French dark rockers The Old Dead Tree have released "Second Thoughts," a 13-song album that marks the band's first full-length record in 17 years. The band issued three longplayers in the early 2000s before going on hiatus in 2009. Ten years later, the French band returned with an EP called "The End", which was the... Continue Reading →
Review SACRAMENTUM “The Coming of Chaos” (re-issue)
Sacramentum belong to the first wave of Swedish melodic death metal bands. Formed in 1990 as Tumulus, the band changed its name to Sacramentum in 1992. With roots in Falköping, the band is the brainchild of Nisse Karlén, who was joined by Anders Brolycke, and after drummer Nicklas Rudolfsson completed the band, the time was... Continue Reading →
Review ATHENA XIX “Everflow Part 1: Frames Of Humanity”
Athena XIX might be a band name that some of you still remember. The progressive metal outfit was formed in Pisa, Italy in 1991 and released three full length albums before disbanding in 2002 after the band's 'Twilight of Days' longplayer. More than two decades later, Athena XIX return with "Everflow Part 1: Frame of... Continue Reading →
Review NECKBREAKKER “Within The Viscera”
Wohoo. This album doesn't allow you to slowly slide into the songs and sounds, because it's a brutal blast that starts "Within the Viscera". But let's start from the very beginning. Neckbreakker is the band releasing their debut album "Within the Viscera". The guys started in 2020 as Nakkeknaekker, which is the Danish equivalent of... Continue Reading →
Review TAK MATSUMOTO GROUP “TMG II”
The Tak Matsumoto Group released a debut album called "TMG I" in 2004. The project was a collaboration between Japanese guitar wizard Tak Matsumoto, Eric Martin and Jack Blades. The result of this teamwork was a stunning melodic rock release, but things ended rather quickly after the release of the debut and a few live... Continue Reading →
Review HELLOWEEN “Live at Budokan”
German metal heavyweights Helloween played a show in Japan in September 2023 as part of their "United Forces 2022-2023" tour. The show at the legendary Budokan in Tokyo was recorded and will be the basis for the new live album of the metal kings. The album, "Live at Budokan", will be released in different formats,... Continue Reading →
Review TARJA “Rocking Heels – Live at Hellfest”
Finnish singer Tarja played a show at Hellfest 2016, a concert that was recorded and now is released as a live album. Tarja played 10 songs and with the exception of "Shameless" all songs are on the new record. As expected, the chosen songs reflect the harder and heavier aspect of a singer who can... Continue Reading →
Review THE GATES OF SLUMBER “The Gates of Slumber”
The Gates of Slumber might be a band that not everyone has on their metal radar. Formed in 1998, the trio has released some really good albums, starting in 2004 with their debut, "…the Awakening". "The Wedge" marked the end of the first era of this doom behemoth from Indianapolis, Indiana, and the band disbanded... Continue Reading →
Review DEWOLFF “Muscle Shoals”
DeWolff is a band that is slowly starting to gain attention outside of The Netherlands. In their home country, however, the trio is quite popular and had their breakthrough with the "Orchards/Lupine" album. From then on, the van de Poel brothers and Robin Piso were regular guests in the top 10 of the Dutch album... Continue Reading →
Review VOODOO CIRCLE “Hail to the King”
It was in 2008 when guitarist Alex Beyrodt founded Voodoo Circle and debuted with the self-titled album that same year. After the positive response to the debut album, a second album was only a matter of time. It was in 2011 that "Broken Heart Syndrome" saw the light of day and marked another peak in... Continue Reading →
Review ULVER “Liminal Animals”
One of the most unpredictable bands today is Ulver from Norway. Founded in 1993 as a harsh and wild black metal outfit, the band has been constantly on the move when it comes to sounds. Ulver, the wolves, have continually reinvented their own brand, making innovation and transformation the hallmark of the Norwegian sound innovators.... Continue Reading →
Review SUNSTORM “Restless Fight”
Sunstorm is a project or more accurately a collective founded in 2006. The debut album featured guys like Joe Lynn Turner and Dennis Ward. In the course of time the line-up changed and the album "Afterlife" from 2021 was the first Sunstrom release with Ronnie Romero at the mic. With "Restless Fight" the eighth studio... Continue Reading →
Review MARILYN MANSON “One Assassination Under God”
The enfant terrible of rock and metal, Marilyn Manson, releases "One Assassination Under God Chapter 1", his first new album in four years. It's his twelfth studio album in total and contains nine new songs. With "As Sick as the Secrets Within" the lead single from the new record was released in August and it... Continue Reading →
Review MÚR “Múr”
Iceland has a vibrant music scene and bands like Sólstafir are from the island in the far north. With Múr a new band joins the scene and adds another shade to the mix. The quintet combines various influences into a package that sounds really good. The self-titled album contains seven songs and the length of... Continue Reading →
Review OPETH “The Last Will and Testament”
Opeth has always been a band that surprises with new twists and turns in their music. Founded in 1990, the band started as a death metal force and is one of the pioneers of Scandinavian death metal. Over time, Opeth changed their musical compass, and it was the "Watershed" album that featured growls for the... Continue Reading →









