The Night Flight Orchestra

Striker – Ultrapower Review

Striker – Ultrapower Review

“Canada’s heavy metal heroes Striker have been launching throwback volleys at the masses since 2009. Their style blends traditional metal ideas with power and thrash influences, often to good effect and they’ve always been capable of hooky songcraft. They also have a tendency to be tongue-in-cheek at times, refusing to take themselves too seriously. These are all admirable traits and make Striker easy to root for. Despite these pluses, they’ve struggled to craft consistently hard-hitting albums. Here comes seventh outing, Ultrapower, with a craptastic cover and an even worse band photo.” Power outage.

The Necromancers Union – Flesh of the Dead Review

The Necromancers Union – Flesh of the Dead Review

“Of all the things Europe has begun to assimilate from across the ocean, Halloween is probably the best one. Though it’s not yet an official celebration, grassroots parties and events are springing up more and more every year. My fiancée and I, and a few of our friends, have taken to carving pumpkins and eating lots of candy as well, and why not? It’s one of the few holidays that still has an everything-goes quality, and doesn’t force you to either spend time with family or be a social outcast. Darkwave artist Daniel Belasco (Glass Apple Bonzai) clearly adores Halloween as well. The Necromancers Union debut, Flesh of the Dead, is a loving homage to the campy horror of yesteryear, stuffed with samples from numerous VHS classics.” Dead man’s party.

The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic Review

The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic Review

Aeromantic hardly breaks new ground for these excitable Swedes. By this, I mean that it is seemingly purpose-built to mainline dopamine directly to my brain, being, as it is, more 80s than the 80s. Each NFO release reaches deeper into this era, and Aeromantic nails the schmaltzy, overblown tone which has come to characterize the retrospective view of it.” Aeroma therapy.

Aktor – Placebo Review

Aktor – Placebo Review

“Chris Black (AKA Professor Black) has been a living wellspring for great metal over the past decade, crafting great music with Dawnbringer, High Spirits and Pharaoh. Somewhat overlooked in his mighty repertoire is his Aktor project, which until recently only had one release to its credit, 2015s Paranoia. It was a rocking affair heavily influenced by 70s acts like Thin Lizzy and Blue Oyster Cult and it was a fun, breezy listening experience with plenty of hooks. Placebo is the outfit’s second release and keeps the basic formula intact while adding an ass-ton of crazy synth and keyboard work, making for a somewhat loony soundscape.” It’s time for your medicine, Mr. Black.

Dream Tröll – “I Will Not Die Today” Video Premiere and Second to None Review

Dream Tröll – “I Will Not Die Today” Video Premiere and Second to None Review

Dream Tröll. It’s a weird-ass pairing of words even in the realm of metal bands, yet one that glides off the tongue, despite every synapse in my brain screaming “That’s not right!” Sonically speaking, Dream Tröll is beholden to convention, but their splicing of genres is handled so ingeniously as to make such an unclassifiable name somehow fitting. It’s easy to draw correlations between traditional metal, power metal, and good ol’ fashioned rock ‘n roll, yet Dream Tröll plays with these tropes in delightfully unexpected ways, resulting in a distinct sound displaced from any defined era of metal music.” Trölling with the oldies.