the 4th in a row! This one has good medieval industrial/rock metal, but it sounds cheesy, and bringing in Feuerschwanz is unnecessary. The only slight misstep here.

We then get into the melancholic "The Things We Do For Love". The first verse might make you think it's a calm ballad, but once in a while, it becomes destructive especially at the bridge. "The Sadness in Everything" features Anna Maria Rose, vocalist of symphonic metal newcomers Tales of Time, with her soft singing contradicting the heavy intensity. Finally, "Dreams are Never Alone" is a haunting closing track with the last of their melodic majesty.

Lord of the Lost continue their journey with a new phase starting with Opvs Noir Vol. 1. It's a promising start to this trilogy, and I especially enjoy most of the collaborations. Let's hope for more of that greatness in Vol. 2 coming out at year's end and Vol. 3 appearing next year. Bring it the f*** on!

Favorites: "Bazaar Bizarre", "Light Can Only Shine in the Darkness", "I Will Die in It", "Moonstruck", "Ghosts", "Dreams are Never Alone"

With my recent return to The Guardians, I've become more determined to discover more heavy/power metal that's either brand-new or I haven't heard before but wish I had 10 years ago when those two genres were my main focus. This month's Guardians feature release is worth continuing my journey. It's time to check out this band Blazon Rite and listen to them sing their Wild Rites and Ancient Songs!

It's quite a promising album with tough instrumentation and melodic writing. I also love the song titles, even though they all look like those AI-generated song titles with at least 5 words each. Considering the amount of bands who get put down for any alleged usage of AI, I just hope this band doesn't get wrongfully accused.

We already get to a great start that isn't so weird and cheesy with the opening track "Autumn Fear Brings Winter Doom", which made me remember a band I haven't heard of in a few years, Slough Feg. Then "Salvage What You Can of the Night" cranks up the tempo. The chorus is worth singing along to in determination. Next song "The Fall of a Once Great House" slows things down for a bard-sung waltz before speeding up again in the second half.

"Mark of the Stormborn Riders" is more midpaced while driving the riff melodies forward. The title track has an acoustic intro then carries on in a marching pace and ends up in wild speed for a power-ish heavy metal song.

We have blazing speed in "Troubadours of the Final Quarrel". In the modern age of metal, not many people expect epic melodies within the way of classic heavy/power metal, but bands like Blazon Rite still have their exciting glory. And finally, there's the epic wonder of "The Coming Tide of Yule". It's probably the most Christmas-like melodic metal song since some songs by Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Majestica's Christmas Carol. That should be worth listening to in the holiday season!

I enjoy what Blazon Rite has had to offer Wild Rites and Ancient Songs. It's great hearing this band bring more life to a style of metal that has withered decades after its highest peak. This offering shall appeal to listeners wanting more epicness and melody in metal without any cheese or orchestra. It's a Blazon Rite of passage!

Favorites: "Autumn Fear Brings Winter Doom", "Mark of the Stormborn Riders", "Troubadours of the Final Quarrel", "The Coming Tide of Yule"

Poets and Madmen is Savatage’s swansong and in my opinion, their most underrated work. Jon Oliva returns for sole vocal duties on this album, and I personally am thrilled. As great as Zak is, Jon is simply my preference due to his much rawer, aggressive yet passionate delivery. The album is still a concept album in line with their recent works, but a bit looser and less… pompous, let’s say. It sounds like a good old fashioned Heavy Metal record.

The compositions here are undoubtedly among the best of the band’s career. There are riffs for days – both on guitar and keys, and no shortage of memorable vocal lines either. The songs are quite progressive in nature, shifting tempos often and packing each track with a great selection of riffs and rhythms.

More striking than that though is the emotion. There’s anger, pain, melancholia, and a bit less hope than most Savatage records. This one stays pretty strictly in pessimistic, almost apocalyptic territory, lamenting the state of the world both globally and personally. It culminates in closing track Back to a Reason, which is in my opinion the finest song the band ever wrote, evoking intense emotional passion and desperation across 6 minutes of melodramatic progressive epic.

It’s not as flashy as the Zach era and it’s much more somber than their earlier works, but it’s a magnificently written album that closes out their discography perfectly. Also, classic Heavy Metal this good in the year 2001 was extremely hard to come by; Savatage sticking to their roots and dropping this was a great move and gave future bands a worthy template for the new millennium of Heavy Metal.

After having found their style on Theli, Therion have not only maintained their key Symphonic Metal style, but continued moving towards making their composition grander and more operatic. Almost every song here is led by choral vocals from multiple vocalists, layered in a way to deliver power and grandeur. Symphonic elements actually aren’t as prevalent as one might expect, providing more of a backdrop of smooth layers while the choral vocals take front and center stage.

While the compositions have become more dense and epic, in my opinion, the core Metal instrumentation (Guitar, drums, and bass) have suffered a bit. There are some nice guitar leads that sound Gothic influenced, and decent riffs here and there, but overall the album relies a bit much on the choral vocals. Another problem there being… it just sounds a bit too happy? Or uplifting, I guess. Yeah, there are darker parts to the music and lyrical themes, but choral vocals are layered in a way where they sound more religious than dark or ominous. Just doesn’t work for me too well.

The concept of the album revolves around the nine realms of Norse mythology, and each song has a significant identity due to this, as both lyrically and musically the compositions work well to embody the different chapters and landscapes. Anyone interested in said mythology or concept albums in general should appreciate the work there.

At this point in their career, Therion have an undeniable level of quality that goes into every song. For me personally, I’m simply not in favor of the direction they’re going, completely abandoning their dark extreme Metal roots in favor of more lighthearted, uplifting, vocal-driven compositions.

The debut album from Sweden’s Lost Horizon sounds more like an experienced band at the peak of their career. How they managed to compose and record something with such astute quality right off the bat is a mystery to me.

Many people have lauded the album for being one of the MOST Power Metal albums ever recorded. Indeed, Lost Horizon go above and beyond in every aspect of their delivery. The guitars are wild, speedy and neoclassical, melding aggressive riffing with fantastically melodic leads and solos. The drumming is ever changing and technical, taking a lot of progressive influence and incorporating it into classic, thunderous Power Metal blasts and gallops. The bass is surprisingly excellent and audible, grooving up and down the fretboard like a third lead guitar to add another layer of melody and progression. And then of course there are the vocals; an over the top, melodramatic call to arms filled with just as much power and force as they are with melody. The only thing missing are dedicated keys… but the four piece are so strong that they make you forget that more often than not.

The meat of the album is the perfect mix of what makes Power Metal good, and many of the songs have no flaws to speak of. Exceptionally well-written, expertly performed, memorable, strong, catchy, pummeling, triumphant… the list of what this band does right goes on and on.

I have to come to one of my pet peeves though. Useless interludes. The album has three of them. And at ten tracks and 44 minutes, 3 of those tracks and 4 minutes of the runtime being interludes hurts. While one is a decent New Age piece, the other two are really bad Ambient Drone tracks. Just, why? Why do bands do this? Lost points there.

It lives up to the legends, otherwise. A phenomenal piece of work., and amazing debut album.

The Ghostlights saga consisting of this album and the previous one The Mystery of Time mark the best balance between complexity and simplicity that I enjoyed when I was listening to Avantasia 10 years before this review. And I still love it! This also makes up for when founder Tobias Sammet transfered pretty much all the power metal from his then-main band Edguy to Avantasia, turning Edguy into more of a hard rock/metal band. Ghostlights can very much brush aside the mistakes from Edguy's last few albums, and it still holds the reign as the best album by Avantasia and any project by Tobias Sammet! There is more lively punch, and the guest vocalists (a typical aspect for the project) add to the theatrical vibe. Sure there might be some simplicity, but it's all balanced out by the large emotion.

Some of the f***ing best writing by Tobi occurs in this offering. There's a lot more of the symphonic power metal you would expect from Avantasia with only slight touches of old-school hard rock/glam metal, making tunes of metallic variation. Besides Tobi and co., a few songs have guitarwork by Bruce Kulick and Oliver Hartmann, totally crushing it with their riffs and leads. And there's some great guitar by Sascha Paeth too. Everything sounds so catchy and powerful, giving the songs more life. If you're listening at home via speakers, it would be like watching a movie, or at least hearing a movie.

Opening track "Mystery of a Blood Red Rose" is filled with soulful majesty in the strings and a catchy chorus. This more hard rock-ish sound is almost like Meat Loaf (RIP). In fact, they were planning on having Meat Loaf guest appear in that song, but that never came through. So it became just a solo song for Tobi. "Let the Storm Descend Upon You" follows, and it's a massive 12-minute epic! There's killer riffing and synths alongside vocals that includes the album's first guest vocalists; Jorn Lande (ex-Masterplan), Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids), and Robert Mason (Warrant). Things starts off brooding before building up gradually to the great climax, all while staying upbeat. So glorious! As part of the band's more ambitious motives, they include a couple slow songs such as "The Haunting", perhaps the best song in that category, sounding theatrical and including guest vocals by Dee Snider (Twisted Sister). Then "Seduction of Decay" is more progressive, even more so with the vocal work by Geoff Tate (ex-Queensryche).

The speed then comes back up with another grand highlight, the title track. It has some of the best melody, and the singing by Michael Kiske (Helloween) rules as he alternates with Lande. Another one of my favorites with nothing weak about it! Next up, "Draconian Love" has some haunting hypnotic verses sung by Herbie Langhans. Those vocals by Herbie remind me of Type O Negative, although he has a greater, more varied vocal range, proven when he later joined Firewind. The chorus explodes into great dynamics. "Master of the Pendulum" is another kick-A track featuring the talented Marco Hietala, formerly of Nightwish. On top of that, both the song and its title have total Nightwish vibes, with the title similar to one of Nightwish's epics, "The Poet and the Pendulum". The next song, "Isle of Evermore" is a strong ballad, better than many of their previous ballads. Within Temptation vocalist Sharon den Adel can sing greatly, but I often wonder why she only sings in the ballads, like in The Metal Opera albums. I just hope in a later album, she can sing in a heavier upbeat track. Such as "Babylon Vampyres", a rifftastic highlight with some more vocals by Mason.

"Lucifer" starts off sounding like a piano ballad with Lande's vocals then rises into great blazing speed in the guitar. Then "Unchain the Light" has an out-of-this-world chorus sung by Atkins and Kiske. "A Restless Heart and Obsidian Skies" closes the main album, sounding quite melodic with vocals by Bob Catley (Magnum) and a great chorus. As f***ing strong as the start of the album! "Wake Up to the Moon" is a bonus track that's more melodic and rock-ish with splendid vocals by many of the vocalists.

Ghostlights is a brilliant masterpiece album with all the emotion it has to offer. If you're up for a metal opera album with various guest vocalists, this is it. This is THE SH*T. I'm still shocked to have forgotten this gem for so long. A gem of ghostly melodic wonders!

Favorites: "Let the Storm Descend Upon You", "The Haunting", "Ghostlights", "Master of the Pendulum", "Babylon Vampyres", "A Restless Heart and Obsidian Skies", "Wake Up to the Moon"

Not gonna lie, this review is one of the hardest ones I've ever done. I had to try to find the complete compilation so I could listen to all it in one go a few times, and Spotify does not have all the songs in the compilation. And whenever I do these compilation reviews, I had to really think about the songs from each of 5 albums rather than just one. This probably would've been easier if I was still into Edenbridge and other symphonic/power metal bands like I was nearly a decade before this review. But it's all worth it!

The Chronicles of Eden is one of the most essential compilation albums for a band. The first disc has mostly bonus tracks for their first 5 albums, and the second disc has two full songs per album; one greatest hit and one 8+ minute epic, mostly longer than each track from the first disc either way.

Starting off the first disc with bonus tracks from The Grand Design (the album with the most bonus tracks by far), "Thin Red Line" has some of the progressive melody of Seventh Wonder. "The Silent Wake" is more mid-tempo, but it's like a blend of Firewind and Visions of Atlantis. "Images in the Sand" is a soft piano/strings instrumental. Then comes their awesome cover of Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only", the theme song for that James Bond film, keeping the relaxed ballad vibe without ever sounding lame. Their name is Bridge... EDENbridge. Interestingly, "Evermore" appears in this disc even though it's already in the original album. It's still a beautiful shining single! "Empire of the Sun" is another instrumental track, this one more guitar-focused and a little long for an instrumental, at over 5 minutes in length.

Before we get to the bonus tracks from Shine, there's a radio edit for its 9-minute opening title epic, reduced to around half its length. It's quite risky reducing a masterpiece epic that's perfect in its original form into a short single, but uitimately it's still the catchy hymn it is. "On Sacred Ground" is softer with more usage of symphonics and flutes that can practically rival Epica's ballads. It's also a nice break from power metal bands like Powerwolf whose ballads and heavier songs rely on organ. Then we have another bonus track that was once a rarity, another uplifting guitar-focused instrumental, "Anthem". Now we heading to the Aphelion bonus tracks, starting with "On the Verge of Infinity" which again has similar vibes to fellow Austrian symphonic power metallers Visions of Atlantis. Same thing with "The Whispering Gallery". Concluding with the Arcana bonus tracks, "The Whisper of the Ages" has gotten me hooked with the exotic sitar and a great chorus. "Velvet Eyes of Dawn" is one more rarity worth discovering.

Now it's time for the second disc, and if you're bummed out that their debut Sunrise in Eden doesn't have any bonus tracks, the two tracks that start the album and this disc shall make up for that, starting with its title epic. The oriental melodies are so majestic in this mid-tempo track, along with the harmonic soloing and one of the most glorious choruses by the band EVER. The original album didn't start with that epic, instead starting with the track before it, "Cheyenne Spirit". It's filled with neoclassical power metal greatness. It stands out with the vocals and the soloing from both the guitars and bass. As much as the track sounds so uplifting and wonderous, the lyrical theme is more serious, concerning the historical tragedies of early American civilization. As awesome as those two previous tracks are, they're nothing compared to the title track of Arcana, which I sh*t you not, is one of the most melodic epics I've heard in my over a decade of listening to metal. Wonderful guitar flow and more of the vocal power of Sabine Edelsbacher. Her singing can range from operatic to full-on siren. And we can't forget the guitarwork by Lanvall and Andreas Eibler often going from melodic to complex. Nothing else I can about that glorious epic can do it justice. The shorter but more progressive "The Palace" has many different stunning ideas. Catchy vocals and guitar/keys interplay never lose steam. Absolutely promising! Aphelion started with "The Undiscovered Land" which is a popular live staple worth mentioning. But it can't beat the album's closing track, "Red Ball in Blue Sky", despite its odd title. Sabine duets with Royal Hunt vocalist D.C. Cooper, making another beautiful epic.

Eastern melodies once again cover "Wild Chase" from the Shine album, and it has great power for a midpaced song. It's nice that they consider the haunting interlude "The Canterville Prophecy" as part of an epic, though it would make sense if they connect together. Still, "The Canterville Ghost" has interesting variation and climatic soloing. Then we get to the longest epic of this compilation, the title track of The Grand Design, soaring through the majestic cosmos for over 10 minutes, and summarizing all the original album has. But it's not the total end of the compilation, until after that album's opening track "Terra Nova", one more beautiful song of hopes and dreams.

If you prefer just a regular album, Shine and The Grand Design are both excellent albums. If the bonus tracks in The Grand Design don't convince you to give that album a try, I don't know what would. And even Aphelion is good despite being the least strong one of Edenbridge's early offerings. Either way, these chronicles are totally essential!

Favorites (one per album per disc, except for Shine/The Grand Design bonus tracks): "The Silent Wake", "For Your Eyes Only", "Evermore", "Shine (radio edit)", "On Sacred Ground", "On the Verge of Infinity", "The Whisper of the Ages", "Sunrise in Eden", "Arcana", "Red Ball in Blue Sky", "Wild Chase", "The Grand Design"

Within a Sunrise in Eden, a Cheyenne Spirit Forever Shines On in Holy Fire. She flies with Wings of the Wind in the Rainy Midnight at Noon, pleading "Take Me Back to My Last Step Beyond!" Ascending in Starlight Reverie from The Palace in a Moment of Time, she will Fly on a Rainbow Dream and Color the Sky with Velvet Eyes of Dawn. The Whisper of the Ages flows into the Light of Suspiria through the Winter Winds of Arcana. The Undiscovered Land can be found Skyward before The Final Curtain of Perennial Dreams. She will Fly at Higher Game As Far as Eyes Can See beyond the Whispering Gallery on the Verge of Infinity. A Deadend Fire can be found Farpoint Anywhere Where Silence Has Lease under the Red Ball in Blue Sky. Maybe she will Shine and Move Along Home as a Centennial Legend. However, after a Wild Chase, the Road Goes On with What she'll Leave Behind Elsewhere. Under the October Sky is the Canterville Prophecy and Ghost on Sacred Anthemic Ground. Terra Nova conjures a Flame of Passion Evermore in the Most Beautiful Place. However, she is Seen Fading Afar from the Top of the World before being Taken Away in the Grand Design. The tale of the Empire of the Sun is for Your Eyes Only as Thin Red Lines make Images in the Sand at the Silent Wake.

Whew! What a story I made, based on all the song titles in the first 5 Edenbridge albums including this one. A solid tale of fantasy to balance out with the boring reality of what really happened. The truth is, Edenbridge formed in 1998 in Austria, named after a Formula 3000 racing team. They made the goal to board the female-fronted metal train alongside their more popular peers in Nightwish, early Dark Moor, and Within Temptation. They made their solid start with their first two albums Sunrise in Eden and Arcana, took a small dip in quality in Aphelion, then went back up high in Shine. In 2006, the band kept up their higher game in The Grand Design. It's a grand near-perfect masterpiece. Recording took place in several different studios across Europe; in their homeland of Austria, the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany. A few different studio visits in different countries come with a few guest musicians joining in, including Dennis Ward and Robby Valentine providing background choir vocals. The other guests would each have their own chance to shine in a different singular track. And the beautiful cover art was made by Thomas Ewerhard.

"Terra Nova" is a beautiful opening highlight of hopes and dreams. Karl Groom (founding guitarist of Threshold and known for contributing to bands like DragonForce) adds in his own guitar solo. "Flame of Passion" has more of a gothic-ish symphonic metal sound to remind some of Tristania at that time. Soft acoustic verses with the serene singing of Sabine Edelsbacher come in, as she sings "It never rains, but it pours". The chorus is catchy and pretty in its midtempo pace. I enjoy the melodic soloing. And the song ends with a literal bang of a firework. "Evermore" is another beautiful shining highlight, released as a single. Next track, "The Most Beautiful Place", touches your heart with a beautiful ballad consisting of just piano and Sabine's singing, "You are always inside, wherever I roam". Soft strings enter the second verse before a final chorus and ending literally on a high note from Sabine.

The guitars fade back in for "See You Fading Afar". The drums join in for fast pounding, only slowing down to let Sabine step in with her smooth vocals in the verses. Her harmonies rise over the background male vocals by Dennis Ward, similarly to D.C. Cooper's contribution to the Aphelion album, but never really upfront. The keys sound gothic in the bridge, fitting well with the guitar heaviness. Sabine's singing reaches a high climax in the chorus before everything stops except for the guitars that fade out. The guitars and vocals sound so bright and uplifting in "On Top of the World", which I prefer a lot more than that similarly titled Imagine Dragons (s)hit. The memorable chorus is so out of this world. "You'll be on top of the world!" Her vocals get isolated for a moment before some soloing. I never realized a "gothic" sound can sound so happy! The final chorus unleashes some male/female vocal harmonies, then after singing the song title one last time, the song ends right there. The next track "Taken Away" is another piano ballad, but dark gloom replaces the previous song's bright mood. Again, there's not much besides that piano and Sabine's singing. However, the chorus is quite strong, and we have Robby Valentine's background vocals. Then the soft piano floats by once more. Then we get to the title track, soaring through the majestic cosmos for over 10 minutes, and summarizing all this album has. Also, expect some acoustic strumming by Martin Mayr and violin by Astrid Stockhammer, Lanvall's young sister.

The Grand Design is the album with the most bonus tracks by far for the band, and you don't wanna miss out on the edition that has them all, starting with "Empire of the Sun". It's a guitar-focused instrumental track, a little long for an instrumental, at over 5 minutes in length. Then comes their awesome cover of Sheena Easton's "For Your Eyes Only", the theme song for that James Bond film, keeping the relaxed ballad vibe without ever sounding lame. Their name is Bridge... EDENbridge. "Thin Red Line" has some of the progressive melody of Seventh Wonder. "The Silent Wake" is more mid-tempo, but it's like a blend of Firewind and Visions of Atlantis. "Images in the Sand" is a soft piano and strings outro to end the journey.

All in all, The Grand Design is a celestial melodic work of art. Sometimes it's great to take a break from reality and have a wonderful adventure through fantasy. With many memorable ideas, this album is an amazing well-done gem by these Austrian metal legends!

Favorites: "Terra Nova", "Evermore", "On Top of the World", "The Grand Design", "Empire of the Sun", "For Your Eyes Only", "The Silent Wake"

I am a big fan of this Parma five-piece and was stoked to see they had a new album out, with minimal fanfare from the metal world, a long six years since previous offering "The Wolves of Thelema". Their brand of doom metal sits smack-bang between the stoner and the epic, with a wide streak of occult psychedelia, in the vein of The Devil's Blood, running through it's dark heart.

They have a quite distinctive sound, chiefly down to mainman Dorian Bones' vocals which come on like a mixture of the gothic flavour of Paradise Lost's Nick Holmes and the expansive epicness of a Robert Lowe. Over the previous decade and a half they have also become exceedingly proficient at writing more memorable, uptempo doomy riffs that are likely to be rolling around your head for hours after the record stops spinning. The rhythm section is exceedingly solid, with both drummer Mike De Chirico and bassist Henry Bones solidly and unshowily driving the tracks along and providing a solid foundation on which everything else is built.

The opening one-two of the punchy and catchy "Scarlet Love" and the slower and doomier "Aiwass Calling" sees the album kick off in fine style with two of the album's strongest numbers. Most of the tracks are mid-paced affairs, but the band do include a couple of slower, more doom-laden numbers with the aforementioned "Aiwass Calling" and the penultimate "Fire Walk With Me" being well-placed to prevent the album from sounding too samey. I feel there is a bit of a drop-off in the middle, though, with side one closer "Antikristos" and side two opener "Beyond Daath" not really hitting the spot for me. "Antikristos" feels like the band are fishing to catch the Jex Thoth / Devil's Blood crowd and "Beyond Daath", despite having a decent riff, leans too much into the occult theatrics vocally. Luckily things pick up with the album's doomiest (and my favourite) track "Fire Walk With Me" imparting a bit of class before closer "Interstellar Snakes of Gold" rounds things out with a melodic chorus and nice riff.

As much as I enjoyed Spiritus, I find myself being reluctant to impart a top-tier score. The main reason for this is the lack of adventure the band display, particularly in the restraint with which the guitar leads are deployed and their willingness to stick to the same old formula which has, admittedly, served them very well over the years. I think the album is lacking a really good solo or two with the leads mainly used to add melody over the riffs when I couldn't help feeling that on a couple of occasions they could have really let rip, but feel constrained by the tight discipline of the songwriting. The closing section of the aforementioned "Fire Walk With Me" is the only really extensive solo and even that feels like it is being held in check when it should howl and soar.

In truth, I don't need a band to constantly be pushing the envelope and redefining themselves for me to enjoy them, but sometimes they can be found sitting just a little bit too comfortably and I feel like that about Caronte at this point in their career. There are some good tracks here, but it feels to me like there is a little too much filler too with "Antikristos", "Beyond Daath" and "Interstellar Snakes of Gold" almost feeling like a band going through the motions and I hate saying this about a band I enjoy as much as I do Caronte.

If anyone has tried to convince me a few years ago to give some power metal albums like this another shot, I probably would've said "I'll think about it" and left that request in the dust. But now that I'm back in The Guardians, with the playlists making me feel more confident about the clan than during my break from it, it's time for another spin.

Dark Moor's 3rd album The Gates of Oblivion is still one of the best albums of power metal that isn't DragonForce or Kamelot. Ever since my first time listening to it over a decade away, I've been mind-blown by all those riffs, melodies, choruses, and solos, all sounding so catchy and technical. And with those fantasy lyrics, it's the kind of cheese that I can have in my system. From start to finish, it's an incredible journey to love and appreciate!

Beginning the album is a true kick-A example of power metal, "In the Heart of Stone". Lots of speedy riffing, plus great vocal melody from Elisa C. Martin. She can go from tough to serene and back again in the blink of an eye. The verses sound epic, as does the chorus with its fantastic leads. "A New World" doesn't lose any power from the previous track. It opens with incredible riffing followed by mystical keys that leads to more of the furious verses. The mood stays strong as Martin belts out her highs in the chorus. The soloing by founding guitarist Enrik Garcia is one of the best here. It's an unforgettable journey to remember, just like Christopher Columbus' discovery of America that's detailed in the lyrics. The band's neoclassical influence shines in the title interlude, a f***ing beautiful keyboard instrumental. "Nevermore" is based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. "Starsmaker (Elbereth)" is a heavier gem, though it starts with a lovely acoustic intro and maintains the melodic beauty for another adventure. It's like a mighty battle between vocals, guitars, and keys. Then we have another epic memorable chorus. You can consider the whole song a story of sorts!

"Mist in the Twilight" is another keyboard interlude. It leads to another one of my favorite tracks here, "By the Strange Paths of Destiny". Incredible guitars and keys here! The riffing power is in perfect balance with the keyboard magic. The soloing is filled with versatile energy. And we have beautiful vocal power from Martin in the chorus which has a glimpse of upfliting light in the midst of the dark sorrow. A true hard-hitter! Next, "The Night of the Age" has more atmosphere for Martin to shine in the spotlight. The solos and riffs are quite excellent and don't mess with the brilliance of Martin's vocals. Everything's well-paced! Well, her vocals are a little restrained in the verses but it's made up for by her impressive highs in the chorus. Wonderful speed before the next track that is a ballad... "Your Symphony" is a beautiful ballad. Nothing sappy. Just keys, acoustics, and singing, all that stir up the vibe of a forest fairy's tale. It's a ballad that's meant to be in the album, unlike those other ballads that disrupt the flow of the albums they're in.

The last leg of this album starts with "The Citadel of the Light", one more interlude that sounds like something from the Old School RuneScape soundtrack. It segues to "A Truth for Me" with some of the most anthemic verses of the album. Then at last, we reach the epic climax of this offering, "Dies Irae (Amadeus)", paying tribute to Mozart's works. The most incredible guitar technicality by Garcia is one of the many things that make this Dark Moor's most fascinating epic. As incredible as this is, I feel like there could've been slight trimming to tone down some of the repetition. Still I wouldn't change a thing, and it's all worth it in the end. One tiny miniscule flaw won't weigh anything down. The Russian edition comes with the bonus track "The Shadow of the Nile" which is great but could've been put before the epic instead of after.

All in all, The Gates of Oblivion is Dark Moor's finest hour of power metal reflection. Sadly, they would never replicate the magic, with all members except Garcia leaving the band the following year before the recording their self-titled 4th album, though bassist Anan Kaddouri would stick around for that then leave too. Martin would move on to other bands such as Dreamaker and Fairyland. Her replacement, Alfred Romero is great at singing as well, but just not as magnificent as Martin. The Gates of Oblivion is one of the most essential albums of power metal. If you're a power metal fan who hasn't heard this album, you should. See you at the gates!

Favorites: "In the Heart of Stone", "A New World", "Starsmaker (Elbereth)", "By the Strange Paths of Destiny", "The Night of the Age", "Dies Irae (Amadeus)"

My grand experience with Symphony X's 7th album Paradise Lost has made me up to revisiting more to this band's albums. One incredible place to start is Twilight in Olympus, which is yet another classic that I've listened to since over a decade ago and still remember its glory. And considering how much I was into the modern classical works of Two Steps From Hell before switching to metal, no wonder I loved bands and albums like this masterpiece back then!

This can be considered the "Thomas" album since it's the last one with former bassist Thomas Miller, and drummer Jason Rullo was temporarily replaced by Thomas Walling (RIP). I say this is the transition album between the neoclassical era of their first 3 albums and the power-ish progressive era of the 3 albums after this one.

Some of the best progressive metal to surpass Dream Theater occurs in the opener "Smoke and Mirrors", one of my favorite tracks by this band. All we have in the structure is the mundane verse-chorus that ends up getting a grand enhancement, displaying the band's skills without having to make a half-hour epic. The neoclassical madness of this band Symphony X may be hard for simple guitar listeners to understand. But there are great guitar solos to learn such as the one around the 4-minute mark, performed by the impressive Michael Romeo. He often duets with keyboardist Michael Pinella, creating a sea of melodies. The riffing is not what you often hear in melodic progressive metal. Also I love the melodic singing by Russell Allen. He never goes as ridiculously high as other power metal vocalists, and sometimes he sounds nicely rough for the thrashy sections. And oh yeah, the awesome bass by Thomas Miller is audible. I'm not sure why "Church of the Machine" started with an industrial noise-ridden intro, but that doesn't matter. The heavy verses are in perfect balance with the chorus that almost turns the song into the band's own "Bohemian Rhapsody". The ending is quite abrupt, but again it doesn't matter. It just leads straight to "Sonata", a short instrumental take on Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8.

"In the Dragon’s Den" shows that the band can kick a** with the progressive neoclassical metal sound. Sometimes, melody doesn't have to be as deathly as Dark Tranquillity and In Flames. You can get it from bands that are meant to sound like Symphony X, Stratovarius, and Nightwish. Short songs balance out against longer epics like this next track... "Through the Looking Glass" is a long melodic track, following the band's trend of having at least one long epic since their debut and carrying on to subsequent albums. It lasts for 13 minutes and follows the "FantasMic" idea of 3 parts with the last being the heaviest. It ends up getting a bit repetitive towards the end, but still great.

Next up is another short fast track "The Relic", complete with a perfect chorus. The riffing aggression carries on into "Orion - The Hunter" alongside amazing vocals in the verses. I'm not too fond of the soloing, but once again, the 5-star album rating stays intact. Similarly to the previous album, this one ends with a haunting ballad, "Lady of the Snow". Nice singing by Russell Allen and guitarwork by Michael Romeo. That's how metal ballads should be. Melancholic, not happy-sappy.

Twilight in Olympus has been quite a progressive journey through fantasy and mythology ala power metal lyrics, all poetic with only a small tasy dash of cheese. Romeo and Miller are two main songwriters in this album, but with Miller gone, Allen would take his place in the songwriting department. That early era ends as a new one begins!

Favorites: "Smoke and Mirrors", "Church of the Machine", "In the Dragon’s Den", "The Relic"

I really need to thank my brother for getting into this band and giving me the spark of massive interest that didn't ignite until just recently. Volbeat was formed by frontman Michael Poulsen in 2001 after disbanding his previous band Dominus, having enough of his former band's death metal sound and wanting to start anew. Volbeat's name comes from Dominus' 3rd album title. When checking out or revisiting some bands/albums, it's good to follow your heart, and you might just find a gem of sheer greatness!

I really love Volbeat's first two albums. But if there's one album that I think would surpass the other by a few percentage points, it's this one, Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil. It really seals the rock/metal gone rockabilly deal and would be an awesome recommendation for one of my rock/metal-loving pals.

We roll right into "The Human Instrument", a favorite of mine and my brother's, proving that Elvis metal works like a dream. The kick-A power is still kept up in "Mr. & Mrs. Ness", continuing the story that started in the debut album's "Danny & Lucy". The song hints at the band's heavier side in their next album Guitar Gangsters and Cadillac Blood, in which the story continues again. The next track is the popular half-ballad half-rocker "The Garden’s Tale". I actually love this song! It's probably because I was never in Denmark nor the United States in 2007 when the song was played to f***ing death. It's quite catchy as f***, pretty much breaking down the wall between slow-dancing and moshing. Vocal hooks cover the devilishly fast "Devil or the Blue Cat's Song".

Now if you're looking for a punchy banger, look no further to "Sad Man’s Tongue". It starts with acoustic country that would have Johnny Cash fans swooning, then f***ing speeds up into metal including a kick-A breakdown that you can't resist headbanging to. "River Queen" tops it off as another groove-ish banger. If I wasn't into this kind of metal 10 years ago, I would be listening to that song and the opener a sh*t-ton of times! Up next is "Radio Girl". I don't love it as much as many people do, but it still rules. "A Moment Forever" is fast as a motherf***er!

Next up, "Soulweeper #2" is another sequel to a song from the debut. This one still holds the romantic vibe of the first "Soulsweeper" song. If you thought the first track was the most Elvis-like metal song, it's nothing compared to "You or Them". Something that may seem a little goofy ends up turning godly! Ending track "Boa (JDM)" crushes everything in its path, leaving behind nothing but debris by the time it's over.

All in all, Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil has added the cherry on top to Volbeat's beginning one-two punch of albums. The grooves, riffs, bass, drums, vocals, and lyrics are all a f***ing blast to listen to. I highly suggest showing them to your friends for a taste of what real music is like!

Favorites: "The Human Instrument", "The Garden’s Tale", "Sad Man’s Tongue", "River Queen", "A Moment Forever", "You or Them"

If I remember right, I've heard of Volbeat over a decade ago via a few music videos and this band being one of the bands my brother still listens to today. As great as they sounded, their sound that mixes rock, metal, and rockabilly hadn't really stood out for me, since I prefered power/symphonic metal at the time. And wow, I... I've never realized how essential their first two albums were for me. They're so incredible, and I can certainly raise my horns and bang my head to this music.

The Strength/The Sound/The Songs is one of the aptly titled albums I've ever comes across. The sound and the songs all have their strength with this diverse blend of genres. It's practically like late 90s Metallica but way better!

We already get to a h*lla catchy start with "Caroline Leaving". Then "Another Day, Another Way" has a similar pace to Hatebreed's mid-tempo songs in the instrumentation. "Something Else or..." is a softer track similar to Queensryche's ballads. "Rebel Monster" has greater heaviness and speed, perfect for the mosh pit. Then we have "Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza" with its catchy sing-along chorus to make a party rock anthem (none of that LMFAO bullsh*t).

One of the best songs here is "Always Wu". The riffing and vocals really have that metalized rockabilly vibe alongside another chorus worth singing along to. The riffing slows down without sacrificing any heaviness in "Say Your Number". Then "Soulweeper" is a ballad-ish track that you can sing to your romantic partner and have them singing along too. The speed goes back up in "Fire Song", which is filled with heavy fire. Then we have another fast catchy track, "Danny and Lucy (11 PM)", which cranks up the rockabilly side of the band for some rock-on fun.

"Caroline #1" builds up some great momentum as we enter the album's final third. "Alienized" keeps up that pace. The mood changes with their cover of Dusty Springfield's "I Only Wanna Be with You". What makes it so unique is, it can make your raise your horns to the riffing while also singing it to your love. The eerie riff that starts "Everything's Still Fine" is so strong and crushing. "Healing Subconsciously" ends the album with one of the most climatic closing tracks in standard heavy metal.

All in all, Volbeat's debut is an album for all open-minded listeners. Whether you like classic rock n roll, modern rock, metal, and hardcore, you're bound to find something you like, from rifftastic bangers that kick a** to love ballads that don't suck a**. I'm glad to finally get the strength from those songs after all these years!

Favorites: "Caroline Leaving", "Rebel Monster", "Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza", "Always Wu", "Fire Song", "Caroline #1", "I Only Wanna Be with You", "Healing Subconsciously"

Epica is one of the most epic bands around, a symphonic metal band that touches on other genres including gothic, progressive, death, thrash, power, and folk metal. Members have come from other bands such as After Forever and Trail of Tears. You might even think of this band as a more extreme Nightwish, particularly in the growls and deathly riffing. The band has reached their epic height in their 4th album Design Your Universe.

This album follows The Divine Conspiracy with a couple new members. guitarist Isaac Delahaye and drummer Ariën van Weesenbeek (as an official member). The lyrics deal with culture, physics, and the freedom to protect your world and, y'know, design your own universe!

It starts with "Samadhi", a wonderful intro to hint at the epicness to come. "Resign to Surrender" continues the "A New Age Dawns" saga that started in Consign to Oblivion. It's a brilliant way to open up the world of Epica for anyone new. The vocals alternate between the growls of Mark Jansen, the operatic cleans of Simone Simons, and occasional choir. Also the instrumentation is more extreme-sounding than their earlier works, easily blending deathly heaviness with symphonics without going just all-out Fleshgod Apocalypse. Next song "Unleashed" is the first single, a beautiful heavy banger. Then we have another catchy heavy single with a great chorus in "Martyr of the Free Word". Another highlight is "Our Destiny", which is a solid mid-paced track, similarly to Within Temptation. Honestly it's quite underrated.

And then comes the true highlight, "Kingdom of Heaven", a 5-part 13-minute epic that serves as the literal centerpiece of the "A New Age Dawns" saga and would itself spawn a couple sequels in subsequent albums. It has practically everything, all extreme, symphonic, and even some acoustic. It's their own attempt at an Opeth-like progressive epic that ends up paying off well! There's nothing in this masterpiece album that would make it lose its perfection, but one things that comes REALLY close is the interlude "The Price of Freedom". I feel like this one could've been removed or at least attached to the next track. "Burn to a Cinder" burns away that mistake as another one of my favorites here. And it's followed up by ANOTHER one of the best songs here, "Tides of Time", one of the few ballads I truly love. It sounds so beautiful, expecially with the heart-touching vocals of Simone Simons. This is the kind of beauty I prefer to hear instead of this Disney Frozen sh*t.

"Deconstruct" puts an end to the relaxation with its melodeath-ish riffing. Would've been nice to hear some soloing too, but I won't mess with it. "Semblance of Liberty" is the heaviest track here, like really hitting hard and fast. Then we have one more ballad "White Waters", a soft duet between Simone Simons and Sonata Arctica's Tony Kakko, working out almost as well as Nightwish's live duet with Kakko in From Wishes to Eternity. The title finale is another long epic with vocal perfection, all the way up to its glorious ending climax. The "A New Age Dawns" saga would continue in their new album Aspiral.

Design Your Universe is the best you're gonna get from Epica, maybe even the year of 2009. Not too epic for the heavy fans, not too heavy for the epic fans, JUST RIGHT. It's a legendary experience that would surely spawn some universal inspiration!

Favorites: "Resign to Surrender", "Our Destiny", "Kingdom of Heaven", "Burn to a Cinder", "Tides of Time", "Semblance of Liberty", "Design Your Universe"

What makes an album perfect is the amount of creativity, talent, and passion the band has. In my attempt at wanting to focus on more modern and heavier metal genres, I ended up forgetting about the symphonic power metal masterpieces that have all that for a great dose of magic. Power of the Dragonflame, the 5th album by Italian band Rhapsody (of Fire), is one of them. This is an hour-long prime example of the genre and has pleased me as much as many fans and critics.

Power of the Dragonflame is the final part of the band's first conceptual storyline, the Emerald Sword Saga. And what a way to end it! The symphonics of their first two albums and the aggression of the two albums after are in perfect balance. There's more of the shredding guitarwork of Luca Turilli and the orchestral keyboards of Alex Staropoli, sounding excellent as ever. Pretty much all the metal songs have strong talent from each of the members. Not just the guitars and keys but also the drums by Alex Holzwarth, the audible bass by session member Sascha Paeth, and of course, the vocal power of the versatile Fabio Lione.

One of the best symphonic/power metal intros in the apocalyptic "In Tenebris" that strikes you down to the ground like a gigantic fist. Then "Knightrider of Doom" explodes with some of the best aspects of the band. The title track punches with its speedy riffing. "The March of the Swordmaster" is a anthemic march to get you pumped with a mighty chorus and melodic soloing. RISE! DIE!! SACRIFICE!!!

"When Demons Awake" is a total chiller. The horrendous battle is described via more blackened instrumentation and vocals. Who knew Fabio Lione could go blackened growls so well? "Agony is My Name" is a great highlight that continues unleashing the most fantasy-filled power metal without ever sounding cheesy or sh*tty. "Lamento Eroico" (Heroic Cry) marks the band's first fully Italian song. It's a heart-touching ballad that I've been coming across a lot of lately. My return to The Guardians has made me realize that not everything has to be heavy to delight me.

"Steelgods of the Last Apocalypse" has more of the band's usual aspects, this time with some progressive turns to break the conventionality of power metal. "The Pride of the Tyrant" continues displaying the amazing skills of Turilli. Yet another wonderful composition! And it all comes down to the final epic... The greatest conclusion to this 5-album saga is the 19-minute "Gargoyles, Angels of Darkness". It's one of the best songs ever by the band and the epic to end all epics! The complex variation is perfect all the way. It starts with an acoustic intro that's almost like Opeth's softer moments then blasts off into some of the most emotional vocals, most cinematic keys and choir, and the most searing soloing. Then it all ends with a reprise of the intro that then literally explodes and collapses into windy ambience. The perfect ending for this saga!

Power of the Dragonflame is another one of the most impressive symphonic power metal albums that I'm glad to revisit. Believe me, this is for anyone into power metal and any other kind of music. You'll definitely want to get your hands on this emerald gem!

Favorites: "Knightrider of Doom", "The March of the Swordmaster", "Agony is My Name", "The Pride of the Tyrant", "Gargoyles, Angels of Darkness"

The first 3 Nightwish albums are a trio of symphonic power metal classics that I enjoyed to death over a decade before this review. I still love them, but I don't find them as perfect as I thought they were back in those times when my love for power/symphonic metal was in an all-time high. I decided to revisit many of the tracks from those via their first live album, From Wishes to Eternity. And let me tell you, I was blown away by this incredible release!

The concert was recorded in Tampere on December 29, 2000, just a few days away from the technical start of the new millennium. Being part of the Wishmaster tour, the setlist mostly consisted of songs from that album and a few from their first two. I love the serene voice of Tarja along with the masterful work of the instrumentalists.

"The Kinslayer" is a rifftastic way to start the show. The lyrics are based on the Columbine school shooting. The bridge is interesting as Tarja's singing alternates with spoken vocals by Ike Vil to practically recreate a talk between the killer and the victim. "She is My Sin" opens the original Wishmaster album before the previous track. The drumming is some of the heaviest I've heard in that album. Tarja's magical vocals continue to shine, especially in the chorus. I also love the soloing here. "Deep Silent Complete" is nice and catchy, calming things down while staying heavy. Wonderful atmosphere and vocals! Then we come to the song with the darkest heaviness in this earlier era, "The Pharaoh Sails to Orion". It features the deep growls of Tapio Wilska (Sethian, ex-Finntroll), speedy keys, and Egyptian lyrical themes. That's Oceanborn's epic!

"Come Cover Me" starts off calm and mystical then carries on with the usual heaviness. Tarja's vocals can be d*mn heart-touching in this amazing track. "Wanderlust" is a great song, but not the total best. There's nothing bad or skippable about it, but it's outshined by the other songs. Many parts of that track I still enjoy including the chorus and the keyboard soloing. It segues to the exclusive instrumental medley "Crimson Tide/Deep Blue Sea", taking some melody from the soundtrack of those two films and practically making it their own. Awesome! Then it segues to "Swanheart", a perfect ballad for me (a personal rarity). Such slow beauty after all that heavy might.

And now we get one of the tracks from the debut Angels Fall First, that album's opener "Elvenpath". It is a fast heavy power metal song from their most folk-ish beginning album. It segues to the 3rd part of Wishmaster's epic "FantasMic", and the heaviest part of that epic. I kinda wish they would perform the entire song though. "Dead Boy's Poem" is another ballad, and one you can't criticize easily. There a great chorus and superb soloing, the latter after a spoken bridge by a young boy named Sam Hardwick.

"Sacrament of Wilderness" has greatly heavy riffing, slightly different from the melody you'd expect from this band. The 3-track encore starts with "Walking in the Air", a cover of a song from the animated special The Snowman. Another slow ballad, though it gets heavier as the song progresses. "Beauty and the Beast" has nice vocal variation. The original has keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen singing the male vocals, but here they're done by Tony Kakko of Sonata Arctica. Then at last, we come to the true finale, the title track of Wishmaster. Epic chorus, beastly guitars... This still reigns as one of my favorite Nightwish songs today. I can hear Dragonlance/Lord of the Rings lyrical influences.

The DVD comes with some bonus content. Not just the video recording of the performance, but also some hilarious off-stage footage, two music videos, two separate live videos, a couple interviews, and a 50-photo gallery. However, the music itself is worth the price of admission. If you're into symphonic power metal and/or Nightwish, I would highly recommend this perfect live offering. The best glimpse of their early discography in their best form. Don't miss out!

Favorites (two per album, plus one new track and one half-track): "She is My Sin", "The Pharaoh Sails to Orion", "Crimson Tide/Deep Blue Sea", "Swanheart", "Elvenpath", "FantasMic (Part 3)", "Beauty and the Beast", "Wishmaster"

After an incredible experience with Nightwish's first live album From Wishes to Eternity, I immediately felt up to making a full revisit of the album the band was touring for, Wishmaster. Seeing how much I enjoy the songs in this album in live form, I thought maybe I would get the same glory in this album that I considered a classic over a decade before this review. And I still enjoy them all! Well, the songs that were performed live. The remaining few, ehh...

I think the slight issue is, this is around the time the band started becoming more pop-ish in their songs. However, most of these are balanced out by the heaviness and bombast. The catchy choruses hold many of them up and lessen the needlessness of repetition.

"She is My Sin" opens the album quite strongly. The drumming is some of the heaviest I've heard in that album. Tarja Turunen's magical vocals really shine, especially in the chorus. I also love the soloing here. It is followed by the rifftastic "The Kinslayer". The lyrics are based on the Columbine school shooting. The bridge is interesting as Tarja's singing alternates with spoken vocals by Ike Vil to practically recreate a talk between the killer and the victim. "Come Cover Me" starts off calm and mystical then carries on with the usual heaviness. Tarja's vocals can be d*mn heart-touching in this amazing track. "Wanderlust" is a great song, but not the total best. Nothing bad or skippable about it, but it's outshined by the better highlights. Many parts of that track I still enjoy including the chorus and the keyboard soloing.

"Two for Tragedy" is a ballad. The fact that it's a ballad is not the problem. I like the nice flute and keys, leading up to when the guitar, bass, and drums enter. The thing is, the lyrics sound a bit forced and it's a little too slow. Those could've been improved so that it's doesn't just sound like a pop ballad with guitars. Luckily it leads to the anthemic title track. Epic chorus, beastly guitars... This still reigns as one of my favorite Nightwish songs today. I can hear Dragonlance/Lord of the Rings lyrical influences. What's preventing from giving this album a rating beyond 4 stars is the next two tracks, starting with "Bare Grace Misery". It tries to bring back the energy of the heavier side of Angels Falls First but doesn't please me enough. "Crownless" is, I hate to say, the worst track here. While having more of the power metal part of the sound seems cool in theory, it sounds too cheesy for me now, especially those 8-bit-ish synths. Pretty much the DragonForce "Ring of Fire" cover of this album, I used to love it, but now, f*** that.

"Deep Silent Complete" is nice and catchy, calming things down while staying heavy. Wonderful atmosphere and vocals! "Dead Boy's Poem" is another ballad, but this one you can't criticize easily. There a great chorus and superb soloing, the latter after a spoken bridge by a young boy named Sam Hardwick. "FantasMic" is a fantastic epic paying tribute to the animated works of Disney. It really packs a powerful punch, especially in the final 3 minutes. Absolutely perfect! The 2007 reissue comes a few bonus tracks including one studio track "Sleepwalker" that's worth that extra mile. The other two bonus tracks are different live renditions of "Wanderlust" and "Deep Silent Complete".

If it was up to me, I would give "Wanderlust" and "Two for Tragedy" some heavier power, replace "Bare Grace Misery" and "Crownless" with "Sleepwalker", and remove those unnecessary bonus live tracks. Still I shouldn't change too much. The rest of Wishmaster has some of the best symphonic power metal hits you could ever wish for....

Favorites: "She is My Sin", "The Kinslayer", "Come Cover Me", "Wishmaster", "Dead Boy's Poem", "FantasMic", "Sleepwalker" (bonus track)

When I was listening to Within Temptation and other symphonic/power metal bands over a decade ago, I thought Mother Earth was their best album. But ever since I've moved out of those metal genres into the more modern/heavy ones, my earlier revisit of that album made me not find the glory it once had. However, with my return to The Guardians, I've once again found my best Within Temptation album, but it's not Mother Earth. It's this one, The Unforgiving!

In my earlier melodic past, I didn't think The Unforgiving was super awesome. A couple tracks were too pop-ish for me back then. Now that I've experienced some time with more alternative bands before moving back to The Guardians, I enjoy them a lot more now! The album makes a perfect balance between epic and mainstream.

The intro "Why Not Me?" consists of just Two Steps From Hell-esque orchestration and narration by Dawn Mastin. That intro sounds like something out of Agatha Christie's Marple, Downton Abbey, or any other British drama series. Already heading into the band's different direction is "Shot in the Dark", including a new aspect that had barely done before by the band; guitar soloing. "In the Middle of the Night" is a catchy banger to get you pumped and jumping. The intro riffing almost made me think of "115" from the Call of Duty: Black Ops - Zombies soundtrack. Absolutely great vocals to enjoy there! Interesting how "Faster" is the name of a more mid-tempo song. When that track was released as a single before the album, it was the first sign of their new direction; the usual symphonic metal but heavier and more poppy than their previous albums like The Heart of Everything. That motive is similar to what Lacuna Coil were doing at that time, but in a better, more focused light. That song has really grown on me more than the other tracks, with its tasteful strength and less of the orchestral bombast bands like Nightwish seem to have relied on.

The exciting energy cools down for the first of a few ballads in the album, "Fire and Ice". Then comes what I still consider one of the best standouts in Within Temptation's career, "Iron". It's so heavy and epic, right from the intro riffing onwards. The song itself reminds me of DragonForce's "Cry Thunder" and it's better at that than those poor rip-offs like Warkings' cover of that song and Sabaton's "Union". Next track "Where is the Edge?" doesn't strike me as much as the highlights, but it's still a nice throwback to what the band had in The Silent Force. "Sinead" brings back the Nightwish level of orchestra while continuing the mainstream direction.

"Lost" is one of the few ballads I would ever truly love, filled with beauty, melancholy, and tearjerking acoustic/electric soloing. "Murder" cranks up the orchestration again, making something eerie and cinematic. "A Demon's Fate" is really fast and complex, making another memorable song. It's like the previous album's "Hand of Sorrow" gone The Phantom of the Opera! "Stairway to the Skies" is the ending ballad like in most of their albums. However, instead of just orchestra and vocals, the whole band is here!

There are many risks Within Temptation have gone through stylistically such as going the concept album route, going more mainstream, and adding in guitar solos. But the changes paid off! The Unforgiving is perhaps truly the most well-written album they've ever done. An unforgivingly fantastic blend of accessibility, epicness, and heaviness!

Favorites: "In the Middle of the Night", "Faster", "Iron", "Lost", "A Demon's Fate", "Stairway to the Skies"

So I've just moved out of The Gateway back into The Guardians, and there's no better time than now to revisit one of the greatest albums in power metal, Blind Guardian's Imaginations From the Other Side. This was one of the most important albums for me when my power metal interest was at its height 10 years before this review. If you enjoy 90s power metal, you've come to the right place!

Power metal allows your imagination to run wild through these themes of fantasy, sci-fi, and sometimes reality. And classics like this one (following the fantasy theme) are no exception. Imaginations From the Other Side marks the beginning of the complex structures from subsequent albums while having some of their earlier speed.

The opening title track is one of the best album openers and power metal songs I've heard in my life. It picks up where things left off from the end of their previous album Somewhere Far Beyond, this time with more atmospheric structure. The vocal density would be further displayed in the next album Nightfall in Middle-Earth, as well as those harmonic guitar leads. EPIC!!!! "I'm Alive" takes the band's earlier sound further alongside occasional acoustics, a strong upgrade from the speed of Follow the Blind. I'm not as much of a ballad lover as I used to be, but another one of the greatest highlights is the short and soft yet epic "A Past and Future Secret". Unlike "The Bard's Song", this sounds like a true bard's song in the acoustics, orchestration, percussion, and Hansi Kürsch's clean singing, with the lyrics based on the legend of King Arthur.

"The Script for My Requiem" is the closest we have to the melodic speed metal of Battalions of Fear. "Mordred’s Song" has a blend of acoustic and electric guitar. The folk-ish vibe maintains the similarities to "The Bard's Song". If "A Past and Future Secret" is this album's "In the Forest", then "Mordred’s Song" is this album's "The Hobbit". Then we have another fast song in "Born in a Mourning Hall". The monstrous riffing gives that track more in common with Tales from the Twilight World while having some melodic leads later used in Nightfall in Middle-Earth and lyrics against televangelism. The music might remind some of a blend of Black Sabbath and 80s Metallica.

"Bright Eyes" has more anthemic triumph within the lurking darkness. There's even some twisted keys appearing in the verses to add to the eerieness. "Another Holy War" is filled with pure riff-wrath, while making way for the usual melodic chorus. The precise drumming by Thomas Stauch is what gave power metal a more speedy light. "And the Story Ends" has a truly epic chorus hinting at the grandeur of their later symphonic era. The guitars and vocals are the stars of this simple yet spectacular show.

I think we can all agree that Imaginations From the Other Side is Blind Guardian at their very best. Such a shame that I broke away from this album and this band when I had that long on-off hiatus from power metal and other Guardians genres. But now I can remember the glory of this masterpiece that is the transition album between the speed era that ended with Somewhere Far Beyond and the symphonic era that started with Nightfall in Middle-Earth. The risks the band face when making this album has paid off. It's an essential recommendation for both longtime power metal fans and the newcomers wanting to explore more of the genre. See you on the other side!

Favorites: "Imaginations From the Other Side", "A Past and Future Secret", "Born in a Mourning Hall", "Bright Eyes", "And the Story Ends"

My first time listening to Sabaton was over a decade ago, and to this day, I'm quite impressed by how different they are to other power metal bands. Besides the powerful soloing and catchy choruses, there's also a bass-baritone vocalist and lyrical themes of historical wars, breaking the power metal rule of epic fantasy lyrics and falsetto singing. Imagine this conversation between a kid listening to this band and their conservative parent: "NO METAL!!!" "I'M LEARNING HISTORY!" "Oh OK."

Heroes is the epitome of Sabaton's heroic power metal deeds! Sabaton's historical war themes concept has been given more emotion than in their previous albums Coat of Arms and Carolus Rex, making this offering their best masterpiece.

Already starting with epic power is "Night Witches". It has the upbeat heaviness best experienced in The Art of War. The rhyming lyrics are also great. A fun start before the more mature seriousness of later tracks. "No Bullets Fly" flies by with some retro-ish vibes. This is followed by another solid track in "Smoking Snakes". Further dominating is the anthemic "Inmate 4859", so simple yet packing a punch.

Another highlight worth mentioning is the single "To Hell and Back". It starts with a flute melody before another epic heavy experience. It's more midpaced while staying strong in the chorus, lyrics, and even synthesized brass. The best part is the short yet sweet guitar solo. There's just so much power in these 3 and a half minutes! I just wish the band would make long epics, not just radio-sized songs. The closest we have to a Sabaton epic is "Rise of Evil" from Attero Dominatus. The aptly titled "The Ballad of Bull" is one of the most emotional Sabaton songs ever. Then we're back to rifftastic action in "Resist and Bite".

We then have "Soldier of 3 Armies" which is more adventurous despite the somewhat restrained formula. Some Black Sabbath-ish stylings appear in "Far From the Fame" in a heavier fashion plus the usual deep vocals. Another favorite of mine, "Hearts of Iron", closes the original album by marching into the horizon.

There are a few bonus tracks, but we'll just tackle the ones available on Spotify, starting with "7734", a D-tuned re-recording of a song from Metalizer. The next bonus track "Man of War" is an homage to Manowar, referencing many of their songs. I like it, but at times it feels like fan-service, albeit if the fan-service involves shirtless metal warriors instead of scantily clad anime girls. At least we have a strong epic Metallica cover, "For Whom The Bell Tolls".

All in all, Heroes shows that Sabaton are indeed power metal heroes. Not as much as my own heroes as DragonForce, but still. They're a great band with their own unique twists in power metal. Learn history or be history!

Favorites: "Night Witches", "Inmate 4859", "To Hell and Back", "Soldier of 3 Armies", "Hearts of Iron", "7734", "For Whom The Bell Tolls"

As much as I enjoy symphonic deathcore, we really need more symphonic METALcore. Metalcore or melodic metalcore would really go well together with the epic orchestra of symphonic metal, and yet that almost never happens. It's always symphonic deathcore! DEATHcore!! DEATHCORE!!! Except for one of the most epic bands around...

Hope for the Dying's official full-length debut masterpiece Dissimulation is an album in which the "epic" label fits in quite appropriately. Before recording this album, the band made a self-titled release that was released as an EP then repackaged as a studio album released via Strike First Records. The band would then be signed to the label's more well-known older sibling Facedown Records. Just imagine Unearth and All That Remains with more progressive structures and Two Steps From Hell-esque orchestra.

The adventure begins with the intro "Exordium" which is the most Batman-sounding intro in a Revolution album besides Make Them Suffer's debut Neverbloom. Then to start the last third of the track, the metal guitars take the stage, rising from riffing to shredding. It makes the perfect transition to "Vacillation" with all its extreme technical speed. The screams and cleans are all in brilliant balance, already giving you all of this album's greatness to come. Then it all fades to orchestra and piano to get you ready for a heavy transition into the next track. "Orison" is another perfect flowing track. Note that all the tracks segue into one another similarly to BTBAM's Colors.

"Transcend" has that TSFH-sounding orchestra alongside some of the progressiveness of Queensryche gone heavier. The orchestra makes its bombastic flow through the heavy guitars, drums, and vocals. 4 and a half minutes in, a shredtastic solo is unleashed by slowing down in glistening melancholy. The sorrow bleeds into "Imminent War" starting with an acoustic intro before blasting into metal once again. "Perpetual Ruin" again has that "epic trailer music gone metalcore" motive.

And then we come to the glorious 15-minute 3-track suite, "The Awakening". Each one has different focus on an aspect, with the title track of the suite emphasizing the piano and strings, the title track of the album adding in some more shredding plus some female singing, and the third part "The Veil Lifted" closing the suite in both melancholy and progressiveness. The most vicious song of the album, "Vile Reflections" blasts away through metal yet again. Then it all ends with "Desirion", starting soft in the piano before the last bit of blasting metal gone orchestral and then wrapping things on a light symphonic note.

Dissimulation may not surpass Trivium's In Waves for the eternal reign of my personal best albums of 2011, but it's still one of the best that I wished I had discovered sooner. The older fans would get a kick of nostalgia while still sounding fresh the newer fans including myself. Orchestral metalcore is a sound that should've caught on a lot more. A must-have for anyone up for something both epic and extreme!

Favorites: "Vacillation", "Orison", "Transcend", "The Awakening" (full suite), "Vile Reflections"

Heavy Metal music is indebted to Black Sabbath. Not to say that occultist, pagan, and sometimes satanic music only came out of the United Kingdom during the 1970s, but of all the new styles of music that exist where crusty old generations claim it as the "Devil's music", heavy metal is the one that has gleefully retained that crown for over five decades. And their grandfathers were Black Sabbath. The opening of the bands self titled debut begins with thunderstorms and a church bell chiming, all before the first booming notes of Tony Iommi's guitar as well as the strong bass of Geezer Butler and Bill Ward's percussion. Entering in at a deathly slow pace, you can tell that this will not be your typical blues rock album by way of Hendrix or B.B. King. And then the painful vocals of Ozzy Osbourne enter at the first verse; feeling less so like a well constructed melodic idea, but rather a desperate cry for help and they sound magnificent.

"The Wizard" may feel like it doesn't belong after the brooding of the opening track with Ozzy's harmonica playing a key role in the composition, but the song itself is desperately lacking in some kind of a development of an idea or a solo or anything! The simplicity actually works to benefit "The Wizard" because it is more reminiscent of an occultist song or ritual this way. "N.I.B." to this day is still my favourite Black Sabbath song with its tumultuous bass riff, before transforming itself into a full band romp with Ozzy's vocals at the forefront. Tony Iommi's guitar work is tasteful and the back-and-forth between band members is almost flawless.

When the album ends with the ten-and-a-half minute jam on "Warning", you really start to understand that Black Sabbath aren't here to make your father new favourite record. You can tell during the main choruses sung by Ozzy that their is a foundation, but it sounds oddly off-kilter; almost as if the tempo is too slow or the guitar interjections are slightly out of time. And yet, they all coalesce together into a sound that is fresh and exciting. Perhaps not a sound that would be enjoyed by more blues rock enthusiasts of the time, but one that would inevitably become immensely influential as the genre that would soon be known as "heavy metal" became more structured and less of a jam session.

We may have lost Ozzy Osbourne while I was on summer vacation, but over fifty years of progress in the heavy metal genre show us that Ozzy will never actually leave us. The Prince of Darkness may be at his rightful place, sitting on a throne by the side of Lucifer himself, but here on the living side of the Rubicon, Ozzy Osbourne (and Black Sabbath as a whole) will forever be remembered as the ones to bring a band of misfits together. The self titled Black Sabbath recorded specifically represents a seismic shift in the hard rock landscape at the time and it has been an absolute joy to watch as the genre of music that made this website possible grows in so many ways, even if I personally don't like all of it. 

Best Songs: Black Sabbath, The Wizard, N.I.B. Warning

I was recommended this by a friend on RYM earlier in the year and finally got round to giving it a spin. It appears that Destiny's End were a fairly short-lived USPM outfit that featured Helstar vocalist James Rivera. Forming in '97, they released a couple of albums before splitting in 2001, "Breath Deep the Dark" being the debut. If I do dip my toes into power metal, which I do like to do every now and then - I am nothing if not persistent - then it is to the US version that I turn. In truth this ain't sctually half bad and is a reasonable example of USPM, to my inexperienced ears at least. There is a whole heap of energy and enthusiasm on display here, along with reasonably impressive technical ability. There are a shed full of riffs and the soloing is energetic and frenetic without ever becoming too self-indulgent, with twin guitarists Dan DeLucie and Perry Grayson (who actually featured on the Isen Torr EP "Mighty and Superior" that I love) playing off each other to great effect. James Rivera's vocals are up front and in your face, which I guess is the norm for power metal and while he likes to exercise his range, he isn't much given to the vocal histrionics that ruin many a PM album for me.

All-in-all I would have to say that this was quite a nice surprise and I am a little flummoxed as to why Destiny's End are so obscure - their two albums are on here but have zero ratings so far. I have certainly heard worse USPM and I would definitely recommend this to anyone for who enjoys the genre. I am undecided whether it deserves a 4/5 just yet, so I have gone with a 3.5+!

The NWOBHM was a great time to be a heavy metal fan here in England but, in truth, many of the young bands doing the rounds had trouble translating their energetic live performances into recorded format. This meant that, outside of the obvious candidates like Iron Maiden, Saxon and a handful of others, there were very few really dynamic albums released in those years. This is not true of Satan however. Their 1983 debut had a heady velocity to it and their version of heavy metal, whether by accident or design I cannot say, leaned a lot more towards speed metal, occasionally even sounding a bit thrashy.

The production isn't exactly stellar, a trait that also hampered a lot of the NWOBHM, and the guitars for certain could have done with a bit more oomph and depth, sounding a little bit thin. This is a great shame because these riffs are actually pretty great, but even they are cast into the shade by the two gutarists' incendiary soloing. The vocals also suffer from production weakness and have something of a distant reverb-y tone. Top and bottom of it is that Court in the Act is an album of energetic and generally high tempo tracks with awesome guitar work and with a much better production job it would rightly be considered a NWOBHM classic alongside Lightning to the Nations, Wheels of Steel and Number of the Beast. Still, despite these issues it is still fairly obvious that this is an exciting and vibrant act going about their business of slaying audiences and listeners with their salvos of infectious, hi-octane heavy metal.

I suppose this one may be a bit of a surprise to anyone familiar with my aversion to european power metal, but I have always had a soft spot for this album. I still have my original vinyl copy I bought shortly after release and although I can't truthfully claim it has been out of its sleeve for a few years, I wouldn't ever part with it. The reason I bought it is that it isn't all soaring vocals, multi-layered keyboards and out of control guitar posturing that has become the standard for EUPM. No, this actually has some killer riffs and these are the backbone of the album upon which everything else is hung. Even the vocals aren't especially OTT, not being much more effusive than Bruce Dickenson and there is a welcome absence of synths. Side one is pretty good, but the one-two salvo of "Future World" and the epic "Halloween" which comprise most of side B are where things take off for me. "Future World" is catchy and anthemic, a real fist-pumper and then the discordant intro to "Halloween" introduces my favourite power metal song, bar none, with its thrashy riff and epic narrative style standing out from the crowd. I guess, at the end of the day, I am just as fond of a big old slab of cheese as much as the next guy!

Black Sabbath, with Ozzy as frontman, birthed and popularised metal for so many of us old metalheads and Dio helped to resurrect the tottering giants from the terminal decline into which their drug-ravaged delusions had pitched them, delivering a couple of indisputable all-time metal classics in the process. So, come on people, revisionism can only go so far and to consider the Tony Martin era with anything like the same degree of respect as the Ozzy and Dio eras is disingenuous at best. But, that said, it is what it is and these albums still have the world's finest riff master plying his trade and no amount of awful 80s-style over-production can disguise that fact. On the odd occasion when I do listen to albums from this Sabbath era, I do my best to strip away the production in my mind, so I'm not hearing something akin to awful AOR shite like Journey or Foreigner, but getting down to the pure heart of the record and that is Iommi's impeccable ability to write riffs. To be fair, none of this is Tony Martin's fault and I have nothing against the guy per se and, in truth, he is a gifted singer who doesn't sound all that different to Dio as a quick listen to "The Law Maker" will attest - shut your eyes and it could be the diminutive one himself throwing horns left and right!

But, I will never believe that layered keyboards and harmonised backing vocals have any place on a Sabbath record and on a track like Jerusalem they are a bridge too far, especially when coupled with one of the weakest riffs Iommi has ever written, then it is a big ask for me to get too heavily behind it. The best tracks here are the ones that are recognisably continuations from previous band iterations, "The Sabbath Stones", "Anno Mundi" and "Valhalla" would all have sat comfortably on Heaven and Hell or Mob Rules, if not for the production equivalent of 1980's big hair and shoulder pads.

So, in summation, for me this is an album with a fistful of decent tracks, alongside a couple of duffers, dragged down by a production sound that, whilst beefing up the guitar tone, throws the drums way too much to the fore in a way that has become decidedly dated. Overuse of layered keyboards and harmonised backing vocals irritate me at the best of times, but on a Black Sabbath album this is totally indefensible to me. I can't hate this, because underneath it all the riffs reign supreme, but I will never love it either.

Released in 2017, ‘We the People’ is the third studio album by American groove metal band Adrenaline Mob. Following on from previous outings, it’s full of massive-sounding, energetic, fist-pumping anthems of a very high standard. While the band was originally considered a supergroup when they first formed (they still are, somewhat…), it’s pretty obvious by this point that the core of the band is vocalist Russell Allen (of Symphony X fame), and guitarist Mike Orlando.

Not that that’s a bad thing, as these two have fantastic writing chemistry. Orlando’s absolutely furious guitar playing is insane, and Allen has one of the most incredible voices ever. Sounding extremely “metal”, yet able to drop emotion in on a whim, both of their styles fit really well.

As for the music, yeah, it’s pretty similar to everything they’ve released before, but why fix what isn’t broken? It’s heavy, groovy and melodic, and an amazing production gives it the massive, beefy sound that it deserves. Highlights include ‘King of the Ring’, ‘Raise ‘Em Up’, ‘We the People’, ‘The Killer’s Inside’, ‘Bleeding Hands’ and ‘Chasing Dragons’, but, to be honest, the whole album is just brimming with bangers, and each track flows into the next effortlessly.

Overall, ‘We the People’ is another fantastic record by one of the most underrated metal bands of the 2010’s. Everything about this album, from the songs, the production, even the artwork and the imagery, all fall perfectly into place, and if you like your music heavy (and you’d better, if you’re listening to this), then this is definitely an album worth owning.

One guy who will need no introduction here is the diminutive legend that is Ronnie James Dio. After his stint as frontman for Rainbow and being one of the very few guys who could replace the irreplaceable Ozzy in Sabbath, RJD decided he had had enough of being told what to do and say by other people and so launched his own "solo" band. The first fruits of Ronnie's new-found independence was Holy Diver and I think it is fair to say it is a classic of 80s heavy metal. With fist-pumping, horns-raising riffs and infectious choruses this is anthemic stuff that has become synonymous with RJD, alongside fantasy lyrics about gypsies, rainbows and low-level occultism.

Even though this is undoubtedly Dio's show, he also surrounded himself with very talented musicians, who crucially wouldn't steal his thunder, in fellow former Sabbath bandmate Vinnie Appice, ex-Rainbow bassist Jimmy Bain and young guitarist Vivian Campbell. If you enjoy Ronnie's larger-than-life version of heavy metal (and who doesn't) then there are some belters on here; "Stand Up and Shout", "Don't Talk to Strangers", "Rainbow in the Dark" and the title track are all bona fide, horns-raising eighties' metal staples guaranteed to lift the heart and bring a smile to the face of any old metalhead.

Originally released in 1993, ‘Live Shit: Binge & Purge’ is an audio and visual tour de force of live music by Metallica. During the absolute peak of their world tour for 1991’s ‘Metallica’, they released a monstrous box set featuring three different concerts, two on video (later DVD, thankfully) and one on three CD’s.

Having become worldwide megastars with their 1991 self-titled release, the band would go on to tour the world, multiple times for over a staggering three years. Which brings us to the CD’s and the first DVD; the live album part of it is from a show in Mexico City, whilst the DVD is of a similar show from San Diego. Both concerts are fantastic, with excellent performances, sound, and in the case of the DVD, great picture. However, one major downside is the endless “noodling” and messing around between songs.

Yeah, it’s come to be expected, and is pretty harmless enough, but there’s so many random solo spots, messing around, jams, and countless other bits of shameless banter, that after a while, it does wear a bit thin. At one point, there’s 20 minutes of tomfoolery before they start another song, and during ‘Seek and Destroy’ James interacts with the crowd for over ten minutes. It’s fun at first, but after repeated listens, it does get quite boring fast.

Then there’s the second DVD, filmed in Seattle and taken from the bands 1989 tour in support of ‘…And Justice For All’, and this is a fantastic concert. This was a great time for the band as they were still “on the way up”. The playing is incredibly tight, the sound and picture are excellent, especially given the age of the footage, and with a great set list to boot, this random addition to the box set makes it totally worthwhile.

Everyone performs brilliantly on all three concerts. Even Lars, bless him, far from the best drummer in the world, but his boundless enthusiasm and excitement is infectious, and Jason Newsted’s copious amounts of energy makes me sad for how things turned out for him. With around nine hours of content, ‘Live Shit…’ is certainly not for the faint of heart, but overall, any detriments aside, this is an absolute beast of a box set, and truly belongs in every Metallica fans collection.

At the time of its release and for a good while after I thought of Mob Rules as the younger sibling of the transformative Heaven and Hell, forever living in the shadow of its older brother. For me though, the years have been kinder to it and it is now my preferred post-Ozzy release. I think at the time Heaven and Hell was so much better than the last couple of Ozzy albums that it was revered as having pulled Sabbath back from the brink, with RJD breathing new life into the band, like a diminutive emergency paramedic. But I actually feel that Mob Rules is a bit more subtle than HnH and has more depth with a song like "Sign of the Southern Cross" possessing more emotional resonance. I don't think Mob Rules experiences the quality dips that HnH does either. In all honesty, "Lady Evil", "Wishing Well" and "Walk Away" aren't exactly classic Sabbath are they, except when compared to what had come during the previous three or four years, whereas even the weaker tracks on Mob Rules are still pretty damn good to me. Throw in a couple of uptempo crackers like Turn Up the Night and the title track, which give off Symptom of the Universe vibes, alongside the best non-Ozzy Sabbath track the forlornly epic, "Falling Off the Edge of the World", and we have an album approaching the quality of the first six.

There's really not much I can say about this one you haven't heard before. Half the tracks are such that if you've heard Black Sabbath, you've probably already heard them. Sweet Leaf, for instance, is one of the three tracks you are guaranteed to have heard if you have ever spent any time listening to classic rock radio.
Compared to the past two releases, Master of Reality is a lot more typical. Outside of two short interludes, every song is more mundanely done in comparison to the non-traditional structures of the first two albums. It's more poppy, in the sense of being more easily digestable even if every song is solidly doom metal outside of Solitude.
There's a weird sort of love ethos going on in this album. Every song has something to do with it, but not always in a good way. Sweet Leaf talks about how much they love marijuana; After Forever talks about, in a way that nobody is quite sure is serious or not, about how Jesus is the only way to love; Then the rest talks about the disasters that will befall us without love. Considering the way the genre developed, it's amusing that arguably the metal album could be read as an antithesis to the whole genre.
Most of the material on this album is iconic, outside of the aforementioned Solitude and Lord of This World. There's basically nothing new to say about it. How many others have praised the subtle creepiness of After Forever, using hippie-sounding melodies as the chorus to counteract the dark, pro-Christianity lyrics. Even when the album is not being outright dark, it is still being dark under the surface.
Master of Reality strikes me as the perfect metal album. Oh, there are ones I personally like better, even in Sabbath's career, but Master of Reality states all that is good about the genre, and states in a period of time that does not linger for too long or too short. Master of Reality may be the third album, but it is not their third best album.

I have a deep connection to this record, going back to the early Eighties when it was gifted to me out of the blue. I had never heard Witchfynde before, but was enthralled by it from the very first playthrough and it still gets regular spins to this very day. At least as many as the very best albums from those NWOBHM years, such as Killers, Lightning to the Nations and Bomber, records alongside which this stands proudly in my collection.

Witchfynde actually show a couple of sides to themselves on Give 'Em Hell, one a fairly straight-up hard rocking version of late-70's / early -80's heavy metal as exemplified by the title cut. The other side to the band is a progressive version of heavy metal that is more adventurous and places as much emphasis on atmospherics as much as on ripping out killer riffs, with the almost nine-minutes of "Unto the Ages of the Ages" being the albums marginal highlight for me. This side of the band is the one that I find most interesting and it is the three tracks written in this vein, "The Divine Victim", "Leaving Nadir" and the previously mentioned "Unto the Ages of the Ages" that made the band stand out for me all those many years ago and which keep dragging me back. I guess with all the water under the bridge that has seen so much experimentation and progressiveness seep into modern metal, someone listening to Give 'Em Hell today for the first time would undoubtedly be little impressed, but this was an album that stood out to me at the time for it's adventurousness.

The tracks that exhibit the more conventional and rockier side of the band here are somewhat variable in quality with "Ready to Roll" and the title track being much superior to the somewhat lacklustre "Gettin' Heavy" and "Pay Now - Love Later", a track whose fate is sealed even more so by following the epic "Unto the Ages of the Ages". which should have closed out the album in my book and which makes the actual closer sound a bit puerile in comparison. That said the two earlier-mentioned tracks are very good examples of early NWOBHM headbangers with nice catchy riffs and fairly simplistic lyrics, great for a good old drunken singalong, something I was always up for back in the day!

The production on Give 'Em Hell is actually slightly muddy which gives it a sort of doom metal feeling that serves it quite well I feel, particularly on the slower sections, the opening riff of "The Divine Victim", for example, coming off like a riff from an early Trouble or Saint Vitus album and the track as a whole being every bit as doom metal as anything on Witchfinder General's lauded debut. Guitarist Trevor Taylor (aka Montalo) dishes out a string of nice solos that display a reasonable amount of variation but aren't showy or over-extravagant. The bass sits fairly prominently in the mix and underpins the guitar work nicely. Band founder Graham Scoresby's drumming is very good, check out Leaving Nadir for some really nice fills along with his timekeeping. Unfortunately whilst doing my due diligence for this review I found out that Graham was killed in a road accident back in February of this year - RIP.

This is undeniably not a typical NWOBHM album, with the band already having been together for seven years by the time of its release, it doesn't possess the youthful vitality and dynamism of, say, the Maiden or Angel Witch debuts from the same year, but it does have a maturity to the songwriting that sees them producing a more expansive and atmospheric record.

That cover is of course going to attract certain expectations from a modern listener, but at the time such openly satanic imagery was pretty much unheard of, this was the time of Thatcher and Reagan's neo-puritanism and here in the UK Mary Whitehouse and her gang of self-serving evangelists was down on anything which may potentially corrupt the nation's Youth, so the cover was in itself a two-fingered gesture to the "powers that be". Ironically, my second-hand vinyl copy, bought for me by my first wife around '82, has a map hand-drawn, presumably, by the album's previous owner, of an ambush plan by Stoke City fans for some poor unsuspecting sods visiting Stoke for a football match at a time when football violence was endemic here in England. That to me is far more disturbing than any picture of a goat's head and pentagram could ever be.

All-in-all I would have to claim Give 'Em Hell to be one of the most important albums ever in my journey of metal discovery. It is still one of my all-time favourites and I am having a genuine blast listening to it over and over whilst I write out this diatribe. One of the most underappreciated albums from those early NWOBHM years with a darkness of atmosphere and an ambition beyond any of their contemporaries.

Engine are an alternative metal supergroup, consisting of Ray Alder from Fates Warning, Joey Vera from Armored Saint (and also Fates Warning), as well as Bernie Versailles from Agent Steel, and Pete Parada, at the time in a band called Face to Face, but would eventually go on to drum for bands such as Halford and even The Offspring.

Released in 1999, ‘Engine’ is their self-titled debut album. Considering the progressive metal background of some of the musicians involved, it’s surprising that this is a very stripped down, laid back affair, focusing on a more groove metal sound that fits in with the nu metal-influenced scene at the turn of the century. I guess sometimes these guys just want something nice and easy to rock out to.

And rock out, they do! ‘Engine’ is brimming with plenty of heavy and grooving guitar riffs, Ray Alder’s fantastic vocals work great with this style of music, and the writing here is very polished. The band plays together very well, almost feeling like a “proper band” and not a “side project”.

Standout tracks from the record include ‘Tree of Life’, ‘Falling Star’, ‘Monster’, ‘Alone’ and ‘I Don’t Need’, but in all honesty, at barely 44 minutes in duration, this is a solid listen from start to finish. Engine might be a pretty obscure band for the casual metal listener, but if you’re a fan of any of the musicians involved, or like your metal simple, without endless noodling and complex melodies, then you can’t go wrong by giving this a go.

Twenty years after the first ‘S&M’ concerts, and Metallica team up once more with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra for a musical extravaganza, as metal meets classical in the ultimate musical collaboration.

Containing two CD’s and a DVD of the concert, ‘S&M2’ lives up to its predecessor, but is as different as it is similar. Besides advancements in technology allowing for much, much better sound and picture (on the DVD), the band have this time, taken the performance from a concert hall to a huge arena, and with thousands of Metallica fans in attendance, the audience participation really enhances the experience, especially on the ending of ‘The Memory Remains’.

The differences don’t stop there. What’s noticeable on the DVD, is that, unlike the first ‘S&M’, where Metallica were in their late 30’s, battling shifting musical trends, addictions, and personal strife, and “taking a risk” with the whole endeavour, this time the band are now all in their late 50’s. They’re sober, a cohesive unit, and they’ve done this before, and you can see how they seem so much more relaxed this time around. Conductor Edwin Outwater’s visual energy is infectious, and the orchestra musicians are no doubt, absolute professionals, but I can’t help but feel like the pep talk backstage was something like “hey, don’t worry, just have fun”.

If any risks are taken this time around, it’s the middle segment which sees the orchestra given time to shine. With classical pieces, a double bass tribute to Cliff Burton, as well as an orchestral version of ‘The Unforgiven III’, which sees James Hetfield go guitar-less. I don’t think this has happened since he burnt his arm in the early 90’s?

While sentimentality and nostalgia will always make me prefer the first ‘S&M’ over this one, the reality is that ‘S&M2’ is every part it’s equal. Featuring classics such as ‘One’, ‘Enter Sandman’ ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ and ‘Master of Puppets’, as well as newer songs, ‘The Day That Never Comes’, ‘Moth Into Flame’, and ‘Halo On Fire’ (which sounds incredible with the orchestra), the CD’s and DVD make for a fantastic audio and visual experience, and this is as essential a part of any Metallica collection as the first. Will the band still be around in their 70’s for part three? Let the waiting begin!

Formed in 2015 by rhythm guitarist Brandon Corsair (Drawn and Quartered, Draghkar, Azath) Serpent Rider have been in existence for a decade now and following a couple of split releases, a 2021 split with Ezra Brooks and a four-way split in 2022 which featured the two tracks from a 2019 demo, the band's debut full-length album, The Ichor of Chimaera, is finally here. The five-piece play a traditional style of heavy metal that has its roots in the 1980s and USPM bands like Manilla Road and Cirith Ungol, but with the modern sheen and vitality of latter-day acts such as Smoulder and Eternal Champion. I mention those latter two in particular, because, like them, Serpent Rider feature a female vocalist, the splendid R. Villar, and also like to tip their hat to epic doom masters like Candlemass, Solstice and Solitude Aeternus.

The Ichor of Chimaera is an album that is steeped in the traditions of metal and is clearly the product of a band that is well-versed in that world. The riffs are great, from the rip-roaring, nitro-charged gallops of opener "Steel Is the Answer" and "Tyrant's March" to slower, more hulking and ominous doomy slabs such as "The Hero's Spirit". The guitar sound is thick and powerful and the lead breaks often provide some real highlights for me, as lead guitarist Paul Gelbach unleashes some full-blooded, white-hot solos that give the tracks a real keen edge. The five-piece don't shy away from inserting the odd catchy hook here and there either, with the choruses of "Radiant" and "Tyrant's March" refusing to stop bouncing around inside your brain long after the album stops spinning.

Lyrically Serpent Rider stick to the tried and tested formula of epic metal which inhabits the fantasy worlds created by the likes of Moorcock and Robert E. Howard and there is nothing wrong with that, but it is a very safe option to be honest. The vocals, provided by R. Villar are very much suited to the material and are exceedingly well-enunciated with barely a single word being missed, even by my tinnitus-ravaged hearing. She has a very classic-sounding delivery and has a really nice tone, often reminding me in a weird way of Morris Ingram on Solstice's New Dark Age, particularly on "Tyrant's March", a track which does display hallmarks of Rich Walker's phrasing. If I had one misgiving then it would be that sometimes the vocals sound a little bit reedy when pushed up against the thickness and depth of the guitars in full flow, but this is truly a minor niggle.

Kudos must also go to the rhythm section for the sheer depth and power of the band's sound with Brian Verderber basswork and Brandon's riffing combining to devastating effect. Drummer Drake Graves provides a bit more than just time-keeping with some interesting fills and more complex beats than you may expect - the title track for example has a really interesting drum track and is worth paying particular attention to.

I would heartily recommend The Ichor of Chimaera to anyone who has any love for heavy metal in general or epic metal specifically. Well-written and consummately executed this should tick all the boxes for fans of good, old-fashioned, fist-pumping metal. Sure, it doesn't address real-world horrors or the psychological pressures of modern life, but sometimes it is OK to just have a good time and forget about all that shit and at this minute I can't think of many better ways to do it.

I wonder if Tank knew something that the rest of us didn't in 1983. One doesn't expect the band who was introduced to the world playing nasty metal one step away from Venom to start with ambient electronic music. Imagine picking this up in '83, expecting something raw and getting something that sounds like Tangerine Dream. It of course goes into something metal, but it still seems at odds with their most popular image.
The strange synths starting the album also come with a production that's quite clean and modern for 1983. Take out the odd intro/outro synth and this album has a sound that comes off as if you're listening to how these instruments really sounded in the studio. If I had to change something, I would make the guitar more bombastic. They're already going for that sort of sound, but they're underselling it a bit for whatever reason. It's something that would fit a poppier group better than the dirtier sound of Tank.
Otherwise this album has a lot of "feels unique to me, probably isn't, still very nice." It's like the culmination of the NWOBHM sound, the rawness of it before the sound was tempered by commercialism, and when it still had something to prove over other, more aggressive and rawer scenes. The best example of this is in Algy Ward's vocals, more influenced by regular punk rock than anything else. Here he comes off like a regular guy doing his best, injecting what emotion he can. There are many better vocalists, but only Ward can make these songs work as well as they do.
This Means War strikes me as an album that spiritually ends an era, the NWOBHM. While Tank would never strike it as big as other bands, it is an album that represents the endgoal many had, taking the spirit of a band who grew up in an era where metal was a rare and unusual thing, and bringing it to the big labels with a mainstream sound.

In over a decade of me listening to metal, I had not heard a single song or album by Brainstorm. Not even my first few years of metal, when heavy/power metal was my main target. That's rather surprising, isn't it? After all, they've released 14 albums in 3 decades and are part of the German power metal league alongside Masterplan and Blind Guardian. The lyrical themes seem to center around Native Americans, and a couple tracks each guest star one of the two vocalists of Leaves' Eyes. Sounds cool in theory...

However, I'm not getting much greatness from this offering. The vocals by Andy B. Franck sound a bit strained, the riffing is generic, and the drums sound like they just wrapped paper over some opened food cans and called it a day. Maybe I would've loved this a lot more 10 years ago when I was a not-so-firm power metal-loving teen.

The "Intro" (embedded to the next track in some editions) has some nice synths and a western vibe, which sounds like a promising start. Then the generic action begins in the first full song "Beyond Enemy Lines" (actually its second single), becoming instantly forgettable. It just doesn't have the memorability of other power metal bands I still enjoy and remember. The soloing doesn't pack that much of a punch, but it's one thing I can remember until the end. Having better rhythm is the next track and first single "Garuda (Eater of Snakes)", sounding quite exotic in the hooks. Despite some slight monotony, it still stands out as well! Unlike a few tracks we'll skip here. More of those native elements appear in "The Shepherd Girl (Gitavoginda)", although the bland commercial writing ruins the beauty of the music.

The song that features Leaves' Eyes clean vocalist Elina Siirala, "Your Soul That Lingers in Me", is actually a great improvement. Her impressive vocals blow away most of those tough issues. Awesome! But on the other hand, Leaves' Eyes keyboardist/harsh vocalist Alex Krull's guest spot in "From Hell" has made me cringe. His vocal contrast with Franck is far too much of a stretch. And the guitar solo is barely memorable. All of that make an epic f***ing fail. There's some solid riffing melody of "Crawling", despite Franck's vocals not helping much there either. I'm just relieved the album is about to end.

If you're more experienced and appreciative of power metal than I've ever been, you might enjoy Plague of Rats way more than I do. I only consider this an impressive achievement based on the fact that it's their 14th album. Only two of the 10 tracks (11 including the intro) are memorable standouts, while the rest are either bland or bad. And I'm not even gonna check out that Rick Springfield cover in the Digipak edition. I prefer to get my English-sung German metal elsewhere. Good day, sirs....

Favorites (only true standouts I actually like): "Garuda (Eater of Snakes)", "Your Soul That Lingers in Me", "Crawling"

‘Still the Orchestra Plays’ is a 2010 compilation album by legendary cult metal band Savatage. After years of inactivity, this CD package just randomly popped up from nowhere and probably left most fans wondering if it was a sign that anything new was coming. Sadly, that was not the case, as it would be another three years until the band would once more pop up out of the blue with a re-released narrated version of their rock opera, ‘Streets’.

But back to this one, and yeah, as you’d expect, this is a fantastic compilation! Two discs full of absolutely top quality music. Sure, there’s a few omissions that I feel should have been included, but overall, it’s a nice career retrospective, perfect for newcomers to the band, or long-time fans who need a reminder of how brilliant these guys are.

From ‘Power of the Night’, ‘Hall of the Mountain King’, ‘Gutter Ballet’ and ‘Edge of Thorns’, to the likes of ‘Morphine Child’, ‘The Wake of Magellan’, ‘Chance’ and ‘One Child’, there’s no shortage of Savatage classics here. And three newly-recorded acoustic versions of previous hits are a welcome sign that the band were still trying to somewhat maintain active.

This CD package comes with a bonus DVD, which has the classic ‘Japan Live ‘94’ concert on it. Originally released on VHS, it was nice to finally be able to own a copy of this. Granted, the sound and picture are quite dated, but the performances are excellent, and it’s just great to be able to see a full concert video of the band.

Overall, this is, quite simply, a fantastic compilation. It’s definitely a great starting point for newcomers, but also has plenty of value for fans too. A worthy addition to any rock or metal collection!

Hail to the Queen! Her Majesty Doro Pesch! If anybody else was singing for this album it would be another mediocre throwaway, but Ms. Pesch puts the team on her back and drags them kicking and screaming to the top of the mountain. The music isn't terrible by any means, it's straight forward classic metal like what you would find on a Dio or Scorpions album, it's just that Doro's voice carries so much power and charisma that's it the clear star of the show. Good timing, fist pumping, classic heavy metal with an absolute dyno on the mic. Doro is just a pure joy to listen to and by all accounts a fantastic human being off the stage as well. 

When you think of a progressive concept album you probably don't think of the guy who wrote "Fuck Like A Beast" as a primary candidate for making a good one, but in 1992 he did, and it is good, real fucking good. I'm not in the camp that would call this the best WASP album, that honor goes to the Last Command, but I generally enjoy all of the WASP catalogue. They were just a nastier take on the Motely Crue formula that really worked for me. Blackie considers this his best work. Chainsaw Charlie kicks all kinds of ass. As with most concept albums you kind of need to listen to it from beginning to end and judge it by the complete product rather than by single tracks. Luckily, unlike so many concept albums, doing that is a joy rather than a chore. Fun Trivia Fact: this album doesn't have the WASP line up on it, Blackie wanted to release it as his solo debut, but the record company wouldn't go for it.

I absolutely love Slough Feg "Traveler" album. I also love Manilla Road, and that whole early 80s classic metal sound. This is more of that so it's fine, but it's mixed a bit murkier than Traveler and lacks the same excitement. There is more folky stuff in here than I remember being on Traveler too, and that's a negative for me. I don't really care for folk metal. You probably see where this is going, but long story short, just listen to Traveler instead, it's a more focused and better sounding album than this. 

The title track is great, and the rest of the album is just disappointing. It's fine power metal but I don't really like power metal and nothing else on the album remotely approaches the quality of the title track. I tried to think of something else to say, but it really is that much of an open and shut case for me. 

I was a surprised by how much I enjoyed this album. I listened to a Riot album for a different clan list, and while I applauded the bands enthusiasm it failed to land for me. Here they got it just right. This album plays out like a NWOBHM album like Judas Priest, except that it's an American band. Many bands of course, have taken a stab at the Judas Priest Formula, and I think Riot got pretty close to doing it justice here. Priest is still the better band, but I enjoyed every track on this album quite a bit, and I think I will come back to it time and time again in the future, I can't wait to have my wife weigh in on it later today! Well done RIOT!

Look man, I just hate Queensryche. I'm here to complete the clan challenges on the website, and I did listen to it, but I hated it as much as everything else they do. Given how beloved they are, and how much I despise them, I would have rather not written a review, but the site calls for it. I am not the man to get your Queensryche review from. I find them bland, boring, and up their own backside as far as social commentary and concepts. Something about them just irks me to no end. 

This is some utterly forgettable music that sounds like any given late 80s to early 90s mainstream rock. Think of the Scorpions, then take away anything interesting and you'll be in the ballpark of this. It's not offensive to the ears, but it's utterly unremarkable. As I was listening to the album on spotify it ended and went into a different but similar band, and I probably heard 3 of that bands songs before I realized it wasn't this album anymore. 

Well, it's Motorhead so I like it. If you listen to Motorhead at all they are pretty consistent in what they offer up: old school rock and roll sped up to punk/thrash levels and vocals delivered by the whiskey and tobacco soaked pipes of the great Lemmy Kilmister. For me it's a 4 start formula on average and then it comes up to 5 on some albums. This is a 4. I would recommend the title track,  and "Doctor Rock" be thrown into your permanent mix, then visit the other songs for flavor.  

Well, it is quite possibly the biggest mainstream metal release of all time, so that alone earns high marks for me. Yes all of the thrashy goodness from the earlier albums is gone. It has been exchanged for straightforward metal that verges on rock and roll, but the guitar tones and some of the subject mater are still aggressive enough for me to call it a metal album. It's incredibly catchy, full of memorable riffs and vocal passages. The production on it is top notch-it objectively sounds incredible and huge. As far as writing a review it's another case of "what can I say that hasn't been said?" Even if you are not a metalhead you probably already know about half of these songs as they are staples of rock radio. It's a great entry point for the genre, it's good music with great mass-appeal.