by Alissa Ordabai Staff Writer Vigorous, vehement and extremely violent are the key words to describe the onslaught these Swedish death metal vets unleash on the very first track of their fifth full-length effort. Vocalist Jens Broman has learnt his lessons from Phil Anselmo only too well, but just [...]
by Alissa Ordabai Staff Writer Suave, sharp, yet disarmingly authentic – this is how singer Erlend Jegstad, the focal point of this Swedish quartet, establishes himself from the word go on the band’s sophomore effort. This focus on the vocals will continue for the rest of the album, with [...]
by Justin Gaines Staff Writer UK Christian metal band Stairway is back with their fifth studio album, titled Interregnum. Despite an intense cult following, Stairway’s melodic, traditional metal sound put them in the same general league as Barren Cross and Sacred Warrior, yet they always seemed [...]
by Joe Mis Staff Writer Progressive? Weird? Weirdly progressive? Progressively weird? No matter how you look at it, mega-veteran group Hawkwind continues to serve up their unique and groundbreaking progressive music in their latest studio release, Blood Of The Earth. Formed more than 40 years ago [...]
by Joe Mis Staff Writer If there is such a thing as a power metal supergroup, Empires Of Eden is probably the closest to filling the bill. Reborn In Fire is the second album from EOE, the brainchild of renowned metal guitarist Stu Marshall (Dungeon, Paindivision). While only the vocalist changes [...]
by Alissa Ordabai Staff Writer Muscular, vigorous, instantly memorable death metal is what Grave deliver with staggering assurance on their brand-new release. Expertly layered texture, clarity of vision, and lucid compositional structures all come together to confirm these veterans of Swedish death [...]
by Alissa Ordabai Staff Writer Killer riffs, in-your-face vocals and lewd grooves pulsating in unison with your heartbeat is how this Swedish quartet open their sophomore effort. The best tracks on this record are simple, clear-cut and utterly irresistible, but when it comes to filler numbers, [...]
by Joe Mis Staff Writer Stories Of Survival is the fourth studio release from Mesa, Ariz. based punk rockers Authority Zero. The band has taken inspiration from both their own experiences as musicians in a relatively non-mainstream genre and the current state of the world around them and managed to [...]
by Justin Gaines Staff Writer Another Dawn is the latest offering from long-running Celtic/folk rock band Tempest. This time around, the band is joined by former 3 (the ELP spinoff, not the newer prog band) vocalist Robert Berry, who guests on keyboards and produced the album. Berry, who got to try [...]
by Justin Gaines Staff Writer Salt is the fifth album from Danish progressive/power metal band Wuthering Heights. The band, which features Astral Doors frontman Nils Patrik Johansson, is one of the more creative bands in the genre, cherry-picking the best elements of progressive and power metal and [...]
