Explorer is the latest album from Welsh Singer-songwriter Cerys Matthews. Cery’s first rose to fame as the singer of rock group Catatonia, but since the bands split in 2001 she has released several albums of folk and traditional music. She is unusual in that she sings in a mixture of English and Welsh. The album…
”The Unforgiving” is the fifth studio album from Dutch Symphonic metal band, Within Temptation. For this album, Within Temptation have opted to release a concept album, so the album is accompanied by a comic book release and a series of short videos. The danger of this strategy is that while their hardcore fans will probably…
Napalm/Sound Pollution German band SERENITY plays symphonic metal, and has done so for a decade. They now release their third album, with a lot of symphony, enforced by guests like Charlotte Wessels (DELAIN), Ailyn (SIRENIA) and Amanda Somerville. This is an album about historic persons like Christopher Columbus, Casanova, and Sir Francis Drake. Is that…
Soulseller/Sound Pollution Åtvidaberg´s finest, MAIM , skips all varieties and go for old fashioned death, influenced by the likes of; AUTOPSY, NIHILIST and MOTÖRHEAD. They debuted on Soulseller in 2009 with From the Womb to the Tomb”. Here is number two, and their third outing is obviously finished already!? Krille and Scott, guitars, Richard, bass…
Frontiers/BAM Fyra skivor, en live CD/DVD, stora gigs, som både support och headliners, samt en hel del PR via bidrag till melodifestivalen och olympiska spelen. Det är THE POODLES facit sedan de officiellt bildades 2005. Inte illa, men så är medlemmarna inga nybörjare; sångaren Jakob Samuel har en gång i tiden varit trummis i TALISMAN,…
Massacre/Sound Pollution Third album from Finish/Norwegian epic Gothic combo IMPERIA has hit the streets. Containing bombastic, operatic vocals, trigged drums and speedy power metal guitars perhaps? This is not the most varied genre. “Touch of Your Hand” does not stray very much from my guess. Helena Iren Michaelsen has a fine voice and a lot…
”Secret Passion” is the long awaited new album from Imperia. Its been four years since ”Queen of light” so expectations are high. The album opens with ”Touch of your hands” – a classic Imperia song with plenty of power and really showcasing Helena’s powerful operatic style vocals. Helena Iren Michaelsen has a superbly powerful voice…
The album opens with a beautiful haunting instrumental introduction, ”Alv” which builds in power and tempo before the first real track on the album kicks in. The first ”real” track on the album, is the title track – ”The metamorphosis melody” and it opens with some powerful chugging guitars. The first minute of the track…
Meredead is the latest album from LEaves Eyes. For those who havent heard the band before, they blend symphonic metal with a strong folk influence. This album has a far stronger folk feel to it than earlier albums by the band. The use of Uilleann pipes (An Irish version of the bagpipe) certainly emphasises the…
Nightmare Records/Border Modern prog/power metal characterized by technical ability, a fervency for volume and a passion for power. That´s what the info sheet states about Canadian band CONFLICTED. The band consists of four-octave vocalist Jason Orton, the neoclassical inclined guitarist Mark Owen, the symphonic keyboardist Ron DeCoste, metal bass man John Kolodziej and experienced drummer…
Pulverised/SP Black metal från Singapore, är det nästa grej? 1990 drog IMPIETY igång, och infon säger att italienarna är ledande därnere. De har spelat mycket gigs, så väl i Europa som i Sydostasien och Asien, med band som GOGOROTH och BELPHEGOR. Medlemmarna kallar sig Guh Lu (XEPER. DIVINE CODEX, SETHER etc.), Eskathon och Atum (MALFEITOR,…
Cyclone Empire/Sound Pollution Guitarist Dan Lorenzo seems perfectly clear that this is the one of their albums that is the most underrated. “Live On Location” became a memory of a single reunion. Most of the originals are there, plus Ed Fuhrman on guitars; Alan Tecchio, vocals, Dan Lorenzo, guitars, Jimmy Schulman, bass, and Tommy Coombs,…