Kamelot

Adrian Benegas – The Revenant Review

By Twelve on November 30, 2019 in 2019, Paraguayan Metal, Power Metal, Pride & Joy Music, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, 15 comments

“Adrian Benegas, perhaps best known as the keyboardist and founder of symphonic metal act Tragul, is at the beginning of a familiar story: a talented musician and composer takes a step away from his band to attempt a symphonic power metal solo project, one in which the story, lyrics, and compositions will be done solely by himself. He will write a story and bring it to life in musical form, bringing in guest musicians and vocalists to play various parts of the story. Is this sounding familiar yet?” Avant horizon.

Cathubodua – Continuum Review

By Master of Muppets on October 23, 2019 in 2019, Belgian Metal, Massacre Records, Power Metal, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 33 comments

“Fucking fuck you fucking all, you fuck fucking fucks. I absolutely fucking hate everyone right now and I blame each and every one of you miserable shits. I suppose I could blame Steel, him having personally assigned me to the nightmare which I must shortly relive, but I blame you. You, ‘dear’ ‘read’-er, are why we do the over worded and under think-ed things that we do, and to the best of my knowledge I have never hurt any of you enough to owe anyone the undertaking that was Continuum, an album I’ll be dedicating my life and liver to erasing the memory of.” Powers.

Shade of Hatred – Reflection on Ruin Review

By Kenstrosity on October 6, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Dutch Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal, 14 comments

“In my mind, there are two strains of melodic death metal. There is the kind that focuses on beauty (like the recent Eternal Storm) and the kind that focuses on raw energy (I would argue Brymir fit in this category). Both strive to infect the masses with sing-along-worthy tunes, but they take different approaches to the goal. Shade of Hatred, a melodic death quintet from the Netherlands, aim for the latter category on their debut full-length Reflection on Ruin.” The melodeath resistance grows.

Ark Ascent – Downfall Review

By Twelve on September 26, 2019 in 2019, Ascent Records, English Metal, Heavy Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, 12 comments

Debut releases are weird; you never can know what you’re going to get. Sometimes debut means one-man black metal who just discovered GarageBand. Debut can mean hidden talent of Lethbridge, Alberta unmasking themselves for a world unprepared. Or it can mean a group of already-established musicians getting together and deciding to try something new. So […]

Desert – Fortune Favors the Brave Review

By Steel Druhm on July 30, 2019 in 2019, Heavy Metal, Israeli Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Self-released, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 19 comments

“The smoke hasn’t even cleared from the battlefield that was the recent Sabaton opus, and here we go again with another over-the-top war-themed power metal album, this time by Israel’s Desert. It takes a certain amount of moxie for a relatively unknown act to drop their third album right alongside that of their nearest comparison point. Fortune Favors the Brave indeed. Desert does have a lot in common with Sabaton as far as thematic approach and overall bombast level, but they also sound a lot like Blind Guardian and Iced Earth. That’s quite a wicked trifecta.” Get sandy.

Immortal Guardian – Age of Revolution Review

By Eldritch Elitist on September 28, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, M-Theory Audio, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, 79 comments

“When I was first testing the waters of various metal subgenres over a decade ago, in order to familiarize myself with the scene as a whole, something became immediately apparent: I do not like virtuoso-helmed acts. Though bands like DragonForce, that relied on high-flying technical artistry, were standbys in my early days of metal fandom, it was clear to me as soon as I encountered a seventy-five minute, single-track instrumental shred album that indulgence at the cost of songwriting was standard practice.” Shred is not dead.

Kamelot – The Shadow Theory Review

By Steel Druhm on April 5, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Napalm Records, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, 150 comments

“There aren’t many bands as steeped in class and refinement as Kamelot. Since their earliest days their take on melodic power metal has been swanky and upper-crust,, and its only grown more polished over the years, adopting neo-classical influences and pompous orchestration. The Shadow Theory marks the band’s third release with Tommy Karevik behind the mic, and things are as elegantly highfalutin as ever, often at the expense of the heavy and the metal components of their sound.” Fancy boys making noise.

Dr. A.N. Grier’s Top Ten(ish) of 2017

By Dr. A.N. Grier on December 30, 2017 in 2017, Blog Posts, Lists, 121 comments

“Remember that scene in Ghostbusters (the real Ghostbusters…) where Winston tells Ray, ‘If someone asks you if you are a god, you say yes!’ Well, if someone asks you if you want to write a guide for teaching organic chemistry, you say hellafuckingno. I’m serious. Do yourself, and everyone around you, a favor. So, yeah, this year’s been nuts. Thankfully, there’s Angry Metal Guy—a solace for all metalheads to come together and be verbally abused and cat-tailed in the company basement.” Cat’s got yer list.

Sorcerer – The Crowning of the Fire King Review

By Steel Druhm on October 18, 2017 in 2017, Doom Metal, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Doom Metal, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, 83 comments

“This here review raised a lot of questions in the steely House of Druhm. Sorcerer was a band I had firmly on my radar back in the 90s due to a few high quality demos featuring an interesting take on traditional metal buoyed by impressive vocals. Sadly, the best the band could manage before blinking out was a 1995 compilation of demo cuts, which despite their raw quality, was a compelling listen I still spin to this day. When I saw the name Sorcerer appear in our fetid promo bin, I assumed it would be some lo-fi black metal jiggery-pokery.” The Wizard of Doom Street.

Eagleheart – Reverse Review

By Eldritch Elitist on August 18, 2017 in 2017, Czech Metal, Power Metal, Reviews, Scarlet Records, Power Metal, 54 comments

“As this particular combination of band name and album art has probably deterred the chunk of our visitors who are power metal-phobic, these next words will likely fall on the ears of those who want to hear them least: most power metal is bad. My love affair with the genre will never completely fizzle, but with so many start-ups crutching on knock-off Helloween choruses executed through dreadful vocal performances and robotic rhythm sections, picking out the diamonds in the rough is often a fruitless task.” When the eagle doesn’t cry.