Eden’s Curse

Altaria – Wisdom Review

Altaria – Wisdom Review

“Finland’s Altaria are one of those fourth-tier melodic metal acts I stumbled upon back in the early aughts and took a flyer on. 2004s Divinity had a few worthwhile cuts but was largely forgettable faux-power/hard rock in the vein of Allen/Lande or Eden’s Curse. By the time 2006s The Fallen Empire hit I was less interested in what they were doing and essentially consigned them to the darkest corners of my music collection. I slept on 2009s Unholy and was mildly surprised to see their name emerge from the skunk weeds of the promo sump some 12 years after they last sallied forth. So what does fifth album Wisdom offer the curious listener?” Unsolicited wisdom.

Eden’s Curse – Cardinal Review

Eden’s Curse – Cardinal Review

“Wait, come back! I know a quarter of you took one look at that lurid, mega-tacky cover and started to turn away in disgust, while another quarter started doing something worse (which results in hair growth in unsightly places). But before you judge this book based on its highly regrettable cover, hear me out. Eden’s Curse is a kind of low-rent “super group” of sorts that’s been puttering around the edges of metaldom since 2007, and despite the absence of household names they’ve managed to release some enjoyably melodic metal albums.” No one expects the Red Riding Hood Inquisition!

Eden’s Curse – Symphony of Sin Review

Eden’s Curse – Symphony of Sin Review

“Standing at the crossroads of catchy hard rock and traditional metal, Eden’s Curse has been quietly killing it since 2007. Founded by vocalist Michael Eden, this quasi super group (composed of players from bands I mostly never heard of) has released three albums of high quality, hook-filled, anthemic music similar to Leverage, Masterplan, Starbreaker and the Russell/Lande albums. Though the members have ample musical chops, they eschew wankery in favor of simplistic, rocking tunes with memorable choruses and their approach invokes the charms of 80s style, bluesy, quasi-hair metal.” In the mood for something light and sweet? Eden’s Curse has just the thing for your musical sweet tooth. Oh, the sugar rush!!

Theocracy – As The World Bleeds Review

Theocracy – As The World Bleeds Review

Here’s a band I bet most haven’t heard of and some actively avoided due to their “christian metal” tag. Well, its time you heard of them and stopped worrying about such silly tags. However, for those diehard, anti-christian, pagan warriors of Wotan, try replacing “christian metal” with “white metal” or “good metal.” Okay, that probably didn’t help AT ALL but the point is, Theocracy is a really good band and their third album As The World Bleeds is an exceptional dose of progressive power metal. Once a one-man project helmed by Matt Smith, Theocracy is now a fully functioning band and these altar boys can really play! Sounding like a mash-up of Avantasia, Axenstar, Balance of Power, Eden’s Curse and Shadow Gallery, they deliver hyper-polished, super-slick, technical, proggy power with a ton of melodic hooks and a fair amount of heavy edge to boot. Songwriting is first-rate, musicianship is very impressive and heck, God will appreciate you listening to it. When was the last time you hordes of miscreants could honestly say that? Yeah, that’s what I thought, sinners! In all seriousness, this is a great power metal album, regardless of religious inclination. If you dig melodic metal, follow Steel Druhm through the desert of this review and he’ll deliver you to the Angry Promised Land.