Pride & Joy Music

Lugnet – Tales from the Great Beyond Review

Lugnet – Tales from the Great Beyond Review

“Look who’s back! Our favorite crazy uncle band from 2019, Lugnet. The Stockholm boys have made it through the last few years relatively unscathed (perhaps without a haircut) and have put together a follow-up to 2019’s surprisingly strong Nightwalker album. I’ve waxed on in the past about how tiresome it can be to have bands aping the salad days of the 70s or 80s hard rock and metal scenes, but the songwriting is always the key to success – not just in this genre, but music in general.” Lug nuts.

Nova Luna – Nova Vita Review

Nova Luna – Nova Vita Review

“”Prog metal” is a weird label. At times, it feels almost like a catch-all for music that isn’t quite rock and isn’t quite metal. At others, it feels like a way for bands and fans alike to tout minor stylistic differences between one group and the next closest thing. And other times, prog metal is weird. So it’s kind of a gamble, opting to review music under this moniker, as was the case when I first spun Nova Vita, the debut full-length from Italian prog metallers Nova Luna.” Super Nova?

Boguslaw Balcerak’s Crylord – Human Heredity Review

Boguslaw Balcerak’s Crylord – Human Heredity Review

“Crylord as a word evokes the purest of sadboi feelings—songs of scoured hearts and drowned eyes. Rest assured, Boguslaw Balcerak’s Crylord will do anything for love, but not that. Human Heredity promises nothing more than a good time, despite the band moniker’s sorrowful suggestion. Rather, their light-hearted brand of arena-ready tunes threatens to grease your day with gooey power-infused cheese.” Dairy Malmsteen.

Tragedian – Seven Dimensions Review

Tragedian – Seven Dimensions Review

“What’s in a name? That which we call a poser by any other word would be unhalled. What’s Tragedian? It is nor fun nor epic nor soaring nor uplifting nor any other part belonging to a power metal band. But a name it is, and a foreboding one still.” Tragicomedy.

Winter’s Verge – The Ballad of James Tig Review

Winter’s Verge – The Ballad of James Tig Review

“It was with slight trepidation that I fished out The Ballad of James Tig from the promo pit some weeks ago. There was just something about the cover that I didn’t trust. Not to mention that a power metal band writing a concept album about a mythical Viking-esque adventure isn’t the most original pitch I’ve ever heard. But there’s something endearing about Winter’s Verge that has me investigating anyway.” Tigonometry.

Jet Jaguar – Endless Nights Review

Jet Jaguar – Endless Nights Review

“Despite being a sizable and populous country, Mexico has precious few big names in the metal scene. These days their biggest claim to fame is a certain pirate metal drinking song, followed by Brujeria’s brutal cartel-themed death metal. But there is still significant love for the more classic subgenres, and Jet Jaguar are testimony to that fact. Winners of the Wacken Open Air Metal Battle 2017, these 5 gents have been pounding the pavement and reawakening the Mesoamerican hunger for 80’s metal for a while now, and they are finally ready to drop their debut, the garishly neon-colored Endless Nights.” Own the purple night.

Adrian Benegas – The Revenant Review

Adrian Benegas – The Revenant Review

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.

Rexoria – Ice Breaker Review

Rexoria – Ice Breaker Review

“What makes something interesting is a whole different ballgame. Until the Sky Dies has 146 comments to this day and remains a staple of the website, so for all the ways in which it is an abomination (and there are many), it is one of the most interesting records we’ve seen so far. But who among you remember, to grab a random example, The Living? Same autumn as Until the Sky Dies, a very nice 3.5, but I’d mostly forgotten about them myself before going back through my own reviews. Fact is, the memories of most of the albums we write about are fleeting, despite the musicians pouring their hearts and souls into what they do. A fate, I fear, may befall Swedish heavy/power outfit Rexoria as well.” Ice breaks, attention fades.

Tarchon Fist – Apocalypse Review

Tarchon Fist – Apocalypse Review

“What? You thought Victorious was gonna be the only metal band we reviewed here with bright colors and dinosaurs in their album art? Fools! The lot of ye! Tarchon Fist, an Italian heavy metal quintet formed in 2005, demands representation in the land of outlandish tapestries bursting with muscular sword-dudes and rampant nonsense. I summoned Apocalypse from the post-apocalyptic wasteland that is August’s promotional dump site because I believed the metal deities wouldn’t permit such artwork were it not for the righteous wares forged therein.” Fist of the Past.