“Sweden’s Saint Deamon aren’t quite a household name in the Euro-power scene, at least partly due to their lagging career productivity. They started out well, making a good impression with their 2008 debut and rapid follow-up, 2009s very good Pandeamonium, but then they dropped off the face of the Earth. 10 years later they made an unexpected comeback with 2019s Ghost, and now in comparatively short order, they return with fourth album, League of the Serpent. Snakes on a shelf.
“Everyone’s favorite Christian band is back (that isn’t Stryper or Theocracy). No new gimmicks, no new twists—just the same sermons explaining why all you sin-sucking sons of bitches are going to Hell.” Holy ghosts and goblins.
“I don’t really feel nostalgia for Kamelot. I tried getting into them when they released The Black Halo in 2005, which, though widely regarded as their best work, bounced off my DragonForce-pilled adolescent mind. To me, Kamelot was slow and boring, a brand of power metal that sacrificed the genre’s trademark excess in a bid to win over music intellectuals, socialites, and critics. Older and much wiser was I when the excellent Silverthorn dropped in 2012, which rekindled my interest in Kamelot as I devoured their back catalog. And then came the slow decline.” Of empires forlorn.
“In the early days of Frozen Crown, I was unsure exactly what they wanted to be. Hell, I’m not sure they knew the answer themselves. I described their formula as “awkward” in my review of The Fallen King back in 2018, and as much as I love that debut, its mashing together of Sonata Arctica, Wintersun, and Nightwish feels as charmingly disjointed today as it did five years ago.” The Crown and the bling.
“Eleven years. Eleven years since Scotland’s Ascension released their debut record, Far Beyond the Stars. While shreddery and wank found a cozy little home on that record, the songs were there, the talent amongst all involved abundant. It was clear from the very start that Ascension were a band to watch for, primed and ready to unseat DragonForce for hyper-speed cheese supremacy after Inhuman Rampage exploded in the mid-aughts. But eleven years is a long time to wait.” Tick tock….
January is generally known as a throw away month in the reviewing world. It’s my impression that labels often treat January as a down month following the Christmas holiday. As a result, good new music tends to be slim pickings most years. So, let’s hope that it’s a good sign that the first month of 2023 was uncharacteristically good. There was, in fact, plenty to be excited about! Keep reading to find out all about them!
“I have been waiting for this one for a long time. Way, way back in late 2016, when I had only been with the staff for less than 6 months and reviewing EP’s was not yet outlawed, I picked up Kazador by Flidais, a bite-sized portion of energetic prog-power with a cover so lilac as to be blinding. I enjoyed it quite a bit, thanks to the snappy hooks and enthusiastic vocal performance, and ever since I’ve been on the lookout for a proper debut full-length. Well, a plump 6 years in the making, that release is finally upon us.” Monkey pawed.
“I am generally a defender of themed metal. If Viking metal is considered a valid genre, then so should pirate metal. It’s just a shame that the latter is spearheaded by a band (which shall remain unnamed) that has gone from a mixture of comedy and epic to full meme-lord. It has cost the entire genre in legitimacy, and it now seems as if pirates can be nothing but silly cartoons. The Privateer stages a mutiny on that school of thought, however, aiming for a return to the adventurous and dramatic seafaring tales of yore.” Booty raiding.
“Dealer of Souls is very much a continuation of Divine Judgement in stylistic terms. Although a thrash band at its core, built on the foundations of the likes of Sodom, Gomorra owes as much, if not more, of its sound to the likes of Judas Priest and Iced Earth.” GoMOAR!
Losing a friend sucks. Whether human or animal, sudden or expected, chronic or acute, death comes as part of life and rarely does it arrive when we most need it. Unfortunately, shortly before the release of Risingfallߵs debut album, Rise or Fall, one of their founding members, Yoshiki, gave way to a chronic illness. However, Risingfall knew they couldn’t let this hold them down—this throwback act hailing from Japan knows there’s only one way to celebrate death: heavy metal.” Metal never dies.
