Helloween

Iron Savior – Kill or Get Killed Review

By Steel Druhm on March 9, 2019 in 2019, AFM Records, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 50 comments

“Iron Savior can’t be fought, Iron Savior can’t be sought. Brought to life in 1997 by original Helloween frontman Piet Sielck, the band’s made a respectable career for themselves by beefing up the base sound of Piet’s genre-defining former act with traditional and NWoBHM influences, resulting in a gritty, cantankerous hybrid. Kill or Get Killed is their tenth album in this meat n’ fancy taters style, and they sound none the worse for wear after 21 years in the iron trenches.” You can’t kill the olde.

Thornbridge – Theatrical Masterpiece Review

By Eldritch Elitist on February 14, 2019 in 2019, German Metal, Massacre Records, Power Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, 84 comments

“When it comes to power metal, I’m really not difficult to please. My expectations for a good example of the genre are no more elevated than the baseline that Helloween established over three decades ago; the material needs to be fun, energetic, and hooky, and if a band can pull this off, I ask for little else. I don’t think there’s a power metal act out there that fails to identify this recipe for success, yet so very few of them manage to capitalize. The style is plagued by countless bands rehashing watered down pop melodies against toothless power chords, seemingly unable to perceive that they utterly lack the charisma that elevated their influences. Thornbridge sees these pretenders, and says ‘we can do better.'” Though, with a name like Theatrical Masterpiece, there is a sense that they might be setting expectations a tad high.

Sinbreed – IV Review

By Steel Druhm on November 25, 2018 in 2018, German Metal, Massacre Records, Power Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, 64 comments

“In the early days of my love affair with Euro-power metal, I cared not how cheesy, melodic or un-macho the music was as long as it was catchy and fun. From Helloween’s funny creatures and pink bubbles to whatever colon clogging Velveeta casserole Stratovarius was serving up, it was all good. Somewhere along the road to olde age however, I started expecting more power in my Euro-power, and my tastes turned towards bands that remembered to put the precious metal in their molasses confections. That’s why Sinbreed always struck a chord with me.” A farewell to balls.

Eunomia – The Chronicles of Eunomia Part I Review

By Eldritch Elitist on August 24, 2018 in 2018, Norwegian Metal, Power Metal, Pride & Joy Music, Reviews, Power Metal, 101 comments

“Every tepid, derivative power metal act I’ve ever reviewed for this humble blog, pay attention: This is how it’s done. Please, for the love of Turilli, don’t take this to mean that Eunomia’s The Chronicles of Eunomia Part I, the brainchild of one Peter Danielsen, is a sterling example of a refined power metal release; mimicking this record’s technical foibles would be, on all fronts, an objectively bad idea.” War clubbing.

Elvenstorm – The Conjuring Review

By Lokasenna on July 25, 2018 in 2018, French Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 45 comments

“With magic, the devil is in the details, particularly when treating with the forces of darkness. Make one wrong move and you might find your spleen ruptured or your housecat warped into some sort of hellbeast. If I might invoke a rather maltreated metaphor, so it is with old-school heavy metal. The devil, in this case, comes in the form of French heavy/power metal outfit Elvenstorm and their fourth album The Conjuring. As for the details, there’s the obvious question. In spite of a well-worn style — a dead one by some measures — can Elvenstorm at least offer an enjoyable listening experience?” Magic: The Bothering.

Airborn – Lizard Secrets: Part One – Land of the Living Review

By Eldritch Elitist on June 2, 2018 in 2018, Fighter Records, Italian Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, 53 comments

“Lizard Secrets! LIZARD SECRETS! When sifting through the endless pile of gore-drenched and occult-themed album titles in the AMG promo bin, something as adorable as Lizard Secrets immediately stands out. As for Airborn themselves, well, they’ve had a tough time doing the same in the power metal scene over the past twenty two years of their existence, plugging along on a semi-regular release schedule that I had been completely unaware of until I plucked this album from the a(mg)ether.” I toad you that was a secret!

Seven Sisters – The Cauldron and the Cross Review

By Ferrous Beuller on April 29, 2018 in 2018, British Metal, Dissonance Productions, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, Reviews, Heavy Metal, 30 comments

“Although I tend to dabble in extreme metal more often, make no mistake, I do love the traditional stuff. I have fond memories of my brother and I pouring over the lyrics to Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” until we could recite them flawlessly — a skill we both still keenly possess. Seven Sisters, a band thusly named for the area of North London they hail from, share my love of the classic craft, as evident on their second full-length, The Cauldron and the Cross.” Trooper metal.

Shadowkeep – Shadowkeep Review

By Swordborn on April 7, 2018 in 2018, British Metal, Power Metal, Pure Steel Records, Reviews, Power Metal, 12 comments

“Britain’s Shadowkeep lay more or less dormant for seven or eight years following 2008’s The Hourglass Effect, which itself was delayed due to line-up changes. This oft-contracted plague of metal bands received a cure in January of 2017 when none other than James Rivera of Helstar stepped forward and offered his services as the voice of the band for its long-awaited self-titled fourth studio album. As something of a fan of Shadowkeep’s earlier work, and especially The Hourglass Effect, I was interested to see what James would bring to the table in a setting other than Helstar (a band I’m admittedly not overly fond of).” Shadows of Hel(star).

Blaze Bayley – Endure and Survive [Things You Might Have Missed 2017]

By Angry Metal Guy on December 24, 2017 in 2017, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Things You MIght Have Missed 2017, 30 comments

“The true wisdom of age is learning when not to give a fuck anymore and just doing what works. Endure and Survive—which marks Bayley’s 8th solo album since 2000 and is a description of what he’s been doing all this time—is one more piece of Bayley’s gritty dedication to just playing heavy fucking metal.” He has the SPACE…madness!

No Return – The Curse Within Review

By GardensTale on November 22, 2017 in 2017, French Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Mighty Music, Reviews, Thrash Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Thrash Metal, 37 comments

“My first plunge on that trip occurred somewhere late 2003, almost half a lifetime ago. It was the release of Dance of Death by Iron Maiden, though I had been primed by popular bands such as Rammstein and System of a Down, and my father’s extensive classic rock collection before that. Soon I found myself rocking out to the unprecedented brutality of Children of Bodom and Norther, diving headfirst into the world of melodic death metal. Listening to No Return, I am transported back to those halcyon days, despite never hearing the French band before picking The Curse Within from the promo bin.” History-core for dummies.