Category: Reviews

WAR OF THRONES ”Conflict Of Creation” (Sonic Night Music) I am new to this band, but I am not new to the name Wade Black. Looking through the things he has sung with makes for an impressive list. Rick Renstrom’s list is as impressive. These two together with two more guys with less impressive lists make up WAR OF THRONES. Together they play heavy metal. This is their debut album. And what an album this is. This is classic US metal in all its glory. If you like bands like Savatage, Armored Saint. Malice as well as more modern things… Continue reading

DEATHROLL ”A Sick Life” (STF) The first thing I thought about when I saw this band’s name was the death roll of a crocodile. How they twist and turn once they have caught a prey. This is a Japanese black metal band, or so I am told. It might just be me, but I feel that there is much more to this than just a plain black metal band. I hear a clear crust feeling too. Not that I complain. This is still a cool record. It is just that the mix of styles confused me to begin with. As… Continue reading

SEVENTH SON “Arc Of Infinity” (STF) Back in the 80s, when I first got into heavy metal I jumped in head first to learn more about the style of music that was to become my life. I turned my eyes to the east because ever since Deep Purple Japan seemed to be the land of many great mysteries. And I did find some really cool bands from the land of the rising sun. Some that are still with me today. I don’t have the same knowledge of Japanese metal today but every now and then along comes a band that… Continue reading

SICK#RED “S/T” (STF) I am not a total metalhead. I do listen to different stuff, from the most innocent singer/song writer to more up-beat rock. I am a huge sucker for things melancholic and melodic. And if these two are combined I am in my own paradise. SICK#RED are not exactly melancholic. Melodic they are. This is what some would describe as alternative rock. I guess if you like stuff like Volbeat and those sorta bands you will find enjoyment in this. To me there is a punk feeling to this too. I think it has to do with the… Continue reading

Acid Reign – “The Age Of Entitlement” (Dissonance Productions) If you grew up in the late 80s then you’ll know what this lot are all about! Bringing a mighty ‘M’ to the moshpit through their intense live shows, Acid Reign’s legacy came from their awesome charting debut “The Fear” and being a notorious touring band supporting Nuclear Assault, Dark Angel, Exodus, Flotsam & Jetsam, Death Angel and Candlemass across the UK and Europe! However, by the early 90s it was all over with the band members joining Cathedral, Cronos, Lawnmower Deth and in the case of vocalist H, being seen on… Continue reading

Grim Reaper – “At The Gates” (Dissonance Productions) Once famed thanks to hit songs like ‘See You In Hell’ and hot footing it after Maiden and Saxon as the next generation of the NWOBHM, Grim Reaper made their name across 3 albums until the mid 80s when label wrangles finally ended the band, despite it playing to crowds of 20,000 in the US. With vocalist Steve Grimmett singing in Onslaught and Lionsheart throughout the 90s and guitarist Nick Bowcott working for Marshall Amplification, it wasn’t until 2006 when announcements of the band returning (albeit without Bowcott) were heard. Since that… Continue reading

Weapon UK – “Ghosts Of War” (Pure Steel Records) Wow, I remember seeing these guys support Motörhead back in the 80s, then nothing, so it’s great that they’re not only back, but with their 2nd full length album since reforming in 2010! Still with the core of Danny Hynes on vocals and Jeff Summers on guitar, they’ve since recruited ex Rogue Male bassist Tony Forsythe and aussie drummer Darren Lee to make up a machine that well and truly lives up to the band’s name. If you remember the days of to-die-for headbanging riffs, ecstatic guitar god solos and pure… Continue reading

Wind Rose – “Wintersaga” (Napalm Records) ‘…we don`t write songs, we smith them against the anvil…’ – indeed, true to Tolkien’s dwarf warrior inspiration, this Italian pagan power metal band hit as hard as a hammer but with beautiful light of the Arkenstone itself! Formed a decade ago, Wind Rose have already made their name across Europe thanks to 3 prior albums and tours with Ensiferum and Wintersun and now comes the heroic breakthrough in “Wintersaga”. With 9 tracks dripping in blood red epic glory, unbelievably catchy folk melodies, pagan choirs and most of all, huge amounts of passion that have… Continue reading

ALMOST HUMAN “XS2XTC” () There are band names that makes you wonder what kind the band plays. ALMOST HUMAN has a band name that can be almost anything, from hardrock to grindcore. But that is what makes it fun to put this one on. Although I kinda know, based on the label, I am not a hundred percent sure what this will be. Listen to this makes me realize that I am not that well versed in the more modern metal of this world. It also makes me feel slightly old. But to my credit, I do try to take… Continue reading

HORIZON’S EDGE “Let The Show Go On” (Fastball Music) This Australian band is one that I know of from their first album, which makes it even more fun to discover this new one. I remember that I liked this bands semi symphonic power metal from the first album. I hope that this one has taken that sound further into the stratosphere. I am a huge fan of power metal. I just get to hear enough of it so when an album like this comes along it is x-mas all over again. This Aussie band has a sound that is easily… Continue reading