More information can be found on the The Metal Cruise VIII website.
FULL METAL CRUISE VIII line-up completed
CD review LOVEBITES ‘Clockwork Immortality’
(6/10) Oh boy, this album is a real curveball and I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with Lovebites. In case you haven't heard of the band before the band name might make you think about a hard rock outfit. The moniker would fit perfect but it's actually misleading. Lovebites are into melodic... Continue Reading →
AVANTASIA unveils tracklist and artwork of ‘Moonglow’
Tobias Sammet's Avantasia will release album number eight on February 15th, 2019 via Nuclear Blast. Next to Sammet himself Avantasia's core team includes Sasch Paeth, Michael Rodenberg and Felix Bohnke. Michael Kiske, Ronnie Atkins, Eric Martin, Geoff Tate, Jorn Lande and Bob Catley well-known singers are contributing and also new names appear on the list... Continue Reading →
Live report WITHIN TEMPTATION / EGO KILL TALENT, AFAS, Amsterdam – 24.11.2018
Within Temptation belongs without any doubt to the spearhead of symphonic metal. The Dutch powerhouse premiered with 'Enter' in 1997 and since then the band established itself as one of the most impactful female-fronted metal outfits.The latest album 'Hydra went right into the top 10 album charts and became the most successful release of the... Continue Reading →
Live (Photo-) report GUS G. / MAXXWELL / MAGICAL HEART, Cultuurpodium Boerderij, Zoetermeer – 20.11.2018
Greek guitarist Gus G. is currently on tour through Europe and one of the first stops on this journey was in Zoetermeer. The six-stringer, known from his years with Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind and many more, brought a lot of riffpower to the Boerderij. The support that night was provided by German melodic rockers Magical Heart... Continue Reading →
CD review DEF LEPPARD ‘The Story so Far … The Best of’
(*/10) Christmas is the period of storytelling and fairytales. The story of rock veterans Def Leppard is a fairytale-like, no doubt and the band tells 'The Story so Far' on their brand new compilation. The comprehensive release features 35 songs and includes all the hits Def Leppard wrote and recorded in more the four decades... Continue Reading →
ANTHEM announces ‘Nucleus’
Japan's leading traditional heavy metal band, Anthem, have signed to Nuclear Blast Records (for the European territory) to break into the worldwide market. The first release will be their greatest hits album, completely re-recorded with English lyrics!Mixing and mastering were done by established producer and engineer Jens Bogren, known for his work with a multitude... Continue Reading →
CD review NORDIC UNION ‘Second Coming’
(8/10) Two and a half years ago Nordic Union all of a sudden appeared from nowhere and delivered a debut that was great. It clearly showed that the historic competition between Denmark and Sweden should stay history since a partnership obviously can lead to something by far greater. No less than Ronnie Atkins represents the... Continue Reading →
CD review SINBREED ‘IV’
(7/10) German melodic metal outfit Sinbreed went through some changes over the last years. Two new members are on board and a switch of labels took place also. The 2016 album ‘Master Creator’ has been released by AFM Records and it’s the new album being Sinbreed's premier for Massacre Records. Regarding the line-up, too important positions... Continue Reading →
Live (Photo-) report, DELAIN, Patronaat, Haarlem – 12.10.2018
Some days ago Dutch symphonic rockers Delain played a special show at the sold-out Patronaat, Haarlem. It was a long queue in front of the venue announced a big night and excitement grew after the doors finally were opened. The concert was a Delain-only show without any support band or opening act. In almost 2h... Continue Reading →
SOILWORK release a new video
Swedish visionary metallers SOILWORK have released the brand new track, 'Full Moon Shoals', from their impatiently awaited 11th album, »Verkligheten«, which marks their first in more than three years and also the first to feature Bastian Thusgaard on drums, who replaced Dirk Verbeuren in 2016. »Verkligheten« is set to be released on January 11, 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The first edition digipack, as... Continue Reading →
CD review IMPELLITTERI ‘The Nature of the Beast’
(8/10) Three years, that was the waiting time of Impellitteri fans for a new longplayer of the guitar wizard from the US. On October 12th, the wait is offer. It's the day when the eleventh album of the six-stringer arrives at the record stores. Named 'The Nature of the Beast' the album comes with 12... Continue Reading →
Live report TARJA / STRATOVARIUS / SERPENTYNE, TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht – 07.10.2018
On a Sunday evening, Dutch highways led me to Utrecht. It was a Finnish package that drew my attention with former Nightwish singer Tarja and power metallers Stratovarius performing a co-headliner show under the header of ‘A Nordic Symphony ‘18’. Before the Finns entered the stage it was up to the London-based quintet Serpentyne to... Continue Reading →
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