Within Temptation

Sede Vacante – Conium Review

By El Cuervo on November 3, 2022 in Reviews, Gothic Metal, Symphonic Metal, 15 comments

“Certain assumptions will be made about gothic/symphonic metal bands. They will be fronted by a woman. They will prioritize strings as the most important melodic instrument. They will be Finnish. In the case of Sede Vacante and their sophomore release entitled Conium, these are at least partly right. You’ll note the female singer centralized in the band photo below. Strings do indeed feature. But the one sheet informs me that the band is both Finnish and Greek. What a revelation! Dusk aspiration.

Amaurot – … To Tread the Ancient Waters Review

By Carcharodon on October 7, 2022 in Reviews, Death Doom, Doom Metal, 23 comments

“Amaurot is a four-piece gothic death doom band hailing from Sweden and fronted, and co-founded, by German vocalist Lisa Rieger (also of Hydra). And this review of their full-length debut, … To Tread the Ancient Waters, is woefully late. I make no apologies for that but know that there are Reasons. Valid Reasons. Rieger founded the band in 2019 with guitarist Peter Svensson (ex-Goatess, among others), who also handles keyboards.” Late to the grave.

Dimman – Songs and Tales of Grievance Review

By Twelve on August 4, 2021 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, 24 comments

“There’s something refreshing about looking at an album cover and not having any idea what you’re supposed to be seeing, but knowing exactly what you’re meant to feel. Bleak, muted despairing agony radiates from the succinctly-titled Songs and Tales of Grievance, and that was always going to be hard for me to pass up. The artist is Dimman, a Finnish sextet, and this is, as far as I can tell, their first release under this moniker. Peddling modern melodic death metal, the band’s approach is a familiar one, assured and confident despite the album’s debut status.” The airing of grievances will now commence.

Souls of Diotima – Janas Review

By Twelve on February 2, 2021 in Reviews, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 11 comments

“The line that separates symphonic metal from pop metal is — well, it’s not really a line, is it? It’s hard to inject pop into your metal without diving headfirst into symphonic territory. Okay, let me try again. The Venn diagram that distinguishes between symphonic metal and pop metal leaves a lot open to interpretation.” Pop in a orchestra pit.

Leaves’ Eyes – The Last Viking Review

By Twelve on October 19, 2020 in Reviews, Symphonic Metal, 35 comments

“Leaves’ Eyes is a band I hear about plenty, but whose music I seldom actually hear. A few samples here and there, a sliver of news-worthy drama over there, a conversation once in a while — that’s it. So it’s a bit odd that I wound up with the responsibility of reviewing their latest output, The Last Viking, but then, sometimes not knowing about band-land drama is good for the weary reviewer.” Eyes Fatigue.

Volturian – Crimson Review

By Kenstrosity on April 21, 2020 in 2020, Electronica Metal, Gothic Metal, Italian Metal, Melodic Metal, Pop Metal, Reviews, Scarlet Records, Electronica Metal, Gothic Metal, Melodic Metal, 35 comments

“The brainchild of Frozen Crown’s Federico Mondelli and Sleeping Romance’s Federica Lanna, Volturian prioritizes fun over all. These tunes will get stuck in your head, you will kind of hate that they get stuck in your head, and you will be powerless to stop it if you give it the smallest opening.” Activate earworm lock!

Secret Rule – Against Review

By Emya on February 24, 2020 in 2020, Heavy Metal, Italian Metal, Pride & Joy Music, Reviews, Heavy Metal, Rock, 20 comments

“Secret Rule is an Italian quartet gracing the metal scene with their fifth studio album. Reading through the band’s promo gave me a glimmer of hope that I got my hands on something exciting. They’ve shared the stage with the likes of Xandria and Delain and are recommended for fans of Within Temptation, all three of which are exuberant bands full of energy and marked by grandiose, winsome sounds.” Double secret probation.

Master of Muppets’ and TheKenWord’s Top Ten(ish) o’ 2019

By Dr. Wvrm on December 27, 2019 in 2019, Blog Posts, Lists, 145 comments

Master of Muppets and TheKenWord with their very own Top Ten(ish) of 2019 lists? There goes the neighborhood!

Coronatus – The Eminence of Nature Review

By Emya on November 25, 2019 in 2019, German Metal, Massacre Records, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Symphonic Metal, 18 comments

“The Eminence of Nature is Coronatus’ ninth studio album. Before claiming this album as my own for review, I performed my usual quick search on the AMG site to see which one of my coworkers was historically responsible for dishing out either love or distaste in response to Coronatus’ eight other albums. Had to be either Twelve or TheKenWord given their public and overzealous love of the cheesiest of the symphonic metals. I was pleasantly surprised to see “No results for ‘Coronatus’ Try another search?” pop up on my screen. Eight albums and not one was covered by AMG?!” Bad omens.

Pythia – The Solace of Ancient Earth Review

By Kenstrosity on May 15, 2019 in Reviews, Epic Metal, Melodic Metal, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 93 comments

“Ah, yes. Symphonic power metal fronted by an operatic leading lady. This is the stuff that got me into metal in the first place, and my love for it remains unflagging still. But great albums from this specific formulation of the genre made themselves scarce in recent years, with only Elvellon, Delain (shut up, entire AMG staff!), and Epica (shut up, entire AMG staff!) releasing albums I enjoy on a consistent basis. So when I saw a promo that featured name drops from two of those three bands and Nightwish, I knew what I needed to do.” Metal cred is overrated.