“I wanted to get this review up much sooner but life happened, and though it’s several weeks tardy, Beyond the Veil, Dark Forest’s fourth album, definitely deserves a spotlight shone upon it. All the more so considering we whiffed on reviewing their excellent 2014 release, The Awakening. These English chaps play folksy power metal with a butt-ton ton of traditional and NWoBHM influences, often sounding like a fusion of Iron Maiden, Kamelot and Skyclad.” Go get Ent!
“I’ve never quite got my head around open-plan office space and those waist-height cubicles. Yes, your hive of corporate activity looks wonderful photographed from seven different angles; prominently displayed on your enterprises website. Oh and let’s not forget about the collaboration! But what’s the cost? Stress-induced irritability, hostility towards creativity and productivity, anxiety and ongoing health issues. Oh wait, collaboration just flew out the window… Where am I going with this? Music. More specifically, metal. Pain have proved themselves inconsistent over the years and as with most things in life, with the good comes the bad.” Good pain, bad pain, you know we’ve had our share….
“I hate when artists known for a role in some famous/semi-famous band feel the need to feature their name prominently on subsequent endeavors. It always looks cheesy (Vinny Vincent Invasion), usually feels a bit desperate (Paul Di’anno’s Battlezone) and generally smacks of chasing faded glories (Luca Turilli’s Rhapsody of Fire?). Steve Grimmett’s Grim Reaper is the newish band led by Grim Reaper’s vocalist and the vehicle by which he hopes to recapture former accolades and ancient laurels.” Read Steel Druhm’s review of Grim Reaper, now featuring more Steel Druhm.
“As always, I’m dating myself with my taste in music, but so be it. Sumerlands is an unheralded act set to explode on the nostalgia-core scene with their self-titled release and let’s just say, I’m fully on board. Featuring Phil Swanson (Hour of 13, Briton Rites, et al) on vocals, Sumerlands plays exactly the kind of music I couldn’t get enough of in the late 80s/early 90s. It’s dark, brooding, traditional American metal with traces of prog and doom around the edges.” The boys of summer never sounded so olde!
“Ever notice how we at AMG Conglomerated Blogworks, Ltd. spend our time bitching and carping about album length and the need for slavish adherence to the 45 Minute Rule? In an age when even EPs are running close to 40 minutes, it gets pretty hard to to uphold the “less is more” banner and remain a defender of editing and artistic restraint. Then in our darkest hour, Chris Black arrives with his High Spirits project.” Expectations and spirits are high.
“This time I just wasn’t ready for the bi-annual dose of inner turmoil, depressive introspection and damaged psyches that come with every Evergrey album. Personal issues have conspired to keep me away from reviewing as much as I’d like and I’ll admit to feeling a bit beaten down of late. That’s either the worst time to spin an Evergrey release or the best, depending on the level of masochism present in your twisted black heart. I personally would have preferred a brainlessly bombastic dose of barbarian metal or some hideous cheesy power metal about unicorn husbandry, but Wotan had other plans.” Storming and nothingness.
“It’s always a dangerous proposition for a band to revisit one of their most beloved albums and attempt a sequel. Nine times out of ten they can’t come close to recapturing whatever magic made their earlier work so enduring and they end up besmirching their legacy in the process (Operation Mindcrime II, anyone?). And so it was with great discomfiture I received news Helstar would be revisiting the same vampiric themes first examined on their classic Nosferatu album on new opus, Vampiro.” Dead and loving it…again.
“The pirate’s life is not for everyone. Extensive travel, oft unprofessional coworkers and arcane profit sharing arrangements conspire to limit the talent pool and keep opportunities scarce. None of that ever mattered to Running Wild. They took to the trade like a duck to water and from 1987 onward they’ve kept the marauder’s flag flying almost nonstop through hard times and rough seas. Rapid Foray is the third release since their 2012 “reformation” and as on Shadowmaker and Resilient, they’re not looking to reinvent the parrot.” Rum and rummer.
“A month ago, I wrote about my first-ever experience that opened the doorway to the wonderful world of metal music. Many of you wrote back about your first exposure. Today, I get the pleasure of inaugurating the album it came from into our hallowed Yer Metal is Olde! halls. I am, of course, talking about Somewhere in Time, the oft-maligned sixth full-length from Metal Gods Iron Maiden.” Timeless.
“Those looking for great prose don’t turn to a dictionary. Instead, a writer opens up the ol’ Merriam-Webster tome to get himself a clinical definition of whatever word he happens to be unsure about. With that step out of the way, our writer can hopefully make something great using the technical knowledge he gained. While he’ll remember the dictionary definition, it will never be inspiring to him; it will just be a reminder about what the word means and how to use it correctly in context. When listening to Gloryful’s third record, End of the Night, I kept coming back to dictionaries. It sounds like heavy metal and I suppose it technically is.” Glory is for winners.
