WITHIN TEMPTATION and EVANESCENCE announce ‘Worlds Collide’-tour
CD review TARJA ‘In the Raw’
(9/10) I don’t think that I need to introduce Tarja to you. The former Nightwish singer, celebrating big success with the Finnish metallers, is well-known. After having parted way with Nightwish, Tarja started to put a focus on her solo career, being at least as successful as the days with the Finnish Symphonic Metal masters.... Continue Reading →
CD review TWILIGHT FORCE ‘Dawn of the Dragonstar’
(8/10) The more bands are busy with image, gimmicks and storytelling the higher is the risk of being distracted from paying attention to their music. In some cases this distraction is planned/welcomed but not in this specific case of Swedish dragon chasers Twilight Force. Three years after the six guys from Falun released ‘Heroes of... Continue Reading →
CD review RHAPSODY, TURILLI/LIONE ‘Zero Gravity (Rebirth and Evolution)’
(9/10) The story of Rhapsody and all its variations is a long one and it's hard to keep track on all the different satellite-bands that were generated from the mothership. What stayed over all these years was the connection of founding member Luca Turilli and singer Fabio Lione. The guys never lost sight of each... Continue Reading →
CD review NIGHTQUEEN ‘Seduction’
(7/10) Nightqueen from Genk, Belgium is a new member on El Puerto Records' roster. 'Seduction' is decisive third longplayer of the sextet from the Benelux and features twelve songs that are rooted on Power Metal. Nightqueen is the brainchild of guitarist Rex Zeco who founded the band in the early 2000s. What started as a... Continue Reading →
CD review DEVIN TOWNSEND ‘Empath’
(10/10) Canadian guitar wizard Devin Townsend is an extremely creative mind. Musical ideas and thoughts manifests themselves in a lot of songs, spread out over many longplayers and it's impossible to put a certain label on Townsend's music. The music is certainly rooted in heavy metal and progressive metal, but Townsend takes things much wider... Continue Reading →
CD review IMPERIA ‘Flames of Eternity’
(7/10) ‘Flames of Eternity’ is Imperia’s fifth album, featuring 11 new songs and a piano version of ‘Mother’. The quartet with band members from various countries has its roots in the early 2000th. Imperia is the brainchild of singer Helena Michaelsen, being the drivers of the band that also includes Steve Wolz, Gerry Verstreken and... Continue Reading →
CD review RHAPSODY OF FIRE ‘The Eighth Mountain’
(8/10) Rhapsody Of Fire is a band that found their success formula rather early in their career and they stick to it since then. ‘Legendary Tales’ introduced their symphonic metal in 1997 and was the starting point for 12 more records with ‘The Eighth Mountain' being the newest one. You don’t need to have a... Continue Reading →
CD review WITHIN TEMPTATION ‘Resist’
(8/10) It feels like ‘more haste, less speed’ was the approach for Within Temptation’s seventh studio album. ‘Resist’ was scheduled for December 14th but faced a delay due to production issues. This also had an effect on Within Temptation's tour at the end of 2018 which they did without having the album out on the... Continue Reading →
CD review DIAMORTE ‘The Red Opera’
(7/10) DiAmorte is the brainchild of Canadian singer and songwriter Drake Mefestta. After having revealed a first EP in 2015 the guy debut sharp before Christmas with 'The Red Opera'. The album is a ten chapter featuring longplayer that units symphonic arrangements, rock and metal. It's a dramatic storyline about time and betrayal that frames... 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 →
CD review ARION ‘Life is Not Beautiful’
(7/10) Arion is a Finnish symphonic metal band, hailing from Helsinki. The guys debuted in 2014 with an album entitled ‘Last of Us’, followed by a few single releases. Four years after the debut seeing the light of day it’s ‘Life is Not Beautiful’ being the sophomore release of the quintet. I have to say... Continue Reading →
