Sonja is the brainchild of Melissa Moore. Some of you may remember her as Vic Crom and her time with Absu. The latter kicked Moore out of the band after her transgender outing, which says a lot about the band's mindset. Moore didn't bury her head in the sand, however, and new willpower and creativity... Continue Reading →
Review CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX ‘Banefyre’
If you want to escape the upcoming Indian Summer days and are looking forward to the dark season, you have at least found the musical soundtrack with 'Banefyre'. It is the title of the latest work of Crippled Black Phoenix. Justin Greaves and Co. are active since 2004 and entertaining rock fans with their dark... Continue Reading →
Review TOADEATER ‘Bexadde’
Toadeater haile from Osnabrück, Germany and operate since 2014. B., S. and M. brought with 'Codex' a debut album to the record stores. That was in 2019 and it followed in 2020 with 'Bit to ewigen daogen' a sophomore album. Now it's time to establish the position with the third album and it can be... Continue Reading →
Review CLUTCH ‘Sunrise on Slaughter Beach’
Rock heavyweights Clutch have with 'Sunrise at Slaughter Beach ' a new album in the starting blocks. One thing right away; with 33 minutes playing time, the new record is not overly long as far as playing time is concerned. With pleasure a 10th song could have found a place on the setlist, but well.... Continue Reading →
Review TRIAL (SWE) ‘Feed the Fire’
Trollhättan, known as the home of Saab, is also known to metal fans as the homebase of Trial (Swe). The band, which started expressing their passion for traditional heavy metal in 2007, released a remarkable debut album called 'The Primordial Temple'' in 2011. It quickly became evident that not only the legendary waterfall of Trollhättan... Continue Reading →
Review BLIND GUARDIAN ‘The God Machine’
The futuristic artwork of the new record makes it quite clear; Blind Guardian are heralding a new chapter. But one thing after the other. The band from Krefeld released one of the best debut albums of German heavy metal in 1998. Battalions of Fear' is the title of this masterpiece, which found a decent successor... Continue Reading →
TROUBLE’s ‘Live in Stockholm’ now on vinyl
Trouble belong to the groundbreaking bands in doom metal. And not only that the quintet was and is an inspiration for many young bands, the sound of Trouble is also irrevocably linked with the voice of Eric Wagner, who passed away last year, and much too early. Hammerheart Records has been re-releasing many of the... Continue Reading →
Review SANTA CRUZ ‘The Return of the Kings’
Santa Cruz is a band with an interesting history. The starting point of Santa Cruz is not in California, as one might think. The home of the band is much further north-east from the US west coast. Santa Cruz come from Finland and started in 2007. Arttu Kuosmanen and Joonas Parkkonen founded the band, which... Continue Reading →
Review THE 69 EYES ‘Drive’ – EP
Finland's goth'n'rollers The 69 Eyes have been in business for more than 30 years now and man, time flies. The band debuted in 1999 with the 'Wasting the Dawn' album, which marked the beginning of an impressive career. The last studio album was released three years ago and now it was time to please fans... Continue Reading →
Review KINGS X ‘Three Sides of One’
When I was younger, a band called Kings X released an album called 'Gretchen Goes to Nebraska'. Already the title of this album was unusual and the positive reviews in various metal magazines made me even more interested. The trio with their funky progressive metal brought a new aspect to the game. 'Faith Hope Love'... Continue Reading →
Review KING BUFFALO ‘Regenerator’
Regenerator' is the fifth album of the Rochester, New York based King Buffalo. At the same time, the album closes the pandemic trilogy which started in May 2021 with 'The Burden of Relentlessness'. 'Acheron' followed a few months later, while there are another seven songs that complete this cycle. 'Regenerator' starts with the title track,... Continue Reading →
Review I AM ‘Eternal Steel’
On September 9, I Am from Texas offer a new metal monolith. 'Eternal Steel' is the name of their latest effort, which should be of interest to fans of bands like Obituary, Sepultura and Morbid Angel. 'Eternal Steel' is already the third album of the five Texas guys and what can be found on the... Continue Reading →
Review MAD MAX ‘Wings of Time’
Mad Max belongs to the spearhead of German melodic metal since the beginning of the 80s. The band was founded by guitarist Jürgen Breforth and with 'Heavy Metal' the guys released their debut album in 1982. After the band had to face several line-up changes, Mad Max released 'Night of Passion', an album that helped... Continue Reading →
Review DYNAZTY ‘Final Advent’
Even if the new album of Sweden's melodic metal band Dynasty is called 'Final Advent', the record has nothing to do with Christmas and Advent. Rather, the five Swedes do everything they can to request an entry into the record collection of their fans through musical art. 'Final Advent' is the eighth album of the... Continue Reading →
Review HEILUNG ‘Drif’
Heilung is certainly more than just a band. Heilung is a holistic concept in which rites and history are a fundamental pillars. Kai Uwe Faust and Christopher Juul from Euzen founded the band in 2014, and Maria Franz joined the band as a vocalist, who has since then became a central part of every Heilung... Continue Reading →



