Evergrey

Redemption – I Am the Storm Review

By Steel Druhm on March 17, 2023 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 32 comments

“Call me olde and jaded, but I tend to be suspicious of bands that bear the “supergroup” imprimatur. Cautious though I may be, I’ve been a fan of Redemption since their launch way back in 2003. The brainchild of guitarist extraordinaire, Nicolas van Dyk, the project has benefitted from some exceptional frontmen over time, such as Rick Mythiasin (Steel Prophet, New Eden) and Ray Alder (Fates Warning, A-Z), and since 2018s Long Night’s Journey into Day, they’ve had Evergrey’s Tom Englund on the mic.” Forgiveness is more than saying sorry.

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2022

By Dr. A.N. Grier on January 2, 2023 in Blog Posts, Lists, 106 comments

“You don’t know shit until you read this. It’s not opinion; it’s science.”

Borealis – Illusions Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on October 13, 2022 in Reviews, Melodic Metal, Power Metal, 77 comments

“With the stunning, back-to-back releases of Fall From Grace and Purgatory, it isn’t easy to imagine the band could ever top them. So, when 2018’s The Offering surfaced, I knew the very thing I feared had come true. The passion so instrumental to the band’s success felt zapped from the songwriting. And, where it was weakest, the orchestration was heaviest—as if trying to hide the lack of emotion found in previous releases. As I said in my review of The Offering, it’s still a strong enough album to revisit and enjoy. But something was missing. This year’s Illusions is a sequel to The Offering’s story. But will it be a sequel to that album’s struggling delivery?” Fire in the sky, bombast in the pie.

Alex Nunziati – Il Mangiatore di Peccati Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on June 1, 2022 in Reviews, Gothic Metal, Heavy Metal, 52 comments

“After forming and performing with Italy’s Theatres des Vampires for many years, Nunziati left to pursue other avenues. The most famous of these was his gothic, symphonic black metal spin-off, Lord Vampyr. With a gnarly rasp that brings to mind the mighty Cadaveria from her stint with Opera IX, Nunziati carved a name for himself alongside compatriots of his defunct Shadowsreign. But Nunziati hasn’t stopped there—preferring to keep himself busy with other creations and contributions, like Cain, Hermeticum, Iamthemonster, and Malamorte. And now, as if Nunziati can’t help but continue creating new ventures to quench his creative thirst, he brings us a debut record under his own name.” Circus of freakshows.

Evergrey – A Heartless Portrait (The Orphean Testament) Review

By Huck N Roll on May 18, 2022 in Reviews, Gothic Metal, Progressive Metal, 37 comments

“It is the circle of life. The Lord taketh and the Lord giveth back. Not seven weeks ago I was slated to review the new Satan album, when it was ripped from my hands by our Ungracious Leader. I bit my tongue as long as I could, waiting for the right moment for revenge, and that moment has come! For here I am, coming out of nowhere to steal this new Evergrey album from his hairy mitts.” Evergrabby.

Evergrey – Escape of the Phoenix Review

By Steel Druhm on February 24, 2021 in Reviews, Gothic Metal, Progressive Metal, 58 comments

“2021 will see the release of a wealth of albums written and recorded during the COVID pandemic. This phenomenon will likely impact records in a myriad of ways. Some will directly reflect the times in concept, lyrics or atmosphere. Others may benefit from bands having additional time stuck in lockdown together to hone their compositions. In the case of Evergrey’s 12th album Escape of the Phoenix, the latter appears to be the case.” Firebirds, energy weapons.

Vanishing Point – Dead Elysium Review

By Steel Druhm on August 26, 2020 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 12 comments

“It looks like Olde Man Huck and I are carrying the entire prog-power burden on our creaky, arthritic shoulders these days. With Awake by Design and Assignment already offloaded, I’m lugging the new Vanishing Point opus to the finish line all by my aged lonesome. This long-running Aussie prog act has been silent since releasing Distant is the Sun way back in 2014 and I’d given them up for dead, but here they are with their sixth album Dead Elysium and a new drummer and bassist in tow.” Unvanished.

Virtual Symmetry – Exoverse Review

By Twelve on June 30, 2020 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, Symphonic Metal, 16 comments

“My personal favorite of the AMG banners has always been that most legendary of Yngwie Malmsteen quotes – “How can less be more? That’s impossible!” It’s a perfectly true statement as long as you’re willing to completely miss the point of the original cliché, which, frankly, makes for a great worldview. In that vein, I bring you progressive metal, in the form of the sophomore full-length from Swiss-Italian Virtual Symmetry; that output, Exoverse is the very definition of an album that believes, with everything that it’s got, that less is not more, that that would be impossible.” More is MOOAR.

Course of Fate – Mindweaver Review

By Twelve on May 14, 2020 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 15 comments

“I’ve always been interested in bands that have long histories and comparatively brief discographies. Course of Fate is a Norwegian sextet that formed back in 2003, but their debut full-length album Mindweaver is just now releasing, seventeen years later.” Time is the mindweaver.

Badd Kharma – On Fire Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on March 13, 2020 in 2020, Greek Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Rock of Angels Records, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, 20 comments

“We live in a society where people add extra letters (specifically u’s) to words that don’t belong. As well as spelling words purposely (I think?) wrong to give them more emphasis. Or they use words that don’t mean what they think they mean. Who could forget the days of ‘wassup?’ and ‘wazzup?’ I mean, what’s not hip about saying ‘what’s up?’ or ‘what is up? Or remember when people used the word ‘bad’ but actually meant ‘good’? Or when you use ‘cop’ instead of ‘get’ and ‘whip’ instead of ‘car’? What the fuck is going on around here? Now there’re umlauts over consonants and v’s instead of u’s. ‘Lead’ is ‘led,’ ‘funeral fuck’ is ‘fvneral fvkk,’ and ‘rand’ has a ‘5’ in front of it. And now… there’s Badd Kharma.” Fyre is hawt!!