Rainbow

Jorn – Traveller Review

Jorn – Traveller Review

By Madam X on June 5, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, Frontiers Records, Heavy Metal, Non-Metal Metal Things, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, 9 comments

‘For Angry Metal regulars, Norway’s Jorn Lande needs NO introduction! This leaves me in a quandary… I need an opening paragraph so you get a repeat of what you already know. As Lord Steel Druhm has already mentioned in his review of Bring Heavy Rock To The Land, Lande has a massive career spanning across solo, group and collaborative projects Ark, Masterplan, Beyond Twilight, Avantasia and Allen/Lande that easily makes him one of the most recognized voices in the industry. Well surprise, surprise, hot on the heels of Symphonic, Lande adds another notch to his well-worn belt with the much anticipated all original release of Traveller.” Well, it looks like the days of Madam X’s unabashed Jorn worship have finally reached a middle. Does that mean you must bring your own heavy rock to the land (BYOHRTL)? Read and find out!

Spiritual Beggars – Earth Blues Review

Spiritual Beggars – Earth Blues Review

By Steel Druhm on April 26, 2013 in 2013, 4.0, InsideOut, Reviews, Stoner Rock, Swedish Metal, Heavy Metal, Stoner Rock, 6 comments

“One of our readers recently commented that we convinced him the only independent bands were stoner/doom bands. That sentiment is surely understandable given the enormous volume of the stuff cropping up these days. It’s not limited to independent bands either, as Spiritual Beggars clearly demonstrates again on album number eight, Earth Blues. Since Michael Amott’s (Arch Enemy, Carcass) long-lived stoner/retro-rock project clearly isn’t going away, you might as well put on the obnoxiously colorful tie-dye shirt (the theme this time appears to be radioactive orange) and enjoy the homage to all things late 60s/early 70s.” Set the lava lamps to “wake and bake” and get settled into your bean bag chairs, the Spiritual Beggars are back to shake your VW van! Steel Druhm shook off his contact high to tell you if this is worth your free love.

Avantasia – The Mystery of Time Review

Avantasia – The Mystery of Time Review

By Steel Druhm on March 26, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Nuclear Blast, Power Metal, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, 23 comments

“You have to give Tobias Sammet his steely props. He doesn’t do things half-assed. Nope, he goes big, bold and lets the Metal Gods sort shit out. His Edguy material is plenty pretentious and overblown, but it can’t hold a magic candle to the sheer pretentious pomposity and bombast of his Avantasia project. Taking cues from Arjen Luccasen’s Ayreon outings, Sammet drags in every singer, guitarist and hanger-on he can and it seems he’s playing a metallic version of Pokemon (gotta catch em all). His last feat was the impressive double release of the Angel of Babylon and The Wicked Symphony albums (my fanboyish reviews of which, landed me a spot at AMG Industries, Ltd. for some reason), and I was very curious how he could top those massive platters of symphonic excess.” So how exactly does Mr. Sammet top his prior output? Steel Druhm is here to unravel the mysteries of time.

Voodoo Circle – More Than One Way Home Review

Voodoo Circle – More Than One Way Home Review

By Madam X on March 19, 2013 in 2013, 3.5, AFM Records, German Metal, Heavy Metal, Rating, Releases, Reviews, 0 comments

“What do Alex Beyrodt (Primal Fear, Sinner, Silent Force), David Readman (Pink Cream 69), Mat Sinner (Primal Fear, Sinner), Jimmy Kresic (Liquid One, Steve Lukather) and Markus Kullmann (Dezperadoz) all have in common? A rather nice little, old timey, Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Rainbow colored hard rock supergroup by the name of Voodoo Circle, that’s what! I had no damn idea what I was getting myself into when I raided this off the promo list. Tagged as power metal, I suspected my selection would lack the maggot infested blackened corpses that usually scream out to me. But what I didn’t see coming was the album I expected from Jorn when I reviewed Symphonic. Feeling that expectation rise just a little huh?” Madam X is all about danrkness and evil, until a little Jorn shows up. Then she’s all rainbows, ponies and fairy dust. Voodoo Circle plays right into her fangirlism and here’s the result…

Things You Might Have Missed 2012: The Night Flight Orchestra – Internal Affairs

Things You Might Have Missed 2012: The Night Flight Orchestra – Internal Affairs

By Dr. Fisting on December 9, 2012 in 2012, Not Metal, Releases, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Things You Might Have Missed 2012, 1 comment

Lost in the diarrhea-like flood of bad deathcore and pretentious doom metal released in 2012, a little band from Sweden released a gem of old-school, adjective-less rock ‘n roll. The album in question is Internal Affairs by The Night Flight Orchestra, a quintet that just happens to include vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid and guitarist David […]

Grand Magus – The Hunt Review

Grand Magus – The Hunt Review

By Steel Druhm on May 18, 2012 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 7 comments

Grand Magus is one of those bands you expect a lot from. They’ve released a series of top-notch traditional metal albums with elements of doom, and their past few albums were some serious masterstrokes, loaded with catchy, classy tunes. Their style is like a mix of Dio era Black Sabbath and Candlemass with hard rock bands like Fireball Ministry, and they have the knack for writing killer riffs that rattle around in the cranium for days.