German Metal

Accept – Humanoid Review

By Steel Druhm on April 23, 2024 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 55 comments

“The 17th album by the unstoppable Germanic horde known as Accept is upon us and resistance is brutile. After the enjoyable machinations of 2021s Too Mean to Die, those who keep their balls to the wall opted to stick with the same basic formula. Their three-guitarist wall of sound is back along with no-longer-so-new frontman Mark Tornillo, and Accept find themselves in a late-career groove, very aware of who they are and what they want to be. And that means Accept continue to drift closer and closer to AC/DC territory as their core metal sound drills down further into hard rock idioms.” The future is the past.

The Vision Bleak – Weird Tales Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on April 15, 2024 in Reviews, Gothic Metal, 44 comments

“Utilizing Type O Negative-esque booming vocals, surprisingly heavy riffs, and bombastic key-driven atmospheres, every The Vision Bleak album is Gothic metal goodness that’ll leave your skin crawling, hands bloody, and eyes leaking. Funny enough, 2016’s The Unknown was the first time any album I reviewed was chosen as the RotM. These eight long years have been quiet, undoubtedly due to the band brewing their next horrific release. Now it’s here and it’s like nothing they’ve ever done before.” Weird is the new bleak.

Attic – Return of the Witchfinder Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on April 7, 2024 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 44 comments

“Mmmmmm… King Diamond-core. It’s been seven years since Attic delivered its top-form masterpiece, Sanctimonious. And now, They’re is back again to ensure I’m erect for the remainder of the year. This new record continues the trend the band has been on even before Kim Bendix Petersen was but a wily sperm in his father’s nutsack. Delivering no-frills, old-school Satanic heavy metal, this German quintet combines soaring falsettos, creepy organs, and Mercyful Fate-esque dueling guitar work to shape yet another hour’s worth of music.” Something’s alive up there.

Thornbridge – Daydream Illusion Review

By Eldritch Elitist on April 2, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, 42 comments

“I love Teutonic power metal. I love how basically every band sounds like Gamma Ray or Blind Guardian in varying degrees, as well as their wocalists’ perpetual inability to pronounce the phoneme v. There’s a comfort to be found in the formula; lucky me, then, that Germany tends to produce a greater ratio of quality power metal bands than most other regions. Thornbridge is a prime example of such quality.” Unweash the wengeance!

Ivory Tower – Heavy Rain Review

By Steel Druhm on March 29, 2024 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, 30 comments

“Ivory Tower have been a minor force in the Germanic prog-metal scene since 1998. I didn’t pay them much heed over the years, but that all changed when I took a flyer on their 2019 album Stronger. Expecting little, I walked into a buzzsaw and was quickly carved up by a highly catchy and memorable platter of vibrant prog metal led by the powerhouse vocals of one Dirk Meyer. It ended up on my Top Ten(ish) of 2019 and became one of my all-time favorite prog-metal releases. Naturally, I wanted a lot MOAR of the same from Ivory Tower.” Foundational instability.

Vorga – Beyond the Palest Star Review

By Kenstrosity on March 26, 2024 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal, 61 comments

“Ah, space. How little we know of thee. How awestruck we are by thine crushing beauty. It’s no surprise, as I noted in my review for Vorga’s debut record, Striving Toward Oblivion, that artists across various fields and mediums draw inspiration from the immense, unknowable thing that is space. With such a deep well to draw from—as much in terms of raw data and information as in fiction and imagination—I doubt even the relative microcosm of black metal could ever exhaust this rich and ever-expanding resource. Picking up right where they left off in 2022, German melodic black metal quartet Vorga blast off into the deepest reaches of inky blackness.” MOARGA Vorga.

Leaves’ Eyes – Myths of Fate Review

By Twelve on March 21, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 27 comments

“Symphonic metal is a tricky genre to review; it is, at this point, so steeped in clichés that critiquing it for leaning on clichés is itself starting to feel like a cliché. Ever since Nightwish lobbed Once at the masses, it’s been easy to feel like everyone else is trying to do the same thing. Sometimes it’s effective, and sometimes you’re damaging your fist on a completely intact and rather thick layer of ice. For Leaves’ Eyes, who have been around for over twenty years now, I get the sense that the goal is consistency.” Do the Eyes have it?

Drain Down – Toxic Society Review

By Cherd on March 11, 2024 in Reviews, Hardcore, Thrash Metal, 7 comments

“Toxic Society, the sophomore full-length from German hardcore/thrash band Drain Down, turns out to be everything I stupidly asked for. Am I angry and aimless enough to pick up what these Teutonic terrors are throwing down? Are you? Join me in the pit for some enthusiastic arm-flailing and high-minded discussion.” Mistakes were made.

Arthouse Fatso – Sycophantic Seizures: A Double Feature Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on March 5, 2024 in Reviews, Death Metal, Industrial Metal, 24 comments

“First, 2024 gave us NASCAR-themed heavy metal, then shortly thereafter Mortal Kombat-themed heavy metal. In this world of extreme tunes and extreme niches, artists look even more granularly into their fascinations for artistic inspiration. In turn, Arthouse Fatso, chooses Orson Welles—acclaimed and controversial American filmmaker—as its hammering theme for an industrial deathgrind adventure. It’s not often that such a grimy genre finds a muse in a figure that’s not a serial killer or something fictional and equally macabre. But Fatso seems ready to revive Welles as an industry outsider fit for patch-vested punk fixation .” Citizen Pain.

Far Beyond – The End of My Road Review

By Eldritch Elitist on February 25, 2024 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 33 comments

“In 2016, Far Beyond’s A Frozen Flame of Ice felt like a big deal. The sophomore outing of one Eugen Dodenhoeft saw his budding solo project, having originated as rough-hewn symphonic black metal, blossom into massively ambitious melodeath with a pioneering work of post-debut Wintersun knock-offery. It’s a somewhat clunky effort, but a lively and lovable one, and one whose charms have prompted several return visits over the last decade. While impressive and novel for its time, many a band has since come knocking at the sauna door.” Road closure.