Dark Forest - Beyond the Veil [2016]

What can I say? Metal and metalheads in general tend to have a soft spot for concept. That concept, whether its dragons, knights, spelunking ghouls, something out of Michael Moorcock or Tolkien, or in the case of Dudley's Dark Forest - embodying medieval myths and legend in lyrical, pastoral gloss  - is always a profound selling point. And as lyrical/conceptual deviants from the foray of the more Goth-induced imagery of Swedish traditional heavy metal bands, Dark Forest, like some of the genre's greatest underground staples - to wit, Brocas Helm, Slough Feg, Cirith Ungol and Manilla Road - have a more retrogressive approach to their music, one that has helped absorb my initial exposure to them, their 2014 album The Awakening, with healthy and savory intakes as a powerful, melodic, moving barbican to the continuing presence of heavy/power in such a vein. To be sure, King Diamond and Mercyful Fate are great, no question about it, but bearing in mind the implants they've detonated across a good half of the entire traditional heavy metal revivalism, - hence the notorious 'Swede-fever' - the soundscape offered by Dark Forest, however slapstick it may seem to its condemners, is a welcome entry.

I get that Dark Forest aren't the most innovative bunch out there; that's never been the point. Beyond the Veil does not resort to be anything of that sort, instead you get tons of atmosphere, quite a perfect Anglo-Saxon feel as though you were an enchanted knight strolling through a forest in search of some covetous chalice, not even so much of a battle-hymn the way bands like Ironsword or DoomSword evoke Conan-esque violence and triumph, but more of a melodious assemblage of busy, technically affluent guitars conjuring up a rich groundwork of history and folklore. Again, the UK quintet does not possess the same jumpy, splenetic piquancy I so adored on magisterial albums like Traveller or Down Among the Dead Men, but assuredly the 'retro' feel is there, a lack of keyboards provides impetus to the lucid and poignant acrobatics of the guitars, ballasted by heavier, albeit simple rhythms underneath. The guitars are, blatantly, upfront and lead the charge. Crisp but not overdone, the guitarists employ stirring, 'epic' melodies and plenty of harmonization, not unaccustomed to in this niche, the sort of lead playing that's not as liberal and unencumbered as, say, one Protest the Hero or whatever progressive/technical act you can imagine, nor should they be taken with a grain of salt. In fact, I was surprised at the number of riffs they could pen on a song for song basis bearing the length of the songs in mind, a tasteful array of sweeps and hooking solos rounding up the arsenal, like speckles and shingles of Dragonforce seeping in occasionally.

That doesn't leave much else to be said about the record. John Winnard's vocals are fine, blending the operatic theatricality of Dickinson with the more high octane adventurism of Mike Scalzi, appropriately embellishing the vocal buoyancy needed. But Beyond the Veil is altogether feels repetitive after 2-3 spins, not that the craftsmanship is subpar but rather because there's too much of the same structural and stylistic melody/rhythm pattern to be had: while the first 4-5 songs kicks and swerve their way with atmosphere and a masterful, titular patronage of riffs,  the formula essentially feels force-fed by the time you've made it to song no. 12, ''The Lore of the Land'', a lurching epic. It's essentially a sale from a soigne antiquarian who's selling us the feel, archaic and seemingly embossed in legend, even though the songs are memorable enough as you're listening to them (''Blackthorn'' has a great, choir-esque accompaniment to its chorus and ''Where the Arrow Falls'' is downright charged with energy) but the bulk of the record feeds back into the bands backlog of three full-lengths, principally an extension of the ideas explored therein. That's not to say you should omit Dark Forest, though; their position is certainly oblique, with songs like ''The Wild Hunt'' propagating such a delicate balance of folk metal a la Ensiferum, Korpiklaani and Turisas with ballsy heavy/rock (think Saxon and Def Leppard) and the more occult, atmospheric leanings of King Diamond, that I can't help but recommend it to an aficionado of the style. Be your own judge. With four albums at their belt, Dark Forest still have it. Gaunt, chivalrous and surging, I can't think of a whole lot of other bands fit to perform in a medieval fun fare. Have... fun?

Highlights:
The Wild Hunt
Where the Arrow Falls
Blackthorn

Rating: 75%

The Cream of the Crop: Arthalos Picks His Best of 2015

Overall I felt this was quite a strong terms of both quality and quantity across all genres of metal, but that has always been the case so I doubt 2015 surpassed annual mean scores by a great deal. In another sort of Murphy's Rule for yearly releases, the bulk of the quality was concentrated in the first and last couple of months, at least for me, and the pool of better releases in between was spread out a little more thinly. Still, that may also have to do with the fact that much of my own lack of research during these months was due to a combination of slight disinterest in and reluctance to pick up newer recordings at the time, which I managed to rectify somewhat by the end of the year. In terms of reviews I did start strong but my writing dwindled as lots of real life issues started filtering in, and unfortunately I had to conclude the year on a low-ish note in terms of reviews. Towards the end of the year I pushed to listen to as many new albums as possible, thus molding the current shape of my lists, but of course a good deal of albums went below my radars. I hope to make up as much as I can for those in the initial months of 2016.

Nonetheless, there was an excellent scree of releases all around, with France and Norway sticking out more than usual, beyond the usual suspects like USA and Sweden. France may not have made the top 20 cut, but it produced metric tons of great, caustic black and death metal in its national brew, fitting selections at a time when Deathspell Omega have remained idle for a good long while (seriously, new album better be in the work, guys). And Norway just trumped with an unprecedented triplet of gold from its three avantgarde mavericks Solefald, Arcturus and Dodheimsgard (though the latter did not make the cut) who assuredly produced enduring masterpieces to enrich the legacy of their discographies. But of course the Enslaved album, being more 'black metal' than its gonzo counterparts, perhaps one of the safer records they've done in the last decade, is also fantastic. 2015 is perhaps most surprising considering the wealth of releases that either belong to long-time masters (Sigh, Raven, Motorhead, Saxon, Solefald, Angra, Satan, Killing Joke, Enslaved, Arcturus, even Iron Maiden, etc.) or newer entrants and banner-carriers who had already won my heart from a few years hence (Horrendous, Sulphur Aeon, Tribulation, etc.).

As always, I avoided or just downright disliked many of these uber-hyped mainstream metal records, not to mention the mass of stoner/sludge material promulgated by media-friendly review sites and communities. But downsizing that pool in its entirety is also risky, as several of the year's best turned out to be some of the most 'overrated', like the Ghost or Enslaved records.

I have also compiled an extensive list of my 100 favorite releases, in non-hierarchical order, so as to provide a little more mileage on the density of worthwhile recordings for the year. You can take a look here

YouTube links have been embedded in the lists below.

Edit: After numerous listens the new Leprous record has earned my heart's fondness with exponentially high returns, hence acquiring a spot in the top 10. Pushed back the Katavasia album and replaced the Enforcer album with the new Nechochwen record.


Top 20 Metal Albums of 2015 ****

21) Lychgate - An Antidote for the Glass Pill (Blood Music)
20) Nechochwen - Heart of Akamon (Bindrune Recordings)
19) Crypt Sermon - Out of the Garden (Dark Descent Records)
18) Kontinuum - Kyrr (Candlelight Records)
17) Black Trip - Shadowline (Steamhammer)
16) Tribulation - Children of the Night (Century Media Records)
15) Ghost - Meliora (Loma Vista Recordings)
14) Sulphur Aeon - Gateway to the Antisphere (Imperium Productions)
13) Trial - Vessel (High Roller Records)
12) A Forest of Stars - Beware the Sword You Cannot See (Lupus Lounge)
11) Sadist - Hyaena (Scarlet Records)
10) Horrendous - Anareta (Dark Descent Records)
09) Soilwork - The Ride Majestic (Nuclear Blast Records)
08) Leprous - The Congregation (InsideOut Music)
07) Killing Joke - Pylon (Spinefarm Records)
06) Satan - Atom by Atom (Listenable Records)
05) Year of the Goat - The Unspeakable (Napalm Records)
04) Enslaved - In Times (Nuclear Blast Records)
03) Zierler - ESC (Vanity Music)
02) Arcturus - Arcturian (Prophecy Productions)
01) Solefald - World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud (Indie Recordings) ****


Top 10 Non-Metal Albums of 2015 **

10) Sammal - Myrskyvaroitus (Progressive Rock/Folk)
09) Julia Holter - Have You in My Wilderness (Dream Pop)
08) Grimes - Art Angels (Pop)
07) Grave Pleasures - Dreamcrash (Post-Punk/Goth)
06) Mew - +- (Progressive Pop/Rock)
05) Squarepusher - Damogen Furies (Electronic/IDM)
04) Purity Ring - Another Eternity (Pop)

03) John Carpenter - Lost Themes (Electronic)

02) Susanne Sundfør - Ten Love Songs (Synthpop)
01) Everything Everything - Get to Heaven (Progressive Pop/Rock) **

Honorable mentions:

Hot Chip - Why Make Sense? (Electronic/Synthpop)
Zombi - Shape Shift (Electronic)
Steven Wilson - Hand Cannot Erase (Progressive Rock)
Django Django - Born Under Saturn (Progressive/Indie Rock)
Carpenter Brut - Trilogy (Compilation) (Synthwave/Electronic)
Braids - Deep in the Iris (Indie Rock)
Knife City - Star Versus (EP) (8-Bit/Chiptune)

A little addendum on my non-metal choices. Of course my auditory leisure time generally circulates around the realms of metal, but these albums reflect part of my interests outside of those realms, and as you may have noticed this year supported a wealth of wonderful pop albums with scarcer electronic music, rounded by a selection of rock albums of varying style and contour. Every album on this list is compulsive and I enjoyed them immensely, but I have to say the Everything Everything album earned its plaudits by far, a record I listened to more than any other album, in any genre. That may be partially because the songs are fairly short, but I also found myself in entranced with the Brits' ability energize with song after song, amazing falsetto vocals, synthesizers and other electronic influences popping in - just fantastic. I cannot recommend it enough, even though it has some minor flaws. But the Susanne Sundfor record comes close, despite the simplicity of the compositions. The John Carpenter album of 'lost' film scores is also extremely noteworthy, and should come as no surprise for someone who adores the man's backlog of 80's horror flicks. The oddest ball of the bunch is arguably the Sammal record, which not only restored my faith in modern prog rock outfits but strengthens Finland's hand as one of leading conduits of 60's-70's worship. Points for Svart Records (which also released the new Seremonia album this year).


And Now... Listmania: A List of Lists * 

Of course during the course of over 4 years of blogging here, I've kept tabs on MANY blogs, and I've always had an inexplicable sympathy for fellow bloggers and reviewers alike. This year has been no exception. Therefore I've decided to make a compilation of all the notable year-end lists I could muster, since the idea is to make the music as widely known and accessible to people as possible. Granted, I may have my own little grudges about these lists, but rest assured it's nothing personal, in fact differentiation between choices is always welcome, so long as the list isn't a big, fat, cock-swallowing ape of Pitchfork's Top 10 albums of 2015. What follows is a comprehensive list of all the year-end lists I could find, although obviously with that excuse the curious reader is also encouraged to read through the other articles and reviews in the respective blogs. Some of the blogs I've linked can also be found on my blog roll column.

Autothrall's Execution Through Listification: The 2015 Edition -- The best of the best. His lists amaze me for their depth, range and also for the sheer fact that I tend to enjoy almost every record in the top 20-25 unanimously. There's also a very extensive bonus section comprised of top-lists for books, non-metal and various games. Simply mandatory for metal music nerds.

The AMG Staff Picks the Top Ten Records o’ 2015: There’s No Accounting for Anything Anymore -- I love AMG's brash, in-your-face attitude when it comes to reviewing, and I certainly feel most of the time that their high scores are justified, plus they seem to be seated in some kind of independent twilight zone between the 'poorer' bloggers such as myself and the more mainstream milieu of music reviewers, in their own social commune which is just awesome. The end of the year lists are always great and exuberant, with so many different staff members with different tastes. Be sure to check out the individual lists as well.

Skull Fracturing Metal's Top 30 of 2015 -- Perhaps a bit too high on modern power and traditional heavy metal but SFM has nonetheless been one of the very first blogs I've been acquainted with since my initiation and consequently I can't help but promote this list.

Listmania 2015 (No Clean Singing) -- These guys have a freaking open sale of awesome lists every year, from so many different users and with different labels that I can hardly keep track of all them. This is just a link to one of those individual lists, be sure them to give them all a decent look.

Arson Cafe: 2015 Dispirit -- Just a very well composed list that endures no truncation, leading up to 100 entries, all listed hierarchically. All sorts of meritorious extreme metal can be found here, as well some more modern metal records that should accord well with you if you have experimental tastes.

The 2015 End-of-Year List (Heavy Metal Spotlight) -- Just seeing the Slugdge album at #20 makes me happy. I dunno, man, it just does. Plus range and diversity run fairly wide with this list, An opportunistic mash of death, black, doom and traditional heavy with a good focus on the more 'old school' side of things.

Best Albums of 2015 (Metantoine's Magickal Realm) -- Basically your go-to blogspot (along with Slugdelord) when it comes to DOOM. All sorts of great, obscure, retro-related rock and metal here, and the list is pretty sweet to top it off. So much of a 70's stoner reprise in this blog that it practically begs a joint while you're browsing for music.

piotrekmax: Best metal albums of 2015 (Sputnik Music)

2015 End of the Year List (Ghoul's Crypt)

Finally, you can seek here an even larger compilation of RYM lists, if that's your thing, a great, long shelf of worthwhile lists with actual descriptive commentary and out of the ordinary pickings. That rounds the end-of-the-year craze for 2015. You have no excuse not to check out at least a few of these works. Now is a time for rest, which I believe I've earned, shortly before I get on the 2016 bandwagon. Praise Cthulhu and stay metal, my friends.

Scanner - The Judgement [2015]

''Hypertrace'' was a record which garnered a huge amount of plaudits for probably as long as it was around, especially by the turn of the 20th century, when the lack of classic 80's power metal niches really began to felt by mainstream audiences, and although it's never been a record which I've held near and  dear to my heart I can't deny its sort-of-cult appeal, nor the iterative listening value of songs like ''Across the Universe'' or ''Warp 7''. In any case, it placed Scanner on the map, and has frankly been the only Scanner record which I've bothered to deal with. Evidently, ''The Judgement'' wasn't destined to be a second ''Hypertrace'', or a highly worthy entrant into the modern power metal field with a scene already saturated with anything from Angra to German contemporaries such as Primal Fear or Blind Guardian, and the nerdy, lackluster cover art only confirmed that I had to keep my expectations a little low on this. Even those Teutonic legends had stopped spewing forth career highlights about a decade ago, - give or take a few years - so how the hell is Axel Julius fresh lineup going to end up better?

''The Judgement'' was a somewhat different experience than I'd anticipated, but all the paths led to the same doorway in the end. The 80's speed/power aesthetics meet with a softer hard rock mentality and immediately Scanner tears through the walls of space and time with laser-gun riffing redolent of, well... Scanner. This is clearly a meatier and better produced effort than Scanner's 80's catalog, thanks to the benefits of modern audio technology, but there's also something of modern power/thrash modulus peppered on the riffs, as well a grating, metallic tone that should hold instantaneous, if ephemeral, appeal to any expecting listener. I've come to compare this record a lot to Attackers's latest, especially since the chuggy, percussive thrashing is very prominent, although the Attacker record was a busier, more exciting avenue of great, genuinely original riffcraft, while this album just swaggers with a fast, fairly busy compendium of samey riffs, mostly recycled from the 80's. The leads and swerving harmonies are the sheer selling points of the record, with enough melodic hooks to keep you buckled and grappled on your spaceship's seat to sift through the record with relative ease for the first 1-2 spins.

The vocals equally hearken back to the school of Germanic banshee screaming, with plenty of Rob Halford-esque inflections pelting the concussive riffs, like on the verse of ''Warlord''. The drumming was also fairly efficient, and for the most time I was definitely on board with the vocal lines. The problem with ''The Judgement'' is nearly all the songs are devoid of some constant audibility (''Warlord'' and ''Known Better'' were the two memorable pieces on this record, with the former having a excellent, gaunt chorus and the latter stockpiled with bright guitar work that somehow exceeded the overall performance of the album) and the album almost never tries to break through the boundaries of the box, not to mention the fact that songs which should have been cropped to a nifty 3-4 minutes hang around for lofty 5-6 minutes, (don't even get me started on the outrageous ''Poseidon'') making spacial trip all too jaded with space lag. This is not a bad album, but there's a fundamental dilemma on whether staying on course with traditional or modern power/thrash metal, and there's certainly too much reliance on cheap hooks and choral sections to be called anything extremely worthwhile. Still, if you're that in the need for semi-frilled, catchy power metal that blazes with a searing 80's feel, this is one record you could give a shot, though I doubt that it'll circulate through many end-of-the-year lists.


Highlights:
The Judgement
Known Better
Warlord

Rating: 63%

Blind Guardian - Beyond the Red Mirror [2015]

More than being just a beloved paragon of Teutonic epic power metal, the way I've perceived Blind Guardian over the years has evolved from a visualization as a steadfast German act to a wonderful explosive tumult of symphonic music, power metal and just unabashed Lord of the Rings nerdery, which I can't help but relate to. Parading forth from their humble speed metal initiation during the late 80's to what most people (including me) probably see their peak with the subsequent records of 1995-1997, the band has scarcely disappointed, though admittedly mellowed in stride after ''A Night at the Opera''. My humble obsession for the band and their surprisingly serious antics stemmed from my ecstatic discovery of ''Nightfall in Middle-Earth'', which (a big fuck you to all the sleazy haters) was so impeccable, so fucking peerless that it just swooped my heart away in a flock of marauding orcs and glazing elves throwing down Silmarillion style. After so many disappointments in the last decade my expectations naturally plummeted, so it was clear from the start that the Germans' latest wasn't going to be another perfect herald of Tolkien-esque epic power metal, but that said, I've found that ''Beyond the Red Mirror'' resonated with me with more singular power than one would expect...

If I had to summarize me feelings for this album from the beginning, honestly, if you can skip the rather painful ''The Ninth Wave'', there is little to be disregarded and even less to be disliked, granted you're a fairly long running fan of the band. If you can skip that tumescent electronic garbage, and see through the 'wave', Blind Guardian immediately opens up the gates of heaven with a shredding, if pretentiously titled, vigorous tune (''Twilight of the Gods'') and then proceeds to kick ass from there onward. The arrangement and overall sound delivered in ''Beyond the Red Mirror'' carved up such an instantaneous passion in me particularly because it felt as though the band was just scraping off the old footprints of their 1995-2002 outings in varying degrees, sometimes molding into furious power/thrash eruptions (''Sacred Mind'') or a jumpier, gyrating miracle of folksy power progressive metal guitars (''Twilight of the Gods''), and sometimes just reaching out in a mellower and emotional level with ballad-ish tracks (''Miracle Miracle''); but nearly every form they take, the Germans seem well-nigh faultless at their task, even though they are mostly rehashing some of the irreplaceable material they put out two decades ago.

But being a four-year long effort, ''Beyond the Red Mirror'' is cemented in a bombast of irresistible orchestral performances that feel somewhat Wagnerian in their scope or just like something straight out of Disney musical in their epic playfulness (songs like ''Grand Parade'' take the front here). At any rate, the operatic details of the record are not just beautiful but feel larger and crucial to the general formula than, most of their recordings. The focal - and vocal - point of the record is Hansi's vocals which range accordingly to the frenetic volleys of guitar riffs and orchestral arrangements. The man - possible because he's still only 48 - doesn't seem to have lost his touch one bit, unlike one Bruce Dickinson whose voxing on ''The Final Frontier'' swelled a little too tiredly to be on par with a ''Powerslave'', and the almost psychopathic chorus flings that burst arbitrarily seem just fresh and jovial as they were twenty years ago. As if I hadn't praised them before, the guitars are pretty much excellent: not just loaded to the stocks with melodious and totally Blind Guardian-esque riffs that the group must have borrowed from a set of riffs which they wrote in 1997 but never integrated, but also from their sheer functionality. Seriously, none of the riffs here feel out of place. Sure, some prove to be tedious and bloated after 65 minutes of maniacal orchestral and sonic repercussions, but individually all are likable.

That brings me to a rather predictable snag: the album is just too long. This is evidently not the band's best outing, and even though the run time runs parallel to its aesthetic siblings (data check: Imaginations, Nightfall and A Night have lengths of 49, 65 and 67 minutes respectively) the amount of time they spend going through oldish ideas takes too much time. There's time enough on the record to give a detailed account of Middle-Earth lore even if you clip away the unnecessary fat, and even though songs as uplifting as ''At the Edge of Time'' pass the minutes away like melting butter, one can have serious gripes about the length in general. The production, too, on the ground that the guitars and bass were crafty but not paunchy enough, proves to be a bit of a thorn in the album's side. In the end, however, it's safe to assume that ''Beyond of the Red Mirror'' puts the Germans back on the map. At least to a more respectable point. It demonstrates that these ageing nerd/musicians are still sharp on their wit. All told, it reuses previous footings all too frequently to be creating some majestic gateway between this era and another, some dramatic experiment gone slightly wrong, but teetering on the edge of evolutionary greatness, but rather an album playing it safe. It's awesome for what it is, and I'm the rampaging (and shameless) fanboy who loves if precisely for that. The lyrical content alone is good enough for you to get interested. Don't be a fucking tool and buy it.

Highlights:
Sacred Mind
Twilight of the Gods
The Holy Grail
At the Edge of Time

Rating: 85%

Angra - The Secret Garden [2015]

Angra first caught my attention with their masterful ''Temple of Shadows''. It felt at the time (and still does) like such a fulgent tribute power metal in its marriage to progressive elements that Dream Theater would have been more than proud of, complete with wondrous symphonic sounds, that it immediately became one of my favorite metal albums, ever. That said, the band's fortunes went pretty downhill from there, with a streak of lackluster records which didn't even more close to the brilliance of their masterwork. The numerous band changes and internal problems threw them off balance and the result wasn't very pretty. The existence of Shaman also did something to split the band's skill, I suppose. However, with their best record in a decade, fronted by Fabio Lione, the Brazilians feel not only aplomb enough to restore amends but also retain some of that oomph which made them the star of 21st century power metal in the first place.

I've said and I'll say it again and again: Angra is among the few power/progressive acts out there I'd pay lip service to, ''The Secret Garden'' helps clear some of the tarnish on their formerly renowned title. ''The Secret Garden'' which nearly like an artistic epiphany because, more than discovering new ground for the band - which at this stage might have produced some egregious results - there's a penchant to go over the pastiches of the past with the same skill with which they weaved an entire discography, polished with quality levels of production. In retrospect ''Temple of Shadows'' never possessed the kind of chrome-metal production you see so often in modern metal, but it fitted the texture and riffing patterns nicely, with plenty of majestic albeit intricate gloss buttered on a slew of excellent riffs, but ''The Secret Garden'' feels less charitable in the realms of complexity on more on the verge of a simplistic memorability, with crazy bulky guitar hooks and crystal clear wisps of melody played out in a professional, controlled level. That's not to say this record is boring, obviously, but that it's simply not as good ''Temple of Shadows'' which is something of an impossible nut to crack anyhow.

Of course the best sequences of the album is where it hooks me perfectly with a combination of progressive metal alacrity and climactic orchestral elements upon beautiful leads: parts that mete out such a level of rainbow goodness that for a brief moment they make me feel inside my beloved ''Temple of Shadows''. Hell, there's so much similarity going on between this record and other that one may think Angra just found re-inserting the formula of their best record might as well be the way to go, which worked damned fine, considering their fall from grace in recent years. The title track, with its nose deep in an orgy orgastic symphonies and ecstatically moving violin lines, feels like a commemoration of ''No Pain for the Dead'', notwithstanding the inclusion of beautiful, harmonious female vocals. Even the jiving Spanish guitars and gyrating pianos make occasional appearances here, with tracks like ''Upper Levels'', which bolster their memorability on the grounds of heavy, percussive riffwork, and anthemic choruses guided by the kind of space-y keyboards which Norway's Pagan's Mind love. Angra may not be at their technical or artistic peak here, but this album is clearly strong on both the memorability and songwriting departments, with enough electric guitar wankery to keep the music nerds in place and enough head-hanging/goosebumps action going on to please the uneducated plebeians (no offense intended).

I'd like to think that Fabio Lione is a good vocalist, to say the least. Sure, who wouldn't have preferred Edu Falaschi on this? Still, the man fills in the shoes pretty aptly. He is not so high pitched as, say, Halford, but reminds me somewhat of the Attacker album that came out in 2013, with a little more melodious grace. A song like ''Crushing Room'' may leave the genuine power metal aficionado a bit disoriented due to its heavy incorporation of double vocals and its mournful, atmospheric paste, but with a set of outstanding leads from the band's two prevailing guitar masterminds it still becomes something of a guilty pleasure. In addition to that songs like ''Perfect Symmetry'' and ''Newborn Me'', with their furious speed, feel more like a late 80's prog/power record with flashier guitar acrobatics and a tank-like wall of production, maybe something out of a Crimson Glory record if you want to stretch things up a notch; in either case Fabio rocks his vox with unobtrusive clarity.

So evidently I ran short on things to dislike on this album, but there were still there. Namely, as a listener whose expectations of greatness never quite fell after the perfect ''Temple of Shadows'' (whose name I've already praised, what, more than half a dozen times?) the album seems to be lacking in depth and that colorful, irresistible pallet of instrumentation which I still think this ageing monarchs of power metal can conjure. At some point, despite the glossy attractiveness of it all songs like ''Silent Call'' seem too, well, ballad-y and... modern. I admire these guys' sense of melody and songwriting but I never vied for something that should get them all too intimate with the bloated crappiness of a commercial country song for fuck's sake... not that they run low as that - thank the heavens - but they do scrape the edges at times which frankly feels a tad discomforting, even on such a modern basis. Despite the clear strength of this album, too much time and sonic energy is spent on a random grab-bag of vocal duties and puffed chorus sections - they could have trimmed up a few bis, basically. But this is nonetheless a jumpy yet passionate revival that puts the Brazilians back on my map, one that makes me feel I'm actually listening to Angra, and one whose transformation I hope won't attenuate the voracity of their drive and lock them up in music school detention for another decade. Godspeed.

Highlights:
Newborn Me
Upper Levels 
Black Hearted Soul
Perfect Symmetry

Rating: 82%

Persuader - The Fiction Maze [2014]

With so much jostling going up front with the black and death metal genres, one quickly forgets that the reviewing business is more than just a bunch of cadaverous ghouls and satanic grimoires. Given their tumultuous nature, it can sometimes be something of a problem to keep your auditory nerves constantly inclined to this kind of music, so every now and then the ear yearns for something both more pleasant for the ear and the nose (believe me, dealing with ghouls and zombies all the time is some pretty putrescent work). When I come across Sweden's Persuader, I'm left in something of a dilemma: I don't know quite what to expect, not being acquainted with the band, but on the other hand the rather generic cover art song titles testify to a modern simplicity which for some reason obliged me draw comparisons with Sonata Arctica, Edguy and Gamma Ray prior to the actual listen - not exactly an inaccurate comparison. But if I had to cut a long story short I'd say that Persuader offers a dynamic, proggy and damnably solid power/thrash album that, despite being quite enjoyable, doesn't do much to break into the realms of originality.

To be fair I initially thought I would hate Persuader's lack of guts, but there's more juice and flavor to this damn thing than an average power/thrash recording. Besides the aforementioned similarities drawn up from more notorious acts, ''The Fiction Maze'', the group's fourth full-length, is actually on par with the latest Hellstar record, both in terms of technical prowess and thrash-oriented edginess. The production on this thing is pretty professional and well-done, giving plenty of space for the guitars, but that's not to say the drums are drowned out; they ring on their percussive dominion as a superb accompaniment to the ballistic riffs. Yes, Persuader is principally a power metal band, and a very modern one, at that. The melodies could easily attest to that dogma, with their lightspeed accuracy and viscous flow on the brickwalled guitars, but Jens Carlsson's vocals are soaring and opaque with a traditional banshee's high, though heroic voice. So, as you may imagine, the Swedes are in no shortage of epic, peripheralizing chorus sequences; memorable moments in the ''The Fiction Maze'' are in abundance. And the Swedes aren't just good ol' power. They try add as many intricacies as possible, but I still thought the progressive components of this record weren't being strained to their human limits.

That said, Persuader sounds a lot like Angra as well. In fact, ''Aqua'' was a pretty vivid representation of the roller-coaster of riffs going on here. And the list of these fuckers still don't end because in addition to all the mumbo-jumbo about epic, atmospheric choruses these guys can make some fucking awesome songs, and I'm not biased when I say that. Sure, they're generic, as though Havok and Warbringer got together in a gang fight and pounded the crap out of Dragonforce for being a bunch of tech-wanking weiners, especially with tunes like the title track or ''InSect'', but their persuasive (excuse the pun) savvy is unquestionable in forging some rocking songs. Their enticement, fortunately doesn't stop there. As I said, the Swedes try every now and then to confound the listener, and they figure, if riffs can't bludgeon 'em, is banshees can't shatter 'em, we'll use something else. And it's well that they do: ''The Fiction Maze'' flirts with modern, gimmicky power metal keyboards and synthesizers more frequently than you'd expect. Granted, these auxiliary employments do provide a bit of freshness to the schtick, like on ''InSect'' where the guitars and keyboards intertwine, but they don't have a spellbinding magical resonance to them, which probably wasn't the band's aim anyway. The album is coated with 21st century production values and modern power metal aesthetics, but the pervading emotion is straight out of the 80's, a Manowar or Crimson Glory seeking revenge in a new epoch.

No matter what you say, ''The Fiction Maze'' is catchy (though not absurdly so) and in its singular pursuit is successful in raising spirits. Not exactly a triumph of technicality and intricacy, but who would care? Certainly not me. In fact, with every listen I felt elicited deeper and deeper into the humbleness of the band against a predominant army of guitar-lickers and cheesy show-offs, so, the way ''Son of Sodom'' likes to unabashedly proclaim from the rooftops, ''all I see is what I believe''. A solid fucking effort.


Highlights:
War
InSect
Son of Sodom
Worlds Collide

Rating: 82%

Coldsteel - America Idol [2013]

Coldsteel is one of those bands that, despite forming back in 1986, couldn't manage to gain a sufficient fan base, as their sole album, ''Freakboy'', was released in 1992. That aside, even after the internet's benefits in uprooting obscurities were discovered, I hardly think ''Freakboy'' became a cult classic. Coldsteel didn't even aesthetically belong in the ''old school'' category, but instead a power-induced channeling of groove/thrash which, although quite terrible even for today's measurements, was strangely popular back then, and I would honestly have appreciated it more if the band's new material, ''America Idol'', belonged somewhat more in the group of old school thrash; perhaps something of a Bay Area kick, judging by the path the band's taking, or more voracious speed/thrash effulgence. Yet, the band's preferences haven't changed, at least not in the core tenets, but Coldsteel seek to both diversify and modernize their brand using numerous implements, making the four-track EP we have here a relatively more interesting listen than their any other release in their backlog.

In fact, I daresay this EP's genuinely good, and certain track bear a textured, concussive rhythmic department that I found to be far more memorable than anticipated. I suppose they're a bit more punctilious about the subtleties of their riffs, but the real good news comes from a rather excellent stringing of influences, bludgeoning songwriting and well-penned blazing leads for a cut above the rest. You'll certainly hear a strong groove/thrash influence, which can be nettling, I admit, but most of the time these modernized grooves are jointed with melodious power/thrash rushes, and you get these drum-pumped grooves clashing with hybridized choruses - and they turn out to be riper than expected. I'm getting all sorts of vibes; from Sepultura circa 1991-1996 to Laaz Rockit, Helstar, Abattoir to some of the more picking-laden power metal acts out there, with a good measure of speed threaded into all these influences. The vocals bear queer resemblance to Hetfield circa 1988-1991, until they soar to higher power metal shrieks, and the drums are excellent, both well paced and capable of upbringing plenty of groove to the guitar work.

''America Idol'', with its superb gyrating chorus and ''Ashes To Ashes'' with its gestalt of tech-thrash riffing and onset of condensing solos remain as my favorite tracks, and in all honesty they're superior to many other thrash bands performing in their field. However, I won't deny that there were some things here that were a little too agitating for me. Firstly, ''Blink Of An Eye'' featured one of those terrible modern chorus sing-aloud's, and the intro to ''Blood Secrets'' was just fucking irrelevant and annoying (techno, really?). But besides some flaws ''America Idol'' remains an entertaining exercise in modernity, proto-power metal and groove/thrash. This exactly what you'd get if you fused on of the early-mid 90's groove metal obscurities with 21st century power/thrash inflections, so unless you're a purist, you need not suffer this; if you're searching for something of a booming frivolity to band your head to, then it's not a bad choice at all. And I can safely confide after some two dozen spins, it's pretty damn solid.

Highlights:
America Idol
Ashes To Ashes

Rating: 77%

Anthem - Burning Oath [2012]

What I absolutely love about the last months of every year is that it always seems to be stocked to the chunks with the best releases of the year, and an unmistakable front-runner for the 2012 lists is Anthem, with ''Burning Oath''. Going strong ever since 1981, the Japanese have consecutively released material that would finally pile up to form a meaty bodywork of albums, and while admittedly I've never tasted their radiant brand of heavy metal before, I was staggered by their underrated status, especially after fifteen records, but the past aside, ''Burning Oath'' reveals blazing excellence that could annually be only matched by Pharaoh's own impulsive concession, ''Bury The Light'' when the heavy/power genre is taken into consideration, and quartet certainly exhibit a glimmering sheen of talent on their fifteenth album, even if creativity is omitted.

I think the only thing worth fussing about here is that the group rarely surpasses certain boundaries, let alone exceed them. As far as I've read, the material here is not entirely different from the band's previous material, and I don't think it would take a mastermind to figure out the Japanese are far more fervent on boasting their modernized, amplified cave-crusher of a guitar tone and imbuing it with colorful Van Halen-esque leads, thus firing away into laser-like precision, rather than breaking the rules and processing the entire slew of spacious brilliance in a completely different format. Their sky-high echelon, though, enables them to effortlessly think through redundancy and produce simple, genuine power metal beauty that reflects the resonant, perky and highly jumpy aesthetics that fall somewhere between Priest, Maiden, Drangonforce, Primal Fear and Gamma Ray, all beaten into rainbow-like shimmer that feels dazzling no matter how many times you spin the whole thing.

Every tune they've composed is blazing, each and nuanced highlight that forms the rainbow. The core rhythm tone could have easily worked as a brand new butcher's cleave for the avaricious audience of brutal death metal extremes, all demanding a thousandth weapon to raze and exterminate, but with the vocals of Eizo Sakamoto upon the meat, there's a queer balance formed that anchors both the piercing melody orgy and vibrant pulses of Eizo's tone. The basis of brutality remains quite simple really, but still completely cavorting and critical to the band's mathematical precision, and guitarist Akio Shimizu piles up so many lead work on top of a single slab of bread that it almost seems though he's completely throwing all his solos out into the face of the listener, but at the same time the leads feel ridiculously spasmodic, almost surreal, and he never refrains from supporting a memorable complex while doing so. Strikingly, he seems as talented in crafting modern thrash chug fairs as he is in wallowing the listener in a paradox of quizzical, spurious solos that just make me swelter in excitement every time I hear them.

While the guitar is the undeniable superstar of the record, Eizo's vocals can deliver almost as many twinges of pleasure as the riffs, and in a far more foreboding way, at that. Not that his vocals have a sense of misery or anything, but they occasionally tend to take on melodious, almost mournful hues while delving into overly harmonious territory. But you see, that's all part of his genius. He has such a long-lasting voice that it readily oscillates while literally keeping the entire riff-work going on underneath in one piece. Additionally, I was quite induced by the foreign eccentricity of the Japanese lyrics, and Eizo also shines here; forming perfect transitions that stick the English lyrics to the Japanese, and what felt somewhat ironic is the abstract vividness of the album, and that they're actually more likely to fit the bill for a band like Drangonforce, but the band sings about much more down-to-earth subjects than dragons or unicorns.

It's quite possible for someone to be in a dilemma when choosing from eleven top-notch tunes, but I probably dug the dual violins of ''Get Away'', the airy, sinister edge of the opener ''Evil One'' and the swerving, bluesy rhythmic combustion of ''Double Helix'' the most, though every song is spectacular in its own rights. As stated, ''Burning Oath'' does not require 200 IQ to figure out; its quite simply plays by the rules but produces quality material that any fan of the aforementioned bands should have a hell of time listening. Even with a deep-seated heavy metal inclination swinging the album towards relatively distinct locations, ''Burning Oath'' principally remains a power metal record, and good fucking one, too.

Highlights:
On And On
Get Away
Double Helix
Evil One
Struggle Action

Rating: 90%

Deceptor - Chains Of Delusion [2013]

In an astonishing turn of events, what I anticipated as another potential tumor in the myriad of retro heavy/thrash metal groups turned out to be a compulsory magnet of innovative, old school excellence that exceeded any of my previous opinions on the matter. How could I have known, that amid a trampling stockpile of promos, it would be Shadow Kingdom's delivery, Deceptor's sophomore EP ''Chains Of Delusion'' that perfectly fit the maniacally inclined, wondrously imbued textures that I had been searching for so long, but never acquired, yet, what makes up this a work of sheer old-minded genius is its climatic, glimmering sheen of imagination; hardly has a band ever bestirred interpretations of both traditional, thrash, speed and a classical brand of death metal akin to the latest Deceased, and successfully concluded their industrious formula bu enhancing the basis with ingenious riffing, as if the entire thing was the product of pang in the mind of a mad scientist who wished to saturate the demands of die-hards of all the aforementioned genres within a single concession.

Deceptor's body work on ''Chains Of Delusion'' is hardly what you'd call an immensely lengthy epic, but with the two ambient sounds tracks excluded, we're left with four tracks, each arriving from their own biomes, spewing forth their own distinctive elements, almost as if they had nothing to with each other. But everywhere you go, you'll vibrantly feel the band's own engrossment of texture and semi-technical riffs, which is what makes the whole EP so magical. Simply said, ''Chains Of Delusion'' is an effigy for the 80's. The entire aura is earthen as the drums, the bass and the guitar work all have roughly equal spaces in the mix, and Sam Mackertich's vocals are as divergent as the riffs, shifting from harmonious power metal chants to harsher death/thrash growls, and then to Schmier-like shrieks that echo through the ears of a Destruction fan like delicious nostalgia. His vocal inflection is just as brilliant as the guitars, and simply bears some of the most combustive vocal electricity I've heard is some time.

The tone is perfectly crisp, as if you're tasting a perfectly well-cooked steak through your headphones; it's wonderfully authentic, something in between ''Peace Sells...'' and ''Rust In Peace'', but far more belligerent and ravenous, eager to sink its caustic raw of teeth into the skull of its crazed mentor. Like the vocals, you never know what the guitars are likely to switch into. One moment you're lost through a matrix of technicality, then a NWOBHM-styled gallop bounces into action, and just seconds later you're driven into cavorting speed/thrash convulsions that jive equally as well to the vocalist's Bruce Dickinson complexes as they do the much more psychotic growls of his schizoid side. There are just so many twists and turns on the EP that it's nearly impossible not to be befuddled by the musical tenacity of the trio. Take the bumping, melodious bass of ''To Know Infinity'', the assailing bullet-like chug storm of ''Heatseeker'', ''Sentient Shackles' '' technical momentum and the indulgent, foreboding onslaught of ''Oblivion's Call'', put in a few mechanized voices, and you practically have exemplary of modern sci-fi induced thrash metal.

''Chains Of Delusion'' is damn near phenomenal. I could only gape at the narrow-mindedness of thrasher who would rather get drunk over an orgy of Warbringer songs, and not give much of a fuck about the gyrating genius of this. I think it's about time somebody cracked these damnable chains and let the metal world know of their new master thrasher, because with ''Chains Of Delusion'', Deceptor have certainly earned that title, yet one must now forget that this is so much more than the polished, originality-free modernity everyone seems to be endlessly craving these days as a vague remembrance to the good old days, but those who really wish to be submerged in 80's retro energy - fear not - for your new captor has arrived. If you're one of those people, you have no excuse not to pre-order this right now, even if there's a procrastinated apocalypse just outside of your city.

Highlights:
Everything

Rating: 91%

Wintersun - Time I

After 8 long years, Wintersun has finally returned with part one of their new material, “Time”. I don’t want to dwell on the fact that has been a while since the last album, but I definitely want to talk about the decision to release this as two separate records. Whether or not Jari Mäenpää or Nuclear Blast made the decision, it was the correct one. Simply put, this album is an epic, bombastic affair of keyboards and symphonic atmospheres that is almost too much to handle. 80 minutes of this style of music would be physically draining on the listener, and I say that because even 40 minutes can be quite difficult to fully absorb what is going on. There may be only three full songs on “Time I”, but they are more than enough material to satisfy the listener.

The instrumental opener, “When Time Fades Away”, introduces some new oriental influences toWintersun’s brand of folky melodic death metal. By the time this song is over, you start to understand the transition in sound from the debut to this record. On “Time I” Wintersun uses more clean vocals, keyboards, and melodies. That isn’t to say that every song here is a rehash of “Death and the Healing” from the debut, but there is certainly less speed and intensity on this record. The band definitely embraced the “melodic” part of melodic death metal. “Sons of Winter and Stars” is the first epic and is actually the track that is most similar to the debut album. There are blastbeats and riffs aplenty, and the intensity is kept up throughout the song; however, you will notice the increased use of choirs and clean vocals. The other two lengthy songs are employ similar methods, but are not quite as fast. In fact, one of the most interesting aspects of this album is the huge range of dynamics. There are perfect transitions from huge, heavy death metal moments into quieter acoustic and keyboard driven sections with Jari's clean vocals over top.

My only real complaint on this record is the lack of guitar solos. They do show up (there is some serious shredding going on in the title track), but are generally less frequent and shorter than on the first record. Considering how talented both of these guitarists are, it’s too bad. The musicianship is great, but they don't show off like they did on “Wintersun”. The only major improvement instrument-wise is the great clean vocals by Jari. His singing sounds more confident and powerful than ever before. A second caution with this record is how over-the-top it is. There are numerous layers of instruments, and the band changes tempos and moods quite often. Don’t dismiss this as lacking substance; it definitely takes more than a few listens to enjoy the album, and I’m not even sure it’s fair to review it so quickly after it was released. Don’t overthink this record, just put it in and listen to it often. If you put the time in to appreciate this masterpiece, you will definitely get more out of it than your average album.

Highlights:

Sons Of Winter And Stars

Time

Rating: 90%

Written by Scott Dorfman

Originally written for Skull Fracturing Metal Zine.

Burning Shadows - Gather, Darkness!

It's always to come across new power metal gems whilst reluctantly weeding through heaps of death metal groups, and one of my latest findings is the Maryland heavy/power quartet Burning Shadows, and their sophomore ''Gather, Darkness!''. To be sure, many who first encountered the group might have actually tossed them far off due to multiple reasons: fear of a generic output, dissatisfaction from the debut records, or simply the fact that the band is not tied together with a label might put off the more spoiled of listeners, yet I, from the very start had a burning desire to contemplate the semi-shadowy aesthetics of this war-arousing bulk of a record. There are many reasons why one might have been drawn to this album while still under the encapsulating tenor of agitation, but I'll only be focusing on the content now; so fear not, we have some damnably solid material here.

Musically, the riffs proceed with simple progressions during verse sequences and there's always a strong war-ensemble worship going on; traits that have been obviously snatched from  European power metal legends, Manowar, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, Helloween and lesser dose of US power metal influences, like Griffin, Fates Warning and Jag Panzer, and the band's biggest talent aesthetically is forming thick layers of multi-riff bombardments and adjoining with those of of a more atmospheric, epic tangent, tightly composed structures balancing the who place. Simplistic melodies are used often enough, adorned with a pummeling percussive rhythm system to keep the swing at full momentum, and furthermore, compositions are near-drowning because the album is basically divided three burdened tracks ranging at over ten minutes each, separated into briefer segments, so there's always the risk of the instrumental parts immersing you into boredom, but surprisingly, culminating with a blast of fresh, dark aura, sturdy performance and solid riffs, banality is hardly the case.

Tom Davy has an incredibly accessible and clear vocal performance the whole way through. His voice supports clarity and no matter how the guitars shift from thrashy plummets to atmospheric, mood-laden melody explosions, his tone implies a certain strictness, very neutral, and thanks to him the band is never driven into a cadaverous stupor, or suffers from the entry of any sort of derision. In spite of the general lack of power metal surreal overdose, Burning Shadows still has a handful of tricks; on ''Man From Myth'', for instance, you have a very epic rupture of darkness pervaded by the lyrics and a very catchy range of riffs to support it, and upon further inspection, you'll find yourself deeply immersed in a saturating, straightforward black metal dispersion, which, when enforced by the dazzling enigma of wah-wah pedal, sounds absolutely captivating.

There are still tons of bands in today's scene which deserve attention, and this four-piece is on of them. Whether you had frivolous fun on the debut or not, if you're into carnal thrash excavations and the beautiful clash of melody against ambiguity, you need to grab a banner from the local medieval items stores, rally your bannerman and lead the battle against whatever evil dwells in your neighborhood, ''Gather, Darkness!'' blasting out of the steroids behind you. Colorful and solemn.

Night, with the darkness falling
Hand of Sathanas reigning down
Upon this coven
Bred in secrecy
To the wrath of God we pledge
Suffering and agony
Blessed by the will to end this tyranny

Highlights:

To Ruin & Divide: Kingdoms Fall

To Ruin & Divide: Man From Myth

A Thousand Lies: A New Dark Age

Braking The Sanctuary: The Infamous Down

Rating: 85%

Primal Fear - Unbreakable

Since the beginning of their career, Primal Fear has always had the elements to make a great power metal band. From having a major player in the German heavy metal scene on bass (Mat Sinner), to making heavy use of harmonized guitars with glorious double bass sections underneath, Primal Fearwas on the right track. In fact, they even have a man who can clone Rob Halford on vocals; after all, if you can’t sound like Bruce Dickinson, why not go for Halford? But somehow their music didn’t quite captivate me all that much. There are great songs here or there, but in general, the albums were too long to sustain such an intense style of songwriting. This may have changed before “Unbreakable” (I’m a bit behind on my Primal Fear history), but it can be said that “Unbreakable” is the first album I've heard of the band’s that is really a classic.

“Unbreakable” starts off like any other Primal Fear album: fast, epic, and with guitars that soar like the eagle that dawns the cover. Luckily, however, the band does add some variety. There are plenty of moments that focus on a more straightforward heavy metal sound, not unlike what bands like HammerFall and Gamma Ray have done in recent years. Raging songs like “Bad Guys Wear Black” and “Blaze of Glory” hearken back to the huge riffs that Judas Priest unleashed on “Painkiller”. The classic Primal Fear sound returns with “And There Was Silence”, which is the absolute highlight of this record. The chorus is a majestic display of Ralf Scheepers’ vocal skills, and the guitar gives a similar magical atmosphere. One of the stranger tracks on “Unbreakable” is the extremely accessible “Metal Nation”. It is not often that a band this heavy would write such a happy track. It almost feels like it should be on a Freedom Call or Power Quest album. That’s not to say it’s bad; in fact, it is one of the more appealing songs, but if you think the term "flower metal" has any meaning, you probably won’t like it. In addition to this poppy track, there are two lighter songs on “Unbreakable”. “Where Angels Die” infuses slow, fantastic melodies with crunchy guitars in the background, while “Born Again” is the only true ballad on the album and once again is an opportunity for Ralf Scheepers to wow everyone with his singing.

Like in the past, Primal Fear has delivered an album of solid heavy metal. This time, however, they have combined crunchier guitars and a better vocal performance with much more inspired songwriting to deliver one of the best albums of the year. If this is any indication of what’s to come, Primal Fearwill be joining Helloween and Gamma Ray as one of the best German power metal bands!

Highlights
"And There Was Silence"
"Where Angels Die"
"Blaze of Glory"

Rating: 85%

Originally written for Skull Fracturing Metal Zine.

Visigoth - Final Spell

Naturally, I would expect bands from a certain country to reflect their traditional traits on whatever genre they’re playing, but as the years pass, urged into a parallel void where these things occur quite differently. We’ve got bands from all around the world fabricating classic 90’s Swedish death metal, while the Sweden lately has scrutinized the aesthetics of other genres such as epic doom and traditional heavy, the Brazilians and Italians have all of a sudden morphed to an army of Bay-Area thrashers, and now we have Salt Lake City’s Visigoth, playing some melodic power/heavy metal that would easily beckon and draw more fans of Blind Guardian, Pharaoh, Hammerfall, or other bands which excel in the more thickly constructed trend of power metal which is Euro power metal. The band generally espouses such a traditional, Euro-oriented sound, but the glamour exceeds with a little bit of Priest, Maiden, Accept, Griffin, with a hint of rocking groove.

Visigoth’s ‘’Final Spell’’ Ep is simple, spread out over generally predictable patterns and textures, but for what it’s worth, it’s quite fun, exuberant in the way it’s flashy sturdiness sheds light to the aura, and it definitely calls forth a more modern sound. I honestly did NOT expect such an output of harried ruptures and absolutely frenetic charges and compulsive blasts. Visigoth doesn’t deliver anything spurious, and simply lets the audience know what they want to offer and offers it well, even though it’s quite blatant that they send forth their vigorous ways in an apparent way, giving no room to any sort of engrossing aspect.  Its real hook, however, is the massive bulk of a guitar tone. Such a tone wields no secrets and not much cunning either, the immense, shattering meatiness of the tone simply goes under and over anything the album displays, from its wide range of semi-melodious chugs to epic moments with dual vocal harmonies.

Every track is a coherent follow up the one before it, with no major deviation in between, though with such memorable consistency you’re likely to entirely swallow up each song, and thus murmur them one by one. The chunks and chugs on crushing guitar tone add the major punctuation the Ep is asking for, but the seasoned vocal delivery is also a beckoning aspect, and they sound magnified even over the spaciousness and spark of the chug laden barrage of the guitars, and what’s more is that the vocalist achieves that sort of static prominence without raising the pitch of the tone, uniquely strengthening the delivery. There’s not really many tracks you can opt, but my personal favourite is the intro track, ‘’Creature Of Desire’’ a feverishly driven impulse of lethal energy and semi-epic steam rising at the same time, and simple it is, I must admit that I gave it more spins than my regular listens. ‘’Final Spell’’ is not engrossing by a great mile, but it still gathers and sews together all the great things you’d want in your power metal.  

Highlights:

Final Spell

Creature Of Desire

Rating: 84%

Rampart - A Tale To Cold

I’m pleased to see band which take the 80’s power metal aesthetics and incorporate it into their music, and one of my most latter encounters is the Bulgarian four piece Rampart, yet another bringer of classic heavy/power. Rampart did not really catch my unawares, and their brand of traditional power metal is fairly complex as you may expect, but let’s just that that the sound deviates marginally from the purest roots of old school power metal, seasoned with a bit of modern brickwall construction and rigorousness. With such a blatant path set for the riffs to flow, the band has clearly exposed many of its tricks and upcoming strategies, making their Ep ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ an apparent, predictable release, but somehow it’s still fun.

Rampart omitted the traditional cheesy antics of the classic power metal sound, charming the listener with a stricter force of beckoning simplistic melodies and thrashy chops, made heftier with the beefy guitar tone. ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ also likes to channel between somewhat desolate, chaotic chord dispersions and more vigorous compulsions. I liked the riffs, catchy and even epic at times, but I just felt that they were drudgy and dry in general, generally failing to exploit the required amount of energy outside to illuminate the atmosphere. After going through three semi-modern barrages of epic old school power metal, the fourth crust, a Helloween cover makes all the difference, offering a uniquely substantial amount of even more epic, flashy riffs, and you can hear the obvious changes in the music. ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ isn’t necessarily repetitive, nor does it bare anything redundant, but it’s dry riffs coming at you occasionally, and worst of all, the band doesn’t carry a massive aplomb, forcing the leashes to pull the aback.

Still, this EP wasn’t at all a bad experience – just one that didn’t leave its mark on my ear. Every band should excel at a certain element of metal, or a certain art of metal, and ‘’A Tale To Cold’’ simply gathers lots of various elements together and releases them in a violent surge, without actually being savvy in any of the elements used in the mixture. I’ll be glad to hear new material from these Bulgarians, but only if they can conjure a more dynamic, dexterous sound.

Highlights:

Metal Spell

A take To Cold

Rating: 77%

Vacant Throne - Fall Of The Feathered King

Unfortunately, the scene of today does not offer lavishly abundant power metal, in contrast to the prolific death metal groups emerging in copious numbers, but the problem is not because there aren’t many bands, but because there aren’t enough bands which carry an old school attitude. Instead of bands which keep their distance close to the likes of Jag Panzer, Griffin, Chastain, Fates Warning and like, the majority of the scene gravitates towards the busier stance of death metal, obviously more compelling and more exploitive with simultaneous melody intersections, vivacious ruptures and crushing dynamics, and I do in fact enjoy these bands, but I have greater adoration for the ones that keep the old school alive. Colorado’s Vacant Throne proves to one of those rare-found gems, and their debut album ‘’Fall Of The Feathered King’’ is an epic slab of kilter yet also dynamic old school power metal, melodious but never deviating from its chord laden stance.

The fact that ‘’Fall Of The Feathered King’’ manages to fit itself somewhere between the modern sound and the old school sound makes it an even more intriguing album. And to top it off, the band has decorated their semi-elaborate compositions with lyrics about the Conquistadors and Aztec kings, which can take you to a whole new viewpoint to glimpse at the classic war imagery power metal is always laden with. When I first heard the album, I was put slightly aback even though I wasn’t wholly baffled, but the album gave me a small intro-shock when it first began because I didn’t have the slightest bit of trepidation. Nonetheless, as the album progressed, its malleable nature reshaped itself in a way that I could easily welcome its vast and extensive hemisphere.

‘’Fall Of The Feathered King’’ is cavernous the whole way through, made even more atmospheric with the occasionally wandering synthesizers. The riffs are sorrowful or drowning when the epic sense of the music culminates, but let’s just say that the riffs and atmosphere embrace and explore the more sombre side spectrum. You have occasional gallops and chord progressions underneath the melodies to serve as a viable crutch and you also have harmonious melodies meandering alongside the soulful cries of the vocals. The riffing is nearly excellent because the band does not overuse the already overused terms and spikes, keeping it fresh at all times, and the structures are far more complex than you would think. There are vigorous tracks of eclectic gallop driven riffs like ‘’Burning Skies’’ and more sombre, oppressive pieces like ‘’Sacrificial Prisoner’’, and you’ll have no trouble welcoming the jumpy catchiness of ‘’The Jaguar Knight’’ and the simply terrific all-arrounder ‘’The Return Of Quetzalcoatl’.

Each track has its unique traits, but the atmosphere fastens them together, forming a nearly inseparable merging of epic power metal songs. Taking elements from both spectrums of power metal, ‘’Fall Of The Feathered King’’ makes for a breath of fresh air, and proves that there are still power metal bands out there with something to say. I devoutly hope their prowess enlarges with the release of a sophomore. 

Highlights:

Burning Skies

Genocide

The Jaguar Knight

The Return Of Quetzalcoatl

Rating: 86%

Vein - Crux Calvaria

Not dissimilar to the desolate King Diamond worshipping done is Sweden, Danish epic doom project Vein bring grievance and heft to the year with their debut EP, ‘’Crux Calvaria’’ a mournful  combination of melodic heavy metal, traditional doom, and a dash of epic power metal, a most compelling formula that fans of melancholic music should grasp quite quickly. The Danish trio consists of veterans, with some members being from newly blossoming power houses In Solitude and Procession.  With a heavy traditional heavy and doom metal scent lingering by in every riff, and musical complexity vaguely appearing amongst the massive monoliths of chunky riffs, ‘’Crux Calvaria’’ is a most promising release, although it lacks length.

With members of Procession and In Solitude, you can hear the beautiful density of the doom spectre take a mournful, and melody stirred edge, and for the most part of the songs, Vein will tend to keep music at a more dynamic pace, keeping the spikes sharp and the melodies crisp and tangibly soothing. When the music takes such a relaxing, though still heavy edge, many usually forgets the tiny bits and pieces that make up the strata of the EP, and if you listen carefully, you can hear subtle melodies slithering amongst the crushing chords – proof that the band has a lot of prowess. Riffs vary, as they take on different shapes throughout, so the guitar work is genuinely well done and robust, but Crux Calvaria also disserves an applause for the excellent drum adjustments. The beats keep the doom laden stomps constant, and the constant cymbal abusing sheds spectral rays of light upon the atmosphere, enhancing it.

The vocalist also sang in Procession, and there’s no surprise there because their soulful, despair laden approach makes the EP a whole lot richer, and just like the riffs, they sound like a mixture of classic Euro power metal vocalists and King Diamond, with a tinge of Candlesmass (or any other traditional/epic doom metal vocal style). ‘’Crux Calvaria’’ is exceedingly pleasing for such a young band, and I do hope that a debut full-length is not distant. The EP had no flaws for me, except for the fact that it was rather concise, but that’s not a problem to sob for.

Highlights:

Crux Calvaria

Out In Twilight

Rating: 85,5%

Sacred Gate - When Eternity Ends

Just like Swedish metal in general, I’ve always been fond of Germanic metal, since they seem to excel in many sub-genres, mustering some of the most efficient and influential groups in the world. They already brought a new level of savagery to thrash and death metal with the rise of Sodom and Kreator, polluted the black metal universe as we know it by bringing fourth an abundance of corpse painted church burners, and even the early German power/heavy scene has had a huge impact of the current scene. Sacred Gate, though, don’t really embrace the boundaries of originality whilst inserting goblets of monolithic power metal into the simply embroidered traditional heavy metal textures, and garnishing the base of their music with simple, but fluent melodies. Sacred Gate lean towards the traditional sense of heavy metal, deliberately omitting technicality and exploiting simple, chug laden riffs rather than forming a hard hitting iron fist to work diligently and to attain copiousness in complexity.

Yes, there’s no use of all the modern power metal traits here, but at least you can rely on the quality of the ‘’old school’’ term, because these Germans have obviously worked hard to create a fertile ground for the riffs to breathe. The frontal aura has been set nicely, I’ll admit, but when the main material comes on top of it, you really can’t feel much energy besides a few songs. As I said, the only thing that decorates the chords are plain, melancholic melodies, but even the riffs don’t look as if they were composed with great care. They’re catchy, and they suit the semi-high pitched chants of vocalist well when they’re under it, but besides that, they sort of drown among the drums and lead guitars due to their lack of spike and volume.

The first two tracks caught my attention easily as they’re catchy and the choruses are very memorable and made more dynamic with a sort of punk-esque power added to the rush of the chords. There are some brief moments that I enjoyed as well, but those moments are well… brief and outnumbered by the score of monotonous melody and chord progressions. ‘’Heaven Under Siege’’ is also a nice addition to the drudgy arsenal of riffs, offering a bit of a sombre spice to churn with the music, but other than that, many songs have been dragged for too long and at some moments it almost seems as if the band is scrambling for something a little different. Now, each song is solid enough, and I never yawned throughout, but I’m just saying that some variation would definitely be nice.

The drumming is decent I guess, nothing to special, but I do like the hefty, chubby bobs of the thick bass line, supporting the guitar tone quite a lot. All in all, it’s pretty obvious Sacred Gate have gathered the key elements to form a strong power/heavy formula, a strong voice, core heavy metal riffs and a catchy beat to add some spunk, so all they’ve got to do is to embrace their aspects and adorn them even more, improve them, if need be. They can stick to the old school formula for all I care, as long as they can make their music more dynamic, I’m totally content. Such a thing can happen as the members are already veterans and the band has the required potential, but ‘’When Eternity Ends’’ remains as more plain release, durable for some time, but it's far from eternal.

Highlights:

Creators Of The Downfall

Burning Wings

Vengeance 

Rating: 77,5%

Axevyper - Metal Crossfire

Most of the products that come from Italy may be stale and inorganic, but I'll admit, over the last few years, they've been housing scores of traditional heavy and thrash bands, and they just can't seem to stop. Seriously, it seems that most of the prime thrash/heavy countries are mostly out of material, it looks like Italy's starting to suck more and more fans towards their cheesy thrash/heavy masses. Axevyper isn't a completely new story, but they've incorporated chunks of happy power metal elements and USPM cheesiness into their Maiden-esque brand of heavy metal, no an exceedingly rare sight I must say. And even though brawny hippies alongside with armored lizard mutant fighting space vanguards with machine guns isn't the compelling cover that can exist, I still felt sublime relaxation flow through my body as the swayed and swaggered, and the groovy beats always made by head bob rhythmically.

I suppose it would be false to say that Axevyper make their formula up completely out of old school touches because a modern sound is dominant, blatant from the crystal clear production and subtle melodies urging into the music frequently, but ''Metal Crossfire'' does tend to surface the prime aesthetics of old school power and heavy metal. That being said, Axevyper experiments the cheesy face of power/heavy unlike many other who like to engage the listener with shadowy riffs, and the chorus sections usually overflow with ridiculous positive might, with sequential chords and melodies adding up to the previous in a chronological matter, following a build-up process for the most part of choruses. The good news is, the verse, break and pre-chorus sections (basically anything that's not the chorus) are vigorous and totally neck snapping, crunchy riffs exploding energetically. The epic side of things are explored quite often, leading to lots of harmonious semi-technical riffs and melodies, but in every moment you'll notice that intricacy was disregarded and the songwriting process wasn't at all that sweaty, all though I still have some admiration for the slightly messed up song structures.

Axevyper may stall you with arrays of harmony laden melodies and such, or they may keep the beat going and their wheels hot; it's really not up to us. All I can say that the offering was mighty fine and the delivery was robust, the melodies subtle and triumphant like some previously encountered bands such as Hyborian Steel and Wishdoom, and all in all it sums for a solid release, but I couldn't help but notice that it was still generic in a way and wasn't properly distinguished or clothed decoratively, and I felt the album's heart accent at seldom. It's far from climactic I'll give you that, but at the same time, let's not forget that simplicity can kick heaps of asses when it's properly composed, and I guess it's say to safe to say Axevyper's sophomore album is enough to make a small buzz in the metal underground community without completely being able to avoid plaguing cliches so many are infected with these days. It still made my bowels gurgle for more epic heavy/power metal.

Highlights:
March Of Metal Rockers
Crossfire
Heroes For One Night


Rating: 77%

Skelator - Agents Of Power

With a few twists and a warmer, more inviting production quality, Skelator's ''Agents Of Power'' could be a considerable alternative to the ample wave of Swedish traditional heavy metal bands, injecting a healthy dose thrashy speed metal and the epic atmosphere of power metal. Musically, Skelator resemble the mish mash of many bands, linked together in some way. Manowar, Manilla Road, Iron Maiden, and even some 70's Judas Priest worship, blatant in the spiking vivacity of certain riffs. Skelator also adopt a certain theme, apparently fantastic themes (whom I'm not familiar with) that enhance the whole ''Enchanting'' effect of power metal. There are moments where you'll notice the cheesiness of USPM with a slightly more serious touch, but all in all these are the influences and elements that ''Agents Of Power'' deal with, and thus, simplistic elements and aspects are brought together, dotted with original spices and then presented to the listener, plain but memorable.

Melodious leads usually guide the riffs along, as they are inviting and even slightly hefty and chubby, rendering the distortion less effective, but grooving gallops and thrashy chugs also burst in frequently, so the listener is left in between, harmonious melodies and plainer, rougher textures of thrash-driven riffs, which have a cool, almost cavernous resonance to them. Skelator are certainly not trying to be incredibly vigorous or spiking all the time here, but the first couple of tracks are usually dominated by more dynamic sequences with the vocalist attaining a high-pitched voice and the guitars often channeling between harmony laden, semi technical riffs and harsher chords. The vocals shift into different styles in different moments, for example, they make take on a more alluring tone during mellow passages or soft interludes, or a rather evil grin like on certain intros, or during instrumental breaks, where they vilely chuckle. There's actually plenty of contrast on the album if you listen carefully, but they're all chained to the same root.

The first two tracks, the title song and ''Gates Of Thorbadin'' are almost fully attached to boundless energy, but with ''Dream Dictator'' which ranges at over six minutes, a speed limit restrains substantial liveliness and boredom may strike here and there, though overall it's a decent track, and not mention that the verse section sounds like an almost exact copy of Jag Panzer's ''Cardiac Arrest'', only richer in melodies. ''Agents Of Power'' is polished and squeaky clean, forming a natural basis for the upcoming array of riffs from the start. I really had little to complain about, even though sometimes breaks lingered for too long and the whole album in total may not be extremely original, but with an impressive gathering of speed, power and heavy metal, Skelator both embrace the old school feel and execute ripe, delicate music almost perfectly so there you have it, something to both give you goosebumps and to accompany you to a good night's sleep. It's mature, fertile and its an impressive combination of speed, melody and good musicianship, so fans ought to watch out, this dynamite may bloom into a global epic speed/heavy explosion.

Highlights:
Agents Of Power
Rhythm Of The Chain
Gates Of Thorbadin


Rating: 83,5%

Pharaoh-Bury The Light

New power metal scarcely interests me, and thus I approached Pharaoh's ''Bury The Light'' with a slight bit of trepidation. Now, these guys have been around for more than ten years now, and since I had never encountered them before, I must admit that the only reason I got this album in the start because it was highly praised for everything it contained and I thought that some variation would never kill. And right now, I completely content with decision because Pharaoh's fourth album kicks heaps of asses while it swaggers elegantly with its raging, dizzying brand of power metal that can even have a tough fight with the originators. This not exactly the old school sound that purists may be looking for, but once all the aspects are put into consideration, none of that really matters. This is just a damn solid piece of power metal.

The riffs are obviously the main highlights of the album, they're very sharp and decisive and their delivery is very technical yet deadly. The greatest thing about ''Bury The Light'' is that Pharaoh can incorprate thrash influences into the stroming power metal riffs, and thus garnish them with passionate solos. The music can be frenzied and flurry and the energy prevails no matter what, because with so many spikes striking the listener, it's impossible not to deliberately focus on the mere strenght of the music. The technical prowess and musicianship here is amazing, the guitarists can display confusing and volatile guitar tricks with either the frenzied solos or proggressive riffage and colliding melodies manipulate the sound. The melody section on the album is also stellar and the melodies I'm talking about are real tunes, written and played perfectly, not any artificial sound created by the computer or any distruptive guitar pedal tone. Riffs on this album are surprisingly thrashy, which renders the album fresher than it is sufficient, and the compelling force of the thrashy rythms and hefty melodies hits hard every single time. So sharp that the force spawning from the riffs are enough to clean all your ear wax within just one decisive blow of the acuminated blade that they create.

Admittedly, I didn't enjoy the vocals at first. They put me off because of their style and because of muffled tone that enshrouds them, though soon enough, I got used to them and as the album proggressed, the vocals became an absolute imperative for me. Even now, as I listen to the frantic melodies of ''Cry'' the vocals sound distinguished in their own way, but they only some up as a positive factor. It's true that the vocals are strong yet the vocalist doesen't tend to scream his lungs out very often and on verse and bridges he tends to sing quite normally, with a perticularly erosed voice, that is until the album reached one its many climaxes with energetic melodies bursting from every side and the vocals soaring with and over-the-top tone, capable of even shattering windows. I love how acoustic medleys dive in randomly into the album and alternate the atmopshere in almost an instant. Acoustic guitar medleys show prominence especially on ''The Year Of The Blizzard'', sice half of the song is altered by these acoustic guitar arpeggios and the soft, mellow tone of the vocalist, telling stories.

On ''Bury The Light'' moods and feelings vary as much as riffs and melodies. Epic and heroic moments boil the listeners blood while soft, even miserable moments dominated by acoustic guitar passages chill the listener. With an album drawing influences, or atleast being a remiscent of melodic thrash legends such as Paradox or Artillery, I found absoluetely no reason not to love this album. The land on ''Bury The Light'' is extremely fertile in terms of riffs, the music is like a turbulent yet harmonious tempest, constatly assaulting the listener with intense melodies. If you're a resident power metal nerd, or if you are into the more technical/proggressive side of frantic thrash metal then get this, because its likely to be the best power metal abum of the year--little doubt about that.

Highlights:
Castles In The Sky
Cry
Graveyard Of Empires

Rating: 89%

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