Review IGNEA “Monumental”

Three years after the release of Dreams of Lands Unseen, Ignea have completed a new album. Monumental is the title of the Kyiv-based band’s third full-length, featuring nine new tracks. Monumental continues Ignea’s journey through the wider territory of symphonic metal, with vocalist Helle Bogdanova once again at the center of the action. Tracks such as “Darkness” highlight her... Continue Reading →

Review STREAMER “Into the Void”

For a while now, a growing number of Spanish metal bands have been turning their attention back to traditional heavy metal, and Catalonia’s Streamer are happily joining the party. Formed in 2013, the quartet has always had a clear weakness for the sound of the NWOBHM and classic US metal. Their first EP in 2015... Continue Reading →

Review TEMPERANCE “Arcani”

Symphonic power metal has a natural home in Italy, with bands like Rhapsody of Fire being among the genre’s best-known exports. Temperance are another band firmly operating in this territory. With Arcani, the Italians deliver their eighth studio album, adding another chapter to a story that has been steadily evolving since 2014. Tarot is the album’s... Continue Reading →

Review FERVENCE “Constructs”

Texas-based Fervence are still a relatively young band. Formed in 2019, they released their debut album just a year later. Now, with Constructs, the five-piece deliver their third full-length, showcasing a band that has matured and developed a broader musical vocabulary. Lyrically, the album draws on personal experiences and relationships, exploring the emotions that shape our... Continue Reading →

Review INSOMNIUM “Netherworlds”

The days are getting shorter, the nights are stretching out. Temperatures are dropping, and nature is slowly settling into its winter slumber. The colorful days of summer are gone, replaced by darker shades of gray. And now Finland's Insomnium are ready to provide the soundtrack for this time of year. Netherworlds is the band's tenth album,... Continue Reading →

Review AVRAK “Avrak”

When heavy Sabbath-inspired riffs collide with classic hard rock and blackened metal, you get AVRAK. At least, that’s the name of the project formed by Anders Hegna and Ted “Nocturno Culto” Skjellum. Together with drummer Terje Kråbøl and bassist Steinar Gundersen, they make up the lineup behind this new Norwegian outfit. The first ideas for... Continue Reading →

Review ITCHY “Happy Little Accidents”

Itchy hail from Eislingen in southern Germany, and even though I grew up only about 35 kilometers away, it took me until fairly recently to really discover the band. That changed when Itchy opened for Sondaschule. I started digging into their music and quickly realized what makes this trio tick. What really caught my attention... Continue Reading →

Review SWEET “Live 25”

Sweet have been keeping the live-album tradition alive for quite some time, and Live 25 now adds another entry to the band’s long concert history. This time, the album draws on performances from the band’s recent tour, including material from their latest studio effort, Full Circle. Full Circle showed Andy Scott and his band in remarkably good shape, and... Continue Reading →

Review HATESPHERE “Guillotine”

Back in 2000, Necrosis from Aarhus, Denmark, changed their name to Hatesphere. The band's general musical direction didn't change all that much, but Hatesphere have remained a constant presence ever since, regularly delivering new material along the way. The latest offering from the Danish five-piece is Guillotine, a ten-track album that opens with “Chapter XII.” As... Continue Reading →

Review WOLFBRIGADE “Howl From Underground”

Rooted in Swedish D-beat crust and increasingly loaded with metallic muscle, Wolfbrigade from Mariestad have spent more than three decades blurring the line between punk and metal. Formed in 1995, the band quickly set out to record its debut, which arrived in 1996. After numerous releases over the following 30 years, Howl From Underground makes one thing... Continue Reading →

Review JOHN COFFEY “Not Alone”

Even if you’ve never heard a John Coffey song, chances are you’ve seen the video of their singer catching a flying beer cup at Pinkpop 2015. The clip went viral and turned that moment into a piece of festival history. But John Coffey are much more than a band with a frontman who happens to... Continue Reading →

Review THRONEHAMMER “Slay | Kill | Erase”

Geographically speaking, almost 1,400 kilometers separate Fürth in Germany from Durham in England. When measured in metal spirit, however, that distance shrinks to zero. Thronehammer are living proof that borders mean very little when the music speaks the same language. The band is the brainchild of Stuart West, who started Thronehammer as a project in... Continue Reading →

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