Xandria

Arcane Existence – Colossus Review

By Emya on August 23, 2021 in Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, 59 comments

“What initially drew me to Arcane Existence’s sophomore release Colossus was, admittedly, the album cover. The rich, concentrated gem tones, spindly castle, misty forest, and swirly, cyclonic clouds hovering underneath a full moon had me hooked. I can handle this, I thought to myself, hoping against hope that none of my greedy coworkers would slap their name on the promo before I could do a little more research prior to fully committing. After learning that Arcane Existence describes their sound as symphonic blackened death, it was game over. Say no more. This promo was mine.” Art and large expectations.

Nergard – Eternal White Review

By Twelve on May 22, 2021 in Reviews, Symphonic Metal, 24 comments

“We throw around the phrase “Nightwish clone” in here a lot (at least it seems like we do; I have no inclination to check my claims), but in this case it feels eerily accurate. With Eternal White, Nergard channel Century Child with some Winterheart’s Guild-era Sonata Arctica thrown in for “spice.” “Spice” is in quotation marks, by the way, because this isn’t a very spicy album – in fact, it’s played very safe, leaning on a formula that has served the Leaves’ Eyes, the Xandrias, and the Sirenias of the world well: symphonic first, metal second.” White is a passive color.

Wÿntër Ärvń – Abysses Review

By Emya on March 2, 2021 in Reviews, Neofolk, 79 comments

“My album review output in 2021 thus far has been barely admissible at best. Wading my way through through a handful of uninteresting and mediocre albums to start the year surely hasn’t helped. So when El Cuervo was looking for a neofolk fan to cover Wÿntër Ärvń’s second album Abysses, I pounced. I now regret ever questioning why I put so much blood, sweat, and tears into writing for this blog. For every 10 lukewarm albums I review, there is one gem that stands out and makes me so giddy with delight that I have the opportunity to share my experience listening to it with the rest of the AMG community. Abysses is one of those gems.” Wÿntër songs.

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.

Glasya – Heaven’s Demise Review

By Twelve on July 15, 2019 in 2019, Portuguese Metal, Pride & Joy Music, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, Symphonic Metal, 29 comments

“The level of diversity available with metal music is a wonderful thing. At any given moment, I’m completely enamored with two or three styles of metal, but those styles are constantly in flux, my needs and desires shifting with the mood of a given day. Lately, I’ve been coming back around to symphonic metal. Embrace of Disharmony launched me back in, and I’ve come to miss that orchestral, symphonic, and otherwise over-the-top element in my heavy metal. Enter Glasya.” Wish upon the night.

Sirenia – The Seventh Life Path Review

By Al Kikuras on May 7, 2015 in 2015, Doom Metal, Epic Metal, Gothic Metal, Napalm Records, Norwegian Metal, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, 49 comments

“Pizza is a sacred thing. When it’s good, it’s damn good. When it sucks, it’s an affront to humanity. An atrocity on a level with the Biafran revolt, just about every Adam Sandler movie, some genocides, and Illud Divinum Insanus. If you’ve read more than one of my reviews here on AMG you will know that I often equate music to food, not just because it is an analogy I think most people relate to, but I love these two things more than even my family members who aren’t reading this right now. The Seventh Life Path may not be my pie of choice, but during my tenure as a music critic, I’ve heard enough from the formative years on to be able to approach an album with at least relative objectivity.” In food, as in music, too much sugar wrecks the palate.

Voices of Destiny – Crisis Cult Review

By Angry Metal Guy on January 17, 2015 in 2015, Deathcore, German Metal, Massacre Records, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, Reviews, Symphonic Metal, 45 comments

“Voices of Destiny is a German symphonic metal band putting out their third record in 2015 (well, 2014 for Europe, but for some reason we didn’t get the promo). Since you’ve never heard of them, the best way to describe them is to say that they have a brand of symphonic metal that’s somewhat like a combination of the beauty and the beast style we all know and have mixed feelings about and, well, “core.” After putting out a pretty good debut in 2010 (From the Ashes), they followed up what was a bit more of a straight record with Power Dive in 2012. On Power Dive the band introduced Deadlock-like breakdowns, but still managed to produce a pretty good record with Maike Holzmann’s unique soprano doing a lot of heavy lifting. While they weren’t quite taking the symphocore scene by storm, Voices of Destiny had two adequate records under their belt and seemed to have some promise.” Then tragedy struck…